R.I. senators honor late photojournalist
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 16, 2008
By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal Staff Writer
WA****NGTON -- As Rhode Island's Cambodian community celebrates
Cambodian New Year, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed
yesterday introduced a Senate resolution honoring Dith Pran, a
photojournalist whose heroism under the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime
was do***ented in the 1984 film The Killing Fields. Dith died in New
Jersey on March 30 of pancreatic cancer.
The Senate resolution honors Dith as one of the most dedicated and
outspoken advocates for human rights in Cambodia and calls him "a
modern-day hero and an exemplar of what it means to be a citizen of
the United States and a citizen of the world."
It states that the United States "owes a debt of gratitude to Dith
Pran for his tireless work to prevent genocide and violations of
fundamental human rights," and calls on teachers throughout the
country to spread Dith Pran's message "by educating their students
about his life, the genocide in Cambodia, and the collective
responsibility of all people to prevent modern-day atrocities and
human rights abuses."
"Dith Pran was a witness to, and a fierce critic of, the greatest
atrocities men have inflicted upon their fellow men," said Whitehouse.
"His willingness to share his story brought light to dark places, and
hope to millions."
Reed said, "Dith Pran devoted his life to exposing the horrors he
experienced during the Cambodian genocide. He gave voice to the two
million men, women and children who were killed by the Khmer Rouge. By
sharing their stories and his own experiences, Mr. Dith's work as an
advocate for human rights will continue to have an impact for
generations to come."
As many fled Cambodia during the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge
in 1975, Dith Pran sent his wife and children to safety abroad but
stayed behind with investigative journalist Sydney H. Schanberg to
help ensure that news of the events there reached the outside world.
Captured by the Khmer Rouge, he endured forced labor and beatings for
four years until his escape in 1979. He coined the term "the killing
fields" to describe the mass graveyards he witnessed during his 40-
mile journey across the Cambodian border to a Thai refugee camp.
Dith reached the United States in 1980, and became a photojournalist
for The New York Times. He founded the Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness
Project to educate individuals around the world of the horrors he
survived.
On March 30, the news that Dith Pran had died spread quickly through
Rhode Island, home to one of the largest Cambodian refugee populations
in the country, and where Dith paid numerous visits to give voice to
the Cambodian holocaust.
Pich Chhoeun, former president of the Cambodian Society of Rhode
Island, said, "Without Dith Pran, I don't think people would be aware
of the Cambodian struggle as much as they have for the last 30 years
or so. His life, his story -- certainly the movie -- I think contributed
to allowing people internationally to know what happened in Cambodia."
kziner@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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