(Phnom Penh): On Thursday (Jul. 17), Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet led a high-level delegation to the Royal Palace to report to Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni on the Royal Government’s recent success in securing the inscription of “Cambodian Memorial Sites: From Centres of Repression to Places of Peace and Reflection” on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

This significant recognition was granted on 11 July 2025 during the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee, held from 6-16 July at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France.

In this occasion, according to decision No. 47 COM 8B.14, UNESCO officially decided to inscribe Cambodian Memorial Sites: From the Centres of Repression to Places for Peace and Reflection (Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, Former Detention Center M-13, and Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre) as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage.

The property consists of three locations that reflect the human rights abuses of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia from 1971 to 1979. The three component parts represent the widespread violence during this period: the former M-13 prison (early repression), the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (former S-21 prison), and the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre (former execution site of S-21). These places have been preserved and memorialized since the regime’s fall. The Tuol Sleng Museum maintains extensive archives and collections related to this period, mainly documented by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).
=FRESH NEWS