The United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, has added three significant sites related to Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime to its World Heritage list. These locations, which served as sites of torture and execution during the genocide known as “Year Zero,” include two notorious prisons, Tuol Sleng and M-13, and the execution site Choeung Ek. This recognition came during the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge’s rise to power.
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, located in Phnom Penh, was a former high school converted into a notorious prison known as S-21, where approximately 15,000 individuals were detained and subjected to torture. Today, the site stands as a memorial, showcasing the black-and-white mugshots of its victims and the equipment used during the Khmer Rouge’s reign. Choeung Ek, a former Chinese cemetery, served as a notorious “killing field” where prisoners from S-21 were executed. The story of the atrocities committed there is depicted in the 1984 film “The Killing Fields,” based on the experiences of New York Times photojournalist Dith Pran and correspondent Sydney Schanberg.
According to Youk Chhang, executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, “Though they were the landscape of violence, they too will and can contribute to heal the wounds inflicted during that era that have yet to heal.” The UNESCO inscription was Cambodia’s first nomination for a modern and non-classical archaeological site and is among the first in the world to be submitted as a site associated with recent conflict.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet stated, “May this inscription serve as a lasting reminder that peace must always be defended. From the darkest chapters of history, we can draw strength to build a better future for humanity.” In response to the UNESCO listing, Hun Manet directed people to beat drums simultaneously across the country on Sunday morning to mark the occasion.
The Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians through starvation, torture, and mass executions. A special tribunal sponsored by the UN, costing $337 million and working over 16 years, convicted only three key Khmer Rouge figures before ceasing operations in 2022. Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge regime, died in 1998 before he could be brought to trial.
Survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime have expressed deep relief and hope following the UNESCO recognition. Chum Mey, one of the few remaining survivors of the S-21 prison, said, “I am so thrilled. The listing Visitors to the Tuol Sleng Museum continue to walk the halls lined with haunting black-and-white photographs of victims and the grim apparatus of torture, confronting the human cost of unchecked brutality.” Norng Chanphal, who survived S-21 as a child, believes the UNESCO listing offers some justice for his mother’s soul and all the victims, serving as a lesson for the world to prevent such atrocities from happening again.