Case 002 Witnesses, experts and Civil Parties

Witnesses, experts and Civil Parties who have appeared in Case 002. Click on photo for larger version.

Ms. PHOUNG Yat

PHOUNG Yat was born on 15 April 1960. She is a farmer in the rice fields.

In 1975 two of her siblings were drafted into the army. She heard that one of her sisters went to PP and got married and worked in a factory, but she never heard what happened to her. In Tuol Sleng prison, the Civil Party found her siblings’ photos displayed there. Upon seeing this she wept until she fainted. She told the court that her sister fled their home village because she didn’t want to marry the man she’d been assigned to marry.

She stayed in hiding until the end of the regime, which, according to Ms. Phoung, was the only reason she survived.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 11 August 2016
Ms. ROS Chuor Siy

ROS Chuor Siy was born on 20 September 1938. She lives in Paris with three children.

In 1975 she and her husband left Paris, where he had completed a PhD in aviation and was working for Air France and Air Cambodge, to return to Cambodia thanks to an outreach campaign organized by Ieng Sary encouraging expats to return to help rebuild Cambodia. Upon arriving at the airport in Phnom Penh with their young daughters she and her husband were surprised that none of their families were there to greet them. According to Ms. Ros, as they were driving down the roads it was suspiciously quiet, and she and her  husband became worried. At the central office, she met two elder men who she’d known a few months before they returned to Cambodia. They were emaciated and in rough condition. She saw her sister who  had also returned six or seven months before her. Her sister had also not seen their parents. Ms. Ros said her family’s physical condition worsened as they were relocated multiple times by Angkar. In December 1976 her husband came to tell her that he had been assigned a special duty. He told her not to worry, to work hard and to look after herself and their daughters, that they would meet again. She and her daughters were moved repeatedly, which worried her a lot because she was moving farther away from her husband. She did not give up hope that they would be reunited soon. She was repeatedly told by Angkar that this would be the case. By 1979 she had given up hope. After the liberation of Phnom Penh she went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and there she found a photograph of her husband among the prisoners; she knew he had been killed and could not imagine the pain and torture inflicted on him before he died. 

She wanted to cry out, she almost fainted, but a voice told her she had to stay strong. After that point she realized she could not raise her children in such a country. She sold everything she owned and moved back to France. She never discovered the fate of her parents.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 11 August 2016
Mr. CHHE Heab

Che Heap was born 1 February 1961. Before the fall of Phnom Penh he was living in the Kampong Tom district with his family.

His brother, a KR soldier, took him and several siblings to live in Phnom Penh. His brother was part of a logistics unit. Once when he went to visit his brother, he was not there and someone pointed to Che and said that he was the brother of a traitor. After this Che tried to hide his biography because his brother was accused of being a traitor. When he asked permission to go home, it was not granted. After the war he learned that his brother had been taken to Tuol Sleng. His brother’s wife was never told of this, and soon after he disappeared she and her children were taken to a pagoda. She is still again. The Civil Party said that five of his siblings went missing, never to be seen again. 

He testified in court because his brother sacrificed a lot to the struggle and regime. His brothers supported the KR, joined the regime and left their parents behind only for them all to be arrested and never returned; according to Mr. Che, only three of the siblings survived. The family couldn’t afford to make a ritual for his siblings. They cry every time they think of them.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 11 August 2016
HEM Moeun

The witness has been interviewed during the investigation stages of other Cases and international Co-Investigating Judge requested Trial Chamber to refer him by speudonym (2-TCW-976) during his hearing of substance not his full name. 

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 02 August 2016
Mr. CHIN Saroeun

CHIN Saroeun was born in January 1959. He was a monk from 1972-75.

He explained to the Trial Chamber that on 17 April 1975 he and all the other monks in his region were defrocked because the Khmer Rouge told him there would be no more monks in the new regime. This was upsetting for him, because he loved Buddhism and had intended to be a monk for the rest of his life. The Khmer Rouge moved him to be trained in Kratie for three months, then transferred him to a mobile unit n Mondulkiri in ’75. The witness said that when he was a soldier, he was in charge of preventing Vietnamese prisoners from escaping. During testimony, he also discussed the vehicle with license plate number 502. He said this was used to take people away when they committed an offense. Everyone dreaded this vehicle and it would often drive straight into people’s homes. The chief of the district was accused of hiding Vietnamese minority people.

