Friday, 5 September 2008

Cambodia's S-21 jail up for UNESCO list

Press Tv
Thu, 04 Sep 2008

Thousands of photos and documents from Khmer Rouge's S-21 torture center in Cambodia have been submitted to UNESCO for global recognition.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said it is working on the Cambodian government's application to get the notorious S-21 prison - now known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - and its torture archives listed in the agency's Memory of the World program.

The detailed S-21 archives document the fate of the 16,000 men, women and children who passed through the S-21 prison gates, only 14 of whom are thought to have survived.

An estimated 1.7 million people died as a result of the Khmer Rouge's radical policies from 1975 to 1979.

The victims died from torture, disease, starvation, overwork and executions across the country, but S-21 remains unique for its harrowing and painstaking documentation of Khmer Rouge atrocities.

S-21 documents include 4,186 confessions, 6,226 prisoner biographies, 6,147 photos, demolished buildings, research activities, mass graves and remains of victims.

The Memory of the World program guarantees regional recognition and promotes preservation, digitalization, and public access to member sites and documents, according to UNESCO.

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