HASMUN’19 STUDY GUIDE

The United Nations Security Council

Khmer Rouge’s

Under-Secretary General : Egemen Büyükkaya

Academic Assıstant : Ümit Altar Binici

Table of Contents

I) Introduction to the Committee: Historical Security Council……………………………...3

II) Introduction to the Agenda Item: ’s Cambodia……………………………6

A. Historical Background…………………………………………………………………...9

1) French Colonialism and the Early Communist Movements in Cambodia………….....9

2) Independence of Cambodia and the Rule of ……………………12

3) Cold War Period and 1970 Coup……………………………………………………..14

4) The Establishment and Destruction Government…………………………..15

B. Khmer Rouge Ideology…………………………………………………………………16

C. Internal Formation of the Communist Party of Kampuchea………………………..20

D. Foreign Relations of ………………………………………...21

III) Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………...22

Letter from the Secretary-General Dear Delegates and Advisors,

It is a great pleasure and honor to officially invite all of you to HASMUN 2019 which will be held between 26th and 28th of April 2019 at Kadir Has University Haliç Campus in Istanbul which is located in the Golden Horn area.

I am personally thrilled to take part in the making of this conference and I am sure that the academic and organisation teams share my passion about this installment of HASMUN in which we have chosen to focus on topics that bring humanity together. And we have also included committees which will simulate historical events that can be considered existential threats which brought the international committee or some nations together. The general idea that we would like to introduce is that humanity can achieve great things in little time if we are united, or can eliminate threats that threaten our very existence.

I strongly believe that the first half of this century would be remembered in human history where we enter into a new era through technological advance. Unfortunately we haven’t quite grasped the importance of this generation, as we progress we leave a print on this world and for the first time modern world is facing an existential threat, for the first time every human being on the planet is facing the threat of a considerable change in their and their ancestors living or worse, our very existence is on the line. I believe it will be events like these marked down in history which bring humanity together if we unite with no ambition of national gains and handle these crises. Our highlighted special committee of World War Z will be based on the book with the same name written by Max Brook which tells the story of how world is affected by a Zombie outbreak and the Humanitarian Advancement and Security community or HASCOM will take place in the year of 2050 where the delegates will rebuild the world from it’s ashes and have the chance of changing how it works.

The other committees will be focusing on current problems that are born out of neglect for an extensive amount of time either due to lack of public interest or because of economical reasons and solving these issues will have long lasting positive effects or if they are left unsolved they may have bigger consequences in the near future.

With that I welcome and look forward to seeing all of our participants and guests on the 26th of April, at HASMUN 2019, hoping that you will have an exquisite time, debates and most importantly have fun while changing the world, only you can do it.

Best Regards

Ata Mavi Secretary-General of HASMUN’19

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Letter from the Under Secretary-General

Most distinguished participants, It is an overwhelming honour for me to welcome you all to Kadir Has University Model United Nations Conference 2019. My name is Egemen Büyükkaya and I am currently studying Political Science and International Relations at Boğaziçi University. I am very interested in world politics and international relations and conveying this enthusiasm through a diplomatic career is my ultimate aspiration. For this very purpose, I am attending Model United Nations conferences since 2013 in various positions and this activity has become a significant and indivisible part of my life.

In today's world where politics is often misinterpreted as intrigue, MUN is a very important asset to fully understand this complicated concept and to develop a knowledgeable and inquisitive point of view for today's problems throughout the globe. In additions to these, I have the immense pleasure of sharing my experience and knowledge in MUN with new delegates and helping these delegates to comprehend the progress of finding a common ground for interstate conflicts through cooperation.

I am extraordinarily excited and glad to the Under-Secretary-General of the Historical United Nations Security Council in HASMUN 2019. In this committee, delegates will be working hard to address a recent heart-wrenching human tragedy, Khmer Rouge’s Cambodia. The international community was not successful in addressing this issue. I sincerely believe that a full understanding of the past with its achievements and stains can help us to develop a better future. Therefore I am advising the delegates of Historical UNSC play their part. Lastly, I would like to thank Mr. Ümit Altar Binici for his unwavering support and companionship in the preparation of this committee. I have the tremendous honour of being a part of HASMUN 2019 and I sincerely wish that our participants will have a great time in this committee both academically and socially. Should you have any academic inquiry regarding this committee, do not hesitate to contact me via [email protected]

With sincere appreciation,

Egemen Büyükkaya Under-Secretary-General responsible for Historical United Nations Security Council

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I) Introduction to the Committee: Historical Security Council

The United Nations Security Council (hereinafter referred to as the Council) it the premier body of the United Nations (hereinafter referred to as the UN) for the matters of global crisis management. The Council is endowed with the authority to utilize binding impositions on all of the Member States to primarily maintain international security and peace.1 The Council is comprised of five permanent and ten elected members that are meeting regularly to evaluate and eliminate not only threats to international security, but also civil wars, natural disasters, and terrorism.2

