PHNOM PENH: UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum on Sunday afternoon, 13 November, and noted that the preservation of this historic museum are part of wider efforts to ensure that such atrocities must never happen again.

“Tuol Sleng is an essential reminder,” said the UN Secretary-General. “Its bloodstained bricks and tiles are a warning to us all: This is what happens when hatred runs rampant. This is what happens when human beings are persecuted, and human rights are denied. Preserving the memory of those who suffered and died at Tuol Sleng helps to ensure that such atrocities are never repeated."

Secretary-General Guterres stated that he would take the stories he heard and saw at the museum and share them with his granddaughter so that she could share them with her own grandchildren one day, to ensure that what happened at Tuol Sleng is never forgotten.

He also remarked on how the Khmer Rouge tribunal had convicted several Khmer Rouge leaders responsible for the atrocities committed against the Cambodian people, and provided a voice to the victims and the survivors of the regime.

"Their voices are more important than ever, at a time when hate speech, abuse, discrimination and harassment are on the rise in every corner of the world," he said.