Was the Cambodian Genocide Inevitable?
Hannah Quick
Senior Project Advisor: Becca Katz
12th Grade Humanities
Animas High School
22 April 2013
Senior Project Advisor: Becca Katz
12th Grade Humanities
Animas High School
22 April 2013
Introduction
The Cambodian Genocide shattered a nation by exterminating more than 20% of the population, making it the most devastating genocide per capita in history. Genocide is the organized killing of one or several groups, whom are often targeted due to their religion or race. Several genocides occurred in the 20th century alone, resulting in the massacre of an innumerable amount of people. In the 1970s, Cambodia’s population decreased by nearly 2 million lives as a direct result of the actions of a communist organization known as the Khmer Rouge (POV).
Genocide is possible to prevent. Certain events, such as the Rwandan Genocide, could have been stopped immediately by foreign intervention. Other genocides occurred during chaotic times and under specific circumstances, however, and would have been difficult to stop, including the Cambodian Genocide. It is hard to believe that such a heinous crime went on for four years without consequence or intervention, but preluding conditions in Cambodia made the genocide all too possible. Although foreign powers could have intervened to stop the genocide, internal conditions within both Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge made prevention unlikely.
Historical Context
Throughout the early 1970s, the United States considered communist ideals in the Indochina region an immediate threat. During this period, the US was fighting the Vietnam War, and an increased popularity in communism meant a threat towards capitalism. In March of 1970, US-backed General Lon Nol overthrew Prince Norodom Sihanouk in a coup d’état and promptly established a republican government. The US supported Lon Nol to establish a republic government and decrease the popularity of communism throughout Indochina.
While in exile, Sihanouk formed the Khmer Rouge in an effort to retaliate against General Nol and gain power once again. The Khmer Rouge slowly started to gain power through force. Their methods included enlisting villagers living on the outer edges of Cambodia under threat of death, and slowly applying their increased numbers in order to take control of several towns and cities.
Once events in Vietnam began to escalate, the US withdrew air support from Cambodia, leaving a country in the midst of a civil war to fend for itself. The civil war between the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian Army, which lasted four years, had taken a toll on Cambodian civilians. Evacuees looking to seek refuge from the constant violence filled Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. The Khmer Rouge drew in closer to Phnom Penh, and Lon Nol’s defeat became imminent. The Khmer Rouge “seemed disciplined. And at first, there was general jubilation among the city's terrified, exhausted and bewildered inhabitants…then came the shock. After a few hours, the black-uniformed troops began firing into the air. It was a signal for Phnom Penh's entire population, swollen by refugees to some 3 million, to abandon the city” (Aikman). The civil war had been the beginning of the end for Cambodia, and the worst was to come.
Pol Pot, a communist revolutionary, dictator, and leader of the Khmer Rouge, immediately implemented communist principles that he had studied in Paris, concentrating on a communist model developed by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong. Maoism identified agrarian peasantry as the “key revolutionary force, which can fundamentally transform capitalist society towards socialism” (Maoism). As opposed to Marxism, Maoism identifies the agrarian population as the pivotal point for change, whereas Marxism utilizes the working class. As previously stated, the Cambodian Genocide was classified as one of the most devastating genocides in history. Mao Zedong, in his governance of China, starved around 45,000,000 farmers to death, placing him at the top of the list (Colvin). The fact that Pol Pot applied Maoist principles to the governance of Cambodia, including genocidal ideologies, must be emphasized in order to accurately the depict the horrors of the Cambodian Genocide.
The renowned killing fields, Tuol Slang Prison, and the Cambodian Genocide began with the implementation of this Maoist government. Tuol Slang Prison, code-named S-21, was used to “cleanse” Cambodia of all perceived enemies. The prison was utilized as a means to make these “enemies,” under pain of torture, to admit to crimes they were told they had committed. Only seven of the 14,000 incarcerated men, women, and children emerged alive (Chandler).