The permanent members of the Council (P5) in 1975 are , France, the , the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and this privileged status was given to primarily to the United States of America and the Soviet Union - alongside with the United Kingdom - as they were the apparent victors of the World War II to restore the world order. P5 members hold the right to veto any resolution drafted within the boundaries of the Council. Additionally, the non-permanent ten members of the Council serve consecutive two-year terms, and they are elected with the consideration of "equitable geographical distribution" to maximize the representation of the Member States.3 Substantive decisions in the Council are made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of P5 countries, and if a member of the Council is directly involved with a conflict or dispute under discussion, the member must stain abstain on the matter.4 The Council has a permanent residence at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. It is essential for the Council to meet any time when a crisis arises; and consequently, for its members to be present at all times at the UN Headquarters.5

1 Council on Foreign Relations. (2018). The UN Security Council. [online] Available at: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/un-security-council. 2 ibid 3 United Nations (2018). Chapter V, Article 23. [online] Available at: https://www.un.org/en/sections/un- charter/chapter-v/index.html. 4 ibid, Chapter V, Article 27 5 United Nations (2018). About the United Nations Security Council. [online] Available at: https://www.un.org/en/sc/about/.

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The Council primarily aims for the “pacific settlement of disputes” which may endanger the maintenance of international peace and security. The means that the Council may use to reach an agreement by peaceful means that include:6

- Setting forth or recommending principles for agreements, appropriate methods of adjustment;7

- Undertaking investigations and mediations, and if necessary carrying out a mission;8 - Bringing the issue to the attention of the international community, the General Assembly, and ultimately the Council;9

- Appointing special envoys to the conflict area or requesting the Secretary-General to utilize his good offices to achieve a pacific settlement of the dispute.10

If the dispute cannot be settled by the above-mentioned principles, or the conflict leads to grave hostilities and breaches of peace that must be brought to an end as soon as possible, the Council may utilize measures and actions including11

- Issuing ceasefires or sending a peacekeeping force (not to involve in armed conflict) for the purposes of reducing tension and ensuring the smooth implementation of the pacific settlement of disputes;12

- Providing provisional measures to the conflict area without favoring a side in the conflict;13 - Implementing additional measures (not involving an armed force) to give effect to previous decisions that may include complete or partial interruptions of the economic and diplomatic relations and means of communication such as blockades, economic sanctions, arms embargoes, financial penalties and restrictions, travel bans, and severance of diplomatic relations.14

6 ibid, Chapter VI, Article 33 7 ibid, Chapter VI, Article 36 8 ibid, Chapter VI, Article 34 9 ibid, Chapter VI, Article 35 10 United Nations (2018). About the United Nations Security Council. [online] Available at: https://www.un.org/en/sc/about/. 11 ibid, Chapter VII, Article 39 12 ibid, Chapter VII, Article 39 13 ibid, Chapter VII, Article 39 14 ibid, Chapter VII, Article 41

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If the Council decides that the non-armed measures are inadequate for a specific matter under discussion, the Council may use enforcement measures that may incorporate collective military action by land, sea, and air to restore the peace that was failed to be maintained. These actions are specified as "peace enforcement." Peace enforcement missions are legitimate and in force only if:15

- The Council decides upon the region and context to enforce peace without any prejudice to the rights, claims, or position of the parties concerned;16

- The Council decides upon which armed measure to involve and calls upon the Member States to comply with this decision that is collaboratively made by the Military Staff Committee17;18

- The actions decided are carried by all the Members of the United Nations, by some of them, or international/regional agencies of which they are accredited by the UN, as the Council may determine.

The measure of peacekeeping is often confused with peace enforcement; however, they are substantively different methods of conflict resolution. UN peacekeeping forces are deployed to the conflict area with the consent of the main parties involved; they are not sent to oppress a rebellion or use armed forces; they are initially sent to maintain the achieved order of peace and stability between parties. UN peacekeeping forces are not authorized to use force except in, and they should be impartial in their dealings. This impartiality should not be confused with inactivity or neutrality; UN peacekeeping forces shall implement all available measures to uphold their mandate. However if the region develops volatile and dangerous settings which cause partial divisions within the main parties, peacekeeping forces may be authorized only by the Council to use force at the tactical level with the purposes of preventing the disruption of the political process and rule of law, and protecting civilians from imminent physical threats.19 This type of

15 ibid, Chapter VII, Article 40 16 ibid, Chapter VII, Article 40 17 Military Staff Committee is formed after a determination is made involving armed forces. This committee consists of the UNSC P5 members' Military Chiefs of Staff to strategically plan the proposed military action. 18 ibid, Chapter VII, Article 41 19 United Nations Peacekeeping. (2018). Principles of peacekeeping. [online] Available at: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/principles-of-peacekeeping.

