Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Sok An (Right), Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers, and Chairman of the Cambodian Royal Government Task Force on the Khmer Rouge Trials, and H.E. Joachim Baron von Marschall (Lelf), German Ambassador to Cambodia, pull the strings to inaugurate a Memorial to Victims of the Democratic Kampuchea Regime (Khmer Rouge regime), this morning at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh @Photo: Khim Sovannara,
Agence Kampuchea Presse
26 March 2015
Phnom Penh, the Victims Support Section (VSS) of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) together with the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of the Royal Government of Cambodia inaugurated a Memorial to Victims of the Democratic Kampuchea Regime, built for the dedication to and in memory of all victims of the Democratic Kampuchea regime, especially to the at least 12,272 victims who were unlawfully detained, subjected to inhumane conditions, forced labour and torture, and eventually killed at Toul Sleng detention center, the execution site of Choeung Ek, or the labour camp of Prey Sar (S-24).
@Photo: Khim Sovannara Agence Kampuchea Presse
More than 300 national and international guests, including survivors of Khmer Rouge regime, students and several dignitaries gathered around the Memorial on the compound of the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, listening to the presided-over Chairmen – H.E. Dr. Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister in Charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers, and Chairman of the Cambodian Royal Government Task Force on the Khmer Rouge Trials; and H.E. Joachim Baron von Marschall, German Ambassador to Cambodia. H.E. Kranh Tony, Acting Director of the ECCC and H.E. Chhuch Phoeun, Secretary of State of Ministry of Culture and Fine Art also addressed the audience, hoping that victims would have a place to pay tribute to their parents and relatives died during the regime, and that the Memorial could help them to terms with their past.
@Photo: Khim Sovannara
Agence Kampuchea Presse
A survivor of Tuol Sleng, Mr. Chhum Mey, was also invited to speak during the ceremony, and together with another survivor, Mr. Bou Meng, handed over their biographies to the Chairmen. The ceremony concluded at 10.30am with the official inauguration of the Memorial, a Buddhist Ritual and a press conference with the Chairmen.
The Memorial (built on an area of 400 square meters, with 6 meters in height) was designed and erected by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts (General Department of Cultural Heritage), in close cooperation with the Victims Support Section of the ECCC, and other stakeholders with financial support from German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)/GIZ. The construction of the Memorial at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a part of the Victim’s Support Section’s mandate to develop non-judicial programs and measures addressing the broader interests of victims.
For further information please contact:
Thomas Truemper (GIZ Adviser / Civil Peace Service) via [email protected]
Partner Organization: Victims Support Section of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
