Cambodia: Vice removes modified photos of Khmer Rouge victims

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The article was heavily criticized by readers, who said the artist added smiles to some photos. On Monday, Vice said he removed the story and photos from his website.

The article “It included photos of Khmer Rouge victims that Loughrey manipulated beyond coloring,” Vice said in a statement.

“It simply came to our notice then [our] editorial standards, “the publication added.” We regret the error and will investigate how this editorial process failed. ”

Despite the withdrawal, the Cambodian authorities strongly objected to the use of the images, after a government review found that several photos were changed to add smiles.

“Changing these photos shows a total insensitivity to the people who died, the families who had to continue without their loved ones and the historical truth itself,” Phoeurng Sackona, Cambodia’s Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, said in a statement. Monday to CNN Business.

“We understand and respect artistic freedom. However, in this case, the artist has clearly desecrated the memories of the dead and robbed the victims of the Khmer Rouge of their dignity. Distorted photographs have unnecessarily traumatized our families and our nation.”

The minister is now calling on the artist “not to immediately spread these horrible images and remove them from his website and not to be visible to the public.”

Loughrey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Khmer Rouge Scars: How Cambodia Cures from Genocide
Over the weekend, a petition was circulated online, asking Vice to download the article. By Monday, it had collected more than 7,000 signatures. The militants called on Loughrey to “stop using photos of Cambodian genocide victims for experimentation and entertainment.”

On Monday, they noted that although the story had been told since then, “there was no apologies to Vice or Mr Loughrey “.

There is now a new petition from the same group apologizing to the Cambodian community.
At least 1.7 million people – nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population – have died as a result of execution, disease, famine and forced labor under the Khmer Rouge regime that ruled the country from 1975-1979.
In 2018, almost four decades after the collapse of the brutal regime, a UN-backed tribunal ruled that the Khmer Rouge had committed genocide.

– CNN’s Helen Regan contributed to this report.

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