I spend 2 one week stays in Pailin at the turn of the century and liked the town. My abiding memory is the owner of the hotel where I was staying telling me that his wife before the war was educated and could speak fluent French but as a result of the war she could no longer speak a word having completely unlearnt it in case the regime found out
I spent 4 years in The Hague following War Crimes trials in the various courts and used to visit the UN Detention centre where those facing charges were held, although not to see them. It’s key not to glorify the crimes or people nor deny that they happened, if we do we perpetuate the pain of those crimes. Acknowledging and understanding the context that the crimes took place in is really important to prevent them happening again.
Dan, totally agree. Before writing the piece, I called my friend who met KS in Pailin. Quite a bit of what he said kind of normalised the guy, so I stuck with the fisherman pants and karaoke machine bits. The thing is these people, in a way, were/are normal. It isn’t like they’re running evil lairs in their basements. Like talking to the woman in Anlong Veng, I think if I’d had a better translator, she’d have had plenty more to say—and none of it would have been welcome to my ears. Tricky stuff.
I spend 2 one week stays in Pailin at the turn of the century and liked the town. My abiding memory is the owner of the hotel where I was staying telling me that his wife before the war was educated and could speak fluent French but as a result of the war she could no longer speak a word having completely unlearnt it in case the regime found out
Amazing stuff people do to survive.
I spent 4 years in The Hague following War Crimes trials in the various courts and used to visit the UN Detention centre where those facing charges were held, although not to see them. It’s key not to glorify the crimes or people nor deny that they happened, if we do we perpetuate the pain of those crimes. Acknowledging and understanding the context that the crimes took place in is really important to prevent them happening again.
Dan, totally agree. Before writing the piece, I called my friend who met KS in Pailin. Quite a bit of what he said kind of normalised the guy, so I stuck with the fisherman pants and karaoke machine bits. The thing is these people, in a way, were/are normal. It isn’t like they’re running evil lairs in their basements. Like talking to the woman in Anlong Veng, I think if I’d had a better translator, she’d have had plenty more to say—and none of it would have been welcome to my ears. Tricky stuff.
Thought provoking