HAV Sophea - ECCC

Background

Hav Sophea is a rice farmer who was born in Meanchey Balang, Kampong Thom province.¹ At the time of her testimony, she lived at Chey Mungkul Balaing, Kampong Thom province.² She is the daughter of Chen Sea (alias Hav Han or Han), who was killed at the S-21 Security Centre.³ She testified as a Civil Party before the Trial Chamber in Case 001 about the suffering she incurred due to the loss of her father.⁴ Hav Sophea’s counsel, Alain Werner, informed the Chamber that she did not wish to make a statement of suffering and that he would ask through her evidence instead.⁵ He also sought leave for Hav Sophea to ask three questions to the Accused, Kaing Guek Eav alias “Duch”, which was granted.⁶

Han’s Arrest and Execution

Hav Sophea’s father was a soldier in unit K-92 during the time of Democratic Kampuchea.⁷ In 1975, he was transferred from Kampong Thom to Phnom Penh and was stationed at the Boeng Trabaek base until 15 January 1967, when he was arrested.⁸ Hav Sophea was born in February 1976, just 21 days after her father’s arrest.⁹ After Hav Sophea was born, her mother moved to Kbal Chroy.¹⁰ Nine months later, Angkar told her mother that Han was smashed.¹¹ Hav Sophea’s account of what happened to her father was based on what her mother told her.¹² She informed the Trial Chamber that her mother never remarried and also did not want to be a Civil Party in this case because she did not want to face the Accused.¹³

Repatriation process and visit to S-21

In 1991, there was a repatriation process.¹⁴ Hav Sophea’s mother expected her husband to return but learned that he died at S-21, which distressed her.¹⁵ In 2006, Hav Sophea learned that Han was detained at S-21 in a confession she saw.¹⁶ She visited the S-21 compound in 2007 together with her mother, visiting specifically building A and the room where Han could have been detained.¹⁷ This shocked her mother and filled her with tears.¹⁸ They further visited Tuol Sleng where Hav Sophea’s mother insisted on ransacking the pile of clothes to see if she could locate clothes worn by Han.¹⁹

Suffering suffered by Hav Sophea and her mother

Due to the absence of a father, Hav Sophea and her mother lived through hardship.²⁰ Hav Sophea stopped school in grade 7, and thus could not fulfill her dream of being a Khmer literature teacher.²¹ She identified a picture of Han which was displayed before the Trial Chamber.²² This was the only photo Hav Sophea and her mother had of Han, as the Khmer Rouge ordered her mother to burn all the photos and pictures.²³ Concluding the questioning by her counsel, Hav Sophea confirmed that she allowed him to claim compensation on her behalf.²⁴

Questions by Hav Sophea to the Accused

Hav Sophea posed three questions to the accused. First, she asked, “[w]ho were the master minders who took my father to S-21.”²⁵ Duch answered that the Central Committee decided to send Chen Sea to S-21.²⁶

Next, she asked where her father was killed – whether it was Boeng Choeung Ek or S-21.²⁷ Duch stated that he knew Han was executed but did not know where.²⁸

Finally, she asked how he can emotionally really heal the wounds of the victims. ²⁹ Duch stated that he was solely responsible psychologically and emotionally “for these barbaric acts and the very unfortunate deaths of those people.”³⁰

The Trial Chamber cited Hav Sophea’s testimony, acknowledging the death of her father, in finding that she proved the existence of close kinship with immediate victims of S-21.³¹

Videos

Testimony
Date	Written record of proceedings	Transcript number
18 August 2009	E1/64	E1/64.1

Relevant documents
Document title Khmer	Document title English	Document title French	Document D number	Document E3 number
ពាក្យសុំតាំងខ្លួនជាដើមបណ្តឹងរដ្ឋ ប្បវេណី ហាវ សោភា រួមមាន ប្រវត្តិរូបអ្នកទោស ចិន ស៊ា និងរូបថតរបស់ ចិន ស៊ា	Civil Party Petition of HAV Sophea including Prisoner Biography of Chen Sea and photograph of Chen Sea	Constitution en partie civile de HAV Sophea, incluant la biographie du prisonnier Chen Sea et une photographie de Chen Sea	D25/4	E3/499