Case 002 Witnesses, experts and Civil Parties

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.

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.

Civil Party, UCH Sunlay, testified to the harm he suffered a result of the treatment of the Vietnamese during Democratic Kampuchea. 

The Civil Party describes the persecution of the Vietnamese in the Prey Nup District, including the
disappearance of 12 family members, who she was told were taken to Koh Kyang village and killed.

Mr. Meu Peou is a 55 year- old farmer from Bakan District, Pursat Province and is Cham.  As a Civil Party, he testified during the segment where Civil Parties were called to testify about harm they suffered in relation to the treatment of alleged targeted groups; Cham, Vietnamese and former Lon Nol officials. During his testimony before the Chamber, he reported that he was forced to leave his native village and separate from his family members and relatives once the Khmer Rouge took over control over his area. Mr. Meu stressed how miserable life was under the DK regime, explaining how the Cham were not allowed to practice their religion anymore and were forced to eat pork, which ultimately caused the death of his father, who had adhered to his religion and refused to follow Angkar’s orders. Mr. Meu testified that throughout the DK period, he lost a total of 17 family members and relatives including his father, uncle,and several nieces and nephews. He said he was arrested in 1977 and then detained at Trah Kraol detention facility, where he was forced to watch the brutal killing of a woman, who had to take her clothes off before being cut. 

55-year-old Ms. Sieng from Svay Rieng province stems from a mixed Khmer-Vietnamese family. As a Civil Party, she testified during the segment where Civil Parties were called to testify about harm they suffered in relation to the treatment of alleged targeted groups; Cham, Vietnamese and former Lon Nol officials. She elaborated before the Chamber about her father’s suicide, which had resulted from severe emotional distress during the Khmer Rouge regime. She explained the poor living conditions her family struggled with during that time.. Mr. Sieng reported that one of her brothers was arrested and heavily tortured following an incident where he had accidentally injured a cow while working on the fields, and that he another brother subseqently were killed..  She also said she afraid that she would be raped and killed, because her father was Vietnamese.

Mr. MAN is a former fisherman from Kampong Cham Province.  As a Civil Party, he testified during the segment where Civil Parties were called to testify about harm they suffered in relation to the treatment of alleged targeted groups; Cham, Vietnamese and former Lon Nol officials. Describing the suffering inflicted on Cham people during the Khmer Rouge regime, Mr. Man elaborated on how they were not allowed to practice their religion any longer and were forced to eat pork. Mr. Man and his father were part of a group of 50-60 Cham men to be arrested one day, as they were accused of being internal enemies and for taking part in a rebellion movement. Whilst the CP as well as most of the other men were actually released a week later, Mr. Meu testified that his father along with four other men with influencial roles within the village were never released.  

75 years old, Civil Party Ms. Doung Oeurn testifies before the Trial Chamber to clarify her experiences during the Khmer Rouge Regime. Her testimony is centered on the treatment of Vietnamese during Democractic Kampuchea, with an emphasis on her own husband, an ethnic Vietnamese named Chuy. Ms. Doung recalls the day when her husband was taken away, ostensibly to work, and never returned. Testimony further reveals that a woman in the community who was ethnically Vietnamese was also taken away, as was her children, also never returned. Mother to a child with her late husband, Ms. Doung credits her Khmer background, and that she renamed her child to accord with Khmer nomenclature, that her child survived the regime.

Approximately 68 years of age, Civil Party Mr. LACH Kry provides his testimony to the Trial Chamber via video link. Having lived in Pou Chentam during Democratic Kampuchea, Mr. Lach lived in a village in which 3 families were known to be of Vietnamese origin. The testimony of Mr. Lach reveals that his brother lost his wife and children, leading to a period of severe emotional instability. After the disappearance of his wife and children, Mr. Lach’s brother was forced to remarry. Mr. Lach also elaborated on social relations between Vietnamese and Khmer people before and after the period of Democratic Kampuchea, describing them as normal.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

Ms. Chao Lang, 64, explained that she was in Siem Reap in 1975, but she was advised to go to Phnom Penh to find her parents and hide her biography. Whilst there, the Khmer Rouge took-over and she was separated from her parents. She stated that both of her parents were killed. Ms. Chao Laing stated that she ended up in a mobile unit, through which she ended up at the 1st January worksite. She described taking a day off, and discovering from that her sister, sister’s husband, and their three-year-old child had been killed, because they were in possession of salt, and were accused of being “white Khmer”. She broke down as she told how the “base people” had said that they were chained to an ox cart and dragged around the village. She also described her forced marriage, and that after the regime, she divorced her husband because his in-laws were not satisfied with her. 

Civil Party Nuon Narom, 59, testified about the living conditions of the 1 Makara Dam. Witnesses described how she and her family were evacuated from Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975. She was separated from her family and later transferred to the 1 January Dam Mobile Unit in January. Day and night without time to rest to complete the dam before the rainy season. She described that they did not get enough food or clean water. She testified that the workers were physically and mentally abused. She confirmed that the killings ended in 1979 and that she was lucky to survive.

