Cambodian genocide
genocide of as many as 3,000,000 Cambodians by communist Khmer Rogue in 1975–79
Key facts
- Location
- Democratic Kampuchea
- Date
- 17 April 1975 – 7 January 1979 (3 years, 8 months and 20 days), cultural genocide , starvation , forced labour , torture , mass rape , summary execution
- Target
- Cambodia's previous military and political leadership, middle-class professionals, businesspeople, intellectuals and ethnic, linguistic, and religious minorities
- Deaths
- 1.2–2.2 million
- Perpetrators
- Khmer Rouge , Kampuchea Revolutionary Army , Santebal , Communist Party of Kampuchea
- Motive
- Establishment of an agrarian socialist society based on Maoist principles Cultural reset ( Year Zero ) Khmer nationalism and racism Xenophobia Anti-Western sentiment Anti-intellectualism Anti-religious sentiment
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
The Cambodian genocide was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodian citizens by the Khmer Rouge under the general secretaryship of Pol Pot. It resulted in the deaths of approximately 2 million people from 1975 to 1979, around 25% of Cambodia's population in 1975 (c. 7.8 million).
Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge were supported for many years by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), led by Mao Zedong; it is estimated that at least 90% of the foreign aid which the Khmer Rouge received came from China, including at least US $1 billion in interest-free economic and military aid in 1975 alone. After it seized power in April 1975, the Khmer Rouge wanted to turn the country into an agrarian socialist republic, founded on the policies of ultra-Maoism and influenced by the Cultural Revolution. Pol Pot and other Khmer Rouge officials met with Mao in Beijing in June 1975, receiving approval and advice, while high-ranking CCP officials such as Politburo Standing Committee member Zhang Chunqiao later visited Cambodia to offer help. To fulfill its goals, the Khmer Rouge emptied the cities and marched Cambodians to labor camps in the countryside, where mass executions, forced labor, physical abuse, torture, malnutrition, and disease were rampant. In 1976, the Khmer Rouge renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea.