With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

'Killing fields' victims await Khmer Rouge trial

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Survivors of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime held a remembrance ceremony in an infamous "killing field" Sunday, a day before a U.N.-backed tribunal begins a trial for three of the accused architects of some of the 20th century's worst atrocities.

Relatives of the victims wept as they chanted and burned incense near a glass case filled with skulls at the Choeung Ek Genocide Center on Sunday. The memorial stands in a field where the Khmer Rouge executed people during their 1975-79 rule that left nearly 2 million people dead.

The emotional ceremony was held to allow Cambodians an opportunity to share their concerns and remember loved ones ahead of the trials of three of the Khmer Rouge's surviving inner circle — all now in their 80s — on charges including crimes against humanity, genocide and torture....

Read entire article at AP