Mr. Nhip Horl, 63, a Civil Party from Battambang, testified how he fled his village after it was bombed by American fighters in April 1975. He provided details on how he was required to harvest and load sacks of rice into trucks despite his ailing health condition. He mentioned that he was eventually transferred to work at the Trapeang Thma Dam Worksite in 1977 where he was tasked to carry soil to build the dam. He also shed light on the post-traumatic stress disorder that he suffered from, the general health condition of the workers, and the overall work structure at the Worksite. 

Civil party Mr. SEN Sophon, 55, described how his family was forcibly evacuated from Phnom Pehn to Battambang Province.  He told the chamber that in 1967 he was part of rice farming group, but in 1977 he was sent to work in Trapeang Thma Dam Worksite. He described the working and living conditions at the worksite. All the workers had minimum work quota of 3 cubic meters per day. He added that the workers did not have resting time or holidays. He explained that the food and water ratio was scarce. The witness testified that he did not know about deaths and tortures, but he noticed the disappearance of people from his group on daily basis. Mr. Sophon described that Yey Chaem, who arrested Ta Val, the former head of Trapeang Thma dam, was even crueler than his predecessor. Sen Sophan told the chamber that the events and experience suffered during Democratic Kampuchea are always in his mind, and he cannot forget them. 

Mrs. Chum Samoeurn, 54 or 55, commenced her testimony before the Trial Chamber. She was questioned on her decision to join the Khmer Rouge, which she explained was as a result of wanting to free Sihanouk. She was asked about her home town and family, and explained that all her brothers joined the revolution. The civil party was linked to the former regime because her father was affiliated with it. In mid-1976, she was transferred to work in Kampong Chhnang airfield with her unit. They worked three times a day, carrying soil and rock. She explained that there was no breakfast, no supplementary food, no mosquito net or mat, and they had to drink the water from the creek that they used to wash themselves. She stated that they were never allowed to walk freely and had to work under the rain without proper protection. She explained that due to low levels of hygiene, she had an infection on her hand, but she kept working despite her injury,as no workers dared to refuse to work. In 1978, she was forced to marry, in a five-person ceremony. She initially refused, but was threatened to be killed.

Ms. Kong Siek, 63, explained that she joined the military, as part of division 450, in Russei Keo hospital before being transferred to work in rice fields. In 1977, she started to work at the Kampong Chhnang construction site, where she had to build canals, carry bags of cement (weighing around 50kg each) and sew clothes. She described the work conditions as very hard, and elaborated on the poor hygiene. She stated that none of the workers looked healthy, and her group held meetings on self-criticism, where everyone was criticized and no one dared to react. She described seeing trucks transporting people and two people being electrocuted near a mango tree. She confirmed that workers were not allowed to move freely, or talk with others, and emphasized that under the regime she couldn’t choose what to do, but did only what as she was ordered. It was emphasized to her ,that if one person was punished, everyone underneath them would be punished too. She explained that she joined the military as a mechanism to survive and her brother, who was already a part of it, encouraged her to do so.

Civil Party Ms. Seang Sovida, 51, explained that she worked at the 1st January Dam worksite at the age of 12 for three months. Her tasks included carrying earth and collecting water for her unit. She said that they had to wake up at 5am and work until 10 or 11pm. She also added that due to the exhausting workload she fainted on the worksite and she was treated with medicine made of rabbit droppings. During their work they would be constantly watched over by armed militiamen and loud speakers would broadcast DK propaganda. As for hygiene, she stated that there was no water or soap to wash themselves and their clothes were tattered. She testified that her sister was forced to get married and to consummate her marriage. During her statement of impact, the Civil Party said that she would like a library to be built to collect documents and material about the DK regime.

Civil Party, Ms. Un Rann, 62, explained the conditions of working and living on the 1st January Dam worksite. She stated that the unit chief would divide the land in plots and at the end of the day he would make sure that the each group met the daily quota of four squared meters of dug earth. She stated that during the rainy season they were not allowed to rest despite the difficulty of carrying the dirt on slippery ground. Asked about re-education, Ms. Un explained that calling in sick too often, running away from the worksite, not working enough and complaining would all lead to re-education, which to her meant killing. She also stated that she eye witnessed the visits of Pol Pot at the dam.

Mrs. Hun Sethany, 60, was sent to work at the 1st January Dam construction site from December 1976 to mid-1977 along with twelve others from her close family, and people who refused to leave their homes were killed. The Civil Party claimed that the conditions were not sanitary, as there were flies in their meals, they had to drink water from the river, there was a lack of feminine hygiene, they had to relieve themselves in the forest, and their sleeping quarters did not have mats to sleep on and the roofs leaked. She described long working hours and stated that the Khmer Rouge cadres did not care at all about the conditions of the workers. According to Mrs. Hun, at the worksite the children had to do the same work as the adults and had the same food ration. She stated that both of her parents and her siblings were killed.