Pol-Pot’s Policies

Governmental Structure:

“Legislative power is invested in the representative assembly of the people, workers, peasants,
and all other Kampuchean labourers. This Assembly shall be officially known as the “Kampuchean
People’s Representative Assembly”. The Kampuchean People’s Representative Assembly shall be
made up of 250 members, representing the people, the workers, peasants, and all other Kampuchean
labourers and the Kampuchean Revolutionary Army. Of these 250, there shall be: Representing the
peasants 150 Representing the labourers and other working people 50 Representing the revolutionary
army 50 The members of the Kampuchean People’s Representative Assembly are to be elected by the
people through direct and prompt general elections by secret ballot to be held throughout the country
every five years. The People’s Representative Assembly is responsible for legislation and for defin
-ing the various domestic and foreign policies of Democratic Kampuchea. The administration is a
body responsible for executing the laws and political lines of the Kampuchean People’s Representative
Assembly. The administration is elected by the Kampuchean People’s Representative Assembly and
must be fully responsible to the Kampuchean People’s Representative Assembly for all its activities
inside and outside the country.

Justice is administered by people’s courts, representing and defending the people’s justice,
defending the democratic rights and liberties of the people, and condemning any activities directed
against the people’s State or violating the laws of the people’s State. The judges at all levels will be
chosen and appointed by the People’s Representative Assembly. Actions violating the laws of the
people’s State are as follows: Dangerous activities in opposition to the people’s State must be con-
demned to the highest degree. Other cases are subject to constructive re-education in the framework
of the State’s or people’s organisations. Democratic Kampuchea has a State Presidium chosen and
appointed by the Kampuchean People’s Representative Assembly once every five years. The State
Presidium is responsible for representing the State of Democratic Kampuchea inside and outside the
country in keeping with the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea and with the laws and political
lines of the Kampuchean People’s Representative Assembly. The State Presidium is composed as
follows: a president, a first vice-president, and a second vice-president.”
– Democratic Kampuchas’s Constitution, 1975

Drugs:

“Marijuana smoking was an age-old tradition followed by a small percentage of rural men,
and by a few others who had started smoking in Lon Nol’s army. The smokers themselves
didn’t attach any particular meaning to the drug and neither did the Khmer Rouge, who didn’t
bother outlawing it. When the marijuana smokers got up from their breaks they seemed to
work even harder than before.” – Haing Ngor, 1980’s

Israel/Imperialism:

“The NUFK does not accept the protection of any country or of any military alliance. In the common
struggle against American imperialism, the NUFK pursues a policy of friendship, militant solidarity and coop
-eration with Laos and Viet Nam according to the principle that the liberation and the defence of each country
are the affair of her own people and that the three peoples pledge to do their best to support one another
according to the desire of the interested country on the basis of mutual respect. In addition, Cambodia is
ready to make concerted efforts with Laos and Viet Nam to make Indochina genuinely a zone of independence,
peace and progress, where each nation preserves its integral sovereignty, with the sympathy and support
of the peoples and governments of the socialist countries, non-aligned countries and peace-loving and
justice-loving countries in the world, including the American people. The NUFK expresses full support for
the struggle of the peoples of the world for peace, independence, democracy and social progress, against the
aggressive and warlike American imperialists, against old and new colonialism in all its forms. It expresses
full support for the struggle of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America for independence and freedom,
the struggle of the Chinese people for the recovery of Taiwan, an integral part of the People’s Republic of
China, the struggle of the Korean people against the American imperialist aggressors and for the liberation
of the southern part of their country and the reunification of Korea, the struggle of the Arab people, the
Palestinian people in particular, for their fundamental national rights against the Israeli aggressors in the pay
of the American imperialists, the struggle of the American people against the war of aggression, against
racial discrimination and for peace and their genuine interests, etc.” – Political Program of the National
United Front of Kampuchea, 1970

The CPK’s policy on the Vietnamese before 1975:

“No particular CPK policy targeting ethnic Vietnamese was evident between 1970 and 1975. Instead,
testimony from our respondents highlights relatively favorable treatment by the CPK during this period
compared to what ethnic Vietnamese experienced under the Lon Nol government. Even after the CPK’s
relationship with North Vietnam (DRV) began to break apart in 1972 and Viet Cong troops began to
pull out of Cambodia, the treatment of ethnic Vietnamese did not significantly change. To a large extent,
the CPK treated them similarly to how they treated Khmers who lived in their liberated territories. For
instance, in Prek Tnot village in Svay Rieng, twelve Vietnamese families sold groceries to anyone in
the village and nearby villages. In 1970, after the CPK took control of the area, these Vietnamese families
continued their businesses. According to villagers we interviewed, these families had close connections
with Viet Cong soldiers who sometimes stayed in their houses. Rumors circulated among Khmer villagers
in the area that these Vietnamese residents also had close connections with CPK solders. Things started
to change in Prek Tnot in 1973 after CPK propaganda in rural areas took on a more starkly anti-capitalist
message. These Vietnamese families were then considered “capitalists” and people became reluctant to
buy things from them…Yet not all ethnic Vietnamese left Cambodia during 1970 and 1971. Hundreds of
thousands remained in both Khmer Republic territory and CPK liberated zones through the first half of
the 1970s. Moreover, according to our respondents, hundreds of Vietnamese families left government
territory and went to live in CPK controlled areas after this mass displacement. Beginning in 1972, the
relationship between the CPK and the DRV began to break down for a number of reasons. Khmers had
long viewed Vietnam as Cambodia’s historical enemy. In addition, the two Vietnams signed the Paris
Peace Accords on January 27, 1973, which included a provision that the DRV suspend military assistance
to the CPK.

Finally, the CPK shared the Lon Nol government’s concern that North Vietnam was encroaching on and
would swallow up Cambodian territory. Between late 1972 and early 1973, fighting broke out between
CPK and North Vietnam military forces in southwestern Cambodia and, in some areas, CPK cadres even
sought to prevent North Vietnamese soldiers from repatriating their equipment.At that point in time, the
CPK pursued a clear goal of getting DRV troops to evacuate its liberated territories. This confrontation,
however, did not cause local CPK cadres to implement any hostile treatment toward ethnic Vietnamese
living in the liberated zones. None of our fifty-two respondents recalled any mistreatment by local CPK
cadres against ethnic Vietnamese until April 1975. What was of more concern in 1972 and 1973 was the
economic status of ethnic Vietnamese, which was at odds with the revolutionary ideology of the CPK. This
would have been equally true for ethnic Chinese who were living in CPK held territory and even for some
Khmers as well. Even so, Vietnamese residents were not allowed to join the CPK military forces and
none held any position of authority within these liberated zones. In summary, until April 1975, the CPK
had no specific ethnic policy. Instead, Vietnamese living in CPK-controlled territory had similar experiences to
others, regardless of ethnicity. Even among the Vietnamese families in Svay Rieng mentioned above, CPK
local cadres did not target them specifically and directly because of their ethnicity. The CPK’s boarder
intention at that time was to act against those it considered to be “capitalists” and “feudalists.”
– Ethnic Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge

Religion:

Every citizen of Kampuchea has the right to worship according to any religion and the
right not to worship according to any religion. Reactionary religions which are detrimental
to Democratic Kampuchea and Kampuchean people are absolutely forbidden.
– Democratic Kampuchea’s Constitution