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operations are called "Robust Peacekeeping," but it still requires the consent of the parties involved even if they are in a volatile condition.

On the other hand, peace enforcement operations do not require the consent of the main parties to the conflict; it only requires the authorization of the Council. The use of force in an international level is normally prohibited for all Member States by the under the UN Charter unless it is authorized by the Council. Peace enforcement operations should be used as a measure of last resort because these can lead to a great spectrum of negative political and economic ramifications.20 If such force is decided to be used, it shall be minimized under a precise, proportional, and appropriate manner. During these operations, it is determined as a chief concern also to minimize the impacts of the mission on local society by contriving to provide a legitimate and local consent for the operation itself.21

All in all, keeping above-mentioned tools at hand, the Security Council has a profoundly special place within the framework of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security, provide a form of collaboration, in other words, a centre for harmonising actions for the pacific settlement of disputes, and for the promotion and protection of human rights on a global scale.22

II) Introduction to the Agenda Item: Khmer Rouge’s Cambodia

The brutal “Khmer Rouge” regime reigned over Cambodia during the country’s darkest and bleakest period of 1975-1979. 23 Any possibility of progression was dramatically removed from Cambodia, and the Khmer Rouge regime led by took the country back to the Middle Ages, claiming millions of lives.

Therefore, the word “Khmer” has changed its meaning a lot in Cambodian minds because of this brutal regime. Actually, Khmer refers to the “Khmer Empire” which represented the high periods of the Cambodian history. Khmer Empire ruled Cambodia between the ninth and fifteenth

20 ibid 21 United Nations (2018). About the United Nations Security Council. [online] Available at: https://www.un.org/en/sc/about/. 22 ibid 23 “Khmer Rouge: Cambodia's Years of Brutality.” BBC, 16 Nov. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific- 10684399.

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centuries, had also built the most glorious ancient temple in Cambodia, Angkor Wat which represents the cultural heritage of the country.

Figure 2: An image of the Angkor Wat which is also illustrated in the flag of Democratic Kampuchea (below-left) and today’s Cambodia (below-right.)24

In the beginning, the "Khmer Rouge" name was created by King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia to refer to his communist opponents. The official name of the party was the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) which, eventually, took control of the Cambodian

24

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Capital on April 17, 1975, and renamed the country as the "Democratic Kampuchea.25

The ideology of the Khmer Rouge was aimed a successful social engineering, aligned with Marxists and Leninist principles. The goal was to create an "agrarian utopia"26which would lead to a classless society. However, the methods used to achieve this utopia were unprecedented.27 They tried to purify the nation; they have forced millions of people from cities to the countryside to work on communal fields, they have expected the unattainable from this collective agrarian production system and punished those who couldn't meet their production quota. All of the segments of the population of Cambodia were under heavy scrutiny, and most of them were punished and killed as they were seen corrupted and counter-revolutionary.28

Ultimately, under these extreme conditions, today, the Khmer Rouge regime is held responsible for the deaths of an estimated two million of the country’s seven million people. Many of these people have been executed as enemies of the regime, died from starvation, disease, or overwork.29 Cambodia, as a country and a nation, has suffered a lot and inherited a vast burden after the fall of the Democratic Kampuchea in the way to rebuild the country. One of the most critical steps in restoring the country and healing the wounds of the nation is to find the truth and do not let the ghosts of the past to haunt their present. It is also equally important for the international community to be reminded of these crimes against humanity that has come to be known as the .

A. Historical Background

1) French Colonialism and the Early Communist Movements in Cambodia

25 “A History of Democratic Kampuchea.” DC-Cam, Documentation Center of Cambodia, www.d.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/DK_Book/DK_History--EN.pdf . 26 “Khmer Rouge: Cambodia's Years of Brutality.” BBC, 16 Nov. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific- 10684399.

27 “Khmer Rouge.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 12 Sept. 2017, www.history.com/topics/cold-war/the- khmer-rouge.

28 Zucker, Eve Monique. “Cambodia: The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime.”Asia Pacific Curriculum, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Feb. 2019, asiapacificcurriculum.ca/sites/default/files/201902/The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime Background Reading.pdf . 29 “Khmer Rouge.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 12 Sept. 2017, www.history.com/topics/cold-war/the- khmer-rouge.

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The Struggle for Independence 1863 – 1953

The colonization of Cambodia started in 1863 with the invitation from King Norodom, asking France to protect the country. It was with the purpose of securing Cambodia from the attacks of Thai and Vietnamese which were foreshadowing their unity as a country. The French colonial presence was expected to offer Cambodia respite and relative peace and security.

