Case 002 Witnesses, experts and Civil Parties

Ms. Meas Layhour, 57, was assigned to a mobile unit to carry earth at the 1st January Dam Worksite in 1977 and was later sent to work at the 6th January Dam. She explained that the 1st January Dam was a “hot battlefield” because there were very long working hours and they could not rest, and that there was a soil collapse which killed some of the workers. The witness described the living conditions and lack of freedoms at the worksite, including having to relieve themselves in the forest, many flies when they were eating, arranged marriages, unsuitable housing conditions, illnesses such as malaria and dysentery, no proper set up for a medical unit, lack of hygiene, and the supervision mechanisms on the dam worksite. The witness explained that when there were visitors to the 1st January Dam worksite, workers were told to run while carrying earth in order to appear proactive in their work, and if workers did not meet their quota of one cubic meter per day then they would be punished.

Mr. Pech Sokha, 55, explained that his group chief told him he had to leave school to work at the 1st January Dam worksite, and in 1977 was assigned to a group of survey technicians, though sometimes he also assisted with manual labor. Two of the other survey technicians at this site were disappeared and the witness learned that they were arrested and killed. He explained how his teacher had given him the advice to “act deaf and dumb” in order to survive. Mr. Sokha learned from the announcements made through loud speakers that people had to carry two cubic meters of soil per person and that approximately 20,000 people were necessary to work in the dam construction. The witness described the disappearance of two of the sector secretaries and the monitoring of workers in the worksite by zone soldiers, and agreed that there was a critical lack of hygiene.

Mr. Or Ho, 70, joined the communist revolution from 1972 to 1978 and was a village chief from 1975 until July 1978 when he was removed from that position by Angkar. The witness described his time at the 1st January Dam worksite including the lack of hygiene and food, how people in the commune were classified into different categories (full right members, candidate people, and depositary) and work groups, recalled three arranged marriage ceremonies that happened in 1977 and 1978, and stated that there around two thousand workers in the worksite. The witness recalled one accident when the soil at the worksite collapsed on the workers and some of the workers died. He also spoke about a time in which he hid eight families to rescue them when 15 families were asked to relocate to a new village.

Ms. Vorng Sarun, 61, testified that she worked at Hospital 22 together with her husband before he was arrested and executed. She explained that in 1977 she was taken to Kraing Ta Chan with her one-year-old baby. According to the witness they were given very little food and her baby was beaten. She told the Chamber about her interrogation that took place a week after the arrest. She described the episodes of a former soldier and a female person who tried to escape and who were then caught and seriously beaten. Ms. Vorng also explained that she witnessed some people being taken away for execution while loud music was being played.

Mr. Ek Hoeun, 78, explained that due to his “undesirable” Vietnamese nationality his life was in danger under the Khmer Rouge. He testified that he received protection from his cousin Ta Chim who hid him in the Tram Kak district office and assigned him to unload bags of rice off trucks from China. The witness was questioned about the treatment of Vietnamese and former Lon Nol officials and civil servants, who, according to the witness, were considered enemies of the regime. He described the process of their identification and arrest and confirmed that between 1975 and 1977 executions took place throughout the country.  

Ms. Khoem Boeun, 72, testified that she joined the revolution in 1969 and then became chief of Tram Kak’s Cheang Tong commune under the name Yeay Boeun. She was questioned about the system of reporting and instructions given among the different administrative levels of Democratic Kampuchea, and she stated that she had never been involved in any violence or arrests since she had no right on these matters. She explained that in her commune New people were not allowed to marry Old people and that instructions regarding marriages were disseminated by the district. She described the living conditions in her commune, adding that there were no distinctions between New and Old people in terms of education and health. She also answered on distinctions between minor and serious offences.

