Cambodian monks look at skulls displayed at the Choeung Ek killing fields memorial in Phnom Penh. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge launched a four-year pursuit of a communist utopia leading to the deaths of up to two million people through overwork, starvation and execution. (Photo: AFP)

Reparations unlikely for victims of Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia

Genocide museums and memorials could be used to acknowledge the 20th century's worst killings.

May 25, 2022

Hopes of financial compensation for survivors of Pol Pot’s brutal regime that ruled Cambodia with an iron fist between 1975 and early 1979 are becoming less likely as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal continues to wind down.

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), which was sworn in 16 years ago and charged with prosecuting senior leaders of the regime for unleashing one of the worst mass killings in the 20th century, could secure only three guilty verdicts for crimes against humanity and genocide.

“Compensation could only work with a complete acknowledgement of responsibility,” said Ou Virak, president of the Phnom Penh-based Future Forum think tank. “There are far too many people who remained in power and too many powerful countries that need to be held accountable.”

In full: https://www.ucanews.com/news/reparations-unlikely-for-victims-of-pol-pots-regime-in-cambodia/97369

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