The legacy of French colonialism brought the ideas related to nationalism and modernity, which rooted in the initial years of the 20th century, influencing Cambodia ideologically without realizing it. For instance, the French gave scholarships to young, educated Cambodians from the middle to upper-class families in order for them to enroll universities in France. Nevertheless, the French failed to educate the majority of people back in Cambodia; in fact, prior to independence, the country had only one high school.30

The Early Communist Movement

It wasn't until the 1940s when the struggle against French colonization was emerged by the Cambodian communists. During the first Indochina War, 200 delegates formed the communist- led Unified Issarak Front, also known as the Khmer Issarak, locating in Kampot province in April 1950. They then collaborated with Vietnam under the same goal of standing against the French.

The Front was led by Son Ngoc Minh (A-char Mien). He was a lay official at Unnalaom Pagoda. Chan Samay was the Front’s deputy and Sieu Heng was its secretary. Almost all of the Front’s members were Cambodians who spoke Vietnamese. Some of them became members of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP), which was created in Vietnam. Many of the Front's new members gathered along under the revolutionary movement were peasants while the others were nationalist students who accepted while studying abroad.

Some of these students would later become leaders of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK). They included Saloth Sar (Pol Pot), , and . In those men’s eyes, the Marxist-Leninist revolution was the only escape from a world where peasants

30 Zucker, Eve Monique. “Cambodia: The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime.”Asia Pacific Curriculum, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Feb. 2019, asiapacificcurriculum.ca/sites/default/files/201902/The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime Background Reading.pdf .

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and poor people were enslaved continuously by capitalism and feudalism. It seemed to be the only way to sustain independence and social equality in Cambodia.31

The Creation of the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party

In 1951, as fighting against the French intensified in Indochina, the Vietnamese communists guided the formation of the Khmer People’s Revolutionary Party. The members of its secret Central Committee were:

- Son Ngoc Minh held the top position - Sieu Heng was in charge of military affairs - Tou Samouth (also known as A-char Sok, a former Buddhist monk from Kampuchea Krom) took charge of ideological training. - Chan Samay was in charge of economic matters.

When the first Indochina War ended in 1954, French forces withdrew from Indochina, and combatants withdrew from Cambodia. However, some Vietnamese military personnel and advisors remained in Cambodia. Sieu Heng, Chan Samay and over a thousand KPRP executives and activists fled to Vietnam, where they joined Son Ngoc Minh and others that had gone there previously, concerned about the security of the revolution when the political system changed.

Sieu Heng soon returned to Cambodia with , an ICP member trained in Thailand and Vietnam, and other senior executives. The KPRP was run by a temporary Central Committee with party leader Son Ngoc Minh in Hanoi. Sieu Heng was his secretary, and his deputy was Tou Samouth. Nuon Chea was number three, and the fourth member was So Phim, who became East Zone chief during Democratic Kampuchea. The party's management was in the hands of a Vietnamese executive, Pham Van Ba, who lived in Cambodia, claiming Vietnam should continue to control communist movements in Cambodia.

Tou Samouth, assisted by Nuon Chea and Saloth Sar, who had recently returned from studying in France, took charge of the organization's activities in the urban areas. Pol Pot was used as their link by the communists in Phnom Penh to establish a legal party called the People's Party. The

31 “A History of Democratic Kampuchea.” DC-Cam, Documentation Center of Cambodia, www.d.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/DK_Book/DK_History--EN.pdf .

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party contested the Geneva Agreements, which promised national elections in 1955. It was chaired by one of Tou Samouth's protégé, .

Pol Pot helped to formulate the statutes and political program of the Party. He also established relations with the Democratic Party, which would compete in 1955 with the newly formed Sangkum Reastr Niyum (the People's Socialist Community Party) of Prince Sihanouk. Pol Pot presumed the Democrats, having anti-feudalist and anti-capitalist tendencies, would win the election and give some political influence to the Communists.

Pol Pot, however, miscalculated badly. All the seats at the National Assembly were won by Sangkum Reastr Niyum, while the People's party won just 3 %. Sieu Heng soon believed the Communist cause was desperate in Cambodia because almost everyone strongly endorsed the political programs of Prince Sihanouk, rather than the revolutionary notion. Besides, some Issarak movements abandoned their resistance and joined with Prince Sihanouk's government.

Sieu Heng contacted Lon Nol, chief of staff of the Prince's Army, secretly in 1956 and gave him security guarantees. In 1959, Sieu Heng deserted the Sihanouk's government, allowing authorities to identify and detain many unlawful KPRP officials. According to Pol Pot, about 90% of the members of the KPRP were arrested and killed between 1955 and 1959. By the beginning of 1960, only about 800 cadres remained active, and only two rural party branches were still functioning fully:

- The East Zone with its base in Kampong Cham province (led by So Phim) and - The Southwest Zone with its headquarters in Takeo province (chaired by Chhit Choeun alias ).32

2. Independence of Cambodia and the Rule of Norodom Sihanouk

Post-Independence and the Sihanouk Years 1953-1970

32 ibid

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After the independence of Cambodia in 1953, the king of the country, Norodom Sihanouk, gave his father his couronne so that he could become the head of state of Cambodia. Sihanouk was a charismatic person, with a sense of writing, music, and filming in particular. He was always adaptable to the changing tide that swept his country continually. In general, many Cambodians remember Sihanouk as a time of harmony and cooperation, and he did a great deal to expand education in Cambodia and modernize Phnom Penh's capital.