Mr. Pech Chim, 74, was allegedly a member​ of the district committee and became Tram Kak acting district secretary in mid-1976 before being transferred to the Central Zone. He testified about the structure of Sector 13 and the regime’s chain of command. He was questioned about the DK policy on marriage, stating that marriage regulation existed as a formal practice rather than written rule. He explained that as district chief he disseminated instructions from the upper Echelon and denied having witnessed or ordered any executions
of former Lon Nol soldiers. However, he was aware that during the regime executions took place. On the issue of Buddhism, Mr. Chim stated that religious practices were not prohibited in District 105 but that Buddhist
statues were demolished.

Mr. Richard Dudman, age 96, recollected on his time spent in Cambodia before, during, and after the Khmer Rouge. He stated that they were all different experiences, that in 1978 he was physically threatened, but in 1990 he was walking through the streets and looking for evidence. He recalled his experiences the evening
of Malcolm Caldwell’s death, stating that he heard gunshots but is unsure of the reason for the attack against the journalists. Mr. Dudman also recalled his interview with Pol Pot in December 1978 when he was only one of two Western journalists visiting Democratic Kampuchea.

Mr. Riel Son, 77, from Tramkak district, explained that in late 1976 he was assigned as deputy chief of the district 105 hospital. During his testimony he described the conditions in which the patients were treated and the general organization of the hospital. He stated that in the majority of cases people suffered from malnutrition and malaria and that in the months before the fall of Pol Pot there were 10 to 20 patients dying every day from severe malnutrition. Mr. Riel also described having attended a meeting where instructions were given to purge former Lon Nol soldiers and Khmer Krom people.

Mr. Nut Nov, 74, from Takeo Province, stated that during the Khmer Rouge regime he was assigned to the Nheang Nhang commune in charge of keeping expenditure and food consumption records. He was questioned about the categorisation of the people and about the food and health conditions in his cooperative. He also testified on the treatment of former Lon Nol officials and stated that only the sector and zone levels had the authority to decide who to arrest or kill.

Mr. Neang Ouch, alias Ta San, 72, a former teacher, told the court he was appointed in 1975 as chief of education of three provinces, including Kampot and Takeo. In 1977 he was transferred by his brother-in -law Ta Mok to Leay Bour commune, where he was appointed as an assistant to the district committee. He disputed claims made by other witnesses that he was the District Secretary of Tram Kok. The witness stated that he was instructed to provide technical assistance in the construction of dams and canals and to show the cooperatives to Swedish and Chinese delegations. He was questioned about the administrative and communication structure in the cooperatives and the relations between the communes, districts, sectors and zones. He also answered questions about marriage ceremonies he had witnessed. When question about Buddhist practices, he said that there were no pagodas in operation in Tram Kak district. 

Mr. Vann Soeun, alias Soan, 56, from Leay Bour commune in Tram Kok district, said he was assigned in 1975 to the guard unit at Kraing Ta Chan detention centre and tasked as a messenger during day time and as a prisoners’ guard during night time. He testified about the operations at Kraing Ta Chan and the conditions of the prisoners. He said he never saw any executions of prisoners, because he was stationed to guared the outer perimeter of the compound. When asked questions about defrocking of monks, he said he had heard of instances of defrocking from other people.

Mr. Phann Chhen, 83, told the court that in 1973-1974 he was commune chief of Kus in Takeo in charge of culture and education. He said that he had no authority over Kraing Ta Chan after 1973, when it was transformed into a detention facility, and he only entered it to supply food. He was questioned about his knowledge about the operations at Kraing Ta Chan, and he denied ever having been in charge of Kraing Ta Chan during the period he was commune chief. He was asked about his role in the committee organizing housing for evacuees and people released from Kraing ta Chan (1973-74). He testified that that the marriages he witnessed appeared not be forced. He was also about party policies towards the Vietnamese, which he had learned of from broadcasts and meetings.

