Recruitment Methods Will Slow Reform

The Cambodia Daily

Vannak Huy
Rutgers University, USA
Monday, April 4, 2005

When I read the article “500 Funcinpec Officials to Score Government
Jobs,”(March 31, page 10), many questions and concerns came to my mind.

This way of recruiting officials will discourage thousands of parents who work hard to put their children through school and discourage student from colleges and universities.

The huge entry of these officials in every department and ministry of government will increase bureaucracy, bribery and corruption. It will decrease the efficiency and effectiveness of government, which will affect all of us.

On August 25, 2004, Prime Minister Hun Sen remarked during the national conference on administration reforms that he strongly believed Cambodia has no other better choice than to move forward with all reforms.

Unemployment is a deep concern of the government. However, the
appointment of these officials will strongly affect the administration reform policy and sustainable development in Cambodia.

The government’s vision is to strengthen the public service and provide appropriate salaries to civil servants and implement government decentralization. This is the only way that we can eliminate bureaucracy, corruption, bribery, autocracy and strengthen good governance.

To contribute to the development in Cambodia, together we must show a good example to younger generations. Politicians should not promise voters a job in return for their votes. This short term strategy will affect not only their followers but also the long term development in Cambodia.

-End-

A Step Forward To Prevent Genocide

Vannak Huy
Graduate Student in Global Affairs
Rutgers University
February 22, 2005

Almost 26 years, the Khmer Rouge legacies of death, starvation, and suffering live on across Cambodia. It can still be seen in the psychological problems suffered by many who cannot forget what they did and saw.

Legacies of the Khmer Rouge continue to create doubt and accusation among the Cambodian people. The legacies of the Khmer Rouge still affect the future of the surviving veterans of the Khmer Rouge, whereas the victims are trying to heal from the past.

Kang Kech Ieu called Duch, former chief of barbarous Tuol Sleng prison S-21 and most former Khmer Rouge soldiers in Pailin, the former stronghold of the Khmer Rouge guerrilla in the Northern of Cambodia, have converted to Christianity in the hope that God may help them to heal their suffering and clean their sin. Still, they are living with the shadow of genocide and have had difficulty integrating into the community.

All men and women are created equally. Although they were involved in the genocidal regime, they still have a chance to do good thing for the future of their children in the rest of their lives. Giving a chance to the Khmer Rouge perpetrators to recall and view their past is a process to help them to heal their bad memories. Bringing them to court of law is a good solution for the history. Explaining them to acknowledge the responsibility is the best answer for the future Cambodia. It never late to educate the killers that there is no one life is better and valuable than another and all lives must be respected and protected.

Several scholars and researchers have studies more about the life stories of victims of the Khmer Rouge regime, but they seem to have little grasped of perpetrators stories. Their voices are important for history and future tribunal. Allowing perpetrators of genocide regime to recall and view their legacy and admit their accountability is one of the best ways to prevent genocide from happening again elsewhere of the world.

Genocide still has potentially happening in other countries and is becoming the global concerns. The genocidal Khmer Rouge regime is an example for all. And this is a message to the international community to pay more attention and play their role to prevent the happening of genocide.

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The Truth Can Heal Suffering

THE TRUTH CAN HEAL SUFFERING

Vannak Huy
Graduate Student in Global Affairs
Rutgers University
February 22, 2005

As I was growing up, I heard my family members describe the difficulties they faced during the Khmer Rouge regime. I had no directed knowledge of this period. During the Khmer Rouge regime, I lost my elder bother, my grandfather and more than thirty relatives. My mother always shed tears when she recalls this bitter past. That the life she ever met.

Since graduating in June 2000 from the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I have dedicated myself to building a peaceful society in my country, which continues to suffer from the effects of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime.

During the period of Khmer Rouge rule, from April 17, 1975 to January 6, 1979, approximately two million Cambodian people died of starvation, forced labor, illness and execution. Through my study at Rutgers University, I have concluded that true peace and reconciliation in Cambodia will require that we as a nation come to terms with the past.

While I was at the documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) and now at the Center for Global Change and Governance of Rutgers University, I have developed my academic skills to better help with this process, focusing on the global and local dynamics of truth and reconciliation.

I have read hundreds of Khmer Rouge documents and met victims and perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge across Cambodia. My work has given me an opportunity to learn much about the Khmer Rouge regime. Moreover, I have written many articles about my meetings with victims and perpetrators hoping that people in my country may understand about the past. Only by doing so can we begin to eliminate the bitterness, hatred and intolerance that are the legacy of decades of civil war.