Nevertheless, his 17 years of the rule also represented a period of widespread corruption, social and economic inequality. As the significant cities developed into modern cosmopolitan meccas, which offered their residents education and opportunities, the suburbia conditions of the much larger number of peasants remained relatively unchanged. The urban and rural gap has become much more severe. Furthermore, under Sihanouk, the Cambodian government did not tolerate ideological and political dissent, including disagreement between Communist groups within the country. 33

The Workers’ Party of Kampuchea (WPK)

On September 28-30, 1960, a secret KPRP congress took place on Phnom Penh railway station. Seven members from the urban branches of the organization and fourteen from its rural branches participated. Congress reorganized the party, established a new political line and turned its name into the Workers' Party of Kampuchea (WPK). The secretary was Tou Chea, and his assistant secretary was Nuon Chea. Pol Pot then ranked third, in 1961, became a second deputy secretary.

The party held an emergency congress in February 1963 after Tou Samouth disappeared in 1962. Pol Pot was nominated and elected as the secretary. Nuon Chea was not chosen to be a secretary, as he was linked to defector Sieu Heng by marriage. He was a senior party figure. In addition, Nuon Chea was a loyal Communist who wanted the WPK to be strong, so he didn't compete for the position against Pol Pot. For more than thirty years, he was deputy secretary and an influential figure in the communist movement.

33 Zucker, Eve Monique. “Cambodia: The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime. ”Asia Pacific Curriculum, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Feb. 2019, asiapacificcurriculum.ca/sites/default/files/201902/The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime Background Reading.pdf .

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Pol Pot took shelter soon after he became the Party Secretary at a Vietnamese military base in the north-east part of the country called Office100. In 1965, for discussions with the North Vietnamese, he took the Ho Chi Minh Trail to Hanoi. He visited North Korea and China as well. Pol Pot was treated more warmly than in Vietnam in China and resented the idea of Vietnam being subordinate to his party. 34

3. Cold War Period and 1970 Coup

The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK)

In September 1966, the party changed its name to the Communist Party of Kampuchea or CPK. The change in the Party's name was a secret that had been closely guarded because it was not even told by the Lower League and Vietnamese, nor was membership. The leadership of the party had supported so much the armed fight against the administration, then led by Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The year after the party name change, minuscule insurgencies were slightly successful.

By 1968, however, the Khmer Rouge took an enormous leap as Cambodia's national insurgency began, whereas Northern Vietnamese forces generously provided the Khmer Rouge with shelter and weapons despite their unannounced decision. The then-Party guerrilla forces were named as the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea. The cannot effectively combat the insurgency with all the support provided by Vietnam because they are also very ineffective and unmotivated. 35

The Vietnam War, U. S. Bombing, and 1970 Coup

In addition to his combined record in Cambodia's internal affairs, the success of Sihanouk in managing his small kingdom's larger global forces was also mixed. His rule coincided roughly with the Second Indochina War, which in many western states also known as the American War and the Vietnam War. This conflict started in 1955, escalated in the 1960s, and came to a close in 1975 when the United States left South Vietnam. This war was a proxy war between the Soviet

34 “A History of Democratic Kampuchea.” DC-Cam, Documentation Center of Cambodia, www.d.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/DK_Book/DK_History--EN.pdf . 35 “Kampuchea Dossier I 2nd” ed. (Vietnam Courier, 1978)

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Union-supported North Vietnam and China and the US, and other noncommunist allies supported South Vietnam.

The North Vietnamese, led by Ho Chi Minh, sought to build foundations and supply paths across Laos and Cambodia to send their sponsor's soldiers and supplies to the south. The Ho Chi Minh Trail is now known for this route. During this process, the communist forces of Vietnam also tried to support the communist Movement of Cambodia, which included the Khmer Rouge. In the wake of the war, President Richard Nixon began a Secret Bombing Campaign shortly after he assumed office at the beginning of 1969, the code-named Operation Menu to destroy North Vietnamese bases and supply lines run through Cambodia.

