Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Background

People In Cambodia

Most of the people who live in Cambodia are ethnic Cambodian, averaging between 90-95% of the total population making Cambodia the most homogenous country in South-East Asia.

Vietnamese make up the largest minority group with about five percent of the population and Chinese make up another one percent. With one of the highest population growth rates in Asia (2.5% per year), Cambodia had a population of a little over 11million in 1998.
Due to the Khmer Rouge rule during which residents were forced to move out of the cities, most of the population lives in rural areas, with only about a tenth living in urban areas.


The Demographics Of Cambodia

Cambodia is ethnically homogeneous(all people of different ethnic are quite similar to each other). More than 90% of its population is of Khmer origin and speaks the Khmer language, the country's official language. The remainder include Chinese, Vietnamese, Cham, Khmer Loeu, and Indians. Cambodian French, a remnant of the country's colonial past, is a dialect found in Cambodia and is frequently used in government.

The dominant religion Theravada Buddhism was suppressed by the Khmer Rouge but has since experienced a revival. Islam (5%) and Christianity (2%) are also practiced.

Civil war and its aftermath have had a marked effect on the Cambodian population. In the Cambodian population over 65, the female to male ratio is 1.6:1.UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund provides long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries.) has designated Cambodia the third most mined country in the world, attributing over 60,000 civilian deaths and thousands more maimed or injured since 1970 to the unexploded landmines left behind in rural areas. The majority of the victims are children herding animals or playing in the fields. Adults that survive landmines often require amputation of one or more limbs and have to resort to begging for survival. In 2006, the number of landmines casualties in Cambodia took a sharp decrease of more than 50% compared to 2005, with the number of landmines victims down from 800 in 2005 to less than 400 in 2006.

*Demographics- the statistical data of a population, esp. those showing average age, income, education, etc.

Map Of Cambodia.





Crickets are their snacks!



Dead Bodies All Scattered

Monument in reminder of the civil war for the dead at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park



Background Of War

During 1960, Prince Norodom Sihanouk's policies protected his nation from the turmoil that engulfed Laos and RVN.On 3 May 1965, The Prince broke relations with the U.S., and turned to the PRC and the Soviet Union to make up for it. By 1960, the Prince's domestic and foreign policy balancing act was beginning to go awry. In 1966, there was an agreement between the prince and the Chinese, allowing the presence of large-scale People's Army of Vietnam and NLF troop deployments and logistical bases in the eastern border regions.
Meeting in Beijing: (from left)
Mao Zedong , Prince Sihanouk , and Le Duc Tho
The Prince believed that the PRC, would control the Indochinese Peninsula and that our interests are best served by dealing with the camp that one day will govern the whole of Asia.However, he allowed his pro-American Minister of Defense, General Lon Nol to crack down on leftist activities. He then faced failure as not many people supported him.On 11 September, Cambodia held its first open election.The conservatives won 75 percent of the seats in the National Assembly. Lon Nol was chosen by the right as prime minister and, Sirik Matak, his deputy.
Revolt in Battambang
The prince was in a political dilemma. One of Lon Nol's first priorities was to fix the economy by stopping the illegal sale of rice to the communists. Soldiers were dispatched to the rice-growing areas to forcably collect the harvests at gunpoint, and they paid only the low government price. There was wide-spread unrest, in where the communists still had some influence.
General Lon Nol
11 March 1967, a rebellion broke out in the area around Samlaut in Battambang. With encouragement of local communist cadres, the insurrection quickly spread throughout the whole region. Lon Nol responded by declaring martial law. Hundreds of peasants were killed and whole villages were laid waste during the repression. After returning home in March, Sihanouk abandoned his position and personally ordered the arrest of Khieu Samphan, Hou Yuon, and Hu Nim, the leaders of the "countergovernment", all of whom escaped into the northeast. Lon Nol was forced to resign, the prince named new leftists to the government to balance the conservatives.
Communist regroupment
While the 1967 insurgency had been unplanned, the Khmer Rouge tried, without much success, to organize a more serious revolt during the following year. They led their followers into the highlands of the northeast and into the lands of the Khmer Loeu, a primitive people who were hostile to both the lowland Khmers and the central government. For the Khmer Rouge, who still lacked assistance from the DRV, it was a period of regroupment, organization, and training. Hanoi basically ignored its Chinese-sponsored allies, and the indifference of their "fraternal comrades" to their insurgency from 1967 to 1969 would make an indelible impression on the Khmer Rouge leadership.
Pol Pot : commander of Khmer Rouge forces

17 January 1968, the Khmer Rouge launched their first offensive. It was aimed more at gathering weapons and spreading propaganda than in seizing territory since, at that time, the adherents of the insurgency numbered no more than 5,000. During the same month, the communists established the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea as the military wing of the party. The prince earlier agreement with the Chinese had availed him nothing. They had not only failed to restrain the DRV, but they had actually involved themselves in active subversion within his country.At the suggestion of Lon Nol and other conservative politicians, on 11 May 1969, the prince welcomed the restoration of normal diplomatic relations with the U.S. and created a new Government of National Salvation with Lon Nol as his prime minister. He did so in order to play a new card, since the Asian communists are already attacking us before the end of the Vietnam War.The Americans took advantage of this same opportunity to solve some of their own problems in Southeast Asia.

