… I have a great pleasure to return to the province of Takeo once again, especially to the district of Koh Andet for putting into use the Hun Sen-Koh Andet College and for sharing with all of our people new achievements that we have jointly built over the past years. I wish to take this opportunity to express my deep thanks for the people of Koh Andet who have overcome one difficulty after another in coping with floods and droughts making life of each family progress without stop. According to my observation, Cambodia has made advancements in areas of religion and education. Buddhist pagodas have gone up from ashes to become appropriately respectable places. As far as education is concerned, though we still have many problems and tremendous difficulties caused by complete abandonment in 1970s because of war and the genocide, we have carried out with great efforts in building a great number of education infrastructure.
… As we are in great pleasure of celebrating the inauguration of the College, it is also our day of remembrance of the victims under the Pol Pot’s genocide regime on May 20 as was set by the Cambodian People’s Party and the National United Front for the Salvation of Kampuchea. No country in this world that suffered such destruction and brutal killing as in Cambodia at all. If we were to compare Cambodian situation with that in Bosnia, Rwanda, etc., those countries were in wars while Cambodia was in the genocide. There was no sound of fighting but prison without walls in which punishments were meted out. They did not kill people with guns but with hoes and starvation. In Iraq after the Saddam Hussein regime was brought down by the US and its allies, only few graves have been discovered so far but in Cambodia mass graves were found everywhere. I think our people of that generation have told their children about what happened in the regime.
… That is why we put a question what would happen to our lives if we were not liberated on January 07, 1979? How many more people would have died and what else would happen to our country. When our country was liberated, all along our troop’s movements inside the country, endless number of people telling that their lives could have been dead already if the liberation army was one or two hours late. That was in regard of those who died under the Pol Pot’s genocide regime that May 20 has been set as the day of remembrance of the deaths under the Pol Pot’s regime, and it is an opportunity for us to pray for their souls to rest in peace with traditional Buddhist ritual. I learnt that Takeo organized the day of remembrance one day before, on May 19, and I think people know about this problem even if they were born 12 years later (after January 1979). If someone were to shut up, it could be because their political parties do not allow them to recall.
… In the course of shaping up the Paris Peace Agreement, I fought for the disorganization of Pol Pot politically and militarily and I made it clear that the most suitable place for Pol Pot is not (to represent Cambodia) in the Supreme National Council but (to stand for trial) in the court of justice. But Cambodia’s justice was ignored and they joined the Polpotists to fight us. Last week, however, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the draft concerning the establishment of an extraordinary court of justice to try the most senior leaders of the Democratic Kampuchea regime in a period specified from April 17, 1975 to January 06, 1979. It is not at all a revenge of any kinds but a measure to prevent the genocide from taking place on the soil of Cambodia again. Impunity is an unacceptable culture. Some politicians in the present time make outcry that the current Royal Government is a dictator and they never reproach Pol Pot of being a dictator at all. No one in those days claimed to try the Khmer Rouge leaders, but we did.
… We have started to rebuild Cambodia from scratch after January 07, 1979 and no country in this world of the 20th century that did not have money in its economy or did not have a capital or no people in the cities like in Cambodia. Some people have ignored the truth and criticized us inside the country that we do not keep the city clean, the schools in good condition, etc. It is in fact a difficult task to do to play a flute for a buffalo’s ears. They had chosen to scorn us in favour of their partner – Pol Pot. If Pol Pot were to take part in the national election in 1993, up to this moment Pol Pot might have their representatives in the National Assembly and could have a legitimate political party. Taking this chance I would like to express my thanks to those who had disconnected themselves from the political and military organization of Pol Pot and integrated themselves with the Royal Government of Cambodia, putting the Pol Pot’s organization in limbo position opening way for the court of justice to be established to try their senior leaders. Without their defections, it would have been difficult to achieve a complete peace, and without peace and stability trial of the senior Khmer Rouge leaders could not be organized and justice could not be made for those who died under their regime.
… Some people said Pol Pot policy is correct but its implementation was wrong and I totally deny this because when one is wrong in policy making, one will make mistake while implementing it. Policy is a measure or a roadmap for one’s action or implementation. Take for instance the Royal Government’s policy has been to impose no tax on farmers’ land and this is a yardstick of the Government’s action. I hope that there will not be a new Pol Pot even if some people have used similar language to Pol Pot and our people would understand and remember those aspects of the regime.
Samdech Hun Sen offered a sewing classroom with 50 sewing machines, a school building of six classrooms, a director’s office with three rooms, two computers and a printer, two 14″ colour TVs, one five KVA generator, ten tons of cement, and a system of ten light run by solar energy to the Hun Sen-Koh Andet College, a school building of six classrooms to the Kompong Chhouk Junior College, 75 tons of rice for labour for the restoration of the O Tortoung canal, and a water pump station for three communes – Rominh, Prey Khla and Thlea Prochum.
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