Case 002 Witnesses, experts and Civil Parties

79 years old Ms. SIN Chhem was called to testify on the treatment of Vietname people in her commune during the Democratic Kampuchea regime. Ms. Chhem testified that the Vietnamese in her commune had Khmer husbands and wives. The Vietnamese spouses and the children of mixed marriages were taken away at night time to be killed. In total 4 families were taken away. Her husband was a commune chief. After her husband’s arrest, another person replaced him and the witness testified that that person had organized the arrests of the Vietnamese families in the commune. 

The witness, UNG Sam Ean, described in 1976, there was a cooperative, and the people ate communally and slept in their respective houses as usual. In 1977, the people had to dig a canal from the Romeas Haek river to the east section of the provincial town. Also during 1977, four to five mixed-race Vietnamese with Cambodian fathers and "Yuon" mothers, or some with Yuon fathers and Cambodian mothers were arrested and taken away. Those people had lived here at Kraham Ka Village for a long time. The witness didn't know about the Cham, because no Cham lived in this village, and she did not know about other villages. As for the monks, they were disrobed in 1975. Statues of Buddha were destroyed. 

Mr. Um Sounn was about 30 meters away from the killing site at Khsach Pagoda and was with friend Sean Sung - a previous witness in Case 002/02.  Witness remembers armed people accusing the victims as “Yuon” (Vietnamese) inside the library hall.

Witness then heard screams and crying while he saw the victims being killed one by one. Out of immense fear, he ran towards his house shaking and trembling. He returned to the killing site the next day and saw pits overflowing with corpses and gall bladders hanging on coconut trees.

Witness mentioned that babies and small children were held upside down and were smashed onto the coconut trees whereas older children were killed using bamboo clubs.

After serving in the former Lon Nol miliarty for over 3 years, including 1 year of study in Thailand, Mr. Prum Sarun testified on his experiences. The witness knew that all of the other former soldiers in his area were taken away and killed; however, the KR spared his life due his hard work. The witness was also present in a few meetings with the KR officials which detailed accused traiors within the commune who were then killed.

The witness also saw young cadres, as young as eight years old whose gun barrels touched the ground, arresting groups of people who were taken away and never returned.

The civil party is a direct victim of persecution, ill-treatment, killings and elimination of the ethnic Vietnamese by the Khmer Rouge and other crimes. He can give evidence about the forced relocation and mass executions of Vietnamese in Kampong Chhnang: 17 April 1975, immediately upon transfer to Kep Mountain, the massacre of entire Vietnamese family at a mass grave on 17 April 1975, which left the witness as sole survivor, the deportation of the Vietnamese civilians to Vietnam in 1975, the exchange of Vietnamese persons for rice and salt at Neak Loeung market, Prey Veng Province, before transfer out of Cambodia, by agreement between Vietnam and Khmer Rouge.

The Civil Party’s family was mistreated in Sey Taekoy Village – his birthplace – and threatened by the Khmer Rouge, after which point they were forced to move to Kampong Chnnang.

His family was killed without warning while at Da Village; one morning, eight men armed with guns, axes, and grenades came for his family, tied them up in rope used for cows, and walked them away.

At the time he was unaware that his family would be killed and only found out after walking by a ditch and seeing their bodies. CP also admits that he was hit in the neck three times by an axe. CP describes his attempted execution; he was forced to kneel by the pit, but he lost his balance and his head moved forward, afterward he was hit by an axe three times in the neck and dropped into the pit. He regained consciousness, around the lifeless bodies of this family members, at around 4 pm and walked day and night to the floating Vietnamese Kruh Village, where he was given traditional and modern medicine.

Ms. Sak resides in Olong Treah Village, Prey Veng Province and works as a dry season rice farmer. Her mother was half Vietnamese, but none of her mother’s family members lived in their village. She recalls that anybody with Vietnamese origin was taken away to be killed, and that her mother met the same fate.