Cambodia—Civil War of 1970–1975


Nature Of Conflict

On 18 March 1970. Prince Sihanouk came to visit the Soviet Union, the national assembly voted to remove Sihanouk as head of state. Lon Nol who was the prime minister wants to take over and take control of Cambodia. The new government highlighted that the transfer of power had been totally legal and constitutional and it received the recognition of most foreign governments. Lon Nol who has been leading the coup against Sihanouk was his erstwhile ally and continuously took control of the government. Within days, political chaos begin to start in Cambodia, a civil war erupted. The next five years Khmer Rouge, a communist party that ruled Cambodia, took control of Cambodia and began its reign of terror. The peaceful Cambodian countryside became a battlefield. Period of stark divisions, between rural and urban Cambodians, between politicians and their constituents, between the beneficiaries of massive corruption and its victims, and between the richest and poorest members of Cambodian society. It is like tearing apart the country into many different societies. Khmer Rouge and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front are against the government forces of Cambodia. The Khmer Republic was supported by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam. The central governments were assisted by the application of massive U.S. aerial bombing campaigns and direct material and financial add. All this actually concluded that U.S is actually supporting this war in Cambodia and “Adds more salt to the wound”. After five years of savage fighting, blood sheds, massive casualties, the destruction of its economy not forgetting the starvation of its population finally Khmer Rouge emerged victorious winners. This conflict affects the neighbouring Kingdom of Laos, the republic of Vietnam and the democratic republic of Vietnam.

Reasons For Conflict

(1)

Most middle-class and educated Khmers in Phnom Penh were dissatisfied with Sihanouk which rule Cambodia using concept of Monarchy. Apparently they welcome Khmer Republic.
However Sihanouk was still popular among the peasants and villagers

(2)

The peasants are motivated by loyalty to the monarchy. But when Lon Nol gets rid of the monarchy reinforced Cambodia as the Khmer Republic. The peasants are used to the concept or monarchy but when the concept of Republic was formed it was not popular among most villagers.

(3)

The fall of Sihanouk and the change of new government.

(4)

The capture of Cambodian Capital by Khmer Rouge

(5)

Cambodian communists refused to take part in the Paris peace talks.


Efforts To Resolve

(1)

On 1 April 1975, President Lon Nol resignes and left the country. Lon Nol was the one who chased out Sihanouk out of Cambodia. With Lon Nol leaving the country hoping the war would stop.

(2)

United States arranged to sign the peace agreement to stop the war and established peace in the country.

(3)

Defeating ofn savage fighting-(massive casualties,destruction of its economy,starvation of its population)by 17 April 1975


(4)

Execution of the seven traitors.

The flag of the republic that is invovled in the war.
Democratic Republic Of Vietnam
Khmer Republic

Khmer Rouge

National Front For the Liberation Of South Vietnam

Republic Of Vietnam
United States
They are the combatants of the Cambodia Civil War.
There are, 250 000 FANK TROUPS
~100,000 to 60,000 KHMER ROUGE TROUPS
These are the strengths.
And during the war there are approximately ~600,000 dead and 1,000,000+
casualties.

Case Studies

CASE STUDY 1

The Loss of Cambodia's Territorial Integrity Part 4 (Cambodian Parliament and its duty)


