July 31, 2026 marks 17 years since the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Archives were inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. According to the account, UNESCO’s Memory of the World International Advisory Committee formally added the archives to the register on July 31, 2009 in Bridgetown, Barbados. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet also posted an anniversary message today.
The museum’s archives are crucial evidence of crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge period. The museum has received technical and financial support from the international community, particularly KOICA through UNESCO’s coordination, to preserve and copy these records, make it easier for relatives to search for information about victims, and provide online access to documents.
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21) is also one of three Cambodian memorial sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List as “Cambodian Memorial Sites: From centres of repression to places of peace and reflection.” The inscription was made by the World Heritage Committee through Decision 47 COM 8B.14 at its 47th session in Paris, France, on July 11, 2025, according to the account.
The three sites of crimes committed under the genocidal regime are the former M-13 prison, on the boundary of Kampong Chhnang and Kampong Speu provinces; the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21); and the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center in Phnom Penh. They were jointly inscribed under the title “Cambodian Memorial Sites: From centres of repression to places of peace and reflection.”
By: ង៉ែត ពិសាន្ត
