Dean Saffron: "They Killed My Father!"

My father was killed in 1978 by a man in our village who was a solider for Pol Pot. I was only five years old . My dad was a professor and Pol Pot was killing all the intellectuals and in fact even people who wore glasses because they looked smart, Pol Pot was following the principals of the Chinese revolution .

My father was informed of the plot to kill him by one of his friends and the exact time and place his murder would take place . His friend begged my father to run to Vietnam for his own safety but Dad did not have enough time to get us out as well and knew his wife and three children would be murdered in his place ,so instead my father stayed to face his executioners . My Father made me promise to kill the man that killed him when I was grown up.

This man still lives in my village even as we speak . The genocide hearings that are happening at the moment will not bring justice to my people because there are many high officials that are still in government that worked for Pol Pot. The only justice we were allowed to have occurred in 1979 when my father’s murderer was dragged down our street and the victim’s families were allowed to kick and beat him as payback.But even this was carefully monitored.

People are still very scared to talk out against the government and testify…please remember one in three of our population was killed by Pol Pot .

© 2009/Dean Saffron