Mr. Chin told the Trial Chamber that after he left Mondulkiri people from his old division were sent to PP to be killed but he doesn’t know why. He was married in 1977 on request from his commander, who liked him and asked whether he knew his would-be wife. He did, but she and he didn’t know they’d be married until the day. Mr. Chin said the manual work they had to do sometimes killed people within 10 days of arriving there. His section was autonomous and reported straight to Phnom Penh.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 02 August 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 03 August 2016
Henri Locard

Mr. Henri Locard provided 4 days of expert testimony at the Trial Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). He is a currently a volunteer at the history department at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. He began researching Democratic Kampuchea soon after his return to Cambodia in 1989 when his friend, Moeung Sonn, requested his assistance to write his biography. Shortly thereafter, he began a PhD on the ideology and political system of the Khmer Rouge. Over the following years he published a number of books including “Pol Pot’s Little Red Book: The Sayings of Angkar”/” Petit livre rouge de Pol Pot” which was discussed during the course of his testimony. Locard explained his use of secondary sources, including publications by David Chandler and Ben Kiernan, and primary sources from interviews, “hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands” for which he took notes. He stated his research was “grassroots” within the provinces and communes – a dialogue of ordinary people.

During this time he told the Court he collected slogans for his personal interest. Over the course of his research, he realised if these slogans were organised into themes – Maoist slogans, the “hunt for enemies”, slogans about work, around the death of the individual or the collective life – that the ideology and the ways of thinking of the Khmer Rouge could be revealed. Locard stated that he approached his research of Democratic Kampuchea from the history of the Cold War. He researched regimes similar in ideology including Vietnam, Communist Vietnam, Communist China, the Soviet Union and North Korea.

He had a particular focus on China, as he believed the regime was largely modelled on China; that the regime was “a combination of the Great Leap Forward and counterrevolution.” Locard spoke of his interest in the smaller provincial prisons, for which records are rare. He explained that in 1975-1976 most prisoners were those of the old regime – educated people connected with the Republican regime and the Sihanouk regime. During 1977-1978, the prisoners were from all classes and more and more from within the ranks of the revolution, the civilians and the military. Locard explained that was a major prison for each region, from the evidence he found, there were about 150 districts. Every district had a prison, and some districts had several, particularly those located closer to the centre.

He described the tiers of prisons – in the first tier were those that had less than 100 prisoners where there was one person asking the questions, interrogating and writing biographies. In the district prison there were more inmates. There were at least three people that conducted the interrogations – one who asks questions, one who writes in the notebooks and one who “hits/ threatens to hit.” In larger prisons, inmates may be into the hundreds, up to 1000, as was the case for Siem Reap Prison.

Locard stated that the turnover was quite rapid with people interrogated over one to three days as room had to be made for new inmates. People usually did not survive more than three months; the average would be 3-4 weeks. Locard stated that the mode of interrogation and torture was similar to other Communist regimes. The system was therefore highly centralized, there was only vertical communication. Locard stated that when the Vietnamese came in, there were abundant archives in all of the security centres on the 7 January 1979. He stated that they disappeared as the people’s main concern was to survive at the end of the regime. Locard stated that in some locations, they were systematically destroyed, as Locard believed to have occurred in Tia Siem’s district.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 28 July 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 29 July 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 01 August 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 02 August 2016
MOENG Vet

Witness 2-TCW-1005 – anonymous due to involvement in other cases – testified in July 2016 on the subjects of internal purges and forced marriage. He was born in 1958 in Tram Kak, Takeo province. His father died sometime around 1967 or ’68; although the witness isn’t sure precisely when or why because he was quite young, he does believe that it was because of his father’s involvement in the CPK. In fact, he believes that his father’s friendship with Son Sen is the only reason he is still alive today. His mother also joined the revolution quite early, in 1970.

