$'""A� , t:1 fS!#. ;;;._:<·,,s., ll .\i . -. •4flil . , ' COMMUNIST PARTY POWER IN KAMPUCHEA (CAMBODIA): DOCUMENTS AND DISCUSSION THE CORNELL UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST ASIA PROGRAM The Southeast Asia Program was organized at Cornell University. in the Department of Far Eastern Studies in 1950. It is a teaching and research program of interdisciplinary studies in the humanities, social sciences, and some natural sciences. It deals with Southeast Asia as a region, and with the individual countries of the area: Brrmei, Burma, Indonesia, Kampuchea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The activities of the Program are carried on both at Cornell and in Southeast Asia. They include an undergraduate and graduate curriculum at Cornell which provides instruction by specialis�s in Southeast Asian cultural history and present-day affairs and offers intensive training in each of the major languages of the area. The· Program sponsors group research projects on Thailand, on Indonesia, on the Philippines, and on linguistic studies of the languages of the area. At the same time, individual staff and students of the Program have done field research in every Southeast Asian country. A list of publications relating to Southeast Asia which may be obtained on prepaid order directly from the Program is given at the end of this volume. Infonnation on Program staff, fellowships.,. requirements for degrees, and current course offerings will be found in an Announcement of the Depa.ritment of Asian Studies, obtainable from the Director, Southeast Asia Program, 120 Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853. 11 COMMUNIST PARTY POWER IN KAMPUCHEA (CAMBODIA): DOCUMENTS AND DISCUSSION Compiled and Edited With an Introduction by Timothy Michael Carney The research and conclusions in this work are solely.those of the author. This paper is not an official statement of Department of State policy nor does it necessarily reflect United States governmen� analyses. Data Paper: Number 106 Southeast Asia Program Department of Asian Studies Cornell University, Ithaca, New York January 1977 Price: $4.50 . 111 CORNELL UNIVERSITY SOtJfHEAST ASIA PROGRAM 1976 International Standard Book Number 0-87727-106-2 lV FOREWORD The events that have occurred in what was Cambodia, and especially since June 1975, now seem to be in the process of transforming that land, in the eyes of the outside world, into another "land of mystery" not unlike that which French explorers claimed to be unshrouding when they "discovered" the ruins of Angkor hidden beneath the jungle. The "mystery" of contemporary Kampuchea, however, is but the product of our own ignorance, which this Data Paper is intended to help dispel. The Southeast Asia Program has over the years been fortunate in attracting a small stream of U.S. Foreign Service Officers with Southeast Asian expertise and experience who have come for a year's study-leave in order to broaden and deepen their knowledge. Tim Carney is the most recent of these, a veteran of three years' service with the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh who.ehas a high degree of proficiency in the Khmer language, a commitment to scholarly discourse, and a determination to make sense of the momentous events through which he lived. Read against the background of those events, this volume does much to illuminate our understanding of the current leadership of the government of Kampuchea, its policies, and its roots in Cambodia's troubled past. David K. Wyatt Jµne 1976 V Vl PREFACE A Department of State assignment to Cornell for a year of Southeast Asian area studies gave me the time to research for this paper. Professor David K. Wyatt's course in modern Southeast Asian history provided the academic structure in which I researched and wrote. Professors Wyatt and Benedict R. O'G. Anderson criticized earlier drafts of the paper. I am also grateful to Mr. Stephen Heder, Dr. David Elliott and Mr. Paul McNellis for suggesting additional sources, comparative examples and helpful comment in general. My colleagues Jack Pavoni of the Department of State and Barry Broman at the American Embassy in Bangkok helped track down and clarify valuable sources. Mr. Im Proum deserves special thanks for reviewing my transla­ tions. His calligraphy graces the Glossary. Khmer terms and proper nouns in the Introduction and in the translations appear in their standard French spellings. For accurate transliterations I have used a sys­ tem which Professor Franklin Huffman devised based on Sanskrit. An approximately phonetic romanization accompanies most of these often tortuous transliterations. The first two translations come from the handwritten, mimeographed Khmer Commu­ nist Youth Alliance monthly for August 1973. The first article, "Manifesto of the Periodical Revolutionary Yotmg Men and Women," sets forth the aims of the publica­ tion. The second article gives the party's view