Mr. Srei Thân, alias Duch, 58, was a Khmer Rouge soldier in Tram Kok district and later, in 1977, a guard in Kraing Ta Chan detention centre. He explained that while at Kraing Ta Chan he had been asked by the prison’s chief and his deputy to type confessions reports. He stated that while working in the prison chief’s office he could hear the screaming from the interrogation site. He was questioned about his tasks at Kraing Ta Chan and his unit. Following a request for protective measures, the Trial Chamber ordered that the address of the witness should not be disclosed to the public, and that his image should not be shown in public. The picture of the witness has therefore been distorted

Mr. Sao Han, 68, from Tram Kok district, told the Trial Chamber that after the fall of Phnom Penh, his brother, a former Lon Nol soldier,was arrested and taken away for re-education a few days after he had arrived in his native village in Tram Kok district. . Later on he learned from neighbours that his brother had been taken to Kraing Ta Chan detention centre and killed. He was questioned about the working and living conditions in the cooperative. Asked about Buddhism, he stated that he witnessed statues and books being taken away from pagodas and monks being defrocked.

Mr. Phneu Yav, 68, from Samraong commune, Tram Kok district, explained that he joined the revolutionary movement in 1970. He was​questioned about the living conditions in the Samraong commune. He stated that communal eating started in 1975 along with the banning of private ownership and that people were categorized into three separate units. The witness said that in late 1976 he was given the responsibility to teach base people’s young children how to spell and read the Khmer alphabet. He was also questioned about forced marriages that took place in the cooperative, and about the treatment of Buddhists.

Mr. Em Phoeung, a monk, 77, explained that when he was evacuated from Phnom Penh he returned to his home town, at Ang Rokar Pagoda in Tram Kok district. The witness testified that the monks were forced to engage in construction works and that in 1976 he was instructed to leave the monkhood without any Buddhist ceremony. He was also questioned about forced marriages and his refusal to get married.

Mr. Keo told the Trial Chamber that he joined the revolutionary movement as a doctor in 1970, responding to the call from former leader Norodom Sihanouk. He said he was arrested and sent to Kraing Ta Chan in 1975. He was questioned about arrest, interrogation, torture and executions at the security centre.

Ms. CHEANG Srei Mom, 60, is from Nhaeng Nhang commune in Tram Kok District in Takeo Province. She said the area came under Khmer Rouge control in 1970. She explained that before she was forced into a marriage in 1977, she had worked as a teaching assistant in a children’s unit. She was questioned about her marriage and other marriages in the cooperative. The witness was asked questions related to the living conditions, prohibition of Buddhism, policies on the Vietnamese, and arrests of people in the cooperative, including her own father, who she said was killed at Kraing Ta Chan Security Center.

Mr. Meas Sokha, alias Thlang, 54,from Tram Kok district. The witness said he worked in a mobile children’s unit until he was sent to Kraing Ta Chan prison together with a number of his arrested family members in June 1976. He testified about the living and working conditions in the Tram Kak Cooperatives and Kraing Ta Chan security centre in Takeo Province. He was questioned about the interrogations and executions that he stated to have witnessed at the detention center

Mr. Heder is an American scholar who was called to testify about the books he has authored and interviews he has conducted with the Accused and other cadres relevant to the regime of Democratic Kampuchea.

He previously worked in the ECCC’s offices of the Co-Prosecutors and then of the Co-Investigating Judges. Since the Khmer Republic period in the early 1970s, he had worked as a journalist and researcher in Cambodia, and continued to cover Cambodia even after he left the country in April 1975. Seven Candidates for Prosecution: Accountability for the Crimes of the Khmer Rouge.

Mr. SUM was a Lon Nol soldier in Pursat province when Khmer Rouge seized nationwide control in April 1975. He was questioned related to the alleged executions at Tuol Po Chrey.

Ms Ek was a member of the Khmer Rouge military before being placed in mo-bile working units after the formation of Democratic Kampuchea. She answered questions about the disappearances of associates from her workplace, the de-nouncement of people as traitors and the presence of the accused at her worksites.

Mr. LEV Lam said he was a militia man in Kampong Tralach Leu district/ District 12 from 1972-1975.