Providing a means by which survivors may learn what happened to their lost loved ones is one way to help heal their sense of being held hostage by the past. When the survivors know the historical truth of the regime and that justice is being sought for what happened to their families, they would be able to forgive and be free to move on with a sense that law finally governs the nation they belong to.

-End-

I Never Killed Anyone

The Khmer Rouge Cadre Defense: I Never Killed Anyone
Incarcerated Because Her Photograph Was Displayed At Toul Sleng Genocide Museum

Vannak Huy
Researcher, Documentation Center of Cambodia

Tuy Kin served eighteen months in prison solely because of the fact that her photograph was exhibited at the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum among other photographs of persons alleged to have worked at the S-21 prison under the Khmer Rouge regime. She was accused by the Kandal Provincial Court of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) of having taken part in the killing of hundreds of prisoners. Tuy Kin has been haunted by the photograph in question for more than twenty five years, during which time she has been living under constant suspicion from her neighbors concerning her past. Tuy Kin rejects the accusations, and insists that she never killed anyone. She asserts that the PRK Provincial Court’s 1984 verdict against her was premised solely on the grounds that a copy of her “mug shot” was displayed at the museum, and that the witnesses against her, such as the military commander of Po Ban Sub-district and cadres of Koh Thom District, were biased against her.

Ten days after she learned that her “mug shot” had been put on display at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, Tuy Kin was arrested. Prior to her arrest, two women were summoned by the District authorities to answer questions about Tuy Kin. These two women had been imprisoned by the Khmer Rouge in 1978, yet their photos also appeared at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum over a caption indicating that they too had worked at the S-21 prison. After being questioned, these two women informed Tuy Kin that all of their photos were on display at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum as having been high-ranking workers in the Khmer Rouge regime. Ten days later the Sub-District Chief summoned Tuy Kin for inquiry and to commence a proceeding against her.

Tuy Kin stated that she was seven months pregnant at the time of her arrest. She was handcuffed and threatened with a pistol. Under the circumstances, she thought it was best to tell her interrogators what she thought they wanted to hear. “They hated me and publicly pronounced that I had been a worker and murderer at the S-21 prison (Toul Sleng). I was then imprisoned for one-and-a-half years.” The other two women were permitted to return home after a four-day interrogation.

The former military commander of Po Ban Sub-district from 1983 to 1986 was the first to prepare a case against Tuy Kin. He insists that all of his allegations were true and that Tuy Kin did work at the S-21 prison (known as Toul Sleng). At the end of 1984 this individual had been working on biographies of those who had been allied with the Pol Pot regime, this under the direction of two Vietnamese “experts” stationed at Koh Thom District, comrades Teu Din and Nam Minh. The investigation was being conducted for fear that there would be a resurgence of Khmer Rouge internal forces. The investigation covered the entire sub-district. Anyone suspected of having had links with the Khmer Rouge regime, or whose biographies were questionable, would not be permitted to hold any government position or particularly, to serve in the militia. This military commander stated that his information about Tuy Kin had been provided by villagers. After receiving this initial information, he and two subordinates went to the village to interrogate Tuy Kin for three nights. On the first two nights they interrogated Tuy Kin at her homestead, telling her that “If anything wrong happens, I will be a problem shooter at the higher level.” On the third night, Tuy Kin was brought to the Sub-district Office of Po Ban, where the commander telling her that if her answers did not correspond to the villagers’ accusations, she would face ‘consequences’. At around 8:00 p.m. that night Tuy Kin admitted to having been a worker at the S-21 prison, as well as having killed hundreds of prisoners. Tuy Kin was held at the Sub-district Office while the commander completed his report and submitted it to the Vietnamese investigators at Koh Thom District. In the morning, the Vietnamese experts came to pick up Tuy Kin, who was taken to district headquarters and thence to the provincial court for legal proceedings.

