-Caveat Lector- Cambodia Schools Skip ''Killing Fields'' Reuters 26-APR-99 PHNOM PENH, April 27 (Reuters) - Evidence of the Khmer Rouge reign of terror is not hard to find in Cambodia -- from monuments piled high with skulls to the deep emotional scars still borne by those who lived through it. But just two decades on and amid moves to put Khmer Rouge leaders on trial for their crimes, Cambodian schoolchildren find little or no mention of this dark chapter in their textbooks. Critics fear this will mean the lessons of the dreadful past will one day be forgotten. An estimated 1.7 million people died during the Khmer Rouge's catastrophic revolution in the 1970s. The victims were either executed as class or ethnic enemies, or died of starvation, disease or exhaustion in brutally run agricultural collectives. HISTORY DROPPED FOR RECONCILIATION Countless tomes detailing Khmer Rouge atrocities were distributed in Cambodia after Vietnam invaded to overthrow the Khmer Rouge in 1979, in no small part to justify the intervention by a rival and historically despised neighbour. But those books dropped out of fashion after rival factions signed a post-Cold War peace treaty in 1991 and "national reconciliation" became the main political buzzwords. Schools started leaving Khmer Rouge crimes off their lessons in the late 1980s after Vietnamese troops withdrew from Cambodia and momentum for peace intensified. "We didn't want to see the young generation seek revenge for the past," said Education Ministry director-general So Muy Kheang. "We dropped it because we want to see national reconciliation instead of revenge." Today's generation of students have to look hard for the few shabby volumes available in dusty, underfunded libraries to find any reference to what happened under the Khmer Rouge. TEXT BOOKS MANIPULATED BY POLITICIANS Cambodia's leading researcher into the record of Khmer Rouge crime said text books had always been manipulated by political ideologues and they did not provide a true historical account. "The genocide had been manipulated by the politicians," said Youk Chhang, the head of the Documentation Center of Cambodia. He said he was hoping his findings, which include detailed records kept by the Khmer Rouge government of their purges, would one day be included in school text books. "The issue is very sensitive still... but how can you grow up without knowing part of your life?" The issue of the Khmer Rouge, never far from the public agenda in Cambodia, has dominated debate since the group's disintegration late last year and the surrender or capture of all surviving members. Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned that peace and reconciliation could be endangered if efforts are made to prosecute all of those seen as responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide. Many ordinary Cambodians want to see Khmer Rouge leaders brought to trial -- not for revenge, but often simply to know why the killing happened. HALF OF ALL CAMBODIANS BORN AFTER KHMER ROUGE Today half of Cambodia's nearly 12 million people were born after the Khmer Rouge were driven from power in 1979. For many, infamous Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, who until his death last year lived a secret life on the Thai border, is little more than a bogeyman figure. Young Cambodians are often surprised and shocked to learn what happened under the Khmer Rouge. "What! Pol Pot's name in here? Where do these books come from?" asked 13-year-old school-girl Tuth Dyna, when she came across a book from the 1980s detailing the horrors of the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh's main library. "I'm angry with my teachers, they never even mention this in class." Another student, Roath Vibol, said he was taught about World War Two but nothing about the Khmer Rouge. "I don't want to learn about the Second World War when I don't even know what the Khmer Rouge did," he said. Chhay Yiheang, a professor at Phnom Penh University, said the young generation had to learn about their dark past. "I think this period should be taught again. We have to separate history from politics," he said. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved. ================================= Robert F. Tatman [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Remove "nospam" from the address to reply. NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. 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