Tu Thanh Ha
Globe and Mail (Canada)
The horrors at Tuol Sleng have been documented by NGOs and scholars, recorded in books and documentaries, placed on display at the museum now occupying the school.
Still, three decades later, the litany of atrocities recited before the tribunal retain a shocking power.
“The backbone” of the Khmer Rouge persecution were the security centres, of which S-21, as Tuol Sleng prison was then known, was the most prominent, the prosecution said.
“From the communal prison at the base of the pyramid to S-21 at its apex, these centres had but one purpose: to rid the regime of its perceived enemies,” said co-prosecutor Chea Lang.
Arrested all over the country and blindfolded, handcuffed, prisoners were brought by trucked through Phnom Penh's empty streets and dropped at S-21 to be beaten, electrocuted, waterboarded, have their nails ripped out, be forced to drink urine or eat feces, have poisonous insects placed on them or have their blood drained away until they passed out.
On average a prisoner lasted two months at S-21 before being executed. The more desperate tried to commit suicide by stabbing or cutting themselves or jumping from the upper floors.
A former guard, Saom Meth, testified that the cells were inspected to remove screws or stray bits of metal that inmates might use to kill themselves. On one occasion, he said, a guard left his traditional Cambodia scarf near a window and a prisoner tried to grab it to hang himself.
Children were among the victims. An execution log recovered at the prison mentioned that 160 children had been killed on a single day in July of 1977.
Duch confirmed that several Westerners, mainly people whose sailboat had entered Cambodia waters, were brought to S-21. He was ordered to make sure their bodies were burned to leave no traces.
The court also heard that a Japanese journalist and some Laotian, Indian and Thai citizens were among the prisoners.
But the largest contingent of foreigners were Vietnamese, both civilians and prisoners of war. They were tortured to get them to make on-air confessions for propaganda broadcasts.
No one was supposed to escape execution. To be brought to S-21 meant guilt and death.
Duch is officially charged in the death of 12,380 prisoners but estimates of S-21 victims go as high as 17,000 to 20,000.
According to trial evidence, in addition to prisoners associated with the previous government, the victims also included:
Still, three decades later, the litany of atrocities recited before the tribunal retain a shocking power.
“The backbone” of the Khmer Rouge persecution were the security centres, of which S-21, as Tuol Sleng prison was then known, was the most prominent, the prosecution said.
“From the communal prison at the base of the pyramid to S-21 at its apex, these centres had but one purpose: to rid the regime of its perceived enemies,” said co-prosecutor Chea Lang.
Arrested all over the country and blindfolded, handcuffed, prisoners were brought by trucked through Phnom Penh's empty streets and dropped at S-21 to be beaten, electrocuted, waterboarded, have their nails ripped out, be forced to drink urine or eat feces, have poisonous insects placed on them or have their blood drained away until they passed out.
On average a prisoner lasted two months at S-21 before being executed. The more desperate tried to commit suicide by stabbing or cutting themselves or jumping from the upper floors.
A former guard, Saom Meth, testified that the cells were inspected to remove screws or stray bits of metal that inmates might use to kill themselves. On one occasion, he said, a guard left his traditional Cambodia scarf near a window and a prisoner tried to grab it to hang himself.
Children were among the victims. An execution log recovered at the prison mentioned that 160 children had been killed on a single day in July of 1977.
Duch confirmed that several Westerners, mainly people whose sailboat had entered Cambodia waters, were brought to S-21. He was ordered to make sure their bodies were burned to leave no traces.
The court also heard that a Japanese journalist and some Laotian, Indian and Thai citizens were among the prisoners.
But the largest contingent of foreigners were Vietnamese, both civilians and prisoners of war. They were tortured to get them to make on-air confessions for propaganda broadcasts.
No one was supposed to escape execution. To be brought to S-21 meant guilt and death.
Duch is officially charged in the death of 12,380 prisoners but estimates of S-21 victims go as high as 17,000 to 20,000.
According to trial evidence, in addition to prisoners associated with the previous government, the victims also included:
- 5,000 Khmer Rouge government cadres,
- 4,500 Khmer Rouge military,
- 200 former S-21 staff
- 400 Vietnamese, including 150 prisoners of war.
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