Unimaginable Suffering

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On Friday 8th October, we visited the Tuol Sleng ‘S.21’ Prison and the Cheong Ek Killing Fields. Words can’t do any justice to the pain, suffering and inhumanity we saw and experienced. Rather than try, and fail, to portray the day, I have decided to take a slightly different approach to this blog. I will copy the text from the leaflet at the Tuol Sleng prison to give a background to what happened, and then let the pictures we took speak for themselves. I will apologise now for the graphic nature of the photos, but it best portrays the chilling and emotional scenes we saw.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the former security office 21 in “Democratic Kampuchea” was created on orders of Pol Pot (Sa lut Sor) on April 17th 1975. Office 21 was called S-21 and designed for detention, interrogation, inhuman torture and killing after confession from the detainees were received and documented.

On January 7, 1979 the Party and the Government collected all the evidence in S-21 such as photographs, films, the prisoner confession archives, torture tools, shackles, and the fourteen victim corpses (one of them was female). Now the evidence of the criminal regime is on display for Cambodian and international visitors.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum was opened on Augst 19 1979 when Kampuchea People's Tribunal started the prosecutionof "Democratic Kampuchea" leaders: Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Khiev Samphorn...the former office S-21, covered the area of 600 x 400meters. Faces Sihanouk Blvd on the North, Mao Zetong Blvd on the south, Monivong Blvd on the east and street 163 on the west. The compound is surrounded by two rows of corrugated iron fence covered with dense barbed wire. Previously the area hosted Tuol Sleng Primary school and Tuol Svay Prey high school, one more fence of double-row iron topped with barbed wire was erected circling the larger area stretching from Street 113 on the east to street 131 on the west , from street 320 on the North to street 350 on the south. The enclosure was made after Pol Pot's clique forced city dwellers to leave their homes and live in remote countryside in conditions close to slavery, which seemed like a Prison without Walls.

The four Buildings of the high school saw their classrooms tturned into small cells measuring just 0.8 x 2 meters encaging individual prisoners. The front of the Buildings were covered in a fishnet of barbed wire preventing prisoners from committing suicide by jumping down.

In 1977-1978 Building "A" was converted into a set of rooms each measruring 6 x 4 meters. The windows were panelled with glass to stop the screams of the 'prisoners' being heard outside fo the facility in times of torture. Building "A" was used for detaining cadres who were accused of leading the uprising against Pol Pot revolution. Their cages were furnished with a bed, blanket, cushion and mat. An iron bucket or a plastic water container was provided to dispose of their body waste.

Buildings "B", "C" and "D" have been reconstructed differently: the ground floor was divided into small cells divided by brick walls; the first floor and upper floors were used for large cells where many prisoners were crowded together.

The bodies of fourteen victims were discovered by the United Front for the Naional Salvation of Kampuchea (UFNSK) on January 7 1979, their copses were unidentifiable due to the bad decompositon. They were carried out and buried in front of Building "A". The fourteen corpses, one of which were female, were the last people to be tortured and killed by S-21 personnel before they fled.

A woodenpole in the yard once used by students for physical education was turned into an interrogation and torture machine. The interrogator tied both hands of the prisoner behind their back and then lifted the prisoner upside down. This action was repeated a number of times until the prisoner lost consciousness, then the interrogator dipped the prisoner's head into a barrel of filthy water. The prisoner quickly regained consciousness and the torturor continued their interrogation.

To maintain security and to keep up the work of the facility, 1684 staff were employed in 1976 and divided into 3 parts: office S-21 (Tuol Sleng), office S-21 Kor (located in Ta Khmao) and office S-21 Khor (located at Prey Sor, West of Phnom Penh, Dangkor Distric, Kandal Providence). The office and its branches reported directly to the Authority of Central Community and Khmer Rouge Ministry of Defense. A high ranking official in the Khmer Rouge and at S-21 was Kang Kech Lev (also known as Duch). Duch was born in Poeuveuy Village in Peambang and began his career as a Maths teacher.

Research into the prisoner records at S-21 gave the follwoing statistics for inmates at the prison.

1975 - 154 Prisoners
1976 - 2250 Prisoners
1977 - 2350 Prisoners
1978 - 5765 Prisoners

These figures do not include children killed by the Khmer Rouge; that figure is estimated at 20,000. Imprisonment at S-21 lasted anywhere between 2 months and 7 months.

Today it is imperative to preserve the archives and evidence of the bloody regime and remember the oppression, anguish and suffering caused by the Khmer Rouge. Keeping the memory of the atrocities committed on Cambodian soil alive is the key to build a new, strong and just state. Furthermore, making the crimes of the Khmer Rouge public plays a crucial role in preventing a new Pol Pot emerging in the lands of Angkor or anywhere on Earth.

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Photos

Stupa the the Cheoung Ek Killing Fields
Contains all the remains found at the field.

Barbed wire covered cell block
Prevented prisoners jumping to a suicidal death

Comments

[greg]

harrowing
fascinating but harrowing at the same time....