A Cambodian genocide museum yesterday called for help in preserving the deteriorating bones of more than 8,000 Khmer Rouge victims salvaged from its mass graves.
Rous Sophea Ravy, deputy director of the Choeung Ek Genocide Museum on the outskirts of the capital, said the thousands of skulls and other bones currently housed at the site needed to be preserved or risk deteriorating into dust.
She said curators of the private company JC Royal, which took over the site in May last year, were worried as some of the bones were again showing signs of deterioration.
"The company is seeking to unite with Phnom Penh City Hall to request countries or companies with sufficient skills to preserve the bones chemically to come forward and begin discussions with us," Ravy said.
She said the cost of preserving the bones could not be estimated until talks were held with experts who could outline the best processes to employ.
"Of course, if a country or donor could help us we are happy, but if a private company has the skills and can give us a quote, we will seek money to pay, because these bones represent Cambodian feelings. This museum is proof of what people suffered under the Khmer Rouge," she said.
Choeung Ek's macabre centerpiece is a stupa stacked high with hundreds of skulls salvaged from the surrounding mass graves. The site attracts thousands each year.
Up to 2 million Cambodians died of torture, disease, execution and starvation during the 1975 to 1979 Khmer Rouge regime.
Due to its proximity to Phnom Penh and its close links with Pol Pot's secret S-21 torture center, from which many of its victims were brought, Choeung Ek has become the best known of the nation's Killing Fields.
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
CHARGES: The former president, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup bid, as well as an assassination plot Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent Brazlian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power after the polls. Prosecutors said the scheme — which included plans to assassinate Lula and a top Brazilian Supreme Court judge — failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass. A panel of Supreme Court judges weighing Bolsonaro’s appeal all voted to uphold
Chinese tech giant Alibaba yesterday denied it helps Beijing target the US, saying that a recent news report was “completely false.” The Financial Times yesterday reported that Alibaba “provides tech support for Chinese military ‘operations’ against [US] targets,” a White House memo provided to the newspaper showed. Alibaba hands customer data, including “IP addresses, WiFi information and payment records,” to Chinese authorities and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the report cited the memo as saying. The Financial Times said it could not independently verify the claims, adding that the White House believes the actions threaten US security. An Alibaba Group spokesperson said “the assertions
LEFT AND RIGHT: Battling anti-incumbent, anticommunist sentiment, Jeanette Jara had a precarious lead over far-right Jose Antonio Kast as they look to the Dec. 14 run Leftist candidate Jeannette Jara and far-right leader Jose Antonio Kast are to go head-to-head in Chile’s presidential runoff after topping Sunday’s first round of voting in an election dominated by fears of violent crime. With 99 percent of the results counted, Jara, a 51-year-old communist running on behalf of an eight-party coalition, won 26.85 percent, compared with 23.93 percent for Kast, the Servel electoral service said. The election was dominated by deep concern over a surge in murders, kidnappings and extortion widely blamed on foreign crime gangs. Kast, 59, has vowed to build walls, fences and trenches along Chile’s border with Bolivia to
RSS