Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Torture Sites Gain UNESCO Status Amid Lingering Questions of Justice

On the solemn occasion marking the 50th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge's rise to power, three of Cambodia's darkest sites have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List. These locations—ruthless prisons and execution grounds—stand as harrowing reminders of a regime that caused the deaths of nearly 1.7 million Cambodians from 1975 to 1979 through starvation, torture, and mass executions.While acknowledging these atrocities is vital, the broader question remains: how meaningful is this recognition without full accountability? Despite a $337 million U.N.-backed tribunal spanning over a decade, only three perpetrators were convicted—a fraction compared to the scale of horrors committed. This...