Forensic Legacy of the Khmer Rouge: The Cambodian Genocide

Abstract

The people of Cambodia were subjected to widespread forced migration and labor, disease, starvation, torture, murder, and indeed, genocide over a period of four years during the control of the country by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. While the country awaits some form of justice from the hybrid tribunal hearing cases against a few of the perpetrators of these crimes, it has undertaken to memorialize the dead in visible monuments in order that the people remember and never allow it to happen again. This paper outlines the few forensic investigations which have been undertaken on the remains of the deceased from this period in Cambodia's history. The current status of the legal proceedings and the current death investigation system in Cambodia are also presented. There is a wealth of objective forensic information that can be gathered from analyzing the remains that have been disturbed and placed in monuments (stupas), and also in the undisturbed graves across the country. This information cannot only assist in any legal proceedings, but can aide in training medicolegal experts in Cambodia for the future good of the country and its rule of law.