Khmer Rouge embraces Jesus
Jason Burke discovers how Pol Pot's ruthless killers are repenting
their sins
The Observer
The Khmer Rouge followed a harsh brand of communism, killing nearly
two million people in their bid to return Cambodia to Year Zero. Now
they have a new faith: evangelical Christianity.
Hundreds of former fighters have been baptised in the past year. The
Khmer Rouge's mountain stronghold, the town of Pailin in south-west
Cambodia, has four churches, all with pastors and growing
congregations. At least 2,000 of those who followed Pol Pot, the
guerrillas' former leader who died six years ago, now worship Jesus.
Many new converts were involved in the bloody battles, massacres and
forced labour programmes that led to the Killing Fields. Between 1975
and 1979 the Khmer Rouge sought to eradicate religion, ripping down
the country's biggest cathedral, killing Muslim clerics and turning
Buddhist temples into pigsties.
According to one pastor, 70 per cent of the converts in Pailin are
Khmer Rouge. For many, it offers a hope of salvation. 'When I was a
soldier I did bad things. I don't know how many we killed. We were
following orders and thought it was the right thing to do,' said Thao
Tanh, 52. 'I read the Bible and I know it will free me from the weight
of the sins I have committed.'
The Khmer Rouge have been the focus of a drive by US-based religious
groups. Lee Samith, a senior aide of Pailin's governor, was a military
intelligence officer for the Khmer Rouge and one of the cadres to
convert. He had been repeatedly visited by a missionary from a
Colorado-based group, who showed films of the life of Christ.
'I opened my heart and Jesus came in,' said Lee, 36. Like 90 per cent
of Cambodians, he was previously a Buddhist. Now he is involved in the
New Life Presbyterian Church, on the outskirts of Pailin. Its wooden
walls are covered with Christmas decorations and colourful posters
portraying the life of Jesus.
But Lee has yet to shed all his former ideology. 'Pol Pot had good
ideas for Cambodia and for all people,' he said. 'Only foreigners talk
about genocide. Deaths due to class conflict are inevitable.'
After being ousted from Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, in 1979 by
the Vietnamese, the Khmer Rouge withdrew to the mountains to fight a
series of regimes.
Pailin, which is rich in timber and gems, has been the economic
springboard for the movement since its beginnings. It is a rough
place, full of bamboo brothels and bars selling bad alcohol and worse
food. It is reached by a 50-mile road so rutted and potholed that it
takes even 4WD vehicles more than three hours to negotiate. The
thickly forested hills, scene of dozens of battles over 30 years, are
heavily mined.
But the Khmer Rouge has now largely been brought in from the cold.
Pailin's governor is a member of the Cambodian Prime Minister's party,
despite being a former bodyguard of Pol Pot. His deputy, Kuoet Sothea,
a key aide of the genocidal leader, told The Observer that many of his
former comrades-in-arms 'feel sorry for what they did. National unity
and solidarity is the main aim now'.
Several senior figures, such as 'Duch' - Kang Kek Ieu - who ran the
S21 complex in Phnom Penh where an estimated 16,000 people died, have
converted to Christianity. Their new faith offers more than spiritual
comfort. After years of negotiation with the UN, the Cambodian
government has reluctantly agreed to put those responsible for the
genocide of the late 1970s on trial.
Several Khmer Rouge leaders live in villas in Pailin, profiting from
large farms, logging of hardwood forests and gem mining. Though many
are old, they now fear dying in prison. Christian repentance is likely
to mitigate any sentence they might receive.
Kun Lung, 49, started as a bodyguard for the senior commanders and
became the Khmer Rouge's best-known propagandist, responsible for
bloodcurdling broadcasts on their infamous radio station. He was
baptised recently and now organises Pailin Radio, describing 'God's
work' in two daily programmes.
However, although it is the senior commanders who will stand trial,
the missionaries, funded by evangelical associations in America, South
Korea and Singapore, have found most of their converts among the
middle and lower ranks of the Khmer Rouge.
Most veterans now eke out a living as landless labourers on the
estates of their former political chiefs. They live in flimsy shacks
and work 15-hour days. With no government or international aid, local
amenities are scarce. There is one dilapidated health clinic for
30,000 people.
The missionaries have built an orphanage and Bible schools. One pastor
is planning a kindergarten. Other groups have built wells, marked 'A
gift from Jesus'.
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Simply illustrates the difference between communities that worship
God and do not worship God! Those that worship God, who are in power,
tolerate to a large degree the opposition within while a Godless
society does not tolerate any opposition!
End
times:
http://www.geocities.com/mart1963/
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