PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Cambodia has called on US media group VICE to withdraw an article with brightly colored photos of Khmer Rouge “killer” victims, saying the images are an insult to the dead because some photos have been altered to add smiles.
On Sunday at 1200 GMT, the subsequent article was no longer available on VICE.com.
In an article published on Friday, artist Matt Loughrey said that his project to color images from the famous Tuol Sleng prison, or S-21, aims to humanize the 14,000 Cambodians executed and tortured there.
However, the article caused backlash on social media after comparisons with the original black-and-white photos showed that some subjects were only smiling at Loughrey’s color images. The VICE article did not contain the original images.
“Playing using technology to make up your S21 victims … is a serious insult to the souls of the victims of the #genocide,” exiled Cambodian politician Mu Sochua wrote on Twitter.
The Cambodian Ministry of Culture issued a statement asking Loughrey and VICE to remove the images.
“We urge researchers, artists and the public not to manipulate any historical source to respect the victims,” the ministry said.
Loughrey, who in a VICE interview said he worked with the victims’ families to restore the photos, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
VICE also did not respond to a request for comment, but on Sunday added an editor’s note, before the article later disappeared from the site.
“It is brought to our attention that the restored portraits published in this article have been modified beyond coloring. We are reviewing the article and considering further actions to correct the registration, “he said.
Youk Chhang, director of the Cambodian Documentation Center, compared the changes to rewriting history. An online petition calling for the removal of the article has won thousands of signatures.
At least 1.7 million Cambodians died during the Khmer Rouge extremist terror in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.
Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Written by Kay Johnson; Montage by Raissa Kasolowsky