The Killing Fields execution site and two former Khmer Rouge prisons added to Unesco heritage list
The three locations were inscribed to the list by the UN cultural agency on Friday during the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris.
The inscription coincided with the 50th anniversary of the rise to power by the communist Khmer Rouge government, which caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians through starvation, torture and mass executions during a four-year reign from 1975 to 1979.
Unesco's world heritage list lists sites considered important to humanity and includes the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India and Cambodia's Angkor archaeological complex.
The three sites listed on Friday include two notorious prisons and an execution site immortalised in the Hollywood film The Killing Fields.
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, located in the capital Phnom Penh, is the site of a former high school used by the Khmer Rouge as a notorious prison, better known as S-21. About 15,000 people were imprisoned and tortured there.
The M-13 prison, located in rural Kampong Chhnang province in central Cambodia, also was regarded as one of the main prisons of the early Khmer Rouge.
Choeung Ek, located about 15km (10 miles) south of the capital, was used as an execution site and mass grave. The story of the atrocities committed there are the focus of the 1984's The Killing Fields, based on the experiences of New York Times photojournalist Dith Pran and correspondent Sydney Schanberg.
The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975 and immediately herded almost all the city's residents into the countryside, where they were forced to toil in harsh conditions until 1979, when the regime was driven from power by an invasion from neighbouring Vietnam.
Cambodia's prime minister, Hun Manet, issued a message on Friday directing people to beat drums simultaneously across the country on Sunday morning to mark the Unesco listing.
'May this inscription serve as a lasting reminder that peace must always be defended,' Hun Manet said in a video message posted online. 'From the darkest chapters of history, we can draw strength to build a better future for humanity.'
Youk Chhang, the executive director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, said the country was 'still grappling with the painful legacies of genocide, torture and mass atrocity'. But naming the three sites to the Unesco list will play a role in educating younger generations of Cambodians and others worldwide.
'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,' he said.
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Reuters
15 hours ago
- Reuters
Cambodia marks UNESCO recognition of Khmer Rouge sites as places of 'peace and reflection'
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BreakingNews.ie
15 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Gardaí criticised for alleged strip searches of protestors following vigil for Gaza
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Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Police arrest dozens of protesters for supporting banned Palestine Action including vicar after activists' vows to go 'floppy' - a week after priest, 83, was among 29 seized
Police have today arrested more than 70 protesters for supporting newly banned terrorist organisation Palestine Action. A vicar was among at least 42 people detained by Scotland Yard officers as activists gathered for a second week in a row beside a statue of Gandhi in London 's Parliament Square, holding placards reading: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.' Another 16 arrests were made in Manchester and 13 people were also held in Cardiff at other related demonstrations on Saturday. A briefing document circulated to activists ahead of the action told protesters to 'go floppy' when they are arrested as it 'adds to the visual drama', reported The Telegraph. Five officers were today seen carrying one tattooed protester by her arms and legs, with one supporting her head. Some demonstrators could be seen lying on top of each other on the floor as police searched their bags and took their ID cards and handmade signs. Officers could then be seen carrying away a number of protesters who were lying down, lifting them off the ground and into waiting police vans parked around the square. Other standing protesters were also led away from the statues and placed into the vans. The last of the protesters was lifted from the Nelson Mandela statue shortly after 2.30pm. Those held were of mixed ages, from their 20s to 70s and many said they had jobs and had been arrested before. Officers could then be seen carrying away a number of protesters who were lying down, lifting them off the ground and into waiting police vans parked around the square. Other standing protesters were also led away from the statues and placed into the vans. The offences mainly related to Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, an officer said. One protester, an architect called Steve, 59, said: 'I'm terrified. But some things in this world are bigger than fear of arrest. I will do whatever it takes to highlight this problem. 