The killing fields tell the same tragic story. Frequently compared to the Nazi Holocaust, specific groups in Cambodia were targeted for extermination: Cham Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Vietnamese, and educated persons. It is estimated that 1.7 million Cambodians were executed in the killing fields alone (Calleja). The amount of civilians who died due to starvation and disease cannot be accounted for, but based on the number of bodies found in mass graves, it can be stated that the Cambodian Genocide holds the record for the most fatal genocide per capita.
Summary of Past Research
When considering the political unrest in Cambodia throughout the early 1970s, before the Khmer Rouge gained power, some academics believe that the genocide was set into motion as soon as Lon Nol began to lose power.
During the early 1970s there were so few Khmer Rouge soldiers in comparison to Lon Nol’s Cambodian Army that at first the Khmer Rouge made efforts to attract the rural villagers living on the borders of Cambodia to support the communist effort. In his efforts to return to Cambodia, however, Sihanouk had attempted to team up with the Viet Cong, an organization responsible for murdering numerous Cambodian civilians. As a result of Sihanouk’s political alliances, efforts to gain popularity were not especially successful. As UC Berkeley ethnic studies professor Khatharya Um states, “The numerical minority position of the Pol Pot faction accounts for their beleaguered mindset, the paranoia and clandestine nature of their policy initiatives and the violence in their implementation, as the regime ruthlessly proceeded to 'crush' all 'enemies’ within.” Despite their failure to win over the citizens’ favor, the Khmer Rouge gained power through brute force by “recruiting” villagers through violent means.
A TIME magazine journalist in Cambodia during the 1970s reinforces Um’s sentiment by stating, “Because efforts to create a popular ‘Sihanouk Army’ through persuasion have got[ten] nowhere, the Communists are increasingly turning to terror—collecting ‘taxes’ and conscripting young villagers as porters under threat of death” (Ten Days). As the Khmer Rouge began growing in number, they slowly started to chip away at Lon Nol’s power and authority by taking over Cambodia one town at a time, crushing Lon Nol’s defense in the process.
Events in Vietnam kept the US preoccupied, thereby destroying Lon Nol’s last hope. On August 15th of 1973, the United States halted air support, and pulled out of Cambodia entirely. At this point, it was almost “difficult to imagine that the draft or anything else can save the city from ultimate collapse. It is much easier to imagine Lon Nol's forces breaking and running after the U.S. bombing ends with the insurgents then marching into the city with little opposition” (Hillenbrand). Once the bombing did end, the Khmer Rouge took control of Phnom Penh and therefore Cambodia in as little as two years. Only hours after the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh, some 3 million refugees were evicted from the city and forced to march towards rural areas of Cambodia to begin farm work, at which point the genocide began.
Alexander Hinton argues that the Cambodian Genocide was predestined due to Cambodian culture. In his argument, Hinton refers to the karsångsoek model as the link to Cambodia’s downfall. “In contrast to a biblical conception of revenge that is premised on the talion principle “an eye for an eye,” the Cambodian model of disproportionate revenge involves disproportionate retaliation against one’s enemy, what I call ‘a head for an eye.’” In summary, Hinton describes karsångsoek as a platform for genocide.
Cambodians make rational and controlled decisions the same as any other nationality, and Hinton makes the point that such decisions are internalized. He also states that the karsångsoek model is not a determining characteristic of Cambodian culture. As with any culture, however, socioeconomic situations control human behavior and action. “Within an appropriate historical and sociocultural context, those who articulate genocidal ideologies often use these highly salient cultural models to motivate individuals to commit violent atrocities.” After the Khmer Rouge defeated Lon Nol and won the civil war, Pol Pot motivated them to carry out his plan with thoroughness, and “cleanse” Cambodia of all beings with the potential to counteract the new socialist government.
Hinton’s suggestion that the culture of Cambodia allowed for genocide is a contested argument due to the controversy surrounding a culture being responsible for genocide; nonetheless, it is something to consider in the case of Cambodia. Other academics dispute Hinton’s claim and believe that several actions could have been taken to prevent the genocide from occurring, beginning with Pol Pot’s classification of the “old” and “new” people. Gregory H. Stanton, the founder of Genocidewatch.org, framed the 8 stages of genocide model that identifies and provides recommendations for how to prevent each stage that leads up to genocide.
