Vittorio Hernandez - AHN News Writer
Phnom Penh, Cambodia (AHN) - Nhem En, a government photographer, was the first witness in the Khmer Rouge trial that began Thursday in Cambodia. He testified against Kaing Geuk Eav, the prison commandant who ran the S-21 torture camp in Phnom Penh.
Nhem took the black and white pictures of the 14,000 prisoners of the S-21 camp. Only six detainees survived the prison camp, where many were tortured and maimed. He told The Daily Telegraph before he testified, "It's hard to say if they knew they would die or not."
Nhem was a teenager when the Khmer Rouge regime took power in 1975 and ruled Cambodia for three years with an iron fist. He was forbidden to talk to the detainees, who often asked him the reason why they were imprisoned.
It is estimated at least 1.7 million Cambodians or a fifth of the nation's population died from torture, hunger or fatigue during the Khmer Rouge era.
Thirty years later, Cambodia is now dealing with the wounds of the regime by putting on trial officers of the authoritarian government. It is also constructing a Khmer Rouge Historical Museum in Anlong Veng, where Nhem En now serves as deputy governor. He plans to donate his personal collection of 2,000 photos, 1,000 songs and other wartime documents in the proposed museum, expected to cost $300,000.
Nhem took the black and white pictures of the 14,000 prisoners of the S-21 camp. Only six detainees survived the prison camp, where many were tortured and maimed. He told The Daily Telegraph before he testified, "It's hard to say if they knew they would die or not."
Nhem was a teenager when the Khmer Rouge regime took power in 1975 and ruled Cambodia for three years with an iron fist. He was forbidden to talk to the detainees, who often asked him the reason why they were imprisoned.
It is estimated at least 1.7 million Cambodians or a fifth of the nation's population died from torture, hunger or fatigue during the Khmer Rouge era.
Thirty years later, Cambodia is now dealing with the wounds of the regime by putting on trial officers of the authoritarian government. It is also constructing a Khmer Rouge Historical Museum in Anlong Veng, where Nhem En now serves as deputy governor. He plans to donate his personal collection of 2,000 photos, 1,000 songs and other wartime documents in the proposed museum, expected to cost $300,000.
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