Cambodia: Visits remove edited photos of Khmer Rouge victims

Cambodia: Visits remove edited photos of Khmer Rouge victims

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The article came under criticism from readers, who said the artist added a smile to some of the shots. Vice said Monday that he had removed the story and photos from his website.

The article “included photos of the Khmer Rouge victims who manipulated Loughrey outside of color,” Vice said in a statement.

‘The story did not meet [our] editorial standards, “added the publication.” We regret the error and will investigate how this failure of the editorial process occurred. ”

The Khmer Rouge executioner 'Comrade Duch', who was in charge of the infamous torture prison, dies at the age of 77

Despite the withdrawal, the Cambodian authorities strongly objected to the use of the images, after a government review, several photos were found to have been changed to add smiles.

“Changing these photos shows a total insensitivity to the people who died, the families who had to go on without their loved ones, and the historical truth itself,” Phoeurng Sackona, Cambodia’s Minister of Culture and the Arts, said in a statement. said. to CNN Business Monday.

“We understand and respect artistic freedom. In this case, however, the artist clearly desecrated the memories of the dead and robbed the victims of the Khmer Rouge of their dignity. The distorted photographs unnecessarily traumatized the families and our country again.”

The minister called on the artist ‘to immediately stop distributing these horrific images and specifically remove them from his website and keep them out of the public eye’.

Loughrey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Over the weekend, a petition was circulated online demanding that Vice take down the article. By Monday, it had collected more than 7,000 signatures. Fighters urged Loughrey to “please no longer use photos of Cambodian genocide victims for your experimentation and entertainment.”

On Monday, they noted that although the story has since been withdrawn, ‘there is still no apology from either Vice or Mr. Loughrey. ‘

There is now a new petition from the same group apologizing to the Cambodian community.
At least 1.7 million people – nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population – have died of execution, disease, starvation and forced labor under the Khmer Rouge regime that ruled the country between 1975-1979.
In 2018, almost four decades after the collapse of the brutal regime, a UN-backed tribunal ruled that the Khmer Rouge committed genocide.

CNN’s Helen Regan contributed to this report.

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