Stanton has identified the stages as follows:
1. Classification-Separating groups into “us” and “them.” Pol Pot completed this step by classifying the Cambodians as old or new people; the old people represented agricultural laborers, and the new people represented the urban population, whom Pol Pot was attempting to convert into old people. Pol Pot also marginalized religious and minority groups, banning the practice of any cultural tradition, including speaking their native language. In particular, Cham Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians were discriminated against, and became targets for extermination. At this point, Stanton calls for the implementation of institutions that can be used to transcend classifications and differences between the opposing groups.
2. Symbolization-Applies symbols to the classifications. The Khmer Rouge considered Vietnam, which was governed by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, an enemy. Because Eastern Cambodia bordered Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge considered the easterners “Khmer bodies, but Vietnamese heads” (Blue Scarves and Yellow Stars). All easterners were then issued blue and white checked scarves, which were different from the colored scarves workers from other regions had been issued. The civilians with the blue scarves were then murdered in mass. Stanton compares the blue scarves to the yellow stars from Hitler’s Holocaust. In order to prevent this stage of genocide and any progression past this point, Stanton recommends the outlawing of hate symbols.
3. Dehumanization-To deny the humanity of another group. In a speech Pol Pot delivered to the Khmer Rouge, he stated, “We search for the microbes within the Party without success…they will be pushed out by the true nature of the socialist revolution” (Mueller). Stanton claims that dehumanization makes it easier to kill a person because they are not seen as human, but rather an inferior being. Hate speech should be condemned to prevent dehumanization.
4. Organization-Organizing an armed militia with the intent to kill. Due to the secretive nature of the Khmer Rouge, there is little evidence to support the Khmer Rouge wrote plans to kill, but the Constitution written for Democratic Kampuchea states that, “Dangerous activities in opposition to the people’s state must be condemned to the highest degree” (Mueller). At this point in the genocidal process, an outside force, such as the U.N., should “impose arms embargoes on governments and citizens of countries involved in genocidal massacres, and create commissions to investigate violations” (Stanton, Genocide Watch).
5. Polarization-Groups are driven apart. Pol Pot drove the new and old people apart by telling the old people that the new people were living off of the efforts of the old people. To prevent this stage, Stanton recommends providing security to the oppressed group’s leaders, or aiding human rights groups that are working to prevent polarization and other stages of genocide.
6. Preparation-Victims are identified and separated due to identity. At the Tuol Slang extermination prison, nearly 14,000 people were interrogated, tortured, and killed by the Khmer Rouge. First, they were photographed and assigned a number, much like the Jews in the Holocaust. They were then tortured until they admitted to being an enemy of the state as well as an animal and not human (another example of dehumanization), at which point they were executed. At this point, a Genocide Emergency must be declared and some sort of foreign militia must be mobilized.
7. Extermination-The act of committing genocide. If a civilian complained about the work or rations they were forced to endure, they were taken to the killing fields, where they were bludgeoned with iron bars or hoes, buried alive, or shot. Because of the mass graves, it is uncertain how many were killed, but it is predicted that around 1.7 million, or more than 20% of the entire Cambodian population, fell victim to the genocide. Once extermination has occurred, the UN Security Council must act immediately and enable foreign powers to intervene.
8. Denial-The perpetrators deny having committed any crimes. This stage was not evident in the specific case of the Cambodian Genocide, as the end of the genocide was a result of the Vietnamese overthrowing Pol Pot, who then fled to Thailand in exile. The most that can be done at this stage is to try the perpetrators in an international tribune.
When taking into account these points, Stanton argues that the Cambodian Genocide was not only preventable, but also that the acts could have been stopped at several different points.
Findings
Several different factors within both Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge regime lead up to the Cambodian Genocide. Political conflict had had an ongoing presence in Cambodia since Lon Nol led a coup d’état against Prince Sihanouk, who had held power in Cambodia since 1953. Once Lon Nol gained power, the Viet Cong were constantly raiding and pillaging the borders of Cambodia, making it hard for him to gain political favor.
