- The Khmer Rouge, also known as the Communist Party of Kampuchea, first seized power in Cambodia on April 17th, 1975.
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The group was fronted by Pol Pot
- The party was kept secret until 1977, and the leaders, called the Angkar Padevat, were still kept secret until the regime fell
- Their goal was to transform Cambodia into classless agricultural society. They began to force people living in the cities to migrate to the countryside and take up agriculture.
- They abolished money, free markets, normal schooling, private property, foreign clothing, religious practices, and traditional Khmer culture.
- The Khmer Rouge implemented a “Four-Year Plan”, which called for the production of 3 tons of rice per hectare, which meant growing rice all year. This required so much work that in most areas of the country, people worked 12 hours a day.
- Basic rights were dispelled with, and people were not allowed to go outside of their cooperative or even gather in groups to discuss things (if three people gathered in one place and talked, they could be accused as enemies of the state and arrested or executed)
- Family relations were criticized, and people were forbidden from showing even the slightest humor, affection, or pity, and encouraged to view the Angkar Padevat as their mother and father
- The Khmer Rouge only wanted “pure” people in it’s society, so they began to try and rid themselves of those they thought of as “impure”: thousands of soldiers of the losing side of the revolution; hundreds of thousands of intellectuals; thousands of minority groups, such as those of Vietnamese or Chinese descent; and even many of their own soldiers and party members.
- This purging of the nation involved the detainment of many of these individuals, many of whom were sent to the infamous S-21 prison. This prison held about 14,000 prisoners, of whom about 12 survived.