The witness said he joined the Khmer Rouge army when he was 15. According to the witness, when several of his teachers were killed while participating in demonstrations against the Lon Nol regime, the witness was inspired to fight against Lon Nol, so he joined the army as part of a children’s messenger unit. He stayed there for two and a half years, then moved to Kiri Vong in September of 1975 and onto Kratie in 1977 while moving up in the ranks of messenger units in those sectors.

Because of his increasingly important position in messenger units, the witness said he was present at many meetings of the higher echelons of leadership. His main testimony pertained to purges of the party leadership in the Khmer Rouge during the later years of the regime. One purge he spoke of in particular allegedly occurred in Sector  13 in 1977 when the secretary of the sector was removed from his position, originally due to health reasons and then arrested for alleged connections to the enemy. The witness explained that the secretary was replaced by the witness’s cousin, who was only in the position for a short time before he, too, was accused of connections to the enemy and sent to S-21.

Another alleged purge in 1977 that the witness was questioned  about, occurred during a period of intense fighting against the Vietnamese in the area near Kratie. As a leader of a messenger unit, the witness said he delivered a letter from the head office which required 11 of the top leaders in Sector 505 to go to a meeting in Phnom Penh. At the time, he said, he was young and he was happy that his superiors would be away for a few days. However, he realized they had been “disappeared” when their positions were filled with new cadres. Their names later appeared on the prisoner list of S-21, including one of his uncles.

The witness spoke in particular about the harmful effect of the mistrust between comrades sown by the party, specifically through their Revolutionary Flag magazine which told its readers that enemies of the party were everywhere. These enemies were referred to as “burrowing enemies”, and much of the witness’s testimony related to how the party dealt with these alleged burrowing enemies. The witness pointed out how the magazine and the party focused heavily on eradicating friends of the CIA and the KGB-affiliated Vietnamese, while ignoring the hunger and shortage of food being suffered by the Cambodian people at that time.

According to the witness,  the Khmer Rouge tended to move cadres who were from the East Zone into the Southwest Zone and vice versa, and each time they moved it was difficult for party members to trust them. As well as this, the witness said the mistrust meant that any person with any connection to Phnom Penh or outside Cambodia was disappeared because they were believed to be an agent of the enemy.   He exemplified this with the case of his mother,  who according to the witness was killed because of an aunt in Phnom Penh, even though she had been a member of the party since 1970.

The witness stressed that the principles of the party were sound – he remained a member of the Khmer Rouge until 1998. However the principles depended on execution, and in this he felt the party failed. The leadership was not consistent through the country, he said, and the breakdown occurred between the written tenets of the political society created by the Khmer Rouge and their implementation of them.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 26 July 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 27 July 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 28 July 2016
Mr MEAS Soeurn

Mr Meas Soeurn was born in 1952 in Phnov village, Rumchek subdistrict, Memot district, Tbong Khmun province and lives with his wife and children in Ta Khmau village, Ta Khmau commune, Ta Khmau district, Kandal province. He works in the Kandal provincial committee.

He testified in Case 002/02. Mr Meas stated that he joined the revolution unknowingly by running from his village into the forest in 1968. He kept fleeing until March 1970, then worked as a driver for his father, Meas Senghong, alias Chan, who, between 1970 and 1975, was deputy chief then chief of sector 21, then became the deputy chief of the East zone. Mr Meas became a member of the CPK in 1974. He got married in late 1976. After 1975, he attended a technical training session and became the deputy chief of a metal factory in the East zone, and did not see his father anymore. He often traveled between the Commerce office in Phnom Penh and his factory to transport material. According to Mr Meas, all East zone cadres including East zone leader Sor Phim were purged in May 1978. They were accused of treason and collusion with the Vietnamese. During his testimony, he gave the names of some of them. He explained that when a chief was falsely “sent to study sessions”, all his subordinates were too. His father kept his position, but went to Phnom Penh and disappeared a few months before January 1979. Mr Meas stated that at the time, his factory received letters from Phim instructing them to resist the arrests. He said that Phim believed that Son Sen was plotting against Pol Pot and Nuon Chea. Mr Meas also declared that there were some arrests prior to 1978 in his unit. He recalled one Vietnamese employee in his factory who got arrested.