of youth problems and the party's role in awakening youth consciousness. A unit of the Khmer Republic's army seized the periodical in Kompong Chhnang province in late 1973. Ith Sarin, an Inspector of Primary Education who spent most of 1972 in the bush as a candidate party member,wrote the third and fourth items; One is a trans­ lation from the French version of his request to rally' to the Khmer Republic; the other is my translation of the last half of his book, Regrets for the Khmer Soul, published in Khmer in Phnom Penh in late 1973. The last translation comes from captured handwritten notes entitled "A Short Guide for Application of Party Statutes." Republican forces seized it in fighting around Phnom Penh in February 1975. I have not examined the Khmer original. V11 . Vlll CONTENTS CONTINUITY IN CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM, by Timothy Michael Carney • • . 1 Introductiono. • • • • . 1 The Beginnings • . • • • . • • • • • • . • • • . • • • 2 The Party Emerges • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • . • • • 4 Leadership Role • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • s Organization and Recruitment • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 8 Ideology and Programs • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 11 Conclusions • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 22 Bibliographyo . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 24 DOCUMENTS MANIFESTO OF THE PERIODICAL REVOLUTIONARY YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN • • • 27 THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF KAMPUCHEA AND THE PROBLEM OF KHMER YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN ..........o..o..o. • • • • • • 30 NINE MONTHS WITH THE MAQUIS, by Ith Sarin . 34 LIFE IN THE BUREAUS (OFFICES) OF THE KHMER ROUGE, by Ith Sarin ..o. 42 A SHORT GUIDE FOR APPLoICATION OF PARTY STATUTES • • • • • • • • • 56 BIOGRAPHoICAL SKETCHES, by Timothy Michael Carneyo. 62 KHMER COMMUNIST GLOSSARY ....o....o... • • • • • • • • • 65 1X 104 106 14'--I : = u '.·J ?�· . ..· · ' .. .__,. \. SIEMIIEAI es,.,,,. ).. IATOAMUNG ··.,t... l'OUTHISAT GULFOF THAILAND I JOs- JO SOUTH CHINA SEA 1.., ..,J ® Nafionol cap;tc,I • Pro•ince copital • Autonomous -�icipolity -••- lttte,nolionol bo,,,wlory -·- ,,...,;,,•• bo,,,.,lory 0 25 50 MltES Bc::::._________-1. ___________--1.-___________,B 104 106 THE KHMER REPUBLIC (CAMBODIA): ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS (From Donald P. Whitaker et al., Area Handbook for the Khmer Republic (Cambodia), Washington, D.C., 1973. ) X CONTINUITY IN CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM by Timothy Michael Carney Introduction Neither official Cambodian public documents nor Radio Phnom Penh mention the existence much less name the leadership of a communist party in Cambodia. Neverthe­ less, a varied but limited number of sources confirm the party's existence and Lenin­ ist role in the revolution and sketch party ideology and programs. Elements of that ideology have emerged at an accelerating rate in Radio Phnom Penh's post-victory broadcasts. Parts of the ideology and programs have roots in earlier writings of both Khieu Samphan and Hu Nim. Foreign Communist publications since 1970 cast addi­ tional light on the party and underscore lists of its leadership provided by defec­ tors. This paper relies heavily on the report and book1 Ith Sarin wrote after spending most of 1972 as a candidate party member in the bush.e Of the documents used which2 emanate from the party itself, an article in the party youth alliance monthly,e sets forth class analysis and confirms the party'es leading role in the revolutio"n. Recent Phnom Penh radio broadcasts strongly support the accuracy of material from both of these sources. Khieu Samphan's newspaper, L'Observateur, his doctoral thesis and that of Hu Nim give evidence for the roots of party ideology and programs and com­ plete the list of major primary sources. I have also, of course, drawn on my tour in Cambodia from 1972 to 1975 with the U.S. Embassy. Available sources on Khmer radicalism do not match those ori the Vietnamese or even the Lao in either quality or quantity, and leave many key questions open. "The material on the period of the First Indochina War inadequately approaches the ori­ gins of Khmer communism and its ties to the Vietnamese. For the post-Geneva era, untouched topics include the relations among the Khmer who went to North Vietnam for training, those who stayed in the bush, and those who emerged as the leftist legal opposition. The last eventually gave the movement three prominent leaders in the early 1960s: Khieu Samphan, Hou Yuon, and Hu Nim. The period from 1967, when these three men disappeared into the_e bush, to 1970 also needs serious work, perhaps start­ ing with interviews of surviving Khmer political figures. 1 Ith Sarin, Srar:aoh Pralung Khmer [Regrets for the Khmer Soul] (Phnom