Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone: Cambodia
Cambodia is no longer a nation at war, but a war-torn country. Recently the team of Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone has made their way to Cambodia in an effort to cover and report a number of news and stories about the country past and its struggle today.
Portraits of Pain
The Khmer Rouge killed as many as two million people during its reign over Cambodia. But at S-21 prison its leaders ensured the legacy of their genocide.PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - By the sheer number of photographs now displayed at the former prison known as S-21, it is clear the Khmer Rouge was very good at two things: killing people and documenting the lives of its victims.
The Killing Field
Choeung Ek was only one of many killing fields during the Cambodian genocide, but its pagoda full of skulls has become the most poignant symbol of justice delayed.PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The staggering crime of 17,000 murders could not be buried in the orchards of Choeung Ek for long, although the Khmer Rouge did try.
Forgotten Past?
As many as two million people were killed during Cambodia’s genocide. Why aren’t students there learning about it?PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - As many as two million people died during the genocide perpetrated by the Communist
Khmer Rouge regime and its leader, Pol Pot, which ruled the nation from 1975 to 1979.The Dark Trade
The sex trade in Southeast Asia continues to boom, and Cambodia is at the center. A Hot Zone video appears to reveal a dark, and all too common, side of the industry.The commercial sex industry bustles in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, with bars, restaurants and hotels often doubling as brothels. Many brothels are simply storefronts on Phnom Penh’s busy streets; pimps swing open the steel doors, revealing a room with women sitting inside, waiting for clients.
Year Zero
Nearly thirty years after Cambodia’s genocide, those responsible may finally be tried, if they’re not already dead or dying.PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - When the Khmer Rouge came to power in Cambodia in 1975, their leader, Pol Pot, proclaimed that it was “Year Zero” in the newly-renamed Democratic Republic of Kampuchea and that the society would not only be transformed from urban to rural, but recreated as a utopian agricultural paradise.
Good Work
In the Khmer Rouge genocide, Cambodians lost not just people, but important links to their culture. A local group finds creative ways to restore them.PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Chantha uses an acetylene torch to cut a series of concentric rings from the large “vase” of copper.
The edges of the pieces will be polished smooth and intricate leaf motifs will be cut into the metal, following a familiar Khmer pattern found on Cambodia’s greatest national treasure: the ancient temples of Angkor Wat.