He also explained that Cham people in the East zone were displaced and tried to rebel. According to him, the East zone forces fought back against the Centre in 1978.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 29 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 30 June 2016
Mr CHHUN Samorn

Mr Chhun Samorn was born in 1957 in Thmei village, Ksetr commune, Kampong Rou district, Svay Rieng province, where he still lives with his family and works as a rice farmer.

He testified as a Civil Party in Case 002/02. Mr Chhun became a Khmer Rouge soldier in May 1975, and worked as a messenger in unit 75. He delivered information about enemy positions to other units. He also attended meetings on the subject. In 1976, he was sent to sector 23 and worked in the Special Unit, in charge of gathering intelligence and sometimes of planting mines. Meetings about internal matters were organized. His unit was sent to areas close to the Vietnamese border, in Svay Rieng province, where he said the fighting was fierce in 1976 and 1977, in order to collect information. Sometimes, his unit had to fight the Vietnamese Special Unit. Mr Chhun stated that the work of the Special Unit was harder than other units’. According to Mr Chhun, the fighting intensified in 1977 and soldiers from the Central and the Southwest zones were sent in as reinforcements. At the end of 1977, East zone commanders were sent to training sessions and disappeared. The units were split by Central zone soldiers between the soldiers who had joined the revolution before and after 1975. Weapons were confiscated. Soldiers who had joined before 1975, about 300, were boarded on trucks and were sent to Veal Taprunh. The few others, including Mr Chhun, were integrated into Division 703 and asked to show landmines locations. They were then sent to the same place instead of to the Center. They were all instructed to work in rice fields and to dig holes. In 1978, Mr Chhun heard that East zone soldiers attempted a coup in the Center. Mr Chhun and his coworkers were instructed to go back to their families and villages. In Mr Chhun’s village, soldiers from the Center replaced the cooperative chiefs and told his unit that they would be reenlisted after the purge. However, the witness explained that a few days after their arrival, they tied them up, called them traitors and walked them to be executed. Mr Chhun heard from someone that they were not the first group of soldiers to be sent away. At the execution site, the soldiers who were tied up were shot, but some managed to untie themselves and to flee. Mr Chhun managed to flee with two other soldiers and jumped into a river, then crossed the Vietnamese border. They were rescued by Vietnamese soldiers. The Vietnamese asked them questions and let them join their army in order to liberate Cambodia. The witness recognized a few names of cadres from his unit who were sent for study sessions and are on the S-21 OCIJ prisoners list.

After his testimony, Mr Chhun asked for justice for his family and asked the accused two questions: why they divided the soldiers between those who joined the revolution before and after 1975, and why they arrested many East zone soldiers without justice. The accused used their 10 Hearings in Case 002/02 right to remain silent.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 29 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 28 June 2016
KAING Guek Eav

The Witness, who stood trial and was convicted by the Trial Chamber in Case 001 for his involvement in the
crimes committed at the S-21 Security Centre, was the deputy and, from March 1976, chief of the prison. He was also the head of the M -13 security centre prior to the start of the DK period.

He provides evidence regarding the functioning of S-21 Security Centre, including: the prison's establishment
under the orders of Son Sen, DK Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Chief of the RAK General Staff; the
location, internal structure, organization and operation of S-21 and S-24; composition of prisoners; inhumane
conditions of detention and forced labour; the interrogation and torture techniques used at S-21; arrests,
imprisonment and interrogation of foreigners, including Vietnamese civilians and prisoners of war; killings within the S-21 compound; establishment of Choeung Ek as an execution site, and the executions of prisoners at this location.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 07 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 08 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 09 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 13 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 14 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 15 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 16 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 20 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 21 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 22 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 23 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 27 June 2016
Mr. SUOS Thy

The Witness worked at S-24 (Prey Sar) before being transferred to the main S-21 compound in early 1976,
where he became Head of the Documentation Unit. He was responsible for recording names, compiling
biographies, and photographing all incoming and outgoing prisoners at S-21. The Witness provides details
concerning the location, structure, hierarchy and operation of S-21, and describes in detail the internal functioning of the Documentation Unit. He testifies to the composition of prisoners, which included Cambodians, Europeans, Americans, Vietnamese civilians and prisoners of war, women and children, CPK senior cadres (including Ta Nat and Vorn Vet) and former S-21 staff.