Sihanouk and the Khmer Rouge were trying to take back Cambodia, and in less than three years, became a serious threat to Lon Nol’s security. The Khmer Rouge took advantage of the social unrest in Cambodia at the time, which lead to their eventual success. The civilians were desperate for the civil war to end, so they welcomed the regime into Phnom Penh with relief, and within hours were wishing for the return of Lon Nol. Nobody was there to stop the Khmer Rouge from evacuating the city; there was no civilian militia, and the remains of the Cambodian Army had been struck down. The Khmer Rouge were an incessant force within Cambodia.
Sihanouk was used for his resources, but was essentially Pol Pot’s puppet during the Khmer Rouge’s rise to power, as Sihanouk played no major role in Khmer Rouge operations once Phnom Penh was taken. As soon as the Khmer Rouge gained power, Pol Pot, understanding the international controversy surrounding his own ideologies, was careful to keep his operations a secret. Much like Stalin, Pol Pot executed anybody accused of being an enemy of the state; some for sending information regarding the Khmer Rouge out of Cambodia, others simply for being too intelligent for the system. One of the Khmer Rouge’s common beliefs was that secrecy was the best way to control the population (POV).
The Khmer Rouge executed their plan to convert Cambodia to an agrarian society in total secrecy, so as to prevent the possibility of any foreign power stopping them. They carried out their plan mercilessly, and in less than four years exterminated nearly one quarter of the nation’s population.
Conclusions
Although Stanton laid out several ways in which the genocide could have been prevented, the model does not take into account the care the Khmer Rouge took to keep their methodologies unknown to the outside world.
Once the US stopped air support, Cambodia was left with no foreign powers able to immediately prevent them from executing their plan to implement a Maoist society. This sort of communism employed the doctrine that Cambodia would have nothing to do with currency, personal property, or the outside world. After taking themselves off of the international radar, the Khmer Rouge established an exclusive society with which they had full reign to apply Maoism.
Throughout Stanton’s first six stages in relation to the Cambodian Genocide, no foreign intervention occurred because the Khmer Rouge were so secretive and secluded from the outside world. Because the Khmer Rouge had closed down embassies and expelled foreigners, nobody knew about the evacuation of Phnom Penh, and foreign powers were therefore unaware of the classification of new and old people, symbolization of the easterners, and every other stage identified by Stanton (including preparation and organization for the extermination). By the time details leaked to foreign countries, the Tuol Slang prison was already in full operation, and people by the thousands were dying due to starvation, disease, and exhaustion. In his effort to construct an agrarian nation, Pol Pot executed intellectuals, elderly, children, Muslims, Vietnamese, and anybody opposed to the system. Pol Pot then worked and starved a sizable portion of what remained of Cambodian society to death.
Cambodia was not seen as an immediate threat because the US had been preoccupied with Vietnam, and therefore no US intervention occurred. If a United States enemy today were to stop all communication with the outside world, the US would constantly and carefully survey that country. For example, North Korea and Iran are currently being thoroughly monitored by the US because one has made threats to launch offensive missiles, and the other is suspected of developing nuclear arms, respectively. Because the Khmer Rouge did not pose a threat to the United States, and were keeping mostly to themselves, the United States instead focused on the happenings in Vietnam.
Had international forces been monitoring the happenings in Cambodia with due diligence, the evacuation of Phnom Penh would have triggered a red flag immediately. This was not the case, however, so the Khmer Rouge were able to carry out their plans for four years without opposition. The Vietnamese, the Khmer Rouge’s long time enemies due to ethnic hostility, finally ended Pol Pot’s rein of terror. After Pol Pot completely obliterated Cambodia’s infrastructure, the Vietnamese were able to move in and take control in a matter of weeks. Pol Pot and the rest of the Khmer Rouge fled out of the country, and the Vietnamese established the People’s Republic of Kampuchea.
Had there been efforts to look under Cambodia’s shroud, the genocide could have been stopped long before extermination began. The truth of the matter is, unfortunately, that nobody looked until it was too late. As a result, an entire population was exterminated as the rest of the world lived in convenient ignorance of the Cambodian Genocide.
