Who Is Pol Pot?

Pol Pot, the leader of the communist party known as the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. He aimed to convert Cambodia into his vision of a communist agrarian society. However, in doing so he administered the deaths of more than two million Cambodians and under his rule Cambodians suffered harsh realities. Towards the end of his four years in power he left the country in turmoil as the economy was destroyed and the country regressed to an impoverished state as Pol Pot hindered any progress or advancements. Pol Pot may be characterised as a brutal dictator who exercised absolute control over Cambodia through his employment of terror tactics and the regulation of private lives, in addition to his control of mass media.
Terror tactics
The Khmer Rouge captured the city of Phnom Penh in 1976 and in doing so they overthrew the previous Cambodian government and gained complete control over the country. Once they came into power they executed their new reforms to transform Cambodia to an agrarian society inclusive of relocating Cambodians from the city to the countryside to do farm work. Anyone who objected to Pol Pot’s authority and new rules faced harsh repercussions such as torture, execution and the killing of their families by the Khmer Rouge troops. Norodom Sihanouk, the former king of Cambodia prior to the Khmer Rouge regime taking place, states the ramifications he dealt with for refuting Pol Pot’s orders. Sihanouk asserts: “My refusal to serve Pol Pot’s Kampuchea from April 1976 carried with it some responsibility for the elimination of my relatives.” His account is useful in understanding the aggressive elements of the Khmer Rouge and the emphasis on policing and punishing all who stand against Pol Pot. Furthermore, it can be seen that Pol Pot punished Cambodian royalty to exert his dominance and demonstrate to the Cambodians that regardless of stature and influence everyone will face severe consequences for the refusal of his authority. Respected writer
Alongside forcing Cambodians to discard personal possessions such as jewellery and watches Pol Pot also forced them to get rid of electronic devices such as televisions and radios, which limited their contact with unapproved media. Respected academics George Chigas and Dmitri Mosyakov, in their article written for the Genocide Studies Program conducted by Yale University which is a program that conducts research on comparative and policy issues relating to the occurrence of genocide, provides their perspective regarding Pol Pot’s control of mass media. They note that the Khmer Rouge produced at least three monthly publications which were used as methods of indoctrination as the publications glorified the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot. They also go on to write that the Cambodians were taught to read in an “uncritical and passive way” so that they would accept the doctrines of the Khmer Rouge and not question them. An education plan written by Pol Pot and the high ranking members of the Khmer Rouge strengthens the credibility of Chigas and Mosyakov’s article, by showing the use of media to disseminate Khmer Rouge ideologies among Cambodians. The plans states, “the strengthening and expanding of songs and poems that reflect good models in the period of political/armed struggle… and songs that describe good models in the period of socialist