He describes the conditions within the prison, and testifies that many prisoners died from disease and insufficient nutrition. He also confirms that interrogations, torture and executions took place outside of the S-21 main compound, and that prisoners were transported to their executions in covered trucks. He testifies to the practice of blood drawing at S-21. 

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 02 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 03 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 06 June 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 07 June 2016
HIM Huy

The Witness, who was a guard at S-21 in 1976 and later Head of The Special Unit, was responsible for arrests, guard management, coordinating transport of prisoners to S-21, and the transfer of prisoners from S-21 to Choeung Ek. He describes the location, authority structure and operations of S-21, including the inhumane living conditions to which the prisoners were subjected, and the use of torture during interrogations. He testifies to the execution techniques used at Choeung Ek.

The Witness describes a specific incident where a female detainee was raped. He also testifies to the interrogation, torture and execution of Vietnamese prisoners of war at S-21, as well as four Westerners, and numerous children.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 03 May 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 04 May 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 05 May 2016
Mr. MAK Thim

Mr. Makk Thim, previously Mr. Makk Sithim, was born on 5 April 1962 in Ta Sokh Village, Saeb Commune, Kampong Talach District, Kampong Chhang Province. He he is currently a farmer living in Saeb Commune, Kampong Tralach District, Kampong Chhang Province. He testified in Case 002/02 about his work as a medic at the S-21 security center. According to Mr. Makk Thim, before he worked at S-21, he was sent to Takhmau to learn how to farm and to use weapons. After, he said, he went to Prey Sar to grow radishes. He then joined a military strategies training session, after which he was sent to many other locations before being sent to S-21. After the military strategies training session, Mr. Makk Thim said he was assigned to join a medical training session in the area of Psar Thmei for two or three months. After his medical training, he said he was sent to S-21 to work as a medic around the age of 15 or 16. According to Mr. Makk Thim, he created medicinal tablets at Takhmau which were used at S-21. His alleged duties included cleaning prisoners’ bandages and distributing pills. He reported that often the medicines used for prisoners were ineffective. He said that most of the bandages were made out of mosquito nets and pieces of cloth. He described how they would clean the wounds with salt water that they made in the compound. Additionally he reported occasionally using injections on prisoners for swelling and numbness, although he was unsure of what specific ingredients those injections contained. He claimed that he witnessed wounds from beatings, electrocutions, and the removal of nails. He also said it was his responsibility to bury the bodies of prisoners outside the S-21 compound.    

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 02 May 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 03 May 2016
PRAK Khorn (PRAK Khan)

The Witness was a guard at S-21 from late 1975 and an interrogator from late 1976, after which he became head of the "Chewing Unit" until 7 January 1979. The Witness took part in the interrogations and torture of prisoners at S-21. He provides descriptions of the leadership, structureand operations of the prison, as well as Duch's communications with Pol Pot and Nuon Chea. He describes the inhumane living conditions to which
prisoners were subjected, and their executions. He also provides evidence regarding rape at S-21.

The Witness details the methods of torture used at S-21, including electrocution shocks and prisoners being forced to eat excrement. He confirms the presence of Vietnamese civilians, prisoners of war, pregnant women and Westerners at S-21. He also states that he saw blood drawn from various prisoners until they died, and that the blood was sent to the 17 April and Monivong hospitals. The Witness provides evidence of arrests of S-21 staff.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 27 April 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 28 April 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 02 May 2016
LACH Mean

Lach Mean was recruited as a Khmer Rouge militia member in 1974 before becoming a soldier. In 1975, he was sent for training at the military technical school at Ta Khmau. He was then assigned to work as a guard at Ta Khmau prison and later on at Dam Pheng prison in Phnom Penh. When this prison was relocated to S-21, he worked there as a guard and typist. In late 1978 he as transferred to the interrogation unit where he received training under the supervision of Kak.

