Ex-King Urges Cremation of Khmer Rouge Victims
Cambodia’s former king demanded Wednesday that the bones of Khmer Rouge victims be cremated according to Buddhist tradition, rather than displayed “for the pleasure of tourists.”
With efforts under way to try former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, who laid waste to Cambodia during their rule from 1975 to 1979, the former king, Norodom Sihanouk, has attacked government claims that the bones must be kept as evidence.
Cambodia is dotted with evidence of the Khmer Rouge’s destruction, with the bones of tens of thousands piled in monasteries, ruined schools or other public places.
“To continue to exhibit without decency, for the pleasure of tourists and other ‘visitors,’ the skulls, the bones” of innocent victims, the former king said on his Web site, “shows extraordinary contempt and a total lack of pity.”
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With efforts under way to try former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, who laid waste to Cambodia during their rule from 1975 to 1979, the former king, Norodom Sihanouk, has attacked government claims that the bones must be kept as evidence.
Cambodia is dotted with evidence of the Khmer Rouge’s destruction, with the bones of tens of thousands piled in monasteries, ruined schools or other public places.
“To continue to exhibit without decency, for the pleasure of tourists and other ‘visitors,’ the skulls, the bones” of innocent victims, the former king said on his Web site, “shows extraordinary contempt and a total lack of pity.”