Ex-KRouge interrogator recounts torture techniques

Former Khmer Rouge interrogator, Prak Khan, gives evidence at the Cambodian war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh

Tuesday, July 21, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH — A former interrogator at the main Khmer Rouge prison told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal Tuesday how staff were taught to torture prisoners using electric shocks and suffocation.

Prak Khan, 58, was testifying against Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, who is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of around 15,000 people held at Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21, in the late 1970s.

"We were taught how to torture the prisoners and to avoid the prisoners dying; otherwise the confession would be broken and we would be punished," Prak Khan told the court.

The witness, who was assigned to be an interrogator in late 1976 after being initially hired as a prison guard, said Duch and other high-ranking Khmer Rouge cadres often taught torture methods.

"We were trained how to whip the prisoners with the sticks, on how to electrocute, (and) on how to use the plastic bag to suffocate them," Prak Khan said.

"Detainees would be told not to make loud noises, not to curse or exchange swear words, or to shout slogans. And they were also warned not to scream while being tortured," he added.

Prak Khan said interrogators would torture prisoners until they confessed to spying on the Khmer Rouge regime and provided names of others in so-called espionage networks.

In earlier testimony, Duch admitted he did not believe that confessions obtained through torture were accurate.

The 66-year-old Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail and begged forgiveness near the start of his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But the defendant has consistently rejected claims by prosecutors that he held a central leadership role in the Khmer Rouge, and says he never personally killed anyone.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork and torture or were executed during the 1975-1979 regime.

Khmer Rouge torture boss feared his own execution

Thursday, Jul 16, 2009
AP AND AFP , PHNOM PENH

A senior interrogator at the most notorious Khmer Rouge prison told a genocide tribunal yesterday that even he feared the regime would one day turn on him and order his execution.

He testified at the trial of Kaing Guek Eav — better known as Duch — who headed the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under Duch’s command and later taken away to be killed during the Khmer Rouge’s 1975 to 1979 rule.

Mam Nai, 76, told the court that he was overcome by fear when Duch stripped him of his main duties after prisoners said he had visited their homes — socializing prohibited by the regime.

Mam Nai said that regardless of their loyalty or rank, Khmer Rouge officials could be arrested and executed on suspicion of being traitors. Mam Nai himself was allegedly responsible for interrogating and torturing high-ranking members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea accused of plotting against the regime.

An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died of hunger, disease or were executed during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror.

“When Duch told me I was implicated and later removed me from my interrogation task, I was so worried that probably Duch no longer trusted me and he would find some kind of pretext to arrest me,” Mam Nai said.

On Tuesday, he denied using torture to extract confessions from S-21 prisoners — a stark contrast to Duch’s earlier recitation of the grisly techniques routinely used.

Confronted by prosecutors yesterday with his own logbook, which contained numerous references to torture, he denied any knowledge that inmates were abused.

“Personally, I was never instructed on how torture was used,” Mam Nai said. “And I have no idea what other kinds of practices were applied by other interrogators.”

When prosecutor William Smith asked whether he was seeking to block from his mind the “horrible criminality” of his past actions, Mam Nai said: “I have never had such [an] idea. I am testifying based on the activities I have done.”

He repeatedly fended off questions about conditions at Tuol Sleng, saying he could not remember or wished to remain silent.

Meanwhile, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) yesterday demanded Cambodia’s rulers end a spate of legal action against critics, which it called the government’s “harshest crackdown in years” on free speech.

HRW alleged Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government aimed to silence political opposition and critics with a recent “campaign of harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action.”

Authorities have lodged at least nine criminal defamation and disinformation complaints against journalists, lawmakers, lawyers and government critics since April.

Mam Nay's regret: that the Vietnamese defeated the Khmer Rouge

Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Elena Lesley
The Phnom Penh Post

Former S-21 deputy Mam Nay did indeed begin testifying today, although his much-anticipated appearance was somewhat anticlimactic. For the most part, the 76-year-old, bundled in a krama and gloves, claimed he couldn't remember much about his work under Comrade Duch.

He told judges that, despite his status as an interrogator at S-21, he did not torture prisoners. Moreover, he claimed that the detainees brought to him looked neither malnourished nor mistreated -- a comment met with disbelief by many audience members.

Mam became most passionate toward the end of the day, when explaining how he believed all of the Vietnamese brought to S-21 were somehow guilty.

“I strongly believe they were invaders of Cambodian territory," he told Judge Jean-Marc Lavergne emphatically. "None of them was innocent. They grabbed Cambodian territory!”

When Lavergne asked if he had any regrets, Mam responded that he regretted that his country had been invaded by foreigners, first the Americans and then the Vietnamese.

His testimony will continue tomorrow.

KRouge jail deputy denies downplaying crimes [-Mam Nay is not downplaying crimes ... he just distorts the truth somewhat]

MWednesday, July 15, 2009

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — The former deputy head of the notorious main Khmer Rouge jail has denied he was minimizing his role in the late 1970s regime during testimony at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court.

Mam Nai, 76, was giving evidence at the trial of his former boss Duch, who has admitted responsibility for overseeing the torture and execution of around 15,000 people held at Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21.

Confronted by prosecutors Wednesday with his own prison log book, which contained numerous references to torture, the witness -- who was also a senior interrogator at the jail -- denied any knowledge that inmates were abused.

"Personally, I was never instructed on how torture was used," said Mam Nai, whose Khmer Rouge nom de guerre was Chan. "And I have no idea what other kinds of practices were applied by other interrogators."

When prosecutor William Smith asked whether he was seeking to block from his mind the "horrible criminality" of his past actions, Mam Nai answered: "I have never had such (an) idea. I am testifying based on the activities I have done."

The witness, wearing purple fingerless gloves and a traditional checkered Khmer scarf, repeatedly fended off questions about conditions at Tuol Sleng, saying he could not remember or wished to remain silent.

Mam Nai told the court that Duch removed him from the interrogation detail and he became afraid he would be arrested after a prisoner alleged he was an enemy of the hardline communist regime.

"After he (Duch) told me that an enemy implicated me in his confession, he stopped me from being an interrogator and I was scared," Mam Nai said.

The 66-year-old Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail and begged forgiveness near the start of his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But he has consistently rejected claims by prosecutors that he held a central leadership role in the Khmer Rouge, and maintains he never personally killed anyone.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork, torture and execution during the 1975-79 regime.