Case 002 Witnesses, experts and Civil Parties

Ms. CHHENG Eng Ly testifed during the victims impact hearings about the harm she has suffered via video-link from Paris. She described the numerous atrocities she witnessed, including a woman being forced to dig her own grave before being buried alive, and the brutal murder of a baby.

Mr. AUN Phally testified during the victims impact hearing about the harm he ahs suffered. He gave a statement of suffering describing the deaths of the rest of his family, and his subsequent suffering as an orphan in a children’s unit where he was forced to work without food or water and regularly beaten.

Mr. YOS Phal testified during the victim impact hearings about the harm he has suffered. Mr. YOS was a policeman under the Lon Nol regime. He described how his entire squad was killed under suspicion of being internal enemies, how his father was killed because he was no longer useful to the revolution.

Ms. SOU Sotheavy, a transgender woman, testified about the harm she suffered from the evacuation of Phnom Penh and the aftermath, the loss of all her immediate family, and the repeated beatings and rapes she suffered subsequently.

Ms. SANG Rath testified during the victims impact hearings about the harm she has suffered. She described how her family was divided by age and gender and put to work in Battambang province. Within one year, each of her four children and her husband had died from starvation and exhaustion.

Mr. Chau told the Trial Chamber what he saw and experienced when the Khmer Rouge forces entered Phnom Penh in April 1975.

Mr. PIN, an engineer, worked in the Ministry of Public Works until 1975. He was asked questiones about the evacuation of Phnom Penh and the living conditions after the evacuation.

Mrs. Denise Affonço is French whom lived in Phnom Penh before Khmer Rouge era, and her family was still in their home in Phnom Penh while Khmer Rouge troop took over Phnpm Penh in 17 April 1975. She testified through video link from her home in France about her experiences and facts she witnessed in April 1975.

Mr. KIM told the Trial Chamber about what he saw and expereinced when the Khmer Rouge forces entered Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975.

Mrs. PECH Srey Phal testifies about her experience and what she witnessed in 17 April 1975 when Khmer Rouge soldier took power over Phnom Penh.

Ms. TOENG Sokha is testifying about forced evacuation of her family  and what she witnessed in April 1975.

Ms. Ry testified before the Trial Chamber about what she saw and experienced when Khmer Rouge forces entered Phnom Penh in April 1975.

Mr. MEAS told the Trial Chamber he was on duty as a nurse in a hospital in Borei Keila when the Khmer Rouge forces entered Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975.

Ms. MOM, a former teacher, was questioned about what she saw when the Khmer Rouge forces entered Phnom Penh on 17 April and during the subsequent evacuation of the city.

Ms. LAY was questioned about what she saw when her family was evacuated from Phnom Penh after the Khmer Rouge took control of the capital on 17 April 1975.

Ms. Yim Sovann testified about the evacuation of Phnom Penh.

Mr. Chum testified about what he saw when the Khmer Rouge forces entered Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975 and about the subsequent evacuation of the city.

Em Oeun  served as a medical doctor during the Khmer Rouge regime.

Mr. ROMAM lives in Andoung Meas district, Rattanakiri province. He told the court that once he joined the revolutionaty movement he first worked as a messenger. Later he was promoted to village chief, and subsequently to commune chief and district chief.

Mr. Klan, from Ta  Lav village in Rattanakiri  is a member of the Kachok ethnic group. He told the court that after he joined the revolutionary movement he worked as a messanger, and tha he later become commune chief and deputy secretary of his district.

Touch Monin was a Civil Party in Case 001, having suffered from the loss of his cousin Chea Khan alias Chin.

He joined as a Civil Party to the proceedings on behalf of the parents of his cousins who died under the Khmer Rouge regime. His intention was to show his gratitude to his cousin. As a Civil Party, Touch Monin told the Trial Chamber how his family was evacuated from Phnom Penh. His cousin Chea Khan had left for Russia in 1965, but came back to Cambodia in 1975, three months after the Khmer Rouge seized power. Chea Khan was able to join his relatives, but he could only stay with them until the end of 1976 when he was relocated. His family then lost track of him. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Touch Monin conducted research at the Tuol Sleng prison, but was unable to find information concerning his cousin. It is only in 1990 that he was able to find a document confirming his brother's detention in S-21. Chea Khan was arrested on 2 January 1977 and transferred to S-21 where he was killed.

