About a quarter of the population died — of disease, starvation, overwork or by execution — in the disastrous social engineering experiment memorably chronicled by the 1984 Oscar-winning movie “The Killing Fields”.
Some activists, however, say former prime minister Hun Sen is using the law to burnish his legacy and stifle any opposition to his son and successor, Hun Manet.
The government is trying to “reinforce state narratives rather than to genuinely encourage historical accountability”, said Sophal Ear, associate professor at Arizona State University.
“In practice, it could be another tool to silence dissent,” he said.
Political analyst Ou Virak called the law a “mistake”, adding: “A population that is afraid to discuss will be even more afraid to ask questions.”
‘I am the peacemaker’
Now 72, Hun Sen was a commander under Pol Pot before he fled to Vietnam in 1977, joining other Cambodian defectors to lead the Vietnamese army’s assault that drove the Khmer Rouge out of Phnom Penh.