Cambodia Genocide Sites Gain UNESCO Recognition

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Cambodia’s darkest chapter has taken its place on the world stage, as three sites linked to the Khmer Rouge regime have been added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World register. The move aims to preserve the memory of atrocities committed between 1975 and 1979, when nearly two million Cambodians perished under Pol Pot’s brutal rule.

 

The sites include two infamous prisons and a notorious "killing field", each bearing silent witness to the regime’s reign of terror. In a televised statement, Prime Minister Hun Manet said the inscription “must serve as a lasting reminder that peace must always be defended.”

 

At the heart of Phnom Penh lies Tuol Sleng, a former high school turned torture centre, known as S-21. Of the roughly 15,000 people held there, only a handful survived. Today, it operates as a genocide museum, preserving mugshots, shackles and instruments of torture, offering chilling insight into the Khmer Rouge’s cruelty.

 

Just outside the capital, Choeung Ek Genocide Centre, once a Chinese cemetery, became one of the most notorious execution sites. Prisoners from S-21 were transported there to be killed and dumped in mass graves. Over 6,000 bodies have been unearthed at the site. Each year, Cambodians gather to mourn, pray, and reflect on the horrors of the past.

 

The third site, M-13 in Kampong Chhnang province, was a secret early prison where new methods of interrogation and execution were devised. Though little remains beyond traces in the earth, survivors and researchers alike insist it’s vital to the historical record.

 

“This is the landscape of our shared memory in Cambodia,” said Youk Chhang, a survivor and head of the Documentation Center of Cambodia. “It will ensure Khmer Rouge history is taught with greater impact and clarity.”

 

UN-backed efforts to bring justice concluded in 2022, having secured just three convictions. Pol Pot, the regime’s chief architect, died in 1998 before facing trial.

 

As these haunting sites gain international recognition, Cambodians hope the world will not forget—and future generations will remember.

 

-2025-07-12