Cambodia's Khmer Rouge torture sites added to UNESCO heritage list
The three locations were inscribed to the list by the United Nations cultural agency Friday during the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris.
The inscription coincided with the 50th anniversary of the rise to power by the communist Khmer Rouge government, which caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians through starvation, torture and mass executions during a four-year reign from 1975 to 1979.
UNESCO's World Heritage List lists sites considered important to humanity and includes the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India and Cambodia's Angkor archaeological complex.
The three sites listed Friday include two notorious prisons and an execution site immortalized in a Hollywood film.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, located in the capital Phnom Penh, is the site of a former high school used by the Khmer Rouge as a notorious prison. Better known as S-21, about 15,000 people were imprisoned and tortured there.
The M-13 prison, located in rural Kampong Chhnang province in central Cambodia, also was regarded as one of the main prisons of the early Khmer Rouge.
Choeung Ek, located about 15 kilometers (10 miles) south of the capital, was used as an execution site and mass grave. The story of the atrocities committed there are the focus of the 1984 film 'The Killing Fields,' based on the experiences of New York Times photojournalist Dith Pran and correspondent Sydney Schanberg.
The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, and immediately herded almost all the city's residents into the countryside, where they were forced to toil in harsh conditions until 1979, when the regime was driven from power by an invasion from neighboring Vietnam.
In September 2022, the UN-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, better known as the Khmer Rouge tribunal, concluded its work compiling cases against Khmer Rouge leaders. The tribunal cost $337 million over 16 years but convicted just three men.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet issued a message Friday directing people to beat drums simultaneously across the country Sunday morning to mark the UNESCO listing.
'May this inscription serve as a lasting reminder that peace must always be defended,' Hun Manet said in a video message posted online. 'From the darkest chapters of history, we can draw strength to build a better future for humanity.'
Youk Chhang, executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, said the country is 'still grappling with the painful legacies of genocide, torture, and mass atrocity.' But naming the three sites to the UNESCO list will play a role in educating younger generations of Cambodians and others worldwide.
'Though they were the landscape of violence, they too will and can contribute to heal the wounds inflicted during that era that have yet to heal,' he said.
The UNESCO inscription was Cambodia's first nomination for a modern and non-classical archaeological site and is among the first in the world to be submitted as a site associated with recent conflict, Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said in a statement Friday.
Four Cambodian archaeological sites were previously inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites including Angkor, Preah Vihear, Sambo Prei Kuk and Koh Ker, the ministry said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Steve Witkoff's sanitised Gaza tour snubbed US doctor who said people being 'shot like rabbits'
We've seen this many times before. Highly anticipated talks and meetings with America, Israel's closest ally and the one country with the power to pressure to change course, then nothing changes. We need to give Steve Witkoff time to report his assessments back to the White House before we can give a complete verdict on this visit but what we've seen and heard so far has offered little hope. The pressure on to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in is mounting after a small but vocal contingent of his base expressed outrage. Even one of his biggest supporters in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Green, has referred to it as a genocide. It was little coincidence Mr Witkoff was dispatched to the region for the first time in three months to speak to people on both sides and "learn the truth" to quote US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who accompanied him to an aid site in Gaza. The pair spent five hours in Gaza speaking to people at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation centre and it's understood saw nothing of the large crowd of Palestinians gathering a mile away waiting for food. Their sanitised tour of Gaza did not include a visit to a hospital where medics are receiving casualties by the dozen from deadly incidents at aid sites, and where they're treating children for malnutrition and hunger. A critical trauma nurse at Nasser hospital told us a 13-year-old boy was among the people shot while Mr Witkoff was in the enclave. An American paediatrician at the same hospital who had publicly extended an invitation to meet with Mr Witkoff heard nothing from the US delegation. Read more from Sky News: Dr Tom Adamkiewicz described people "being shot like rabbits" and "a new level of barbarity that I don't think the world has seen". The US delegation was defensive of the controversial GHF aid distribution that was launched by America and Israel in May, hailing its delivery of a million meals a day. But if their new system of feeding Gaza is truly working, why are we seeing images of starved children and hearing deaths every day of people in search of food? The backdrop of this trip is very different to the last time Mr Witkoff was here. In May, life was a struggle for Palestinians in Gaza, people were dying in Israeli bombings but, for the most part, people weren't dying