Dates and Causes
Timeline
1975-2011
1975 Communist guerrillas Khmer Rouge capture Phenom Penh
1976 Pol Pot proclaimed head of government
1979 Pol Pot regime overthrown by Vietnam
1981 KhmerRouge and Prince Sihanouk form exiled government
1989 Vietnamese forces leave Cambodia; Khmer Rouge resume fighting
1991 Peace agreement; Sihanouk becomes head of state
1993 Khmer Rouge boycotts elections
1994 Thousands of Khmer Rouge guerrillas surrender in government amnesty
1998 Pol Pot dies in his jungle hideout
2005 Tribunal to try surviving Khmer Rouge leaders gets green light from U.N.
2006 Ta Mok, one of the top Khmer Rouge leaders, dies at age 80
2010 In the tribunal's first case, Kaing Gek Eav was sentenced to 35 years for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other offenses
2011 Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, and Khieu Samphan tried for crimes against humanity
(World without Genocide 2015)
1976 Pol Pot proclaimed head of government
1979 Pol Pot regime overthrown by Vietnam
1981 KhmerRouge and Prince Sihanouk form exiled government
1989 Vietnamese forces leave Cambodia; Khmer Rouge resume fighting
1991 Peace agreement; Sihanouk becomes head of state
1993 Khmer Rouge boycotts elections
1994 Thousands of Khmer Rouge guerrillas surrender in government amnesty
1998 Pol Pot dies in his jungle hideout
2005 Tribunal to try surviving Khmer Rouge leaders gets green light from U.N.
2006 Ta Mok, one of the top Khmer Rouge leaders, dies at age 80
2010 In the tribunal's first case, Kaing Gek Eav was sentenced to 35 years for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other offenses
2011 Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, and Khieu Samphan tried for crimes against humanity
(World without Genocide 2015)
Pol Pot leading troops into Phnom Penh
(Amendola, A. 2005) |
Dates : 1975 - 1979
The actions of the Khmer Rouge government, which are considered "a genocide" happened shortly after they seized power from the government of Lon Nol in 1975, and lasted until they were overthrown by the Vietnamese in 1978. The genocide itself originated from the harsh climate of political and social turmoil. The atmosphere of communal unrest in Cambodia appeared during the French decolonization of Southeast Asia in the early 1950s, and continued to effect the region until the late 1980s. (World without Genocide 2015)
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Causes
The U.S. had taken its troops from Vietnam by 1975 which caused Cambodia's government to lose its American military support. Pol Pot took advantage of this opportunity and led his Khmer Rouge army, which consisted mostly of teenage peasents, into Phnom Penh. On April 17, the Khmer Rouge successfully seized control of Cambodia. The Cambodian Genocide was caused by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. The genocide occurred because Pol Pot was attempting to eliminate anyone who was not in favor of his proposed collective farming community. Intellectuals and educated people were thought to be opposed to the idea, and needed to be eliminated in addition to the other foreign influences in Cambodia. Pol Pot ended up killing 25 percent of the countries population, by the end of his mass murder. (Amendola, A. 2005)
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Map of Cambodia
(Eng, N., & Ear, S. 2016) |
Khmer Rouge timeline
(World without Genocide 2015) (Isabella Kayashima 2012)
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In the late 1970s the Khmer Rouge, which is a communist regime, Pol Pot is the leader of this group. The name Khmer Rouge means "Red Cambodians". The Khmer Rouge tortured 20,000 people to death. (Penh, P. 1999)
(Jack Waeschle 2016)
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