During the turbulent years of the postwar era, Sihanouk pursued a neutral policy between Communists of the one hand (that is to say, North Vietnamese and China) and the Americans of the other. At the time, however, some suspected that he preferred the Communist cause for he was allowing the North Vietnamese to set up bases inside Cambodia. In 1970, during these escalating political tensions, Sihanouk was driven out of the country in a bloodless coup. His prime minister, Marshall Lon Nol, was the man who substituted him. Sihanouk's compliance with the North Vietnamese was not satisfied by the US and supported the shift in leadership. 36

4. The Establishment and Destruction of the Lon Nol Government

The (1970–1975) abandoned Sihanouk's neutrality policies, especially with regard to the Vietnamese. Ultimately, the republic proved disastrous both militarily and politically. Lon Nol's health started to decline after he suffered a stroke in February 1971. His rule became increasingly erratic and authoritarian: he appointed himself Marshal (a title previously unknown in Cambodia) in April 1971, and in October suspended the National Assembly, stating he would no longer "vainly play the game of democracy and freedom" in wartime.37 Backed by his forceful, ambitious younger brother General Lon Non, Nol succeeded in reducing the influence of Sirik Matak, and the other coup leaders. He also insisted on directing many of the Khmer National Armed Forces (French: Forces Armées Nationales

36 Zucker, Eve Monique. “Cambodia: The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime. ”Asia Pacific Curriculum, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Feb. 2019, asiapacificcurriculum.ca/sites/default/files/201902/The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime Background Reading.pdf . 37 Cady, The History of Postwar Southeast Asia, 1974, p.672

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Khmères – FANK) operations personally. In time Lon Nol's regime became completely dependent upon large quantities of American aid that towards the end were not backed by the political and military resolve needed to effectively help the beleaguered republic.38

The Khmer Rouge already struggling in the rural areas of Cambodia with the support of the North Vietnamese. Eventually, the Lon Nol Government started to take control of the territory. Other Cambodian renegade fighter groups were also involved in the fight to control Cambodia. In 1973, the U.S. stepped up its bombing campaign in Cambodia, which has now been called Operation Freedom Deal, as a result of violence and chaos in the rural areas. Of the total 500,000 tons of explosive material dropped on Cambodia by the U.S. military between 1969 and 1973, approximately half fell in 1973 during the 7-month period. By comparison, the United States decreased Japan in the Second World War by approximately 180,000 tons of explosives.

Often, the USB-52 bomber missed their destinations, killing and destroying the villages of entire Cambodia. Although the estimates of Cambodian deaths resulting from the bombings are unclear, they range from five to three hundred thousand. The bombing, unsurprisingly, urged anger and anxiety among the Cambodian people, driving them from the countryside to seek refuge in Phnom Penh's capital city. Other members joined the Khmer Rouge, whom Cambodians believed to have been fighting alongside them, for the promises that more rice would be secured and taxes and other constraints imposed on them would be alleviated. However, there has been another major factor for the further movement of Cambodian farmers towards the Khmer Rouge: after Sihanouk was overthrown in 1970, he joined the Khmer Rouge from the exile and, via the radio, asked his fellow Cambodians to join him. Because of its wide influence and appeal, many people, particularly from the countryside, have listened to the call and thus encouraged the eventual rise of the Khmer Rouge.

Not everyone chose willingly to join the Khmer Rouge, of course. The Khmer Rouge would simply draw out people that are old enough to fight and serve the movement in another manner when it took control of an area. Fighting back would result in death. By 1973 the Khmer Rouge had gained control over the majority of the landscape and began needing villagers to live in co-

38 David P. Chandler, A history of Cambodia, Westview Press; Allen & Unwin, Boulder, Sydney, 1992

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operatives and participate in large agricultural projects. They began executing people whom they accused of being traitors.

The situation in the capital city of Phnom Penh became more and more dire, as most of the countryside became Khmer Rouge. There continued to be a swelling of the city's population; besides, food was scarcely found as rice production was disrupted by civil war and the Khmer Rouge, blocking the supply routes. After 1973 most of the U.S. bombing ended and the South Vietnamese resigned from Cambodia to leave Lon Nol government forces to fire their battles. The Lon Nol government was unable to hold its ground against the Khmers Rouge. On 12 April 1975, the last helicopter to take the rest of US citizens and some of the top Cambodians left. The Lon Nol government collapsed five days later, and soldiers of the Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh.39

B. Khmer Rouge Ideology

The Communist Party of Kampuchea has established a very distinct set of beliefs during its rule over Democratic Kampuchea. This set of beliefs, ideology, was drawn from Marxist-Leninist and Maoist thought and incorporated with the ancient religious and cultural ideas in Cambodia.40 The ideology aimed to make Cambodia fully independent from the hegemonic powers of the world especially the United States and the Soviet Union. This "communistic" ideology was not in line with the Soviet doctrine; furthermore, the Soviet Union was claimed to incorporate many counter-revolutionary fractions within. The most important thing for Khmer Rouge was the purity of their ideology and their revolution. "A national democracy and revolution that provides rice fields for the masses,” while this was the aim that they announce publicly, there was also another aim to “rid the nation of all forms of feudalism, capitalism, and imperialism.”