due to a lack of food or getting killed trying to reach aid. Mr Netanyahu's easing of humanitarian conditions a week ago, allowing foreign aid to drop from the sky, was an indirect admission of failure by the GHF. Yet, for now, the US is standing by this highly criticised way of delivering aid. A UN source tells me more aid is getting through than it was a week ago - around 30 lorries are due to enter today compared to around five that were getting in each day before. Still nowhere near enough and it's a complex process of clearances and coordination with the IDF through areas of conflict. Lorries are regularly refused entry without explanation. Then there was Mr Witkoff's meeting with hostage families a day later where we began to get a sense of America's new plan for Gaza. The US issued no public statement but family members shared conversations they'd had with Mr Trump's envoy: bring all the hostages home in one deal, disarm Hamas and end the war. Easier to propose than to put into practice. Within hours of those comments being reported in the Israeli media, Hamas released a video of hostage Evyatar David looking emaciated in an underground tunnel in Gaza. Now 24 years old, he was kidnapped from the Nova festival on 7 October and is one of 20 hostages understood to be still alive. The release of the video was timed for maximum impact. Hamas also poured water on any hopes of a deal in a statement, unless an independent Palestinian state is established. Hamas has perhaps become more emboldened in this demand after key Israeli allies, including the UK, announced plans for formal recognition in the last week. It's hard to see a way forward. The current Israeli government has, in effect, abandoned the idea of a two-state solution. The Trump administration's recent boycott of international conferences on the matter suggests America is taking a similar line, breaking with its long-standing position. Arab nations could now be key in what happens next. In an unprecedented move, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt joined a resolution calling for Hamas to disarm and surrender control of Gaza following a UN conference earlier this week. This is hugely significant - highly influential powers in its own backyard have not applied this sort of pressure before. For all the US delegation's good intentions, it's still political deadlock. Israeli hostages and Palestinians in Gaza left to starve and suffer the consequences.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Are you concerned about starvation in Gaza? Should US do more to help? Tell us.
As the images of hunger and desperation keep coming at us, we're hearing more and more people weigh in on Gaza, with news coverage picking up on voices ranging from heads of government to internet celebrities. But what do you think? Those recently criticizing Israel include people like popular children's content creator "Ms. Rachel," who said she'll no longer work with anyone not speaking out about Gaza, as well as right-wing congressional member Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called the situation "genocide." They point to children perishing in the Palestinian enclave where the death toll, made up mostly of civilians, now exceeds 60,000. Greene's Republican Party has historically stood with Israel, but continued reports of starvation and civilian suffering are peeling away supporters, such as the United Kingdom, which announced it would recognize Palestine as a country if Israel doesn't improve conditions for noncombatants. But outspoken allies of Israel, from the president to the creator of a culture-defining comedy, say we should remember the horrific surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, that kicked off the war and killed 1,200 Israelis, a majority of them civilians. Of the 251 hostages taken on that day, there are 50 still in captivity. Actor and comedian Jerry Seinfeld has made a statement about living briefly in the Jewish state and the heartbreak he felt over the Oct. 7 atrocities, saying, "I will stand with Israel." President Donald Trump, meanwhile, recently said recognizing Palestine as a nation and similar pressure on Israel amount to "rewarding Hamas." 'Every ounce of food': Trump presses Israel on starvation in Gaza; 'children look very hungry' What is the US doing in Israel, Gaza? In terms of actions to stop the humanitarian crisis, the United States pressured Israel to allow aid after it cut off deliveries in March by the United Nations and other groups for 11 weeks because Israeli officials said Hamas was seizing food. The U.N. said those renewed deliveries were a "drop in the ocean" of what was urgently needed. Now $30 million in U.S. aid is to be delivered through a controversial private, for-profit U.S. and Israel-backed contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Critics say GHF is not getting enough food to people, who are being killed as they try to get help from the aid sites. People are starving in Gaza. Why are we so comfortable just letting that happen? | Opinion Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is set to travel to Israel on July 31, Thursday, to address the humanitarian crisis. Witkoff called off the most recent efforts to broker a ceasefire deal on July 24, saying Hamas showed "a lack of desire.' Should the US do more to help Palestinians? Should celebrities be weighing in? Now we're asking you, our readers, if you think the U.S. government is taking the right actions in terms of Israel and Gaza. And who do you think should be weighing in on the argument? Fill out our form below or send us an email to forum@ with the subject line "Forum Gaza." We'll pick a collection of responses to share in a follow-up post. Here are some questions to help you respond: Does the U.S. have a responsibility to do more to end the hunger crisis in Gaza? Why or why not? Is it helpful to have celebrities and other people not involved with foreign policy weigh in? Or does it distract? Why or why not? How would the recognition of a Palestinian state change the situation? What factors about the war in Gaza are not being covered enough in the news? Joel Burgess is a Voices editor for the USA TODAY Network. Do you want to take part in our next Forum? Join the conversation by emailing forum@ can also follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and sign up for our Opinion newsletter to stay updated on future Forum posts. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Should US, Trump recognize a Palestinian state? Tell us | Opinion Solve the daily Crossword