'They (the police) can do whatever they want. I don't care.' This Saturday is the second weekend Palestine Action supporters have protested and been arrested. A small group of protesters sat at the steps of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square for the demonstration, organised by campaign group Defend Our Juries, shortly after 1pm and received a brief applause. The individuals then wrote the message 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action' with black markers on pieces of cardboard and silently held the signs aloft, surrounded by Metropolitan Police officers, who formed a cordon, and members of the media. A number of demonstrators were carried away by police by their legs and arms after refusing to walk. A social care worker, who gave her name as Kate, 42, was taken away by police as demonstrators shouted 'free free Palestine around her'. Several people were arrested at Parliament Square in London for supporting newly banned terrorist organisation Palestine Action Around ten people in Parliament Square were held by a group of Met Officers next to a statue of Gandhi after they held placards which said: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action' Officers could be seen carrying away a number of protesters who were lying down, lifting them off the ground and into waiting police vans parked around the square Others yelled 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' - a controversial chant which some say is a call for Israel not to exist. Kate was holding a sign which said: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.' She said: 'It's shocking. I'm terrified. But the greater risk is genocide. That's more important. I don't have a phone. I've never been arrested before. 'I can't work because I've been trouble before connected to these activities. 'I was in social care. I had a good job. Nobody will employ me now. They'll think I'm a terrorist after this as well.' An elderly man - believed to be in his 70s - looked visibly unwell as he was taken into the back of a police van. A woman in her 40s was also taken away. Scotland Yard said its stance remains that officers will act where criminal offences, including support of proscribed groups or organisations, are committed. A spokesperson for the Met police said: 'We are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action. Officers are in the process of making arrests.' This is the second round of protests in London in support of Palestinian Action and the group have said they will continue to take to Parliament Square every week. Last Saturday police arrested almost 30 people on suspicion of terrorism offences after protesters gathered in Parliament Square also holding signs supporting Palestine Action, just hours after a ban on the came into effect. One of those arrested was an 83-year-old priest and the Met said: 'The law doesn't have an age limit'. Around two dozen people, including a priest, professor and an emergency care worker who is just back from Gaza, sat in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament Square on Saturday expressing support for the group, which is now a proscribed terrorist organisation. They held signs saying: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.' Shortly after their arrival, police officers could be seen engaging with the protesters and the Met said it had began making arrests. Several people were seen being carried away by officers. A spokesperson for the force said: 'Officers are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square. 'The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence. Arrests are being made.' They later added: 'A total of 29 arrests were made during this afternoon's protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square. They remain in custody.' It comes after the Home Office today last week the ban on Palestine Action, with the group failing to block its proscription as a terrorist organisation in a late-night legal bid. Lawyers representing co-founder Huda Ammori, whose father is Palestinian, asked for the decision to be delayed at least until July 21. The designation as a terror group means that membership of or support for Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. This includes chanting, wearing clothing or displaying articles such as flags, signs or logos. Palestine Action argues it is a protest group that has never incited or encouraged violence, but does support civil disobedience. Activists protest against the continuing war in Gaza, which has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians since October 7 - when 1,200 Israelis were killed by a Hamas incursion into the country. One of those protesting last week is former government lawyer Tim Crosland. He said: 'There are already 18 Palestine Actionists held in UK prisons without a trial, following lobbying by the Israeli government and Elbit Systems, the leading supplier of the machinery of genocide. 'If we cannot speak freely about the genocide of Palestinians, if we cannot condemn those who enable it and praise those who resist it, then the right to freedom of expression has no meaning, and democracy in this country is dead.' In a post shared on X, Defend Our Juries said the protesters had been arrested 'for holding cardboard signs' and that further arrests had been made at the Manchester demonstration. Scotland Yard said its stance remains that officers will act where criminal offences, including support of proscribed groups or organisations, are committed. The force added that this includes 'chanting, wearing clothing or displaying articles such as flags, signs or logos'. The terror group designation means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The move to ban the organisation came after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action, which police said caused about £7 million worth of damage. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action, saying that the vandalism of the planes was 'disgraceful' and the group had a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'.