Prak Doeun testified on the treatment of  Vietnamese people by the Khmer Rouge. He had a wife, four daughters and a son during the Khmer Rouge reign, and was evacuated to Pek Chan Ba Village where his family were divided into their separate units. After being forcibly relocated to Ta Muth Island for one and a half years, Khmer Rouge cadres granted Mr. Doeun's request to have his family moved to the island with him. During this time he saw ethnic Vietnamese removed from the island or attacked, and speaking Vietnamese resulted in physical punishment or death. Eventually the cadres separated the Vietnamese and Khmer into separate groups and brutally murdered the Vietnamese group.

The Witness, who was a member of a mobile unit, describes a mass killing of 600-700 Vietnamese civilians at Wat Khsach (Chi Kreng District, SiemReapProvince) in 1978. He testifies that the victims were Vietnamese people from the surrounding villages who were locked in the pagoda before being marched out and executed. The Witness saw entire families of Vietnamese people being killed and dumped into a pit. He states that two families were let go on the grounds that they were Chinese rather than Vietnamese.   The Witness watched the killing for between one and three hours. He describes the disembowelment of a Vietnamese girl who had been a member of his mobile unit.

Testimony of the witness was in closed session. 

Mr. SOS Rumly, of Kampong Cham province, approximately 60 years old at the time of his testimony, is the second witness to be heard before the Trial Chamber in January. As the clerk to the Trea commune chief during the Democratic Kampuchea, Mr. SOS Rumly conveyed testimony concerning the treatment of Chams. A Cham himself, he described his own experiences prior to 1975 and how things changed after. The general theme of his testimony was the restriction of religious and cultural freedoms, leading to the arrests of various Cham leaders throughout his village.

Mr. BAN Seak, aged 61, testified how he was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Public Works after the purges of the North Zone cadres occurred. During his time as Deputy Secretary, So Soeun, wife of Ke Pauk, was appointed District Chief of the Chamkar Leu District. Being tasked with supervising the Lvea and Chamkar Andong villages, he was unaware of any Cham people living within the areas because they were forbidden to practice their religion. The witness was not aware about the fate of approximately 1,000 Cham families reported missing from the Chamkar Leu district. Mr. Ban, who lost two of his siblings during this time,  reaffirmed that people were killed regardless of their race or religion. He was told by the district committee members that Nuon Chea acted as one of the key advisors on certain “policies”. Mr. Ban said he had no authority to decide who would be executed; the orders came from the upper levels, and stated that no one was spared from the purges. If you opposed the regime, you were the enemy. He recalled seeing corpses, some in unknown military uniforms, floating down the Mekong near Trea Villiage. Some did not have heads.

The Witness was Deputy chief of the Sector5 mobile brigade under Haun alias Ta Val since January 1976; he was assigned to the Trapeang Thma Dam Worksite after building the Kambao-Sreh Dam and Kok Rumchek Dam. He mentions the visits of KHIEU Samphan alias Haem at the Kok Romchek worksite and the fact that he saw the real work conditions and laborers, including "skinny" people. He describes the authority structure at the Trapeang Thma dam construction site, the administrative structure at the Northwest Zone, Sector 5 and Preah Net Preah District and the organization of sector mobile brigades.

The Witness was Deputy chief of the Sector5 mobile brigade under Haun alias Ta Val since January 1976; he was assigned to the Trapeang Thma Dam Worksite after building the Kambao-Sreh Dam and Kok Rumchek Dam. He mentions the visits of KHIEU Samphan alias Haem at the Kok Romchek worksite and the fact that he saw the real work conditions and laborers, including "skinny" people. He describes the authority structure at the Trapeang Thma dam construction site, the administrative structure at the Northwest Zone, Sector 5 and Preah Net Preah District and the organization of sector mobile brigades.

Rice farmer Mr. SOT Sophal, aged 51 at the time of the trial, recalled his experience working at the Trapeang Thma Dam (TTD) worksite. He was transferred to the TTD worksite after being one of 2,000-3,000 children working at a Kampok Plantation. At the TTD site, he was part of the Special Children’s Unit assigned to dig and carry dirt, enough to meet the ever increasing daily quota. Working from 3am until 11am, then 2pm until 11pm, Mr. Sot states that if you didn’t meet the daily quota your food rations were significantly reduced. He saw workers fainting and dying because of too much work.