The Paris Peace Agreement was intended to help the Khmers and protect the supreme interests of the Khmers and Cambodia. The Cambodia is facing right now are to do with the Khmers themselves more than anybody else.
They can be brought under control through skilful diplomacy, international agreements and international court. Thailand's and Vietnam’s political, military and territorial ambitions and greed are also known facts. Again they can also be brought under control through skilful diplomacy, international agreements and international court.
The real issue here is that the (legitimate- the rightful) government of Cambodia of Prime Minister Hun Sen, does not respect the Paris Peace Agreement and its own constitution. They are the worst example to violate the Paris Peace Agreement that serves the supreme interests of their own country to the advantage of Vietnam. Therefore, calling upon the signatories of the Paris Peace Agreement would be of no point. Absurd as it may sound, but it's the sad and most distressing reality of the Khmers and its society that its current leaders have no hesitation or scrupulousness (having or showing a strict regard for what one considers right; principled) to be of service to Vietnam in order to protect and preserve its power base and clique. They were reluctant.There was silence on the part of the former Khmer Rouge leadership in Pail regarding this issue.What do governor of Pail in, Mr. Ea Cheam and his assistant, Mr. Ian Ruth think of all of this and what happened to them, Noun Chean and Khieu Samphan? They were the fierce defenders of Khmer land and invade Vietnam to get back Kampuchea Krom and blamed the Khmer Leaders of not having the courage to do what they did.
Their policies put up on 1970-1975 made Cambodia to become a country not properly govern.Will the Cambodian Parliament endorse this additional convention to the 1985 treaty when it knows that this convention violates every letter and spirit of the Paris Peace Agreement and the Khmer Constitution?The CPP will, for sure, endorse it. The SRP will, for sure, not endorse it. The parliament of Cambodia has legal power to put a stop to all of the problems regards on the additional convention to the 1985 treaty.If they vote to reject this additional convention then it is the end of it. The Khmers do not need other foreigners who care more for their (foreigners) own interests to help solve the Khmers problems. It's time they learn to assume responsibility to take the destiny of their country into their own hands. Foreigners are always foreigners. They will always be foreign to the Khmer interest whatever those interests happen to be. Khieu Kanharith, the minister of information of the Royal Government of Cambodia, said that the whole issue was up to the Parliament of Cambodia to decide and he was right. The Parliament of Cambodia holds an important key to this problem. The members should have been wise enough to demand from their own government of Cambodia a detailed document of the additional treaty. So, they are able to do a thorough study in advance before the voting session of the assembly. Will the members be brave to vote their conscience with respect to the additional convention or will they just follow blindly the voting instructions set by their superiors, who care for themselves than those of their dying nation? Each of them will be paid a salary of about US$2000.00 per month plus other benefits. This is a lot of money in a country where a teacher or university professor makes only a few hundred dollars the most.
Each of the Parliaments member is entrusted with the sacred responsibility to defend at all cost the supreme interests of the Cambodian people and Cambodia, a country each claims, professes, and declares loudly to love. It is absolutely more famous and dignified to lose a seat at the National Assembly by following one's own conscience and go into history as a poor patriot than to continue to sit in the Assembly seat and be condemned for eternity in history. As a kid some long time ago in the Cambodian school, you must have studied Cambodian history in which you felt considerable pain when you got to the part where Cambodia lost her territory to her neighbours and somehow, you thought in your head that you would not be like this person, that person or those persons who committed the act of treason against their own country. The time has come to test each parliamentarian's patriotism and the hope is that each one of them except a few incorrigible ones will vote like a child according to their own conscience. For FUNCINPEC members of the parliament, remember your colleagues who laid down their lives in the fight for the liberation of Cambodia from Vietnamese colonialism, a Cambodia of at least as big as that between 1963 and 1969 as recognized internationally under Sangkum Reastr Niyum. Remember their sacrifices and their ideals. Vote with your conscience and not because your superiors tell you so. FUNCINPEC supporters inside and outside Cambodia can begin to exert pressure on the leaders of the FUNCINPEC party so that they will allow each FUNCIPEC Member of Parliament to vote his/her own conscience with respect to the additional convention to the 1985 treaty. That's it; the Parliament of Cambodia holds the answers to the problems facing Cambodia right now with respect to her territorial integrity. This Parliament can be the saviour or the eventual killer of Cambodia's territorial integrity. History will surely judge the Cambodian Parliament without prejudice.

CASE STUDY 2

FUNK and GRUNK

From Beijing, Sihanouk proclaimed that the government in Phnom Penh was dissolved and his intention to create the Front Uni National du Kampuchea or FUNK (National United Front of Kampuchea). Sihanouk later said "I had chosen not to be with either the Americans or the communists, because I considered that there were two dangers, American imperialism and Asian communism. It was Lon Nol who obliged me to choose between them."

The prince then allied himself with the Khmer Rouge, the DRV, the Laotian Pathet Lao, and the NLF, throwing his personal prestige behind the communists. On 5 May, the actual establishment of FUNK and of the Government Royal d'Union National du Kampuchea or GRUNK (Royal Government of National Union of Kampuchea) was proclaimed. Sihanouk assumed the post of head of state, appointing Penn North, one of his most loyal supporters, as prime minister.

