25 January 2007
Former
Khmer Rouge Photographer to
centre announced plans Thursday to open a museum in a remote former Khmer
Rouge stronghold to display his work.
Nhem Em, a photographer turned local politician, asked forgiveness for not
acting on what he saw during his years photographing victims before and
after execution at the centre, where more than 10,000 people were tortured
and killed.
Although he himself once faced execution—after being blamed for a blemish
on a photograph of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot—Nhem Em was redeemed by the
movement and continued to photograph its leaders until 1995.
'I am the former chief photographer of a group of six at S-21,' said Nhem
Em, now a deputy governor of the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong
Veng on the country's northern border with
forgiveness from the families of all S-21 victims.
'I have more than 1,000 photographs in my possession from between 1975 and
1995. I am very happy to tell you that I am going to start a museum in
Anlong Veng.'
He said he hoped the museum would contribute to reconciliation and
education, so the atrocities of the past would not be forgotten and could be
better understood by the younger generation.
He did not set an opening date, but said he was receiving significant
technical assistance from the Documentation Center of Cambodia, the main
body collating evidence from the Khmer Rouge period.
Nhem Em has said he was an unwilling witness to the inner workings of the
Khmer Rouge, unable to resist because he feared for his own life. He is not
among those considered for prosecution at the upcoming trial of former Khmer
Rouge leaders.
Besides grim collections of executed prisoners from S-21, now the
snaps of Pol Pot at home in Anlong Veng with his daughter, and group photos
of former Khmer Rouge leaders during visits to
Korea
Anlong Veng was the last home for Pol Pot until his death in 1998 and also
refuge to several former leaders including military commander Ta Mok.
US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli commended Nhem Em for his gesture and public
apology, noting that none of the regime's former leaders had yet done so.
'We have all heard the old cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Each of these pictures is worth a thousand tears,' Mussomeli said. 'This is
an important contribution to preserving records of Khmer Rouge atrocities.'
Currently stalled amid wrangling over internal rules, the 56-million dollar
trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders is expected to get underway sometime
this year.
Up to 2 million Cambodians are believed to have died during the
ultra-Maoist's 1975 to 1979 regime.
Copyright 2007
Deutsche Presse-Agentur