By Lauren Crothers
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
The annual Day of Remembrance commemorating the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime has been marked in Cambodia’s capital with a Buddhist ceremony, speeches and re-enactments of the crimes committed by the guerrilla forces.
Several hundred people, students and monks gathered on the outskirts of Phnom Penh early Wednesday at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center -- more popularly known as the Killing Fields -- where several thousand people were killed and buried in mass graves during the 1975-1979 regime.
In an open grassy area adjacent to a towering stupa where the skulls and bones of thousands of victims are displayed, a troupe of actors in Khmer Rouge dress -- black tunics and pants, red ‘krama’ scarves and green caps -- depicted the horrors of the 1970s against a backdrop of mournful music and gunfire-like drums.
Their “victims” were put in a cage, tortured and executed -- much in the same fashion that has been described by countless survivors and witnesses who have testified at the Khmer Rouge tribunal.
The event -- organized every year by municipal authorities -- also gives officials an opportunity to pay tribute to Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose name was raised repeatedly during speeches.
A former Khmer Rouge soldier himself, he defected and was part of the forces that overthrew the Khmer Rouge with Vietnamese support.
In an email sent out on the eve of the remembrance day, the executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia said the regime’s impact remained “painful and unforgettable” despite the passing of 40 years since it came to power.
“For many survivors, this painful memory remains a nightmare that continues to disturb their peace of mind and haunt them in their dreams,” Youk Chhang wrote. “Nonetheless, the ‘Day of Remembrance’ will continue to remind the nation and the people of Cambodia of a period of time when the Khmer Rouge unleashed its brutal and murderous acts.”
He said the Center would mark the day by displaying 464 funerary urns discovered at a pagoda in the city several months ago, and which date to around the time that the country was descending into war.
May 20 was originally known as the Day of Anger when it came into being in 1983, but was renamed as the Day of Remembrance in the 1990s.
During the nearly four-year Khmer Rouge regime, at least 1.5 million people lost their lives through overwork, starvation and execution.
Yim Sovann, spokesman for the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, told Anadolu Agency by phone Wednesday that his party considers April 17 -- the day the regime came to power -- as the most significant.
“A Day of Remembrance is not one day, because we remember for life,” he said. “Even myself, I lost almost my whole family, so it’s in my heart every day.”