The clear vision of the Khmer Rouge for the future of Cambodia was a classless and rural society which there were no rich people and no poor people to be exploited by the rich. In order to achieve this, Khmer Rouge had approached the issue with a straightforward point of view; they

39 Zucker, Eve Monique. “Cambodia: The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime. ”Asia Pacific Curriculum, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Feb. 2019, asiapacificcurriculum.ca/sites/default/files/201902/The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime Background Reading.pdf . 40 “Cambodian Genocide .” « World Without Genocide -, worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and- conflicts/cambodia.

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did not have enough time to wait for a revolution from the public. Therefore, they abolished all economic activity (money, free markets, property rights, etc.), schooling, religion, any foreign idea, and even the traditional Khmer culture. All educational, religious, economic, and even governmental centers and institutions were seized and turned into institutions of the Khmer Rouge to store agricultural products, to punish the enemies of the State, and to re-educate the public. Khmer Rouge even chose the clothing of the people, everyone including the leaders of the CPK had to wear black uniforms41

Figure 3: The Khmer Rouge uniform for civilians and military.42

41 “A History of Democratic Kampuchea.” DC-Cam, Documentation Center of Cambodia, www.d.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/DK_Book/DK_History--EN.pdf . 42 Source: Wikipedia Commons, http://www.wikizero.biz/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxvYWQud2lraW1lZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpcGVkaWEvY29t bW9ucy8zLzNkL0tobWVyX3JvdWdlX2Nsb3RoaW5nLmpwZw

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Getting rid of the notions of feudalism, capitalism, and imperialism was not a task to be accomplished just by denouncing these concepts, it also required to get rid of all of the elements that these concepts had brought throughout history. Khmer Rouge was openly fighting against the progression of modernity, property rights, education, and especially intellectual thought.

These areas of life were under severe scrutiny and surveillance by the spies employed by the Khmer Rouge. Anyone standing against the purity of their revolution was seen as the enemies of the revolution, the State, and the Angkar, and the list that defined the characteristics of an enemy of the revolution was significantly broad.43 The paramount notion of purity caused the regime to follow a policy of absolute distrust towards the people. The purest people were seen as the poor peasants, but everyone else was distrusted. The scale of distrust was immeasurable as the regime was vigilantly discovering new "traitors" that were identified in many forced confessions. It was obvious that this self-fulfilling prophecy contributed to the continuum of the distrust against the people and this distrust disrupted the aim of having a classless society. After the takeover of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, two distinct classes were created: the “base people” and the “.”44

The base people were mostly the people that had lived in the rural areas controlled by the Communist Party of Kampuchea prior to April 17, 1975. They were also identified by old people or full-rights people. The base people were mainly comprised of farmers andrers, and they were tolerated and given rights as they had no relatives who had worked for the previous Khmer Republic. These people were appointed to be the chiefs of cooperative units as long as they worked hard and reported the enemies of the State.45

The new people were evacuated from the cities and towns in April 1975 in the attempts of "urbicide." The concept of urbicide is among the tenets of Khmer Rouge ideology, literally meaning "violence against the city." The obvious method of establishing a totally rural society

43 Zucker, Eve Monique. “Cambodia: The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime. ”Asia Pacific Curriculum, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Feb. 2019, asiapacificcurriculum.ca/sites/default/files/201902/The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime Background Reading.pdf . 44 “A History of Democratic Kampuchea.” DC-Cam, Documentation Center of Cambodia, www.d.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/DK_Book/DK_History--EN.pdf . 45 “Precursors to Genocide: Rise of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot.” United to End Genocide, endgenocide.org/learn/past-genocides/the-cambodian-genocide/.

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was to evacuate the cities. "Cities," according to the Khmer Rouge were the sole representations of "capitalism," that must be immediately destroyed. Thus, the people living in cities were identified as enemies of the State. Those who didn't want to leave their homes were forced to go to the countryside and become laborers, and even those who were not physically capable make such a journey were dragged into labor camps and died. These people were also identified as April 17 people and considered as "parasites that have no rights." They were regarded as "prisoners of war" and treated very harshly, looked upon with suspicion all times. The very well- known "to keep you is no gain; to lose you is no loss" slogan was uttered towards the new people.

Figure 4: The evacuation of new people of Kampuchea into the countryside of Kampuchea.46

As all cities were evacuated, the situation in the countryside was dire. All of the new and the base people were separated from their families and sent to different parts of the country. While they were awake, they were forced to work in cooperatives. Workers were treated no different than farm animals. Interpersonal relationships were also under supervision; people were expected to act like machines; those who are showing even the slightest affection or humor were reported and punished.47 No one could go outside of their cooperative, contact their relatives, or have some leisure time. No rights were identified to the people except for the base people to vote. There was only one ideal, only one

46 Source: BBC, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-10684399 47 “A History of Democratic Kampuchea.” DC-Cam, Documentation Center of Cambodia, www.d.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/DK_Book/DK_History--EN.pdf .

