
In memory of all the victims of crimes against humanity committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia 1975-1979
This stele was inaugurated in Choisy Park on April 17, 2018 to pay tribute to the victims of the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.
The Cambodian genocide caused 1.7 million deaths, according to the Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale University (21% of the Cambodian population at the time). This genocide is the result of the seizure of power by Pol Pot and his communist regime, whose official name was Democratic Kampuchea. Under this regime, ethnic and religious minorities, notably the Vietnamese and the Muslim Chams, were massacred, and the residents of the cities were evacuated to work in the rice fields. On April 17, 1975, soldiers of the People's Armed Forces of National Liberation of Kampuchea (FAPLNK) entered Phnom Penh and about two million people had to leave their homes. Among these two million, 10,000 to 20,000 people died. It was only in November 2018 that the crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge were recognized under international law as genocide. However, only the leaders of the regime have been convicted for their involvement in genocide because the lower-ranking Khmer Rouge often committed these crimes as a means of self-preservation and can therefore also be considered victims.
Many refugees from Cambodia settled in France, including Denis' family. Watch the trailer for his film, Funan, or go back to the map to listen to the story of how Denis' parents fled Cambodia in 1975.