Comment expliquer que les méthodes de comptage des victimes utilisées par le DC-Cam et celles employées par la RPK aient donné des résultats si différents, et pourquoi celle du DC-Cam est considérée comme plus fiable malgré ses estimations supérieures ?
Number of deaths

According to a 2001 academic source, the most widely accepted estimates of excess deaths under the Khmer Rouge range from 1.5 million to 2 million, although figures as low as 1 million and as high as 3 million have been cited; conventionally accepted estimates of executions range from 500,000 to 1 million, "a third to one half of excess mortality during the period". A 2013 academic source (citing research from 2009) indicates that execution may have accounted for as much as 60% of the total, with 23,745 mass graves containing approximately 1.3 million suspected victims of execution.

Historian Ben Kiernan estimates that 1.671 million to 1.871 million Cambodians died as a result of Khmer Rouge policy, or between 21% and 24% of Cambodia's 1975 population. A study by French demographer Marek Sliwinski calculated nearly 2 million unnatural deaths under the Khmer Rouge out of a 1975 Cambodian population of 7.8 million; 33.5% of Cambodian men died under the Khmer Rouge compared to 15.7% of Cambodian women. Researcher Craig Etcheson of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) suggests that the death toll was between 2 million and 2.5 million, with a "most likely" figure of 2.2 million. After five years of researching mass grave sites, he estimated that they contained 1.38 million suspected victims of execution. Although considerably higher than earlier and more widely accepted estimates of Khmer Rouge executions, Etcheson argues that these numbers are plausible, given the nature of the mass grave and DC-Cam's methods, which are more likely to produce an under-count of bodies rather than an over-estimate. Demographer Patrick Heuveline estimated that between 1.17 million and 3.42 million Cambodians died unnatural deaths between 1970 and 1979, with between 150,000 and 300,000 of those deaths occurring during the civil war. Heuveline's central estimate is 2.52 million excess deaths, of which 1.4 million were the direct result of violence.

Despite being based on a house-to-house survey of Cambodians, the estimate of 3.3 million deaths promulgated by the Khmer Rouge's successor regime, the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), is generally considered to be an exaggeration; among other methodological errors, the PRK authorities added the estimated number of victims that had been found in the partially-exhumed mass graves to the raw survey results, meaning that some victims would have been double-counted. An additional 300,000 Cambodians starved to death between 1979 and 1980, largely as a result of the after-effects of Khmer Rouge policy.
Bilan humain

Le nombre de morts et l'ampleur du bain de sang sur la place elle-même ont été contestés depuis les événements. Le gouvernement a activement réprimé toute discussion sur les chiffres de victimes immédiatement après les faits, et les estimations reposent largement sur des témoignages oculaires, des registres hospitaliers et des efforts organisés par les familles des victimes. En conséquence, de grandes disparités existent entre les différentes estimations du nombre de victimes. Les premières estimations variaient de quelques centaines à plusieurs milliers, selon le chiffre officiel.
### Query ###
Comment expliquer que les méthodes de comptage des victimes utilisées par le DC-Cam et celles employées par la RPK aient donné des résultats si différents, et pourquoi celle du DC-Cam est considérée comme plus fiable malgré ses estimations supérieures ?

### Main Text ###
Number of deaths

According to a 2001 academic source, the most widely accepted estimates of excess deaths under the Khmer Rouge range from 1.5 million to 2 million, although figures as low as 1 million and as high as 3 million have been cited; conventionally accepted estimates of executions range from 500,000 to 1 million, "a third to one half of excess mortality during the period". A 2013 academic source (citing research from 2009) indicates that execution may have accounted for as much as 60% of the total, with 23,745 mass graves containing approximately 1.3 million suspected victims of execution.

Historian Ben Kiernan estimates that 1.671 million to 1.871 million Cambodians died as a result of Khmer Rouge policy, or between 21% and 24% of Cambodia's 1975 population. A study by French demographer Marek Sliwinski calculated nearly 2 million unnatural deaths under the Khmer Rouge out of a 1975 Cambodian population of 7.8 million; 33.5% of Cambodian men died under the Khmer Rouge compared to 15.7% of Cambodian women. Researcher Craig Etcheson of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) suggests that the death toll was between 2 million and 2.5 million, with a "most likely" figure of 2.2 million. After five years of researching mass grave sites, he estimated that they contained 1.38 million suspected victims of execution. Although considerably higher than earlier and more widely accepted estimates of Khmer Rouge executions, Etcheson argues that these numbers are plausible, given the nature of the mass grave and DC-Cam's methods, which are more likely to produce an under-count of bodies rather than an over-estimate. Demographer Patrick Heuveline estimated that between 1.17 million and 3.42 million Cambodians died unnatural deaths between 1970 and 1979, with between 150,000 and 300,000 of those deaths occurring during the civil war. Heuveline's central estimate is 2.52 million excess deaths, of which 1.4 million were the direct result of violence.