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parent of the nation, that was the “Angkar Padevat.” Khmer Rouge expected every citizen to see the Angkar Padevat as the “mother and father” of the nation.48

C. Internal Formation of the Communist Party of Kampuchea

Although the Khmer Rouge had fought against Lon Nol’s Khmer Republic for five years, very little was known about the movement or its leaders. The CPK maintained this secrecy for most of the time that it ruled Cambodia.

Angkar Padevat, “the revolutionary organization,” was made up of men and women who were members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea. They were led from the shadows by Pol Pot.

In September 1975, the CPK's Central Committee comprised Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, So Phim, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, Ta Mok, and . In 1977, three other members (Nhim Ros, Khieu Samphan and Ke Pauk) were added to this committee. Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, and Khieu Samphan were educated in France, while Nuon Chea was educated in Thailand and Vietnam. The other members of the Central Committee, although literate, had less education.49

Figure 5: A photo of Pol Pot and leading members of the CPK.50

48 Zucker, Eve Monique. “Cambodia: The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime. ”Asia Pacific Curriculum, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Feb. 2019, asiapacificcurriculum.ca/sites/default/files/201902/The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime Background Reading.pdf . 49 “A History of Democratic Kampuchea.” DC-Cam, Documentation Center of Cambodia, www.d.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/DK_Book/DK_History--EN.pdf . 50 ibid

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D. Foreign Relations of Democratic Kampuchea

As the Khmer Rouge regime has internal enemies, it also had many external enemies that determine the direction of the regime's foreign affairs. The Khmer Rouge was following highly discriminative policies in Cambodia as mentioned; one of these policies is the ban forbidding to speak any foreign language in the country. If you speak or even say a word in a foreign language, you would be suspected to be a spy for foreign countries. Diplomats from other countries (except China) in Phnom Penh were confined to their embassies and could only act within the directions of the regime. Khmer Rouge was provoking the public that all foreign countries, especially the hegemonic powers: the United States and the Soviet Union were attempting to make Cambodia their colony. Serving the ideologies of foreign countries was definitively prohibited.51

Democratic Kampuchea (DK) was situated between the proxy-war zones, between the U.S. backed Thailand and Soviet-backed Vietnam. DK's relationship with Thailand and Vietnam were both in bad terms because of the increasing border clashes and ideological differences. However, the central rift was with the Vietnamese. Cambodia and Vietnam were culturally and ethnically similar countries, but the Vietnamese idea of "Indochina" meaning a unified Cambodia and Vietnam, and Vietnam's territorial ambitions contributed to the poorness of their relationship.52

Despite all dissent to its policies, Khmer Rouge was not alone in the international arena. China was the most prominent and strongest benefactor of Democratic Kampuchea and the CPK. It is claimed that 90% of all foreign aid to Khmer Rouge was provided by China, in military equipment and advisers.53 The only major trading partner of Democratic Kampuchea was also China. Additively, the Khmer Rouge regime and Pol Pot were ideologically influenced by Mao

51 ibid 52 Zucker, Eve Monique. “Cambodia: The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime. ”Asia Pacific Curriculum, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Feb. 2019, asiapacificcurriculum.ca/sites/default/files/201902/The Rise and Fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime Background Reading.pdf . 53 Burke, James. “How Red China Supported the Brutal Khmer Rouge.” Vision Times, 12 Sept. 2018, www.visiontimes.com/2018/01/28/how-red-china-supported-the-brutal-khmer-rouge.html.

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Zedong and Pol Pot have admitted to admiring the Chinese project of the "Great Leap Forward." DK also had friendly relations with North Korea and Laos; however, it can be said that the only significant foreign presence in Cambodia was the Chinese.54

III) Conclusion

The Khmer Rouge Regime and the Democratic Kampuchea was one of the worst human tragedies of the 20th century, and today it is considered as the "Cambodian Genocide" which claimed two million lives. It is a traumatic event for Cambodia and the world even today.

Right after the Khmer Rouge's takeover of Phnom Penh, the United Nations Security Council was convened on April 17, 1975, to discuss the dire situation in Cambodia. The Security Council is the only body of the United Nations that could take constructive action for the situation in Cambodia. The Council reserve a broad spectrum of methods of conflict resolution and ultimately military intervention; however, the political stance of the international community was not effective and didn't take action while the apparent crimes against humanity were in progress.

- Important Note: This Committee will simulate the UN Security Council's extraordinary meeting that happened on April 16, 1975. In this guide, there is also information regarding some events that occurred after April 16, 1975, but these are for you to better understand the structure and ideology of the Khmer Rouge. Delegates in the Security Council will only be responsible for the events that happened before April 16, 1975, further information regarding the progression of events will be given you in the Committee.

54 Hunt, Luke. “What Was China’s Khmer Rouge Role?” The Diplomat, 2011, thediplomat.com/2011/12/what-was- chinas-khmer-rouge-role/

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