Bibliography
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The Cambodian Genocide shattered a nation by exterminating more than 20% of the population, making it the most devastating genocide per capita in history. Genocide is the organized killing of one or several groups, whom are often targeted due to their religion or race. Several genocides occurred in the 20th century alone, resulting in the massacre of an innumerable amount of people. In the 1970s, Cambodia’s population decreased by nearly 2 million lives as a direct result of the actions of a communist organization known as the Khmer Rouge (POV).
Genocide is possible to prevent. Certain events, such as the Rwandan Genocide, could have been stopped immediately by foreign intervention. Other genocides occurred during chaotic times and under specific circumstances, however, and would have been difficult to stop, including the Cambodian Genocide. It is hard to believe that such a heinous crime went on for four years without consequence or intervention, but preluding conditions in Cambodia made the genocide all too possible. Although foreign powers could have intervened to stop the genocide, internal conditions within both Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge made prevention unlikely.
Historical Context
Throughout the early 1970s, the United States considered communist ideals in the Indochina region an immediate threat. During this period, the US was fighting the Vietnam War, and an increased popularity in communism meant a threat towards capitalism. In March of 1970, US-backed General Lon Nol overthrew Prince Norodom Sihanouk in a coup d’état and promptly established a republican government. The US supported Lon Nol to establish a republic government and decrease the popularity of communism throughout Indochina.
While in exile, Sihanouk formed the Khmer Rouge in an effort to retaliate against General Nol and gain power once again. The Khmer Rouge slowly started to gain power through force. Their methods included enlisting villagers living on the outer edges of Cambodia under threat of death, and slowly applying their increased numbers in order to take control of several towns and cities.
Once events in Vietnam began to escalate, the US withdrew air support from Cambodia, leaving a country in the midst of a civil war to fend for itself. The civil war between the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian Army, which lasted four years, had taken a toll on Cambodian civilians. Evacuees looking to seek refuge from the constant violence filled Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. The Khmer Rouge drew in closer to Phnom Penh, and Lon Nol’s defeat became imminent. The Khmer Rouge “seemed disciplined. And at first, there was general jubilation among the city's terrified, exhausted and bewildered inhabitants…then came the shock. After a few hours, the black-uniformed troops began firing into the air. It was a signal for Phnom Penh's entire population, swollen by refugees to some 3 million, to abandon the city” (Aikman). The civil war had been the beginning of the end for Cambodia, and the worst was to come.
Pol Pot, a communist revolutionary, dictator, and leader of the Khmer Rouge, immediately implemented communist principles that he had studied in Paris, concentrating on a communist model developed by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong. Maoism identified agrarian peasantry as the “key revolutionary force, which can fundamentally transform capitalist society towards socialism” (Maoism). As opposed to Marxism, Maoism identifies the agrarian population as the pivotal point for change, whereas Marxism utilizes the working class. As previously stated, the Cambodian Genocide was classified as one of the most devastating genocides in history. Mao Zedong, in his governance of China, starved around 45,000,000 farmers to death, placing him at the top of the list (Colvin). The fact that Pol Pot applied Maoist principles to the governance of Cambodia, including genocidal ideologies, must be emphasized in order to accurately the depict the horrors of the Cambodian Genocide.
The renowned killing fields, Tuol Slang Prison, and the Cambodian Genocide began with the implementation of this Maoist government. Tuol Slang Prison, code-named S-21, was used to “cleanse” Cambodia of all perceived enemies. The prison was utilized as a means to make these “enemies,” under pain of torture, to admit to crimes they were told they had committed. Only seven of the 14,000 incarcerated men, women, and children emerged alive (Chandler).
The killing fields tell the same tragic story. Frequently compared to the Nazi Holocaust, specific groups in Cambodia were targeted for extermination: Cham Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Vietnamese, and educated persons. It is estimated that 1.7 million Cambodians were executed in the killing fields alone (Calleja). The amount of civilians who died due to starvation and disease cannot be accounted for, but based on the number of bodies found in mass graves, it can be stated that the Cambodian Genocide holds the record for the most fatal genocide per capita.
