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The situation in Cambodia is unique in world history.This is to say genocide has occured before, but what people don’t understand is that the entire civil and education system was dismantled overnight,quite literally.One thinks of modern catastrophes such as the famine in Africa as man made,but the arid and technology starved land contributed to man made elements.On april30,1975, over 2 million people, mostly educated and quite westernized for the region, were forced into the streets and marched into labour “reeducation” camps.
When the Khmer Rouge signed the Paris peace accords in 1991, another unusual circumstance occured. In almost every other conflict in the world modern history, the loser was vanquished and the ideology they preached with it. An example is the Nazi party,even the symbol itself, was illeagal in post democratic germany. Mcarthur banned kendo in japan.
But amazingly (to the west) the victorious Sihanouk and prince Norodom did what no other victor has done in modern history…
They forgave.
They tried to heal.
Instead of rounding up KR leaders, they sought a unity gov’t. When I arrived in Sihanoukville in 1991 as part of a UN UNAMIC team, we were expecting the area to be “hot” (dangerous).
What we encountered were polite, genuine human beings who were TIRED.
Atfirst ,we thought that they were weak for not wanting to seek revenge.Then I learned that the KR rounded up the people on 4\30\1975 for the same reason.
Payback.And it never stops.
Peace only comes when all sides stop looking for war.
Several years ago, the primeminister, Hun Sen, pardoned several ex-Khmer Rouge leaders. The west reacted with scorn. It was said Sen postured to the Khmer majority and let war criminals go.Sen stated that what he did was try to avoid a FUTURE war by not humiliating the Khmer. The war was part of the past ,and all the khmer people needed to be absobed into the society,not pushed into the jungle to brood and strike later.
When I think of this ,I remember The Roman Code: always extend the olive branch first,and you might not need the sword.