About the Cambodian Genocide
The leader of this terrible genocide was the Khmer Rouge, which was led by Pol Pot. It started in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge wanted to make a country without any classes. The class that the Khmer Rouge wanted to get rid of was the higher class who were wealthy and the people who had jobs. To get the country without classes, the Khmer Rouge forced the wealthy people out of their homes and forced them to work. If they refused, they were killed immediately. Also, the Khmer Rouge closed all schools, universities, jewish temples, catholic churches, and buddhist monasteries. in addition to having everything closed, the Khmer Rouge arrested people who wore glasses (it showed a sign of intelligence), got rid of the postal system so no letters could be sent, and people were not allowed to indulge in activities such as athletic games, dances or amusements. Between 1975 and 1979 over 1.5 million Cambodians died of overwork, starvation, torture and execution. When the genocide started, it did not take weeks for the Khmer Rouge to force the people out of their houses, it only took overnight for the whole population of 7.022 million Cambodians to be farmers.
Violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
All genocides whether it is in a different country, with different rules, is violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Cambodian genocide specifically violates article three. This article is the right to life. This genocide violated this article so many times that it dropped the whole population of Cambodia by 10.322 percent in only 4 years. This genocide also violates article twelve which is the right to privacy, thirteen which is the freedom to move, fourteen which is the right to seek a safe place to live, and seventeen which is the right to your own things. These are some of the many rights that have been violated in this genocide. The rest of the violates articles from this genocide is article twenty two which is the right to social security, twenty four which is the right to play, twenty five which is the right to have food and shelter, twenty six which is the right to education, and thirty which is no one can take away these rights. After the Holocaust, the United Nations (UN) made a name for genocide and with that they came up with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A genocide is a national crime which violates many of the articles in the UDHR.
Where is Cambodia?
Cambodia is located in the southern portion of the indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and the Gulf of Thailand.