CHUM Mey - ECCC

Background

Before 1975, Chum Mey was a mechanic in Phnom Penh.¹ He and his family were evacuated by the Khmer Rouge from Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975.² He worked in cooperatives in Phnom Penh as a mechanic from 1975 to 1977,³ and was arrested and sent to S-21 on 28 October 1978.⁴ He lived in Phnom Penh and was 79 years old in 2009, when he testified, and was retired at the time.⁵ Chum Mey appeared as a civil party in Case 001, giving evidence on Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch.⁶ Chum Mey testified about the evacuation of Phnom Penh, his experiences working in cooperatives in Phnom Penh and at S-21, and life after the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime.

The evacuation of Phnom Penh on 17th April 1975

On the afternoon of 17th April 1975, Chum Mey and his family were forced to leave Phnom Penh by the Khmer Rouge, who told them that the Americans were bombarding Phnom Penh.⁷ On the way from Phnom Penh to Preik Kdam, his son died of diarrhoea and high fever due to no medication.⁸

Working at cooperatives in Phnom Penh

Chum Mey was assigned to work as a mechanic at cooperatives in Phnom Penh from 1975 to 1977.⁹ At Russei Keo, he was asked to repair boats, cars, and tractors; to drive bulldozers and vehicles into a ferry and to board the ferry to drive the tractors and trucks on to the other side of the river bank.¹⁰ Later, he was transferred to Orussei due to his knowledge of tractors’ spare parts.¹¹ At Orussei, he was assigned to collect tools from houses and put them into the warehouse; fix loudspeakers; and collect sewing machines to sew black clothes.¹²

Conditions at S-21

Chum Mey – who was detained with 12,272 detainees per the Revised S-21 Prisoner List – was one of very few survivors of S-21.¹³

Chum Mey was arrested on 28 October 1978 and sent to S-21 on the same date.¹⁴ He was first placed into a house opposite S-21 and then handcuffed and walked blindfolded into the S-21 compound.¹⁵ He was taken to a room, photographed, weighed and asked about his biography; his height was measured, and his shirts, pants and shoes were taken off, leaving him wearing only shorts.¹⁶ Then, his hands were handcuffed behind his back and he was blindfolded and walked to an individual cell where he was shackled, still blindfolded.¹⁷ He ate, slept and relieved himself in the individual and then common cell,¹⁸ and considered it a severely humiliating experience to relieve himself in the presence of others.¹⁹

Chum Mey was then interrogated for twelve days and nights and treated like an animal until he confessed that he was a member of the CIA and KGB, although he was not in these organizations.²⁰ When being interrogated, he was forced to sit directly on the floor with his legs shackled and was beaten every single day and night.²¹ One of his fingers was broken while trying to protect himself from the beating.²² Both of his big toenails were twisted with pliers and completely detached from his toes.²³ He was electrocuted twice, and a live electrical wire was put into his ear until he lost his consciousness.²⁴ After his confession, he was placed in a common cell without any treatment for his injuries and shackled to a long bar with around 40 other inmates.²⁵ In the daytime, he was released from his shackles to repair machines, look after the fire to cook gruel, and teach women about machine repair.²⁶ At night time, he was taken into the common cell and reshackled with the other prisoners.²⁷

The Trial Chamber found Chum Mey’s testimony credible and relied on it in making findings on S-21²⁸.

Life after the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed

After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Chum Mey was walked out of S-21 by guards and met his wife and child.²⁹ He, his family and others were shot at first by the Vietnamese,³⁰ and then by Khmer Rouge soldiers.³¹ His son and wife died, but he survived the shooting.³² He then proceeded further and met a woman who became his wife, and hid with her.³³

Statement of harm

Chum Mey testified:

“Whenever the word Tuol Sleng prison comes to my mind I could not hold my tears. It drops automatically. Every single day when I have heard about S-21, about Tuol Sleng, about torture, then my tears just keep flowing. And in my mind I do not know what's going to happen to me in the future, as I could not control my tears when I have heard such words. […] I was told [by the Trans-Cultural Psychosocial Organisation (“TPO”)] that because of the anger of the trauma I suffered during the Khmer Rouge regime that I need to keep my mind free from those feelings. However hard I try, my tears still drop.”³⁴

The Trial Chamber found that the beatings caused S-21 detainees bleeding and injuries like broken limbs, loss of hearing and teeth, scars and sometimes death, and that electroshock made detainees lose their consciousness and in specific cases become impotent, delirious or die.³⁵

Videos

Testimony
Date	Written record of proceedings	Transcript number
30 June 2009	E1/40	E1/40.1

Relevant documents
Document title Khmer	Document title English	Document title French	Document D number	Document E3 number
កំណត់ហេតុនៃការស្តាប់ចម្លើយរបស់ ជុំ ម៉ាញ ហៅ ម៉ី	Written Record of Interview of CHUM Manh, alias Mei	Procès-verbal de l’audition de CHUM Manh, alias Mei	D2-4	E3/387