CHIN Met - ECCC

Background and Role

In late 1974, Chin Met was sent from her village Khthuoy with twenty other young women to serve the “female revolution”, in Kampong Cham province.¹ The women forced to do this.² At the age of 19,³ on 10th November 1977, Chin Met was arrested at around midnight⁴, blindfolded, and sent to a detention facility that she believed was S-21, also known as Prey Sar or Tuol Sleng.⁵ After 15 days of detention, she was transferred to another place, S-24, for so-called re-education.⁶ Chin Met filed a Civil Party application to give evidence in Case 001 on her own internment at S-21⁷ and on behalf of five friends and female colleagues – referred to as her “elder sisters”⁸ –in Division 450,⁹ whom the Civil Party named as Yan, Choeun, Nam, La and Sen.¹⁰ The Trial Chamber considered her evidence on the prisoners conditions at the detention facilities S-21 and S-24 reliable¹¹, and also the accused agreed that the conditions at S-24 were as described.¹²

Chin Met’s arrest and her experience in the detention facility (S-21)

Prior to her arrest in late 1977, Chin Met and other young girls were given military training, including how to disassemble and clean weapons¹³ as well as how to crawl¹⁴, mine and de-mine, throw grenades¹⁵ and shoot AK 47s and B-40 rocket launchers.¹⁶ After three months they were transferred to a station in Batheay district to carry ammunition to a battlefield and food to soldiers, as well as transporting wounded to the hospitals.¹⁷ From 10th November 1977, Chin Met was detained in an unidentified detention facility which she believed was S21, for 15 days and nights.¹⁸ She was tied up for three days before she was interrogated.¹⁹ From her detention room she heard cries from children and pigs, and people screaming.²⁰ During the interrogation, she was blindfolded and not informed about the charges against her.²¹ She was severely tortured and beaten for more than 30 minutes²², and then she became unconscious.²³ The interrogation also included humiliating treatment such as being splashed in the face with fish sauce or soapy water.²⁴ She was interrogated three times.²⁵Chin Met still has scars of the torture inflicted.²⁶During 15 days of detention, she was unable to take a bath²⁷, and provided with only a mug of gruel twice a day.²⁸

S-24

After 15 days of detention, she was transferred to S-24 for so-called re-education.²⁹ Chin Met was assigned to transplant seedlings and other agricultural work.³⁰ She was forced to pull a plough with three others, beaten when she fell and when exhausted,³¹ was warned by the unit chief to “try to do [her] best” or she would “disappear”.³² Food rations were very poor, and only gruel and watery soup was provided, with no rice.³³ After being transferred to S-24 Chin Met was assigned to transplant seedlings and do other agricultural work.³⁴ She was forced to pull a plough with three others, beaten when she fell and when exhausted.³⁵ According to Chin Met, “fifty percent of the women [who served at Division 450] disappeared. They never returned; maybe more than fifty percent”.³⁶ Detainees were noticeably thin and fearful. Although they harvested rice in abundance, they were not permitted to eat the produce.³⁷ The Trial Chamber considered the evidence of Chin Met, among others, when finding that detainees at S-24 were the relatives or subordinates of people detained at the S-21 complex, combatants and personnel from ministries or public institutions; and that men and women were segregated, and children, sometimes unaccompanied, were also held at S-24.³⁸ It further found that detainees were subjected to forced labour;³⁹ and were thin and fearful and unable to eat the food they harvested.⁴⁰ “Bad elements” received even less food than others.⁴¹ For the Trial Chamber, it was beyond doubt that the few survivors of S-21 or S-24 – including Chin Met – suffered serious psychological and physical harm, in addition to loss of close family members, as a direct consequence of the criminal conduct for which KAING Guek Eav, alias Duch, was convicted.⁴²

Statement of suffering

According to the Trial Chamber, Chin Met suffered, amongst other things, malnutrition and forced labour over a sustained period.⁴³ She described long hours of work strictly supervised to ensure that work targets were met. Using hoes and baskets, she planted rice, built dams and dug canals. In her testimony, she described being forced to pull a plough with three others, being beaten when she fell and when exhausted,⁴⁴ being warned to “try to do [her] best” or she would disappear.⁴⁵ She spoke of her hopelessness, causing her to try to commit suicide, and of her constant fear, exhaustion, weakness due to overwork, and ill-health, all of which have left her with emotional problems and physical scarring.⁴⁶ Chin Met made the following statements about her experience: “Whatever I was asked to do I tried my best to carry it out, but I could not carry the soil in the basket because of my weak strength.⁴⁷ So that combatant came to us and just without any reason beat us up and after that he just walked away.⁴⁸[…] I felt so scared and I became unconscious. It's the faint from shock.⁴⁹ And it was almost lunch time and then everyone went for their meal, but I could not regain my strength to walk to have my meal.⁵⁰ […] One day, in my four-person group, we talked and we made our decision that because the situation was so difficult, we probably should just commit suicide together.⁵¹ […] I was about to commit suicide in 1977.⁵² […] I have scars on my body; I have scars on my upper arm, and also a scar on my ankle when an instrument was clamped to my ankle. The mark is still on it.⁵³ […] After I got married and had children I do not want to talk about my suffering to anybody or to my family members because every time I recall I suffer emotionally.⁵⁴ And when they found me and showed me the photos I felt the suffering and I was sometimes emotionally not stable.⁵⁵ […] I am here to seek justice for my colleagues in my unit.⁵⁶

Videos

Testimony
Date	Written record of proceedings	Transcript number
08 July 2009	E1/45	E1/45.1
09 July 2009	E1/46	E1/46.1

Relevant documents
Document title Khmer	Document title English	Document title French	Document D number	Document E3 number
ឧបសម្ព័ន្ធ១៖ រូបថតរបស់ ជិន ម៉េត	Photograph of Chin Met	Photo de CHIN Met	N/A	E2/80/4.1
ប្រវត្តិរូបរបស់ ឃឹម ម៉េត	Biography of Khim Met	Biographie de Khim Met	N/A	E2/80/4.2
ឧបសម្ព័ន្ធ៣៖ លិខិតពី ម៉េត គណៈកងពល៥០២ ផ្ញើទៅ ឌុច	Letter from Meth to Comrade Brother Duch	Lettre de Met au Camarade Frère Duch	D32/V, Annex 03	E3/391
ឧបសម្ព័ន្ធ២៖ លិខិតបញ្ជាក់របស់ ជិន ម៉េត	Complaint Letter by Ms. Chin Meth	Lettre de plainte de CHIN Met	N/A	E2/80.2