"Khmer Rouge" was the name given by King Norodom Sihanouk to the communist movement in Cambodia that opposed his leadership in the 1960s, whose official name later became known as the "Communist Party of Kampuchea". On 18 March 1970, due to dissatisfaction with the social and political leadership and the increase in the Vietnamese army in eastern Cambodia, Lieutenant General Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak led a coup d'état to overthrow King Norodom Sihanouk as head of state while he was in Moscow, Soviet Union.
Although the coup received some support from a section of the population, especially Cambodian scholars, the people living in the countryside still respected, loved, and were loyal to King Norodom Sihanouk, and were not happy with the coup. The vast majority of his followers went to the Maki Forest to join the Khmer Rouge movement against the Khmer Republic led by Lon Nol. The Khmer Rouge implemented the idea of a socialist revolution under the leadership of a group of scholars, adhering to Marxism-Leninism as the basis of their vision and all their activities.
The Khmer Rouge movement quickly swept through the countryside and controlled almost the entire country by 1975, with the exception of a few cities and Phnom Penh. On April 17, 1975, the plan to capture Phnom Penh was successfully implemented when the Khmer Rouge took control of the city. At least 2 million people in Phnom Penh were forcibly evacuated to the countryside to weaken the enemy, both internally and externally, prevent the emergence of rebellions, and strengthen cooperation - to empower farmers and workers and destroy capitalists, feudal lords, and the petty bourgeoisie. There were no rich and poor, no exploiters or exploited, all working together to build a nation according to the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea, which came into effect on January 5, 1976.
Starting on April 17, 1975, under the policy of "One Great Leap Forward", the Khmer Rouge continuously changed the leadership of the country from a national democratic revolution to a socialist revolution, returning to communism4. The main policies that were developed and implemented include (1) the frequency of migration from the city to the countryside and vice versa; (2) the creation of cooperatives and work plots; (3) the education of "bad elements" and the belittling of the "enemy"; (4) the clear identification of target groups such as the Thiams, Vietnamese, Buddhists, and former Khmer Republic government officials, including civil servants and former military personnel and their families; and (5) forced marriages. 5.
In early 1976, a four-year plan was urgently established with the goal of achieving an average national efficiency of three tons of rice production on less fertile lands and five tons on fertile lands, and it was expected to increase in the following years. Almost everywhere in the country, people were forced to work more and eat less. 6 The porridge generally contained less rice with water lilies, morning glory, and bananas, and there were only two meals a day, lunch and dinner.
During the Khmer Rouge regime from 17 April 1975 to 6 January 1979, acts such as murder, torture, rape, physical abuse, forced marriages, forced labor, enforced disappearances, discrimination, and other inhumane acts occurred.7 Many experts agree that the best estimates of the number of deaths range from 1,500,000 to 2,000,0008. In 2008, the Documentation Center of Cambodia identified 1,300,000 deaths and 390 mass graves across the country.9 Many people have concluded that the number of deaths and mass graves may be higher, as there are graves that have not yet been found and bodies that have not been buried in the graves.
The Khmer Rouge regime collapsed for several reasons, including the implementation of the Four Year Plan (1977–1980), which weakened the population, internal purges from mid-1976, and the Vietnamese confrontation from 1977. By 7 January 1979, Vietnamese troops and the Khmer National Liberation Front had defeated the Khmer Rouge forces. They captured all of Phnom Penh, while the Khmer Rouge and their leaders retreated to the provinces bordering Thailand to continue the fight. 10.
Man Sokkoun, Executive Director of Youth for Peace (Cambodia).
Literature:
1. Di Hamboli, History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979), Phnom Penh, Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2007, page 19.
2. ECCC, Judgment in Case 002/02, Case/Dossier, No. 002/19-09-2007/ECCC/TC/ 16 November 2018, page 178.
3. ECCC, Judgment in Case 002/02, Case/Dossier, No. 002/19-09-2007/ECCC/TC/ 16 November 2018, pages 213-218.
4. Statute of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, 1976, pages 1-2.
5. ECCC, Judgment in Case 002/01, Case/Dossier, No. 002/19-09-2007/ECCC/TC/ 7 August 2016, pages 86-87.
6. David Chandler, Voices from S-21, translated by Su Boonsoo, Documentation Center of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, 2003, pages 78-81.
7. ECCC, Judgment in Case 002/01, Case/Dossier, No. 002/19-09-2007/ECCC/TC/ 7 August 2016, page 155.
8. ECCC, Judgment in Case 002/01, Case/Dossier, No. 002/19-09-2007/ECCC/TC 7 August 2016, pages 156-157.
9. Di Hamboli, History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979), Phnom Penh, Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2007, page 5.
10. Di Hamboli, History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979), Phnom Penh, Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2007, pages 72-78.