As a witness, Lach Mean described the working conditions at S-21, reporting that S-21 staff disappeared on a regular basis. He described the detention conditions as well as the interrogation sessions, which aimed to extract information from the prisoners and identify their networks. His training to become an interrogator consisted of observing his supervisor interrogate detainees. He told the Trial Chamber that he was only assigned to interrogate ordinary detainees and was not permitted to inflict torture upon them. He acknowledged before the Chamber that he personally interrogated only three to four detainees. He testified on the torture methods used at S-21, such as beating prisoners with a guava tree stick and applying electroshocks to their ears. As an interrogator at S-21, he recalled meeting the Accused on a daily basis.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 25 April 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 26 April 2016
Mr. TAY Teng Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 21 April 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 25 April 2016
Mr. Nhem En

This witness was born on 9 September 1961, in Trapeang Leaeng Village, Trangel Sub-district, Kampong Leang District, Kampong Chhnang Province. He has written a book about his work as a photographer at Tuol Sleng from 1975 to 1979. Mr Nhem En joined the revolution in 1971 with five of his siblings, two of which were eventually killed as a result of internal purges. He moved to Phnom Penh in 1975 and worked several jobs until 1976, publishing newspapers and delivering letters between Monivong Hospital and Ta Khmau Prison. According to Mr Nhem En, in January 1976 Angkar sent him for six months to study photography and filming in China. When he returned he started working at Tuol Sleng shooting films and taking photos. He also worked as a field photographer documenting the activities of Democratic Kampuchea in six zones, but mainly in S-21. For field trips he received orders from Son Sen, Minister of National Defence, and Ta Nat. Duch only gave him orders for photographic work at Tuol Sleng. Among the photographic missions he carried out for the regime, he accompanied delegations from the Communist bloc visiting worksites in the Northwest Zone including Trapeang Thmar Dam, Trapeanng Pou and 1st January Dam. During these visits he also took photos of high ranking Khmer Rouge cadres such as Pol Pot and Son Sen. Besides film-making and photography, his tasks included drawing maps of the Northeast Zone. The witness also took pictures of people at Prey Sar, but he mainly worked at S-21. He argued, however, that only a small number of prisoners at Tuol Sleng were photographed, the rest were taken and killed before their photo was taken. During his testimony Mr Nhem En explained the hierarchy of S-21 in relation to Division 703. He also gave details about the organization and staff at Tuol Sleng, including Duch. The witness discussed his work as a photographer for the regime, the procedure when taking photos of prisoners and the use of such material. When Vietnamese forces reached Phnom Penh on 7 January 1975, the witness escaped S-21 with Duch. Before leaving, Mr Nhem En buried photographic and filming equipment that he retrieved when he returned to Phnom Penh in 1990 during the tri-party negotiations in Paris. Since the national reintegration in Anlong Veaeng in 1997, the witness has gathered and stored a collection of photographs, films and audio recordings of the Democratic Kampuchea regime era. He argued most of the material was his own, some of it he retrieved from Pol Pot’s house after his death, and other material he retrieved from military commanders.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 19 April 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 20 April 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 21 April 2016
CHUM Mey, alias Mei

The Civil Party and survivor of the S-21 Security Centre describes the conditions of imprisonment, daily
functioning of S-21, including insufficient food, lack of medical care, and the use of torture during interrogations. The Witness identifies his interrogators and describes the means of torture used to solicit his confession. He provides evidence of the composition of prisoners at S-21 including Vietnamese women, Muslim women, and children. The Witness also describes the forced evacuation of Phnom Penh.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 18 April 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 19 April 2016
PHAN Van, alias KHAM Phan

The Witness is a son of Ta Ham alias Laing, the Sector 105 Secretary who was killed in October 1977 in Phnom Penh. The Witness was Ieng Thirith's personal driver from late 1977 to January 1979, and describes her role, authority and powers as Minister of Social Affairs, including: Ieng Thirith's power to spy upon, dismiss or purge staff; her frequent meetings with Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary; the arrests of senior MSA cadres under Ieng Thirith instructions, which were followed by her announcements that the arrestees were traitors; Ieng Thirith's dissemination of CPK policies within the MSA; and her selection of unqualified workers to replace numerous staff arrested from MSA sites. The Witness also gives details of the MSA internal structure and organization, and its cooperation with military hospitals.