Summary of Past Research
When considering the political unrest in Cambodia throughout the early 1970s, before the Khmer Rouge gained power, some academics believe that the genocide was set into motion as soon as Lon Nol began to lose power.
During the early 1970s there were so few Khmer Rouge soldiers in comparison to Lon Nol’s Cambodian Army that at first the Khmer Rouge made efforts to attract the rural villagers living on the borders of Cambodia to support the communist effort. In his efforts to return to Cambodia, however, Sihanouk had attempted to team up with the Viet Cong, an organization responsible for murdering numerous Cambodian civilians. As a result of Sihanouk’s political alliances, efforts to gain popularity were not especially successful. As UC Berkeley ethnic studies professor Khatharya Um states, “The numerical minority position of the Pol Pot faction accounts for their beleaguered mindset, the paranoia and clandestine nature of their policy initiatives and the violence in their implementation, as the regime ruthlessly proceeded to 'crush' all 'enemies’ within.” Despite their failure to win over the citizens’ favor, the Khmer Rouge gained power through brute force by “recruiting” villagers through violent means.
A TIME magazine journalist in Cambodia during the 1970s reinforces Um’s sentiment by stating, “Because efforts to create a popular ‘Sihanouk Army’ through persuasion have got[ten] nowhere, the Communists are increasingly turning to terror—collecting ‘taxes’ and conscripting young villagers as porters under threat of death” (Ten Days). As the Khmer Rouge began growing in number, they slowly started to chip away at Lon Nol’s power and authority by taking over Cambodia one town at a time, crushing Lon Nol’s defense in the process.
Events in Vietnam kept the US preoccupied, thereby destroying Lon Nol’s last hope. On August 15th of 1973, the United States halted air support, and pulled out of Cambodia entirely. At this point, it was almost “difficult to imagine that the draft or anything else can save the city from ultimate collapse. It is much easier to imagine Lon Nol's forces breaking and running after the U.S. bombing ends with the insurgents then marching into the city with little opposition” (Hillenbrand). Once the bombing did end, the Khmer Rouge took control of Phnom Penh and therefore Cambodia in as little as two years. Only hours after the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh, some 3 million refugees were evicted from the city and forced to march towards rural areas of Cambodia to begin farm work, at which point the genocide began.
Alexander Hinton argues that the Cambodian Genocide was predestined due to Cambodian culture. In his argument, Hinton refers to the karsångsoek model as the link to Cambodia’s downfall. “In contrast to a biblical conception of revenge that is premised on the talion principle “an eye for an eye,” the Cambodian model of disproportionate revenge involves disproportionate retaliation against one’s enemy, what I call ‘a head for an eye.’” In summary, Hinton describes karsångsoek as a platform for genocide.
Cambodians make rational and controlled decisions the same as any other nationality, and Hinton makes the point that such decisions are internalized. He also states that the karsångsoek model is not a determining characteristic of Cambodian culture. As with any culture, however, socioeconomic situations control human behavior and action. “Within an appropriate historical and sociocultural context, those who articulate genocidal ideologies often use these highly salient cultural models to motivate individuals to commit violent atrocities.” After the Khmer Rouge defeated Lon Nol and won the civil war, Pol Pot motivated them to carry out his plan with thoroughness, and “cleanse” Cambodia of all beings with the potential to counteract the new socialist government.
Hinton’s suggestion that the culture of Cambodia allowed for genocide is a contested argument due to the controversy surrounding a culture being responsible for genocide; nonetheless, it is something to consider in the case of Cambodia. Other academics dispute Hinton’s claim and believe that several actions could have been taken to prevent the genocide from occurring, beginning with Pol Pot’s classification of the “old” and “new” people. Gregory H. Stanton, the founder of Genocidewatch.org, framed the 8 stages of genocide model that identifies and provides recommendations for how to prevent each stage that leads up to genocide.
