VANN Nath - ECCC

Background and Role

Vann Nath is a painter. In 1975 he lived in Battambang. He testified about his detention at S-21 and the conditions of life for detainees. The Trial Chamber cited his evidence in making findings about Duch’s authority over S-21 and the treatment of detainees held there.

Relocation

Around noon on 17 April 1975, the residents of Battambang heard that the “liberation soldiers” (the Khmer Rouge) had come within about one kilometer of the town and the war would soon be over. The soldiers then took over Battambang and planned to evacuate the residents. Vann and his family were evacuated to Norea Commune, Sanke Sub-District (previously known as O Mony Pir village) about eight kilometers northwest of Battambang. It took between five and seven days to walk there. At O Mony Pir, villagers had to build accommodations for themselves from trees and palm leaves and to work in the rice fields. Vann remained there until 30 December 1977.

Arrest

On 30 December 1977, Vann was working in the rice field in O Mony Pir. Luom, the local Chief, came and took Vann to Balatt. When they arrived, Vann was arrested by militia members. Arrests in O Mony Pir were common, primarily targeting ‘new people’ such as students, former soldiers, and capitalists. Comrade Thean was the chief of Balatt cooperative. Thean told Vann there had been an order to arrest him. Vann was detained overnight in the Samrang Pagoda with his cousin Say Sarak. After Cambodia was liberated from the Khmer Rouge, Vann learned that many detainees died at Samrang Pagoda. The next morning a militiaman took Vann and Say to the Kandal Pagoda. When they arrived, soldiers in black arrested them and Vann was taken inside and shackled. That night, Vann was interrogated. When he could not answer questions, the interrogators would electrocute him. Detainees at the Kandal Pagoda received very little food.

S-21

Around 7 January 1978, Vann and other detainees were taken away from Kandal Pagoda by truck. When they arrived at S-21 they were blindfolded, physically mistreated, and photographed. Some had most of their clothes removed, and some were kept naked for about an hour.

Duch was “the boss” at S-21. Vann knew him as ‘Brother East’ at the time. Among S-21’s leadership, Vann also knew Mam Nai from the interrogation section; Peng from the Special Unit; Hor; and Pon. Vann was placed in building D. The detainees there were shackled in rows of 20-30 people. Every day about 40-60 detainees were provided only a pot of gruel for food in the morning and another in the evening. Detainees were beaten. They had to relieve themselves in the room and were washed once a day with a hose. Approximately four inmates died during this period, and others were taken away and did not return.

After approximately one month, Vann was taken to the leaders of S-21 including Duch (Brother East). They assigned him and two other artists to paint a picture of Khmer Rouge leaders and gave Vann a scarf and some rice. Vann was later shown a list of detainees from around this time (16 or 17 February 1978), which had an annotation ‘keep for use’ next to his name. Other detainees whose names appeared on the list were smashed.

The artists had better conditions than other detainees, including getting sufficient food. Vann was first held in a room with other craftsmen where he was not shackled and then eventually allowed to stay in the workshop. Duch would visit the workshop almost every day. Vann and the other artists feared and respected Duch. Duch told them that if they did not work well they would be “in the hands of the guards.”

Detainees at S-21 were treated worse than animals. They lived in constant fear. He could hear other detainees screaming as they were tortured almost every day. He knew other detainees died and at one point saw a female detainee jump from an upper floor and die by suicide. After hearing about mass graves at Cheoung Ek, Vann went and saw them personally. Other detainees, including children and a baby less than one year old, were taken away by the guards. Vann’s testimony that Duch personally kicked Bou Meng was not relied on by the Trial Chamber.

Vann left S-21 at the end of the conflict together with about twelve other persons detained in the workshop. He first testified that very few detainees were left at S-21 at that time, but then clarified that a few detainees were left in a special prison in Building A. He returned in November 1979 and saw fourteen tombs at the S-21 museum, from which he inferred there had been fourteen remaining detainees.

Paintings

Vann created several paintings of life at S-21 that were displayed during his testimony. The pictures depicted, among other things:

The conditions in the first room at S-21 where Vann was detained; ⁵⁵
The torture of a detainee who claimed to be an artist but failed to satisfy the Khmer Rouge, as Vann witnessed; ⁵⁶
The waterboarding of a detainee as he described it to Vann; ⁵⁷
The torture of a female detainee as she described it to Vann; ⁵⁸
The torture of Oeng Pech as he described it to Vann; ⁵⁹
The torture of Bou Meng as he described it to Vann; ⁶⁰ and
Torture implements. ⁶¹

Civil parties to the case requested that the Trial Chamber order those paintings preserved, but the Chamber determined that it did not have sufficient information to do so.

Impact

The crimes Vann witnessed at S-21 still haunt him. ⁵⁵ He has worked in educational programming about Khmer Rouge crimes so that younger generations would know about the detainees’ suffering and avoid repeating similar tragedies. ⁵⁶ Vann later learned that his children died while he was in detention. ⁵⁷ The Trial Chamber noted his evidence, along with other survivors, that detainees who survived continued to suffer “severe physical and mental harm.” ⁵⁸

Videos

Testimony
Date	Written record of proceedings	Transcript number
29 June 2009	E1/39	E1/39.1

