In a social media message on May 20, 2026, Cambodia’s Acting Head of State and Senate President Hun Sen said the National Day of Remembrance was a day Cambodians could never forget. He recalled the Democratic Kampuchea, or Pol Pot genocidal, regime from April 17, 1975 to January 6, 1979, describing it as a period of brutality and darkness. He said the day commemorated and offered prayers for the more than three million victims he said had died under that regime.
Hun Sen added that the vast majority of Cambodians understood the tragedy their people had endured through nearly three decades of war, including killings, destruction, forced displacement and forced labour. Recalling the Khmer Rouge period, he said many people had died without access to medicine or enough food and had been deprived of freedom, democracy and even the basic right to life.
To prevent such a regime from returning, Hun Sen called on people to work together to preserve lasting peace. He said peace provided opportunities for further development of society, families, communities and the country. By ឡាយ កុល.
