Cambodia and Rwanda: Some Comparative Observations

Seeing the killing fields and the Genocide museum got me thinking about my previous experience visiting a “genocide country.” While historical comparisons of different events are often ideologically motivated and inappropriate, I couldn’t help but make some observations about my experiences viewing the evidence, impact, and effects of genocide in Rwanda and Cambodia, as well as the the conditions of the genocides. Here are a few thoughts:

1) The Rwandan genocide is still fresh (it happened in 1994), whereas the Cambodian genocide is more distant (1975-1979). This is evident from visiting the Cambodian sites, which are worn-out and well traveled. In Rwanda, the memorials are newer and less-traveled. The large memorial in Kigali is quite fancy, with colorful multi-media presentations created with the support of international donors. The exhumed bodies are fresher in Rwanda, and there are few foreign tourists.

2) In Rwanda, people don’t talk about the genocide, generally avoiding the subject. My Cambodian colleagues speak of it openly, and will talk about their families experience when asked.

A Scottish NGO director I met suggested that the time factor explains the reticence of Rwandans to talk about the genocide and their experiences. While time may play a factor, I think there are other factors at work:

-Culture: There is not a lot of trust in Rwandan society, and this was reportedly the case even before 1994. This is in stark contrast to the Buddhism of Cambodia, in which people are very open, share experiences, and ask questions freely.
-The cause and character of the killings: the Rwandan genocide was primarily ethnic, with the majority ethnic group (Hutus) slaughtering the minority (Tutsis). In Cambodia, Pol Pot’s Agrarian Maoist ideology provided the reason and impetus for the Khmer Rouge’s systematic killings. Ethnic genocide leaves a different legacy than political and socioeconomic genocide.
- The scope of the effect on society: the loss of people, skills, knowledge, and infrastructure in Cambodia seems like more of a catastrophe economically and socially than the killings in Rwanda. The Rwandan genocide occurred in close to 100 days, whereas the Khmer Rouge period was four years long. In Cambodia, the sense of “civilizational loss” is very great, and immediate. In Rwanda, many Tutsis who had left the country returned to Rwanda after the genocide.
-The political environment: Cambodians routinely criticize Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party for government for corruption (even in the press, I am told), whereas no one would dare criticize Paul Kagame in public. As far as I can tell, it is unlikely that Hutus would even dare to directly criticize him (or his government) in casual conversation with people they do not know well.
-Cambodians are accustomed to seeing and interacting with outsiders, and there has been a flood of international funding ($500 million a year). The expats in Rwanda are few and far between, and people are less comfortable talking to outsiders.

There are some similarities, as well:
-Both countries were European colonies, each with a series of poorly managed and corrupt post-colonial regimes after attaining independence.
-War and instability were present on each country’s borders (dictatorship and overthrow in Uganda and Congo versus the Vietnam War, sanctuaries for the Vietcong, and enormous American bombing), which spilled into the country.
-In both cases, there was economic hardship and mismanagement in the years preceding the genocide.
-In Cambodia and Rwanda, Invading armies from outside the country’s borders removed the genocidal regime and halted the killings/oppression of the people. However, the Vietnamese Army left, whereas the RFP has stayed (as it was made up of Tutsi exiles), and shows no intention of leaving.

Following the genocides:

In Rwanda, the government has been stable and well-managed, albeit with not a lot of free speech. There has been a fast transition to the rule of law and democratic elections, and an enormous effort to provide transitional justice through local courts (ongoing), public memorials, and an International Tribunal.

In Cambodia, the Vietnamese may have exhumed the mass graves in 1980, but the Khmer Rouge leadership has escaped justice, and some elements have been brought into the government. The aging leadership is only now being put on trial by the ECCC, a hybrid UN/Cambodian court. Pol Pot died while in Khmer Rouge captivity, whereas a number of leading perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide have been tried (or are currently on trial).