A history lesson

Royal palace

Cambodia is worlds apart from my home. I have no personal connections to this country; I chose to come here purely randomly.

I was never much of a history fan but I do try to find out the basic historical facts about each country that I visit to give it more context. So I’ve picked up a few facts about Cambodian history. Everything revolves around the period of Khmer Rouge regime during 1975 – 1979, the genocide, and the civil wars that followed.

We visited the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) to observe the Khmer Rouge trials which are currently in progress. The court was established in cooperation with the United Nations specifically to try the most responsible individuals of the Khmer Rouge for their crimes against humanity.

The defendant who was on trial the day we visited the court is 86 years old. He asked to be excused from the proceedings that day because he was ill. The judge allowed him to stay in his cell and participate via audio link. His answers to questions from both the prosecution and the defense counsel were all along the lines of “I don’t remember”. I thought it was meaningless to pry information out of a frail old man who appears not to remember anything. Or doesn't want to remember. But the trials are very important to the Cambodian people. I saw many old, gray haired people in the audience who must have experienced the terrors of the Khmer Rouge first hand. The trials will bring them closure.

Bones in the memorial stupa at Choeung Ek

We also visited the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, a memorial site where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime. The skulls from the human remains that were dug out of the mass graves are on display in a glass memorial stupa.

A monk beside a temple adorned with Sihanouk's photo

A prominent figure in Cambodian history is former king Norodom Sihanouk who died recently, on October 15. He held various offices during his reign, in fact, according to the Wikipedia, "he held so many positions since 1941 that the Guinness Book of World Records identifies him as the politician who has served the world's greatest variety of political offices".

The mourning period is three months following his death. During this time his body is at the Royal Palace where a steady stream of mourners come to pay their respects every day. Numerous temples and public places are adorned with his photograph. A monk at one of the temples I visited proudly indicated his photograph and described him as “This is my king”.