logo
#

Latest news with #S21

Cambodia's Khmer Rouge torture sites added to UNESCO heritage list
Cambodia's Khmer Rouge torture sites added to UNESCO heritage list

CNN

time14 hours ago

  • Politics
  • CNN

Cambodia's Khmer Rouge torture sites added to UNESCO heritage list

Three locations used by Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime as torture and execution sites 50 years ago have been added by UNESCO to its World 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.

Cambodian sites of Khmer Rouge brutality added to UNESCO heritage list
Cambodian sites of Khmer Rouge brutality added to UNESCO heritage list

Yahoo

time2 days ago

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

Cambodian sites of Khmer Rouge brutality added to UNESCO heritage list

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Three locations used by Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime as torture and execution sites 50 years ago have been added by UNESCO to its World 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 U.N.-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.

Cambodian sites of Khmer Rouge brutality added to UNESCO heritage list
Cambodian sites of Khmer Rouge brutality added to UNESCO heritage list

CTV News

time2 days ago

  • CTV News

Cambodian sites of Khmer Rouge brutality added to UNESCO heritage list

Tourists take their tour at the grave side in the former Pol Pot 's notorious S-21 prison, known Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, July 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File) PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Three locations used by Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime as torture and execution sites 50 years ago have been added by UNESCO to its World 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 kilometres (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 US$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. By Sopheng Cheang.

Cambodia genocide survivors 'thrilled' at new UNESCO status
Cambodia genocide survivors 'thrilled' at new UNESCO status

France 24

time2 days ago

  • Politics
  • France 24

Cambodia genocide survivors 'thrilled' at new UNESCO status

Three notorious Cambodian torture and execution sites used by the Khmer Rouge regime to perpetrate genocide 50 years ago were inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List on Friday. One of the sites, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in the capital, is a former high school which was converted into a notorious prison known as S-21, where an estimated 15,000 people were imprisoned and tortured. "I am so thrilled," said Chum Mey, one of just a handful of S-21 survivors who now sells his memoirs in the prison compound where he says he was beaten, electrocuted and starved. "The listing by UNESCO reminds me of the torture against me," he said. The two other sites are Choeung Ek Genocide Centre, also in the capital, and another site known as M-13 in a rural area in central Kampong Chhnang province. "I am so happy and excited that UNESCO recognises Tuol Sleng museum, Choeung Ek, and M-13," Chum Mey said. "This is for the next generations." Around two million people died of starvation, forced labour or torture or were slaughtered in mass killings between 1975 and 1979. On Saturday, students and tourists walked through the black-and-white mugshots of Tuol Sleng's many victims and the preserved equipment used by Khmer Rouge tormentors. 'A lesson of life' Khuon Sovann lost more than 10 relatives to the genocide. The 82-year-old and her older sister prayed for her late brother-in-law with offerings of food and water in front of an inscription of victims' names. She said the UNESCO listing was "good" and would help preserve the site. "I am happy that what we Cambodians suffered is now recognised by the international community," she told AFP. The Cambodian culture ministry on Friday issued a statement saying the inscription acknowledged the kingdom's efforts at "transforming a land once ravaged by war and genocide... into a place of peace and dignity". Norng Chanphal, 55, survived S-21 as a child and returns to the site every day to sell his memoirs and feel close to his mother who died there. He said he was "so glad" and "excited" that Tuol Sleng -- a place of bitter memories where many lost everything -- had earned UNESCO recognition. Norng Chanphal hoped the recognition would allow Tuol Sleng to exist forever and serve as a reminder "to prevent such a regime from happening in Cambodia again". He said the site was "a lesson of life for people around the world to clearly understand the regime", adding UNESCO recognition offered some justice to the souls of his mother and other victims of Tuol Sleng.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store