Stanton has identified the stages as follows:
1. Classification-Separating groups into “us” and “them.” Pol Pot completed this step by classifying the Cambodians as old or new people; the old people represented agricultural laborers, and the new people represented the urban population, whom Pol Pot was attempting to convert into old people. Pol Pot also marginalized religious and minority groups, banning the practice of any cultural tradition, including speaking their native language. In particular, Cham Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians were discriminated against, and became targets for extermination. At this point, Stanton calls for the implementation of institutions that can be used to transcend classifications and differences between the opposing groups.
2. Symbolization-Applies symbols to the classifications. The Khmer Rouge considered Vietnam, which was governed by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, an enemy. Because Eastern Cambodia bordered Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge considered the easterners “Khmer bodies, but Vietnamese heads” (Blue Scarves and Yellow Stars). All easterners were then issued blue and white checked scarves, which were different from the colored scarves workers from other regions had been issued. The civilians with the blue scarves were then murdered in mass. Stanton compares the blue scarves to the yellow stars from Hitler’s Holocaust. In order to prevent this stage of genocide and any progression past this point, Stanton recommends the outlawing of hate symbols.
3. Dehumanization-To deny the humanity of another group. In a speech Pol Pot delivered to the Khmer Rouge, he stated, “We search for the microbes within the Party without success…they will be pushed out by the true nature of the socialist revolution” (Mueller). Stanton claims that dehumanization makes it easier to kill a person because they are not seen as human, but rather an inferior being. Hate speech should be condemned to prevent dehumanization.
4. Organization-Organizing an armed militia with the intent to kill. Due to the secretive nature of the Khmer Rouge, there is little evidence to support the Khmer Rouge wrote plans to kill, but the Constitution written for Democratic Kampuchea states that, “Dangerous activities in opposition to the people’s state must be condemned to the highest degree” (Mueller). At this point in the genocidal process, an outside force, such as the U.N., should “impose arms embargoes on governments and citizens of countries involved in genocidal massacres, and create commissions to investigate violations” (Stanton, Genocide Watch).
5. Polarization-Groups are driven apart. Pol Pot drove the new and old people apart by telling the old people that the new people were living off of the efforts of the old people. To prevent this stage, Stanton recommends providing security to the oppressed group’s leaders, or aiding human rights groups that are working to prevent polarization and other stages of genocide.
6. Preparation-Victims are identified and separated due to identity. At the Tuol Slang extermination prison, nearly 14,000 people were interrogated, tortured, and killed by the Khmer Rouge. First, they were photographed and assigned a number, much like the Jews in the Holocaust. They were then tortured until they admitted to being an enemy of the state as well as an animal and not human (another example of dehumanization), at which point they were executed. At this point, a Genocide Emergency must be declared and some sort of foreign militia must be mobilized.
7. Extermination-The act of committing genocide. If a civilian complained about the work or rations they were forced to endure, they were taken to the killing fields, where they were bludgeoned with iron bars or hoes, buried alive, or shot. Because of the mass graves, it is uncertain how many were killed, but it is predicted that around 1.7 million, or more than 20% of the entire Cambodian population, fell victim to the genocide. Once extermination has occurred, the UN Security Council must act immediately and enable foreign powers to intervene.
8. Denial-The perpetrators deny having committed any crimes. This stage was not evident in the specific case of the Cambodian Genocide, as the end of the genocide was a result of the Vietnamese overthrowing Pol Pot, who then fled to Thailand in exile. The most that can be done at this stage is to try the perpetrators in an international tribune.
When taking into account these points, Stanton argues that the Cambodian Genocide was not only preventable, but also that the acts could have been stopped at several different points.
Findings
Several different factors within both Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge regime lead up to the Cambodian Genocide. Political conflict had had an ongoing presence in Cambodia since Lon Nol led a coup d’état against Prince Sihanouk, who had held power in Cambodia since 1953. Once Lon Nol gained power, the Viet Cong were constantly raiding and pillaging the borders of Cambodia, making it hard for him to gain political favor.
