NAM Mon - ECCC

Role and Background

Nam Mon was 15 years old when she was assigned to work as a medic in Toul Sleng prison, also known as S-21 Security Centre, in Phnom Penh.¹ Two of her elder brothers, Yit Noeun and Yit Roeun, worked as guards at S-21 from 1975.² Nam Mon was arrested and detained at S-21 after her father, Yit Prak, was brought to S-21.³ She explained that Noeun, her elder brother, was ordered to kill her father.⁴ Thereafter, her two elder brothers and mother were also executed.⁵ Nam Mon testified as a civil party in the Case 001 trial proceedings on her role as a medic at S-21, the detention conditions at the prison, her arrest and detention, and the killing of her father. She affirmed that during the period of the Democratic Kampuchea, she used the name Roeun Chantha until the end of the Regime.⁶ The Trial Chamber rejected her civil party application due to a lack of evidence regarding her detention at S-21 and S-24, and her kinship to persons photographed and executed at S- 21⁷. Following new evidence submitted on appeal, the Supreme Court Chamber overturned the Trial Chamber’s decision and confirmed her victim status as an indirect victim due to the loss of her father in S-21.⁸

Work as a Medic at S-21

Nam Mon’s parents joined the resistance movement when she was very young.⁹ Before 1975, her parents were vendors in Phnom Penh.¹⁰ In 1975 her family was evacuated to Prek Kdma but had to return two weeks later because Angkar ordered her father to work in logistics in Phnom Penh.¹¹ When her family returned to Phnom Penh, her parents sent Nam Mon to live with her uncle, Oeun, who introduced her to medical training.¹² In 1975 she started to study medicine,¹³ and testified that she started to work as a medic at Tuol Sleng prison in mid-1975 when she was 15 years old.¹⁴ Her main task was to distribute medicines first to the soldiers and then to the cadres who were prisoners.¹⁵ Nam Mon worked with two other people, Lorn and Comrade Khim.¹⁶ She explained that Lorn was the chief of the medics who brought the medicine to be distributed to the detainees.¹⁷ Nam Mon saw wounds and blood on the bodies of the prisoners and was instructed to treat the prisoners who were cadre so they would be strong enough to give confessions.¹⁸

Arrest and Detention

Nam Mon testified that she was arrested in late 1977 or early 1978 and detained at Tuol Sleng prison for three months.¹⁹ Guards would tighten her ankle shackles to force her to confess.²⁰ During the interrogations she denied being the daughter of Prak because Angkar regarded him as an enemy who betrayed the Regime.²¹ After three months of captivity, she was sent to Prey Sar prison, also known as S-24.²² After five months there, Angkar transferred her to Prey Chhor, Prey Totueng prison²³ and Preaek Ta Duong prison until the Vietnamese soldiers arrived.²⁴ Angkar never photographed her during her detention at Tuol Sleng prison,²⁵ although she was photographed at Prey Say prison but could not find the photograph.²⁶

Arrest and Detention of Her Father

Nam Mon explained to the Court that the identity of her father is Choeun Yon, alias Yit Prak.²⁷ Her father was arrested by Angkar in 1977 and detained at Tuol Sleng prison for about six months.²⁸ Nam Mon witnessed her father being arrested and blindfolded.²⁹ Noeun, her elder brother, was ordered to kill their father.³⁰

The Arrest of Her Elder Brothers and Relatives

Two of her elder brothers, Yit Noeun and Yit Roeun, worked as guards at Tuol Sleng prison from 1975.³¹ She explained that her colleague, Comrade Lorn, witnessed Angkar ordering Noeun to kill his father.³² She affirmed that Noeun was executed three days later because they accused him of betrayal. Roeun was later also arrested and executed.³³ One of her other brothers, Yit Koeun alias Prak Khoeun, was also arrested and detained at Tuol Sleng.³⁴ Her younger brother, Prak Yon alias Yit Yorn,³⁵ was arrested on the same day. Angkar also arrested their mother,³⁶ Khin Toh alias San alias Khen To,³⁷ who was killed in late 1977.³⁸ She and her surviving brother, YÂN Run, were sent to Prey Chhor Prison to be executed but were saved by the arrival of the Vietnamese troops. Nam Mon’s uncle, Oeun, was a person of authority at Tuol Sleng prison.³⁹ One day she witnessed her uncles, Oeun and Sen, talking about a plan to escape the country.⁴⁰ Three days later, her uncle Sen fled to the United States. Two weeks later, her uncles Oeun and Ket were arrested.⁴¹ In 1976, she witnessed the execution of her uncle Oeun when he was beaten to death with a metal bar by Brother East at Tuol Sleng prison.⁴² Uncle Ket was also executed by Brother East and two armed persons.⁴³

Her Admissibility as a Civil Party

In its Judgment, the Trial Chamber could not conclude that Nam Mon was detained at the S-21 complex or S-24 because of inconsistencies between the information contained in her Civil Party application and her in-court statements.⁴⁴ The Trial Chamber ruled that Nam Mon did not clearly establish that the persons photographed and executed at S-21 were her relatives.⁴⁵ The Trial Chamber, therefore, rejected her civil party application.⁴⁶ The Chamber stated that: “Nam Mon was initially a member of the S-21 medical staff, and was later detained there following the arrest of some of her brothers, who were S-21 guards. From there, she was allegedly transferred to S-24 and then to another detention centre. There are, however, inconsistencies between the information contained in her Civil Party application and her in-court statements and subsequent submissions. She was unable to provide any particulars concerning either S-21 or S-24 and the evidence produced by her purporting to show kinship to persons photographed and executed at S- 21 do not clearly establish that these persons are her relatives. Even allowing for the impact of trauma and the passage of time, the Chamber is unable to conclude that NAM Mon (E2/32) was detained either at the S-21 complex or at S-24. Although the Chamber acknowledges her tremendous suffering, NAM Mon’s Civil Party application is also rejected”.⁴⁷ On appeal, she submitted a written statement by YIM Saron alias Heng, commune chief, who attested that her father is depicted in a photograph of a detainee at S-21. The commune chief also attested that Nam Mon was a medic at S-21, stating: “As to Mon, I know of her background to some extent. She joined the revolution when she was still little, and lived in Phnom Penh city with her uncle Oeun, chief of Division 310. This person was also killed at S-21 (Tuol Sleng). Later on, Mon became a medic at S-21. And I do not know what happened afterwards. That is my brief remark”.⁴⁸ The Supreme Court Chamber found that these attestations from the commune chief satisfied it that the Appellant’s father was a direct victim. Accordingly, the Supreme Court Chamber decided to overturn the Trial Chamber’s decision and confirm her victim status as an indirect victim due to the loss of her father in S-21.⁴⁹ Still, it did not intervene in assessing the credibility of Nam Mon's testimony concerning her detention at S-21 and S-24.⁵⁰

Videos

Testimony
Date	Written record of proceedings	Transcript number
09/July/2009	E1/46	E1/46.1
13/July/2009	E1/47	E1/47.1

Relevant documents
Document title Khmer	Document title English	Document title French	Document D number	Document E3 number
ឧបសម្ព័ន្ធ១៖ សេចក្តីរៀបរាប់ពីឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្ម ដោយ ណាំ ម៉ុន	Annex 1: Description of Crime by Nam Mon	Annexe 1 : Description du crime par Nam Mon	N/A	E3/32.1