Relevant documents
Document title Khmer	Document title English	Document title French	Document D number	Document E3 number
កំណត់ហេតុនៃការស្តាប់ចម្លើយសាក្សី វ៉ាន់ ណាត ជាពិសេសគំនូរដោយលោក វ៉ាន់ ណាត	Written Record of Interview of VANN Nath in particular sketches by Vann Nath	Procès-verbal d’audition de VANN Nath et notamment de croquis de Vann Nath	D28/9	E3/384
រូបគំនូររបស់អ្នកទោសស-២១ ឈ្មោះ វ៉ាន់ ណាត ដែលព៌ណនាអំពីអ្នកទោសដេកតម្រៀបទល់ជើងគ្នាក្នុងបន្ទប់រួមមួយ	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath depicting a prisoner holding room “sardine-style”	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, représentant une salle de détention de prisonniers « de style sardine »	D69-An A-P0143	E3/249
រូបគំនូរអ្នកទោសជាប់ក្នុងបន្ទប់នៅមន្ទីរស-២១ គូរដោយអ្នកទោស វ៉ាន់ ណាត (រូបគាត់ផ្ទាល់)	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath self-portrait in a prison cell.	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, autoportrait dans une cellule de prison.	D69-An A-P0143	E3/250
រូបគំនូររបស់អ្នកទោសស-២១ ឈ្មោះ វ៉ាន់ ណាត ដែលបង្ហាញពីកម្មាភិបាលទាញកុមារចេញពីម្តាយ	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath showing cadres taking baby from its mother	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, montrant des cadres prenant un bébé à sa mère	D69-An A-P0142	E3/251
រូបគំនូររបស់អ្នកទោសស-២១ ឈ្មោះ វ៉ាន់ ណាត ដែលព៌ណនាអំពីអ្នកទោសត្រូវបានគេធ្វើទារុណកម្មដោយជ្រមុជទឹក	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath depicting prisoner being tortured by water boarding	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, représentant un prisonnier torturé par water boarding	D69-An A-P0143	E3/252
រូបគំនូររបស់អ្នកទោសស-២១ ឈ្មោះ វ៉ាន់ ណាត ដែលព៌ណនាអំពីអ្នកទោសត្រូវបានគេធ្វើទារុណកម្មជ្រមុជចូលទៅក្នុងធុងទឹក	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath representing prisoner being tortured in water tank	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, représentant un prisonnier torturé dans une citerne à eau.	D69-An A-P0143	E3/253
រូបគំនូររបស់អ្នកទោសស-២១ ឈ្មោះ វ៉ាន់ ណាត បង្ហាញពីការធ្វើទារុណកម្មដោយធ្វើយ៉ាងណាឱ្យលង់ទឹកស្លាប់	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath showing prisoners being tortured by simulated drowning	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, montrant un prisonnier torturé par une simulation de noyade	D69-An A-P0143	E3/254
រូបគំនូររបស់អ្នកទោសស-២១ ឈ្មោះ វ៉ាន់ ណាត បង្ហាញពីការធ្វើទារុណកម្មដោយការប្រើដង្កាប់និងសត្វល្អិតខាំ	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath depicting prisoner being tortured with pliers and insects	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, représentant un prisonnier torturé avec des pinces et des insectes	D69-An A-P0143	E3/255
រូបគំនូររបស់អ្នកទោសស-២១ ឈ្មោះ វ៉ាន់ ណាត បង្ហាញពីការធ្វើទារុណកម្មដោយការប្រើដង្កាប់	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath depicting prisoner being tortured with pliers	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, représentant un prisonnier torturé avec des pinces	D69-An A-P0143	E3/256
រូបគំនូររបស់អ្នកទោសស-២១ ឈ្មោះ វ៉ាន់ ណាត បង្ហាញពីការធ្វើទារុណកម្មលើអ្នកទោសដោយវាយនឹងរំពាត់	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath depicting prisoner being whipped	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, représentant un prisonnier fouetté	D69-An A-P0143	E3/257
រូបគំនូររបស់អ្នកទោសស-២១ ឈ្មោះ វ៉ាន់ ណាត បង្ហាញពីអ្នកទោសត្រូវបានទទួលទារុណកម្ម ឬ សម្លាប់	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath depicting prisoner being tortured or murdered	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, représentant un prisonnier torturé ou assassiné	D69-An A-P0143	E3/258
រូបគំនូររបស់អ្នកទោសស-២១ ឈ្មោះ វ៉ាន់ ណាត បង្ហាញពីការធ្វើទារុណកម្មអ្នកទោសនៅមុខមន្ទីរស-២១	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath depicting torture in the yard of Office S-21	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, représentant un prisonnier torturé dans la cour du Centre S-21	D69-An A-P0143	E3/260
រូបគំនូររបស់អ្នកទោសស-២១ ឈ្មោះ វ៉ាន់ ណាត បង្ហាញពីការធ្វើទារុណកម្មដោយចាប់ចងហើយវាយ	Painting of S-21 prisoner Vann Nath representing prisoner being carried by two cadre tied to stick	Peinture du prisonnier Vann Nath, du S-21, représentant un prisonnier torturé dans une citerne à eau.	D69-An A-P0143	E3/261
កំណត់ហេតុនៃការស្តាប់ចម្លើយសាក្សី វ៉ាន់ ណាត	Written Record of Interview of Vann Nath	Procès-verbal de l’audition de Vann Nath	D2-11	E3/385
សៀវភៅដែលរៀបរៀងដោយ វ៉ាន់ ណាត មានចំណងជើងថា “រូបភាពមន្ទីរឃុំឃាំងប្រទេសកម្ពុជា”	Book by VANN Nath entitled “A Cambodian Prison Portrait”	Livre de VANN Nath intitulé « Portrait d’une Prison cambodgienne »	IS 4.45	E3/386