Ms. No Sates, 57, was born and still lives in the Srei Klang Village, Srei Klang Commune. Srei Klang was at  the time considered a Cham villager and, after a quelled rebellion, she and nearly three hundred other villagers were quarantined in a warehouse with no access to food or medical supplies. All were forbidden to speak Cham or practice Islam, and many died as a result of confinement and lack of access to vital resources.
Ms. No stated that the Chams were targeted - especially men - and often taken away at knifepoint, and that she lied about being Khmer for fear of execution. The Khmer Rouge tasked Ms. No and her fellow villagers with constructing a large dam and digging graves, during which time both of her parents died. She contracted dysentery.

Mr. Him Man, a Civil Party, 66, was born and currently resides in Sauk Sau village in Kampong Cham. He stated that the Khmer Rouge viewed the Cham people as "enemy number one" and forced them to eat pork, cut their hair, and stop doing religious displays such as praying. Even if these rules were obeyed, many Cham people were removed from the village and executed by the Khmer Rouge The Civil Party said he had observed some of the killings while hiding in the bushes. Mr. Him said that he and his wife escaped persecution by hiding in a nearby pond for nearly four months before being captured and subsequently sent to a detention facility. Later, while he was aboard a boat ostensibly bound for execution, Mr. Him was rescued by the Vietnamese.

Mr. TAY Koemhun testified that his house was 50 metres away from the Wat Au Trakuon pagoda, where he saw multiple people being directed four or five times per day. Men, women and children were led to the pagoda which played loud music; the older ones were tied up with rope as the younger children followed behind. The witness was not aware of the reason why people were being taken to the pagoda, but other villagers told him that they were being killed inside while the loud music was being played. The witness was tasked to harvest rice and had his life threatened twice by cadres. After the regime was over, Mr. Tay confirmed that Chams were no longer in his village.

Mr. Samrit Muy, 68, was born in Kang Meas District in Kampong Cham province. He testified about the arrest of many Cham people in the Sach Sou village and their subsequent disappearance in the Au Trakuon pagoda. The witness was a worker at a rubber plantation in Peam Chi Kang until the B-52 bombings, and was later appointed to ‘Commune Militiaman’ in Sach Sou village, adjacent to Sambuor Meas village. The witness told the Trial Chamber about one large arrest where all the Cham people living in Sach Sou village, except for
one family (that is a husband and a wife) that was arrested. This took place after the establishment of the so-called Long Sword Group by the Southwest group, as recalled by the witness. From a distance, the witness said he saw how the Cham people were taken to the Au Trakuon pagoda ‘to be killed’. Despite never having seen any killing, the witnessed assured the court that ‘those who were brought into that pagoda would never return’.

Rice farmer Sen Srun, 67, was formally interviewed five times by the court at his residence in Kampong Cham. He joined the revolutionary movement in 1971 and became a member of Batallion 305, Zone 304, Section 30. Mr. Sen was ordered to return to his home village in 1976. Upon returning, he was arrested and detained for ten days, after which he, with the consent of his family, was arranged to marry a woman. He was sent to work in the mobile unit as a tree climber. Mr. Sen recalls a relative integration of the Cham and Khmer people in his village, although practicing religion, wearing Cham clothing and speaking Cham were all forbidden. A large scale purge of the mid-level to high-ranking Northwest Zone Cadres took place in 1976 and 1977 as they were subsequently replaced by Southwestern counterparts. Sen told the Trial Chamber that he was assigned to accompany the Long Sword Group - a militia group created to track down and arrest Chams. He explained that all Cham people in the two villages were arrested in one day, perhaps 200-300 individuals, and that he was tasked to lead the arrested people to Wat Au Trakuon. The next day, Mr. Sen was told by a cadre that the arrested Cham people had been smashed during the last night. In 1979, Mr. Srun was assigned as village chief, after which time he ordered the exhumation of several mass graves surrounding the village.

