His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia, has issued a royal decree to protect and support the inclusion of three Cambodian sites on the World Heritage List, as announced by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts in a press release.
These sites were proposed by the Royal Government to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the Khmer Rouge regime, which imposed oppression and exploitation on the Cambodian people for three years, eight months and twenty days, the statement said.
In 2019, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has initiated the preparation of the required documentation, at the request of the Royal Government. The three sites selected for this commemoration are the former M-13 prison, the Tuol Sleng genocide museum and the Choeung Ek genocide centre. It should be noted that the Tuol Sleng genocide museum and Choeung Ek are located in the city of Phnom Penh, while M-13 is in the province of Kampong Chhnang, on the border with the province of Kampong Speu.
The three sites were selected for a combined nomination because they illustrate that the acts of torture and execution perpetrated by the KR regime were part of a systematic and coherent strategy, initiated in the early 1970s, and more specifically at M-13.
The purpose of the Royal Decree is, firstly, to preserve the main sites and, secondly, to designate them as commemorative sites on the World Heritage List. The Royal Decree is entitled ‘Cambodian Memorial Sites: From Centres of Repression to Places of Peace and Reflection’, which is also the official title of the serial nomination to the World Heritage List.
The Royal Decree has three objectives:
The protection and preservation of all historical evidence and documents to serve as lessons and memories, but also to prevent the recurrence of genocide, crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949
The protection of the environment, historic landscapes and natural resources of the areas and the sustainable development of each area to protect universal values
Increasing awareness, research, education and outreach to promote reconciliation and peace
In 2020, the sites were included on Cambodia's Tentative List with a view to their inclusion on the World Heritage List. The official nomination was submitted in January 2024, after consultation with an inter-ministerial committee comprising ten ministries and the provincial administrations of Phnom Penh municipality and the provinces of Kampong Chhnang and Kampong Speu.
While Cambodia already has four World Heritage sites (the Angkor complex, the Preah Vihear temple, the Sambo Prei Kuk complex and Koh Ker), this is ‘our first application for a modern, non-classical archaeological site’ (Phoeurng Sackona, 2023). Phoeurng Sackona, Minister of Culture and Fine Arts. She points out that this site is one of the first in the world to be associated with a recent conflict.
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