Monday, April 20, 2020

Cambodia

The weather in Cambodia feels fantastic, after the oven of New Delhi. I've been here since midnight Friday, and the temperature varies between the low 80s and low 90s, although the humidity is pretty high. The city of Phnom Penh is beautiful, especially now, in the winter, with palm trees, tasty food and towering, otherworldly temples. Jodi Hilton, the photographer who went to Pakistan with me in 2008, has been here for a couple more days.

We are working on a series of stories from here, all looking at various aspects of human rights three decades after the Khmer Rouge atrocities. Jan. 7 marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of Pol Pot's regime, which killed 1.7 million people.

As many of my friends know, a beating at the hands of New Delhi Police put me in the hospital and forced a change of plans at the beginning of October. I had intended to return to India after a brief visit to the States, but that will have to wait. While I filed a lawsuit and a complaint against the police, the US Embassy advises me against returning any time soon, as the police are notorious for confiscating the passports of foreigners who file complaints against them. That would mean being forced to stay in the country until the resolution of my case, which, in the Indian courts, could take more than a decade.

While I miss my friends in India, I'm enjoying Cambodia every bit as much as I had hoped. Between the (for now) amazing weather and friendly people it's hard to imagine such horrible things happening as depicted in The Killing Fields. I will be here reporting for three months, with a return flight the second week of April. In February or March I may explore Thailand and other surrounding countries.

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