Witness Mr. Seng Kuy, 62, is a Khmer who described the treatment of  the Chams in Angkor Ban village number 2. He stated that after the Khmer Rouge soldiers arrived in his village in 1975, he was considered “a slave among other slaves.” He told that he was assigned to work in the rice fields. After the Khmer Rouge regime took the power, the Chams were brought into his village. Mr. Seng testified that the Chams did not practice their religion because they were afraid of the Khmer Rouge. In 1977, Mr. Seng witnessed the arrest of approximately 15 Cham people, which were executed by Mr. Run and his communal security forces. He added that he heard Mr. Run being referred to as a butcher.  Mr. Seng added that at the end of the Khmer Rouge regime, Mr. Run was killed by the people of Angkor Ban because he was the one arresting people. He added that he was one of the people assigned to transport the arrested Chams to the Au Trakuon pagoda. He was ordered to do this particular task by the chief of the Angkor Village; he was afraid to be killed if he refused. He testified that he never saw the arrested Chams again after leaving them at the pagoda.

The Civil Party Mr. Sos Ponyamin, 61, described the treatment of the Chams during the Democratic Kampuchea regime. He explained how the Khmer Rouge forbade Chams to respect their religion. Chams were forced to eat pork and were forbidden to fast and pray. Mr. Sos also revealed that they were prohibited to use
their own language and women were forced to cut their hair. He told that if they would have opposed any of these principles, then they would have been accused of being enemies of Angkar. Mr. Sos stated that people were arrested without any reasonable explanations. His cousin told him that there was a plan to arrest 80 Chams, and Mr. Sos organized a revolt with two other people. He explained that after the crackdown of the revolt, the soldiers took the Chams out of the village and interrogated and tortured them. He also described the working and living conditions at the worksite. He stated that the conditions were the same for Cham and Khmer people, and that he saw many corpses, but he did not witness any executions. Mr. Sos lost seven
of his relatives during Khmer Rouge regime. 

Mr. It Sen, 63, from the Tbong Khmum province, was the first Cham witness to appear before the court to provide testimony on the genocide charges against Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan. He talked about how the Khmer Rouge soldiers forbade the Chams from practicing Islam, wearing their traditional clothing, and speaking their own language. He mentioned that those who were heard speaking Cham were taken away and murdered. He confirmed the Cham uprising that happened in Koh Pal Island and talked about how he and his co-villagers were forcibly evacuated to the Trea village after the soldiers cut off their food supply. Mr. IT eventually revealed that the Trea village was actually a detention and execution site where he witnessed the soldiers drowning people in the river. He stated that he escaped from captivity after he managed to pry a floorboard open, thereby giving him the opportunity to swim all the way back to his home village.

Civil party Sam Sak, 52, told that he was evacuated with his family from Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975. He was sent to the children unit in Samraong Commune to collect cow dung. He explained that later on he joined the mobile unit at Trapeang Thma Dam worksite since the food was better there than in the children unit. He stated that because of the workload he became sick but he still continued working.  He was scared of being accused of imaginary sickness. He explained that the Angkor had a phrase: if you could eat, you could work. He described the lack of food, lack of sleep, and unsanitary conditions at the worksite. He also told that people were arrested and killed.

Mr. Mean Loeuy, 61, was a monk before the Khmer Rouge. He was urged to dis-robe, and forced to marry under the Khmer Rouge. He lost his new wife and many members of his family. He described how monks were described as “leeches” under the Khmer Rouge and shared how two of the kids from his family (aged 3 and 5) had their throats slit. He stated that his marriage was as part of a ceremony for 63 couples, many of whom could not recognize their spouses, as they had never met. He said that the couples spent a couple of nights together before having to resume work. The couples eventually lived separately but were allowed to do monthly visits. He said that he remembers his wife, whom he says he loved and could have been pregnant at the time of her death, by holding an annual Buddhist ceremony for her memory. He said that he only manages to escape the pain and suffering he experienced under the Khmer Rouge regime when he meditates and participates in religious ceremonies.