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
Christian-Jewish organization delivers emergency aid to persecuted Syrian minorities under threat
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews swiftly mobilized its resources in July to aid persecuted Syrian Druze and Christians facing what some have called a genocide carried out by jihadists in southern Syria. Syrian-backed forces, including jihadist fighters, launched attacks against Syrian Druze in the southern part of the country, resulting in the murders of at least 1,400 people, including a 35-year-old Syrian American from Oklahoma, Hosam Saraya, who was visiting family in Syria. "Once we saw what was happening in Sweida, we could not turn a blind eye to it." International Fellowship of Christians and Jews President and Global CEO Yael Eckstein told Fox News Digital. Her organization, she noted, had never operated in Syria prior to this year but said her organization "got an urgent call from a hospital from Sweida, and they needed basic medicines, surgical care, ICU medicine and equipment, first responder equipment and masks for morgue workers." The Fellowship coordinated with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to deliver medicine and equipment to Sweida. Eckstein said her group supplied "retired Israeli ambulances to Syria so the locals can operate them." The majority Druze city of Sweida was a focal point of the siege executed by Syrian Islamists loyal to new President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, a former member of U.S.-designated terrorist movements, al Qaeda and the Islamic State. According to Christian Broadcasting Network, Christians were also targeted. Islamists reportedly murdered Khaled Mazhar, pastor of the Good Shepherd Evangelical Church in Sweida, along with 11 family members. An additional person survived the massacre of Christians because the Islamists thought she was dead. In July, Israel launched military strikes against the largely Bedouin forces on their way to the southern city of Sweida to stop the massacre. Israel also attacked the Syrian Defense headquarters in Damascus to halt the bloodshed in Sweida. Eckstein added that at least "26 Druze villages were fully burned." Since Fox News Digital's interview with Eckstein, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at "least 30 villages were damaged by arson and destruction." Eckstein said the Fellowship first provided aid in Syria in April when Druze in Syria were targeted and killed. "When we provided 1.500 food boxes to the Druze within 13 kilometers of Israel's borders after the massacre in April, two days later Islamists burned boxes of the Fellowship," Eckstein sid. Israel and Syria do not have diplomatic relations. Syria is considered an enemy state because it has launched multiple wars against Israel since the rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948. Eckstein said the Fellowship is "operating in enemy territory, and Jews and Christians are providing life-saving aid. Islamists don't like it. We would like to see that it is in the Syrian government's interests to receive aid and hope that more goodness will be brought to Syria. "Now, Jewish people are standing with Christians who are being persecuted in Syria. It is really important to highlight that this is a case of good versus evil and is not just limited to Syria. It is important for Jews and Christians to stand together regarding Judeo-Christian values that sanctify life." Safwan Marich of the Israeli Druze community runs the Fellowship's Emergency Response Center and told Fox News Digital that, in the Sweida region, "tyhere is a genocide going on. This needs no further explanation, especially for the Jewish people. "Once the residents of the deserted village come back, they will understand the magnitude of disaster. Women were kidnapped by jihads, and children were kidnapped and missing." Marich has been in contact with his fellow Druze in Syria."This war is religious in essence," he said. "There is a video of Daesh [Islamic State] going to one of the villages asking, 'Are you a Druze or Sunni?' And he answered that he is Syrian. He asked him again, so he answered Druze, and he was shot in the middle of the street. It is obvious there is a religious motivation behind this event. "It is important for me to help the Druze because, first and foremost, I am a Druze. The Druze people are not aggressive and hostile, but they will not sit idly by when they are attacked. We have in the Druze tradition a commandment to help our brothers. To come to aid of Druze community wherever it might be in the world. Marich also noted he is Israeli, and the other day a Druze officer was killed in Gaza. Twelve officers from the Druze community have been killed in Gaza since the war began. "They died defending Israel and the Jewish people. We have an expectation that Israeli society will come through and stand by Druze community, and so we can defend our brothers in Syria. The state of Israel cannot afford to have Daesh on its borders and in the Golan Heights." He pointed to the example of Hamas on the border and its growth as a military danger over the years as a warning about radical Islamists gaining a foothold on the Syrian-Israeli border.