The Witness previously worked as a telegram translator, secretary and messenger for Ta Ham from 1975 to 1977, and testifies to: the communications between Sector 105 and the Northeast Zone with the CPK Party Centre; communications with, and instructions from, Khieu Samphan regarding equipment and healthcare, and Nuon Chea regarding security matters; Nuon Chea's instructions to senior cadres (including Ta Ham) to attend meetings in Phnom Penh, and the subsequent disappearances of those cadres. He also describes the
structure and leadership the Phnom Kraol Security Office and the composition of its prisoners.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 7 April 2016
SOH Kamrei

2-TCW-827, Mr SOS Kamri, alias Kamaruttin Yusof, was born in Akmok, Spueu, Cheyyou, Chamkar Leu, Kampong Cham in 1950. He currently is the director of the Supreme Islamic Centre and lives in Chrang Chamreh village, Chrang Chamreh commune, Ruessei Keo district, Phnom Penh. He was called to testify the 4th and 5th of April but only appeared before the Chamber on the 6th of April because of medical reasons. As a witness, he was called to testify in relation to the target group of the Cham people.

In 1973, he became an Islamic religion and Khmer Literature teacher and started using his shortened name, SOS Kamri. In 1974 or early 1975, the Khmer Rouge entered his village, Akmok alias Spueu at the time and evacuations started. There were about 1.250 families at that time in the village, but only 50 of them were allowed to stay.

After the Khmer Rouge entered the village, the Cham people were not allowed to practice their religious habits, could not speak Cham language openly or could not gather in large number. They were under close surveillance. Concerning his teaching, he was not allowed to teach Islamic religion anymore, only Khmer literature.

At that time, he knew killings were happening. He saw dead bodies because killings were widespread and without religious discrimination but did not witness real incidents. They reached a massive scale in 1977. Therefore, he asked the permission to move to Cheyyeu, a village 4-5 km away from Spueu. He stayed there between 1977 and early 1978, where he continued teaching Khmer literature. In 1977, he attended a meeting in Bos Khnaor village in Chamkar Leu district in which the Khmer Rouge were talking about the enemies in general terms, including the reactionary and Cham people and those who were Islamic or Cham's follower. The meeting was to specify a plan called “The plan to smash the enemy’’.

In late 1978, back in Spueu, he stopped being a teacher and was assigned to transport firewood to the office. This is when he saw a Khmer Rouge document called “The plan for Progressive Cooperatives” in the commune office of O-Nung Commune, Au Temit. He only read the part about the enemies stating "Cham is the biggest enemy who must be totally smashed before 1980”.

Later 1978, the killings stopped and then the liberation was set up a few months later.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 6 April 2016
SUN Vuth

2-TCCP-1016, Mr Sun Vuth was born in 1957 in Yeang Commune, Puok District, Siem Reap Province. According to the Civil Party, he was forced to join the army in 1974. As a soldier he engaged in battlefields along Wat Doun Kaev, Puok District at Phnom Krom. After this he was dispatched to Phnom Penh to join the battlefields at Ondongk, Trapeang Prei near Prasat Mountain. Then he was sent to Khmau Kokshril. After the Khmer Rouge took over Phnom Penh in 1975, the Civil Party was sent to Division 920 in Mondolkiri to protect the border with Vietnam. His commander was accused of betraying the Angkar. Mr Sun Vuth said he was taken away and killed. The month following the arrest of the commander the soldiers in his unit were warned to be cautious because they could also be accused. Mr Sun Vuth was eventually arrested and accused of counterattacking Angkar. He said he was detained at Phnom Kraol security centre, which belonged to Division 920. During his testimony the Civil Party provided details concerning the structure and organization of the centre.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 30 March 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 31 March 2016
SAO Sarun

The Witness was CPK Secretary for Pich Chenda District, Mondulkiri Province, from 1972 to 1977, and was
promoted to Sector 105 Secretary in late 1977. He attended the meetings in May 1975 at which Pol Pot and
Nuon Chea instructed zone, sector, district and military division leaders on the CPK policies they were to
implement, including the closing of all pagodas and organization of cooperatives. He also participated in
political education sessions conducted by Nuon Chea and other senior leaders. As Sector 105 Secretary, the Witness was responsible for Phnom Kraol and other sector security offices, and reported directly to the Standing Committee on securitymatters and conditions in the sector. He authenticates and discusses telegrams he sent to Office 870, and states that either Pol Pot or Nuon Chea would respond to his telegrams and provide instructions.