Touch Monin asked the Accused whether his brother was executed at S-21 or Choeung Ek.

Chhin Navy filed a Civil Party application on the basis of the death of her husband Tea Hav Tek.

As a Civil Party, Chhin Navy told the Chamber about her life under the Khmer Rouge after the evacuation of Phnom Penh, as well as her husband's arrest. Tea Hav Tek, who used to work as chief of the Phnom Penh civil aviation unit, was arrested on 22 February 1976. He had been denounced by Chhin Navy's sister as being a "CIA agent". Chin Navy recounted how she discovered her husband's fate. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, she returned to Phnom Penh with her children. She wanted to be near her husband's former workplace so that he could find her in case he returned. She was working at the 7 January Hospital when she visited the Tuol Sleng genocidal museum as part of a staff trip in 1980. There she was told by Him Oeng Pech that her husband had been detained at S-21 and executed on 25 May 1976. Chhin Navy told the Trial Chamber that she feels betrayed by the Khmer Rouge. Chhin explained that she could understand why her elder sister denounced her husband, as she was indoctrinated by the Khmer Rouge.

She described the feelings of emptiness, hopelessness, and despair that she has experienced since her husband's disappearance and the particular difficulties that she has suffered as a widow.

Chum Sirath was a Civil Party in Case 001 on the basis of having suffered from the loss of his two brothers, Chum Sinareth and Chum Narith, as well as of his sister-in-law Kem Sovannary.

When the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, Chum Sirath was abroad in Geneva, where he had been working as a representative for a Cambodian telecommunications company since November 1974. As a Civil Party, Chum Sirath told the Trial Chamber about his search for the truth concerning his brothers' fate. He discovered that Chum Narith, his wife Kem Sovannary, and their young child were arrested and transferred to S-21 on 29 October 1976. Chum Narith was executed on 1 January 1977. Chum Narith, who was outspoken, was arrested because he had openly criticized the collectivization plan of the Khmer Rouge. Chum Sirath was not able to find information on the fate of his other brother Chum Sinareth, except for a photo taken at S-21. Chum Sirath described the constant dilemma he feels between the obligation to remember his siblings' suffering and the effort to forget as an obligation to the survivors with whom he lives today.  

During his testimony, Chum Sirath rejected Duch's self-depiction as someone working without concern for his own suffering, referring to the French poem Duch had quoted. He also criticized Duch's apology as not being genuine.

Chum Neou filed a Civil Party application on the basis of her personal suffering as a detainee at S-24, as well as on the basis of the deaths of her baby and of her husband, Nour Moeun.

Chum Neou joined the proceedings as a Civil Party in order to seek justice and collective and moral reparations. During her testimony, Chum Neou told the Trial Chamber that it was the first time in 32 years that she had spoken about these events. She recounted how she had joined the revolution willfully in 1971, but now felt betrayed by the Khmer Rouge. Her husband was arrested and sent to S-21 on 9 August 1977. While working in the General Staff Logistic Section in Phnom Penh, she was arrested on 12 August 1977. She was first sent to the S-21 reeducation site of Stueng Chrov. There she gave birth to her child who later died of starvation.

Chum Neou recounted how she was then taken to S-24. She also described the difficult detention conditions she had to endure.

Ou Savrith testified from France via video conference. He filed a Civil Party application on the basis of the death of his elder brother Ou Vindy at S-21.

He joined as a Civil Party to the proceedings in order to seek the truth concerning his brother's arrest, detention, and execution. Ou Savrith also spoke on behalf of his sister-in-law, his niece, whose letter he read during his testimony, and his other relatives. Ou Savrith's brother Ou Vindy was a graduate of the Phnom Penh National Administration School. He worked as an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Long Boret. Under the Khmer Rouge, he was arrested on 13 February 1976 and executed on 7 January 1976. Since he had left for France in 1973 for his studies, Ou Savrith was unable to find his brother's name in a list of persons arrested in S-21 until late 1979. As a Civil Party, Ou Savrith expressed the intense sorrow incited by the loss of his brother and by the many unanswered questions which have been haunting him since his death.

Ou Savrith asked the Accused questions regarding the date of his brother's entry to S-21, his treatment there, and whether he was tortured.