Khieu Samphan was designated deputy prime minister, minister of defense, and commander in chief of the GRUNK armed forces. Hu Nim became minister of information, and Hou Yuon assumed multiple responsibilities as minister of the interior, communal reforms, and cooperatives. GRUNK claimed that it was not a government-in-exile since Khieu Samphan and the insurgents remained inside Cambodia. Sihanouk and his loyalists remained in China, although the prince did make a visit to the "liberated areas" of Cambodia, including Angkor Wat, in March 1973. These visits were used mainly for propaganda purposes and had no real influence on political affairs.

For Sihanouk, this proved to be a short-sighted marriage of convenience that was spurred on by his thirst for revenge against those who had "betrayed" him. For the Khmer Rouge; it was a means to greatly expand the appeal of their movement. Peasants, motivated by loyalty to the monarchy, gradually rallied to the FUNK cause. The personal appeal of Sihanouk, the overall better behavior of the communist troops, and widespread allied aerial bombardment facilitated recruitment. This task was made even easier for the communists after 9 October 1970, when Lon Nol abolished the loosely federalist monarchy and proclaimed the establishment of a centralized Khmer Republic.

CASE STUDY 3

The overthrown of Sihanouk

While Sihanouk was out of the country on a trip to France, anti-Vietnamese rioting took place in Phnom Penh, during which the DRV and NLF embassies were sacked. In the prince's absence, Lon Nol did nothing to stop these activities. On the 12th, the prime minister closed the port of Sihanoukville to the North Vietnamese and issued an impossible ultimatum to them. All PAVN forces and NFL forces were to back out from Cambodian soil within 72 hours, on 15 March or face military action.

When Sihanouk heared of the chaos, he headed for Moscow and Beijing in order to demand that the patrons of PAVN and the NLF exert more control over their clients. On 18 March 1970, Lon Nol requested that the National Assembly vote on the future of the prince's leadership of the nation. Sihanouk was ousted from power by a vote of 92-0.]Hengg Cheng became president of the National Assembly, while Prime Minister Lon Nol was granted emergency powers. Sirik Matak retained his post as deputy prime minister. The new government emphasized that the transfer of power had been totally legal and constitutional, and it received the recognition of most foreign governments. There have been, and continue to be, accusations that the U.S. government played some role in the overthrow of Sihanouk, but conclusive evidence has never been found to support them.

The majority of middle-class and educated Khmers had grown weary of the prince and welcomed the change of government. They were joined by the military, for which the prospect of the return of American military and financial aid was a cause for celebration.] Within days of his deposition, Sihanouk, now in Beijing, broadcast an appeal to the people to resist the usurpers.Demonstrations and riots occurred, but no nationwide groundswell threatened the government. In one incident at Kompong Cham on 29 March, however, an enraged crowd killed Lon Nol's brother, Lon Nil, tore out his liver, and cooked and ate it. An estimated 40,000 peasants then began to march on the capital to demand Sihanouk's re-establish. They were dispersed, with many casualties, by contingents of the armed forces.


Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Latest Development

Since 1990 Cambodia has gradually recovered, demographically and
economically, from the Khmer Rouge regime, although the psychological scars
affect many Cambodian families and communities. Although the current
government teaches about Khmer Rouge atrocities in the schools, Cambodia has
a very young population and by 2005 three-quarters of Cambodians were too
young to remember the Khmer Rouge years. The younger generations would know
the Khmer Rouge only through word-of-mouth from parents and elders.

In 1997, Cambodia established a Khmer Rouge Trial Task Force to create a
legal structure to try the remaining leaders for war crimes and other crimes
against humanity, but progress was slow. The government said that due to the
poor economy and other financial commitments, it could only afford limited
funding for the magistrates. Several countries, including India and Japan,
came forward with extra funds, but by January, 2006, the full balance of
funding was not yet in place.

Nevertheless, the task force began its work and took over two buildings on
the grounds of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) High Command
headquarters in Kandal province just on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. The
magistrates task force expects to spend the rest of 2006 training the judges
and other tribunal members before the actual trial is to take place. In
March 2006 the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan,
nominated seven judges for a trial of the Khmer Rouge leaders.

In May 2006 Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana announced that Cambodia's
highest judicial body approved 30 Cambodian and U.N. judges to preside over
the long-awaited genocide tribunal for surviving Khmer Rouge leaders. The
judges were sworn in early July, with trials expected to start mid-2007.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Results

The signing of peace agreement leads to Sihanouk ending in failure, while Khmer Rouge emerged victorious. The seven traitors(the non-communist,nationalist leaders Sirik Matak, Song Ngoc Thanh, In Tam, Prime minister Long Boret, Cheng Heng who became head of state after Sihanouk's ouster, and Sosthene Fernandez, The FANK commander in chief and Saukham Khow became acting president of a government.) were all to be executed including Lon Nol and his cabinet soon after Khmwer Rouge units entered Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975.