The Tangible Khmer Rouge Aftermaths
Posted date : 06-04-2010
Source : Youth For Peace
Number of Visitors : 717 
Ampe Phnom Memorial
“You see? What has been left from the Khmer Rouge regime are those,” Oem Thoy, 58, Ampe Phnom villager said, pointing his finger to a well-constructed concrete stupa. The stupa is full of skulls and bones of Khmer Rouge victims at Ampe Phnom Memorial in Kampong Speu province, “It is so vital that we keep those remains to show the next generations who have no experience of the Khmer Rouge regime”, he added. Apart from the memorial, Ampe Phnom resort is well-known for tourism in Kampong Speu province. Visitors can have a rest in the thatched-roof huts, get fresh air and eat delicious roasted chicken. Then they can walk on a suspension bridge over a stream to a hill in the pagoda grounds. For those interested in the Khmer Rouge heritage, to the west of the pagoda, a dark red stupa, which is full of remains, can be found.
In 1981 the graves were dug up and large number of bones and skulls has been seen. Later, many skulls and bones decayed and some were washed away by flooding before they were properly put in the stupa. In Un, 74, who has been a monk here for a long time, does not know how many victims’ skulls remain. According to the Documentation Center of Cambodia, around 4000 people were killed here.
Un Hak, 81, who is now a Buddhist layman (Achar) of the pagoda, said the Khmer Rouge used the Buddhist temple on the peak of the hill as a prison where people were detained provisionally before being killed nearby. “Before the Khmer Rouge time, there were a lot of Buddhist statues, but when they came they destroyed most of the statues here because they did not want people to believe in any religion. We were not allowed to come near here,” said Un Hak.
On the Khmer new year as well as the Cambodian religious ceremony called Pchum Ben, people come here to celebrate Baing Skol, a Buddhist ceremony during which one can dedicate food, via the monk, to those who died. In so doing, the people feel relieved, to some extent, from the past experiences.
Location: Ampe Phnom village, Svay Kravan commune, Chbarmon district, Kampong Speu province
Distance: Around 50 kilometers west of Phnom Penh
Victims: Around 4,000 (source: DC-Cam)
Extracted from:
-Diary 2010, Stories from the Ground “The Tangible Khmer Rouge Aftermaths”.
