Clinton visits Cambodian genocide museum
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| US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits the Tuol Sleng genocide museum (Photo: AFP) |
By Lachlan Carmichael (AFP)
PHNOM PENH — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton toured Cambodia's genocide museum on Monday during a visit to the capital in which she is expected to urge the country to respect human rights and fight corruption.
Clinton, on a two-week Asia tour, arrived in Phnom Penh from the tourist hub of Siem Reap and set off to visit Tuol Sleng prison, the main interrogation and torture centre of the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s.
Thousands of inmates were taken from the jail -- now one of the main tourist attractions in Phnom Penh -- for execution in a nearby orchard that served as a "Killing Field".
A sombre-looking Clinton studied the dozens of black-and-white photos of gaunt-faced prisoners on display, along with dozens of skulls of victims and paintings by a former prisoner of people being tortured.
Clinton, on the first visit to Cambodia by a US secretary of state since 2003, is due later to meet Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni, Prime Minister Hun Sen and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.
The chief US diplomat "will stress the importance of a credible opposition and respect for human rights" and "will emphasise the need to fight corruption and improve transparency in all parts of the government", the US embassy said in a statement.
She will also meet with opposition leaders "to highlight the importance of a vibrant political arena where all voices are heard," it said.
