Cambodians condemn photo-editing job on genocide victims
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Mr Norng Chan Phal, who survived internment at Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21, looking at portraits of victims displayed at the former school now turned into a museum. His parents were among the estimated two million Cambodians who died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
PHNOM PENH • Cambodians who lost family members during the Khmer Rouge genocide have slammed an Irish artist's decision to digitally add smiles to old black and white pictures of victims killed by the regime.
The ultra-Maoist Pol Pot-led Khmer Rouge installed a reign of terror from 1975 to 1979 that left about two million Cambodians dead from starvation, hard labour, torture and mass executions.
The brutal regime took photographs of thousands of its victims, including those sent to Tuol Sleng, or S-21, a former Phnom Penh high school that had been converted into a prison.
Artist Matt Loughrey, who has been adding colour to the black and white photos of victims as part of a personal project, says the smiles he put on some of those killed have provoked a backlash. A selection of the images and an interview with Loughrey was published on the Vice news website over the weekend, attracting a torrent of criticism both within Cambodia and on social media.
The article appeared to have been pulled from the website on Sunday. Vice had earlier added a disclaimer to the article before it was removed.
"It has been brought to our attention that the restored portraits published in this article were modified beyond colourisation. We are reviewing the article and considering further actions to correct the record," Vice said in a statement.
Agence France-Presse has contacted Loughrey for a response.
S-21 survivor Norng Chan Phal, whose parents were among those killed, characterised Loughrey's project as "an insult to the victims of Khmer Rouge". "I strongly condemn these colourised pictures because all victims at S-21 were never happy," the 52-year-old told AFP. "We the victims who entered S-21 never had a chance to smile. I don't support any changes to the pictures. We were suffering."
Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said it considered Loughrey's manipulation of the images to "seriously affect the dignity of the victims" as well as the reality of the country's history. It added that Loughrey's project also violated the rights of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum as the lawful owners and custodians of the images.
The ministry has called for Loughrey and Vice to remove the doctored pictures, saying in a statement that it "will consider taking legal action (both national and international) if Matt Loughrey does not comply with the above request".
Mr Hun Many, a Cambodian lawmaker and youngest son of the country's leader Hun Sen, said he was shocked to see the doctored images.
"It clearly shows that those individuals, especially foreigners, do not understand the painful tragedy of the Cambodia nation and particularly the victims who suffered from torture and killings at Tuol Sleng prison," he wrote on Facebook.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
