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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) is welcomed by Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni during her visit to Phnom Penh November 1, 2010. Clinton's visit to Cambodia is the first by a U.S. Secretary of State since 2003. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea |
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday urged Cambodia to confront its tortured past by ensuring the Khmer Rouge are brought to justice for crimes against humanity in the 1970s and improve its current human rights record.
In the capital of Phnom Penh, she visited a former school that served as the main Khmer Rouge prison and torture center and appealed for the Cambodian people and government to overcome a legacy of impunity for abuses. The government has refused to allow a U.N.-backed court trying top Khmer Rouge leaders to prosecute lower-ranking members.
Clinton toured the infamous S-21 prison where as many as 16,000 people were tortured before being executed for alleged coutnterrevolutionary behavior. The ultra-leftist Khmer Rouge regime is blamed for the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution during its 1975-79 reign.
"It's a very disturbing experience and the pictures — both the pictures of the young Cambodians who were killed and the young Cambodians who were doing the killing — were so painful," she told students after the tour. "But I also came away very impressed because a country that is able to confront its past is a country that can overcome it."
"Countries that are held prisoner to their past can never break those chains and build the kind of future that their children deserve," Clinton said. "Although I am well aware the work of the tribunal is painful, it is necessary to ensure a lasting peace."
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In the capital of Phnom Penh, she visited a former school that served as the main Khmer Rouge prison and torture center and appealed for the Cambodian people and government to overcome a legacy of impunity for abuses. The government has refused to allow a U.N.-backed court trying top Khmer Rouge leaders to prosecute lower-ranking members.
Clinton toured the infamous S-21 prison where as many as 16,000 people were tortured before being executed for alleged coutnterrevolutionary behavior. The ultra-leftist Khmer Rouge regime is blamed for the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution during its 1975-79 reign.
"It's a very disturbing experience and the pictures — both the pictures of the young Cambodians who were killed and the young Cambodians who were doing the killing — were so painful," she told students after the tour. "But I also came away very impressed because a country that is able to confront its past is a country that can overcome it."
"Countries that are held prisoner to their past can never break those chains and build the kind of future that their children deserve," Clinton said. "Although I am well aware the work of the tribunal is painful, it is necessary to ensure a lasting peace."
Please click here to read more...
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