Old foes reconcile | Astrid Zweynert

Astrid Zweynert

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How do Cambodians heal after the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime? Click on the images to read more

Pen Lay is a former Khmer Rouge soldier. He feels he had no choice but to arrest villagers, many of whom were executed - a legacy that has haunted him ever since and destroyed his relationship with fellow villagers.

At least 1.8 million people - a quarter of Cambodia's population - died during the "Killing Fields" regime of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.

Hing Phon's husband, son and 18 other relatives were killed by the Khmer Rouge. Now in her 80s, she wants to forgive those who killed her family.

Villagers are still living side by side with the killers of their loved ones and many find it hard to accept that the guilty walk freely among them.

A study found two thirds of Cambodians would like to see the perpetrators "hurt or miserable" and that one third would seek revenge if they could.

Reconciliation programmes are rare due to a lack of funding for mental health.

Villagers, like Phon and Lay in Kampot province in the south, have been part of a workshop to address their grievances and forgive one another.

Former monk Tes Ding is a caretaker at a local pagoda, surrounded by paddy fields used as mass graves by the Khmer Rouge. He is raising money to extend the prayer area of the pagoda, so that the former foes can pray together.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh used to be a high school that became the notorious S-21 prison and execution centre during the Khmer Rouge regime.

The prison authorities at S-21 took a picture of each prisoner, leaving a haunting record of many of their victims.

The S-21 prison was one of at least 150 execution centres in the country. As many as 20,000 prisoners held at S-21 were executed.

A United Nations-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh has convicted a handful of Khmer Rouge leaders, including Kaing Guek Eav, director of the S21 prison.

Survivors have gained some measure of justice through the tribunal but Cambodia still has a long way to go towards reconciliation.

The community reconciliation programme has given hope to the next generation of Cambodians, such as these young relatives of Lay, the former Khmer Rouge soldier.

© 2018 by Astrid Zweynert