Sihanouk and the Khmer Rouge were trying to take back Cambodia, and in less than three years, became a serious threat to Lon Nol’s security. The Khmer Rouge took advantage of the social unrest in Cambodia at the time, which lead to their eventual success. The civilians were desperate for the civil war to end, so they welcomed the regime into Phnom Penh with relief, and within hours were wishing for the return of Lon Nol. Nobody was there to stop the Khmer Rouge from evacuating the city; there was no civilian militia, and the remains of the Cambodian Army had been struck down. The Khmer Rouge were an incessant force within Cambodia.
Sihanouk was used for his resources, but was essentially Pol Pot’s puppet during the Khmer Rouge’s rise to power, as Sihanouk played no major role in Khmer Rouge operations once Phnom Penh was taken. As soon as the Khmer Rouge gained power, Pol Pot, understanding the international controversy surrounding his own ideologies, was careful to keep his operations a secret. Much like Stalin, Pol Pot executed anybody accused of being an enemy of the state; some for sending information regarding the Khmer Rouge out of Cambodia, others simply for being too intelligent for the system. One of the Khmer Rouge’s common beliefs was that secrecy was the best way to control the population (POV).
The Khmer Rouge executed their plan to convert Cambodia to an agrarian society in total secrecy, so as to prevent the possibility of any foreign power stopping them. They carried out their plan mercilessly, and in less than four years exterminated nearly one quarter of the nation’s population.
Conclusions
Although Stanton laid out several ways in which the genocide could have been prevented, the model does not take into account the care the Khmer Rouge took to keep their methodologies unknown to the outside world.
Once the US stopped air support, Cambodia was left with no foreign powers able to immediately prevent them from executing their plan to implement a Maoist society. This sort of communism employed the doctrine that Cambodia would have nothing to do with currency, personal property, or the outside world. After taking themselves off of the international radar, the Khmer Rouge established an exclusive society with which they had full reign to apply Maoism.
Throughout Stanton’s first six stages in relation to the Cambodian Genocide, no foreign intervention occurred because the Khmer Rouge were so secretive and secluded from the outside world. Because the Khmer Rouge had closed down embassies and expelled foreigners, nobody knew about the evacuation of Phnom Penh, and foreign powers were therefore unaware of the classification of new and old people, symbolization of the easterners, and every other stage identified by Stanton (including preparation and organization for the extermination). By the time details leaked to foreign countries, the Tuol Slang prison was already in full operation, and people by the thousands were dying due to starvation, disease, and exhaustion. In his effort to construct an agrarian nation, Pol Pot executed intellectuals, elderly, children, Muslims, Vietnamese, and anybody opposed to the system. Pol Pot then worked and starved a sizable portion of what remained of Cambodian society to death.
Cambodia was not seen as an immediate threat because the US had been preoccupied with Vietnam, and therefore no US intervention occurred. If a United States enemy today were to stop all communication with the outside world, the US would constantly and carefully survey that country. For example, North Korea and Iran are currently being thoroughly monitored by the US because one has made threats to launch offensive missiles, and the other is suspected of developing nuclear arms, respectively. Because the Khmer Rouge did not pose a threat to the United States, and were keeping mostly to themselves, the United States instead focused on the happenings in Vietnam.
Had international forces been monitoring the happenings in Cambodia with due diligence, the evacuation of Phnom Penh would have triggered a red flag immediately. This was not the case, however, so the Khmer Rouge were able to carry out their plans for four years without opposition. The Vietnamese, the Khmer Rouge’s long time enemies due to ethnic hostility, finally ended Pol Pot’s rein of terror. After Pol Pot completely obliterated Cambodia’s infrastructure, the Vietnamese were able to move in and take control in a matter of weeks. Pol Pot and the rest of the Khmer Rouge fled out of the country, and the Vietnamese established the People’s Republic of Kampuchea.
Had there been efforts to look under Cambodia’s shroud, the genocide could have been stopped long before extermination began. The truth of the matter is, unfortunately, that nobody looked until it was too late. As a result, an entire population was exterminated as the rest of the world lived in convenient ignorance of the Cambodian Genocide.
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