Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday paid tributes and deep homage to Cambodian martyrs by placing a wreath at the Independence Monument here.
After placing the wreath, the Prime Minister stood there in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the martyrs. A smartly turned
out contingent drawn from three services of the Cambodian armed forces gave a static guard of honour to the Bangladesh Prime Minister, while bugle played the last post.
TheIndependence MonumentinPhnom Penh, the capital ofCambodia, was built in 1958 to memorialise Cambodia’s independence from France in 1953. The lotus-shapedIndependence Monument was designed by the Cambodian architectVann Molyvann. Later, the Prime Minister paid homage to Cambodian late KingNorodom Sihanouk by laying a wreath at his memorial. After placing the wreath, she stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memory of the late King. Sheikh Hasina was given a static guard of honour by the Cambodian armed forces. Bangabandhu’s younger daughter Sheikh Rehana and other entourage of the Prime Minister were present. Sheikh Hasina later visited theTuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The museum situated in the heart ofPhnom Penh, chronicling theCambodian genocide.
Accompanied by Sheikh Rehana, the Prime Minister went round different sections of the museum and witnessed the evidence of the atrocities of theKhmer Rougeregime. The Prime Minister also signed the visitor’s book kept on the premises of the museum. Director of the museum Chhay Visoth briefed them about different aspects of the museum. Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak, PM’s Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, Chief Coordinator on the SDG Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office Md Abul Kalam Azad, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque and PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim, were among others, present on the occasion. The museum is a previous high schoolwhich was used as the notoriousSecurity Prison 21 (S-21)by theKhmer Rougeregime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979.
Tuol Sleng means ‘Hill of the Poisonous Trees’ or ‘StrychnineHill’. Tuol Sleng was just one of at least 150 execution centers established by the Khmer Rouge. On the 26 July 2010, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia convicted the chief of Tuol Sleng Prison,Kaing kek Iewfor crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
