Forgotten Victims

I looked at the article about the horrors in Cambodia from the viewpoint of a Khmer Rouge member. While it is true the regime committed horrible acts against the people it ruled, people often forget that the regime's own members can be victims as well. In the scramble to figure out what happened and who should be punished, it is these people, the lower ranking members of the regime, that are often forgotten.

No one can deny that actions performed by Him Huy and others like him were horrendous. Lining up prisoners and hitting them in the head with an iron bar is never acceptable. However, at least in my opinion, the situation changes drastically when the "executioner" could just as likely end up on the other end of the iron bar. Mr. Huy speaks of eating lunch with co-workers, then that night seeing the same co-worker on the recieving end of one of the bars. In fact, he moved up to be a high ranking prison official for precisely this reason - those above him were arrested and killed.

The article discusses how Mr. Huy's friends, family, and neighbors do not hold his actions against him, and I agree with them. A former prisoner even commented that he had nothing against Mr. Huy, as the prisoner did not know what he would do if it was him. This is precisely the dilema that is so easily forgotten. If your job was to kill people, or be killed yourself, how many people could honestly say they would refuse to do their job?

It is this that shows the almost forgotten attrocities of the regime. Yes, killing millions of people are wrong. But is recruiting kids(Mr. Huy was 12) and then brainwashing them to assist in your evil any better? And just in case the brainwash is not complete, the regime members can just as easily find themselves the prisoners.

However, when speaking of the horrors commited by the regime, this often goes forgotten, or barely mentioned. In order to hold those responsible truly accountable, all their wrong doings must be brought to light. The absolute stranglehold regime leaders have over their own followers is often forgotten, and should not be. It is these people who are often the forgotten victims.