Despite being based on a house-to-house survey of Cambodians, the estimate of 3.3 million deaths promulgated by the Khmer Rouge's successor regime, the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), is generally considered to be an exaggeration; among other methodological errors, the PRK authorities added the estimated number of victims that had been found in the partially-exhumed mass graves to the raw survey results, meaning that some victims would have been double-counted. An additional 300,000 Cambodians starved to death between 1979 and 1980, largely as a result of the after-effects of Khmer Rouge policy.

### Supplementary Text ###
Bilan humain

Le nombre de morts et l'ampleur du bain de sang sur la place elle-même ont été contestés depuis les événements. Le gouvernement a activement réprimé toute discussion sur les chiffres de victimes immédiatement après les faits, et les estimations reposent largement sur des témoignages oculaires, des registres hospitaliers et des efforts organisés par les familles des victimes. En conséquence, de grandes disparités existent entre les différentes estimations du nombre de victimes. Les premières estimations variaient de quelques centaines à plusieurs milliers, selon le chiffre officiel.

### Draft ###

### 1. Query Decomposition

"Comment expliquer que les méthodes de comptage des victimes utilisées par le DC-Cam et celles employées par la RPK aient donné des résultats si différents"

→ Core methodological question. Two institutions, opposite results. Why?

"pourquoi celle du DC-Cam est considérée comme plus fiable malgré ses estimations supérieures"

→ Assumption challenge. Higher estimates = more reliable? Counter-intuitive. Need to unpack.

Translation note: "RPK" = République Populaire du Kampuchéa (People's Republic of Kampuchea), not "Royal Khmer Party"

### 2. Contextual Mapping

**Geographic/Temporal**: Cambodia, 1975-1979, post-conflict documentation
**Domains**: Demographics, forensic methodology, political science
**Language**: French academic context, likely European scholarship influence

Key tension: Democratic vs Communist methodology paradigms

### 3. Methodological Analysis

**RPK Approach** ●
- Household surveys as primary method
- Included double-counted data (buried victims + survey reports)
- Political motivation to demonstrate massive scale
- Result: 3.3M deaths claimed

**DC-Cam Approach** ◐
- Forensic evidence focus (mass grave excavations)
- Systematic documentation protocols  
- Conservative methodology (avoid overcounting)
- Result: 2M-2.5M range, ~1.4M grave victims

### 4. Reliability Assessment

Why DC-Cam "more reliable" despite higher numbers:

**Methodological conservatism**: 
- Grave data alone (no survey supplementation)
- Conservative assumptions about body preservation
- Explicit acknowledgment of undercounting likelihood

**Evidence hierarchy**:
Physical remains > survey responses > testimonies

**Political neutrality**:
DC-Cam = independent documentation center
vs RPK = successor regime with political agenda

### 5. Critical Evaluation

? Assumption that higher estimates = less reliable questionable
! Conservative methodology doesn't necessarily mean biased results
※ RPK's political motivation for exaggeration well-documented

**Logical constraints check**:
- Physical impossibility of perfect enumeration
- Methodological trade-offs inevitable
- Political context shapes interpretation

### 6. Synthesis

Different approaches → different results. DC-Cam's higher estimates reflect more comprehensive methodology (forensic + documentary) vs RPK's survey-based approach. 

Reliability paradox resolved: DC-Cam's conservative methodology, avoiding political motivations and double-counting, produces more credible estimates despite numerical differences.

∴ Methodological rigor > numerical precision for reliability assessment

**Key insight**: "Reliability" ≠ absolute truth. Reflects best available evidence within methodological constraints.

### Answer###
Les différences substantielles dans les estimations du nombre de victimes entre le DC-Cam et l'ancienne République Populaire du Kampuchéa (RPK) s'expliquent principalement par les méthodologies d'approche fondamentalement distinctes employées.

Le RPK a basé son estimation de 3,3 millions de morts sur un recensement maison par maison des Cambodgiens. Cependant, cette approche présente des biais méthodologiques importants, notamment l'addition du nombre estimé de victimes découvertes dans les fosses communes partiellement exhumées aux résultats bruts de l'enquête. Cette méthode de double comptabilité rend les chiffres du RPK largement considérés comme une exagération.

Le DC-Cam, quant à lui, a adopté une approche différente en menant cinq années de recherche sur les sites de fosses communes. Leur estimation de 2 à 2,5 millions de morts, avec un chiffre "le plus probable" de 2,2 millions, s'appuie sur l'analyse de 23 745 fosses contenant environ 1,3 million de victimes présumées. Craig Etcheson, chercheur au DC-Cam, argumente que ces chiffres, bien que considérablement supérieurs aux estimations précédentes, restent plausibles compte tenu de la nature des fosses communes et des méthodes utilisées, qui sont plus susceptibles de produire un sous-décompte des corps plutôt qu'une surestimation.

La fiabilité supérieure des estimations du DC-Cam malgré leur montant plus élevé s'explique par leur méthodologie plus rigoureuse et leur approche conservatrice, évitant les erreurs de double comptage présentes dans l'approche du RPK.