He describes how he and other Sector 105 cadre (including the military commanders in charge of Phnom Kraol) travelled to Phnom Penh on several occasions to meet with Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan and report on sector activities. (During those trips, some of the sector cadres who came with the Witness were arrested and sent to S-21.) The Witness describes instructions he received from the CPK senior leaders, including a directive from Pol Pot to conduct mass marriages and new policies on arrests and enemies presented in September 1978. He admits that he was informed by the Party Centre of local cadres implicated in S-21 confessions, that arrests were ordered by the Centre, and that he needed approval from the Centre to release prisoners accused of political offences, such as betraying the Party or collaborating with the Vietnamese.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 29 March 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 30 March 2016
Mr. BUN Loeng Chauy alias CHAN BUNH Leath (CHAN Bunleath)

2-TCW-838, Mr Bun was born in Koh Ma Yoeul, Peam Chi Miet Commune, Kaoh Nheaek District, Mondolkiri Province, on 22 March 1953. He was called to testify before the Trial Chamber on Phnom Kraol Security Centre. The witness became a combatant in 1968 but did not join the Communist Party of Kampuchea until 1975. That same year he was recruited to become a member of the Youth League and appointed group chief of five or six members. Mr Bun recalled a visit from Khieu Samphan to his sector in 1974. He only saw the cars of the delegation. According to the witness, Ou Boeng Kraom Dam and Ou Boeng Leu were built at the same time, from 1974 to 1977. In 1975 he was appointed bodyguard to Ka Si, the secretary of Kaev Seima District for about two years, until the secretary’s arrest in 1977. Mr Bun stated he was sent with Ka Si to the security center of the Phnom Kraol Office, K-11, for about a month, right before the district secretary was killed. Following the death of Ka Si, 18 men from his network fled to Vietnam and the relatives of the fugitives were arrested the following day. Mr Bun was reassigned to office K-16 for three months and later on to Roya work site, under K-17. His uncle also worked at K-16 but was arrested after the witness was sent to K-17. Mr Bun described what he knew about the structure and organization at K-16 and K-17. He fell ill and was hospitalized in December 1978 until the liberation on 7 January 1979. 

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 29 March 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 28 March 2016
Mr. Ysa Osman

45 years of age at the time of his testimony, Mr. Ysa Osman appears before the Trial Chamber to provide evidence accrued during his years of research performed for the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DCCAM). The author of two books relating to the period of Democratic Kampuchea, titled Oukoubah, and another titled Cham Rebellion, along with several news and magazine articles, Mr. Ysa Osman offers the court valuable testimony, particularly relating to the experience of the Cham people during the Khmer Rouge regime. A Cham himself, Mr. Ysa Osman tells the court that he lost most of his family during the years 1975-1979. His testimony provides insight into various aspects of Cham culture, including social hierarchy within the Cham communities. Testimony of the expert also recalls alleged policies implemented by the Khmer Rouge that allegedly dictated Cham people to renounce their culture and religion. The expert  said impacts of KR policy during the DK  regime are noted to have been severe, and has affected Cham culture to this day. Furthermore, during testimony the expert reveals the history of the Cham people, including the Champa kingdom, and how this historical relationship figures in the context of Democratic Kampuchea. 

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 10 February 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 23 March 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 24 March 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 09 February 2016
CHIN Kimthong

The Witness, who was the deputy chairman of Au Kanseng Security Centre, describes the structure, leadership and operations of the prison, including communications between the prison and Division 801.
He gives evidence that the Division 801 Secretary conveyed orders to execute of a group of more than 100
Jarai prisoners and a group of five Vietnamese prisoners of war. The Witness also describes the use of S-21
confessions at Au Kanseng.

Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 21 March 2016, Transcript of hearing on the substance in Case 002/02 – 22 March 2016

Pagination