An undated, one-page report compiled by the PRK genocide research committee, entitled “An Interview With A Woman, Tuy Kin”, reads in part:

...I worked under (my) superiors, who ordered me to kill (inmates). I had no choice. As a result, I killed 300 people. I do not remember the execution site. It might have been around Toul Sleng (S-21) prison….I was only supposed to prepare equipment and call prisoners out for execution….Two other men committed the killing by themselves…. Prisoners were killed by electrical shock…. The violent were carried out on the periphery of Toul Sleng (S-21). The prisoners’ were supposed to be authorized by Duch’s order, rather than himself. I never met Duch. The orders stated, “Propose you to let out prisoners by the names of….” At Toul Sleng (S-21) I knew only contemptible Huy and the all-powerful Duch...

Roat Nim, a former female Khmer Rouge combatant from Division 12, who had herself been accused of incorrect politics and brought to Prey Sar prison, stated that “Tuy Kin was not a cadre of the S-21 prison as implicated by the accusation, for in fact she had also been accused of harboring some sort of political trend, and had been sent to the same place I was for tempering, Prey Sar prison.” Roat Nim asserted that her photo had also been displayed at the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. She asserted that near the end of 1978, a comrade named Yon, chief of a women’s battalion, had asked to take Roat’s photograph when she was hauling water to the communal kitchen. Roat Nim had heard a rumors that photographs would be taken for use in connection with personal biographies. After having their photographs taken, every cadre was required to fill out a one-page biography and submit it to their group leader. One day in the 1980s, while visiting Toul Sleng Genocide Museum with her relatives, Roat Nim saw her photograph being displayed along with those of many others who had been sent to Prey Sar prison for “self-tempering”. Beneath these photographs was a caption reading “The Khmer Rouge Cadre”.

Tuy Kin stated that in mid-1978, comrade Yon had summoned her to be photographed while she had been tending vegetables. She and the others who were photographed were not told the purpose of the pictures. One month later comrade Yon ordered Tuy Kin and five other women to cease their work and prepare their clothing for relocation. At sunset a covered truck pulled up in front of the office, upon which three security guards ordered the women to board the truck. Before climbing onto the truck, Tuy Kin asked comrade Yon, “Sister Yon, what have I done wrong? You have never asked me for self-education.” Comrade Yon replied, “There is no need to ask! Get into the truck quickly!” Then, the guards handcuffed Tuy Kin along with the five other cadres and drove them to Prey Sar prison, where they found many inmates cuffed together in lines. A prison guard named Phal asked Tuy Kin, “Do you know what is wrong with you?” When Tuy Kin replied “No”, the guard shouted, “That is why Angkar has taken you here!” After serving one month at Prey Sar prison, Tuy Kin was asked by a military pilot named comrade Sreng if she would marry him. Tuy Kin and Sreng had had a relationship during the war against the Lon Nol regime. Angkar permitted the wedding to go forward, but three days before the ceremony the Vietnamese entered Phnom Penh, which ended their plans for marriage.

In reminiscing about her experiences with the Khmer Rouge, Tuy Kin recalled that after the coup against King Sihanouk, the chiefs of her village, Kry and Chum, had appointed her as a member of the village women’s unit. She was ordered to undergo political training for one week, after which she would be permitted to return home. She soon discovered that this had merely been a ruse for tricking children and young people into joining the Khmer Rouge to fight against the Lon Nol regime. From then, at the age of seventeen, until April 17th 1975, Tuy Kin had a great amount of battlefield experience. Her daily task was to carry food and ammunition to the frontline troops of Division 12. After the liberation of Phnom Penh on April 17th 1975, the Khmer Rouge began to purge male and female combatants with questionable biographies or relatives within the Lon Nol regime. As a result, some 100 cadres, including Tuy Kin, were brought to Prey Sar prison. Tuy Kin’s biography was found questionable due to the fact that her father had been a Lon Nol’s soldier. At Prey Sar prison, Tuy Kin was assigned to the farming unit. In early 1977 comrade Yon transferred her to the vegetation group under the command of comrade Ly. Angkar often asked her to drive an ox cart loaded with rice to supply the soldiers at Prey Sar prison.

Now aged 44, Tuy Kin is currently a farmer living back in the village where she was born. Emotionally, she states simply that “Hardship is my history. In Pol Pot’s time, I was brought to Prey Sar prison without knowing what I had done wrong. And because of the presence of my photograph at Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, I had to serve nearly two years imprisonment at Kandal Province. Today I am praying and swearing to God that I never killed anyone or had my hands stained with blood. If it be otherwise, may I be punished by all the supreme beings.”


(This article was published on the magazine Searching for the truth!, Rasmei Kampuchea Daily Newspaper, and Cambodge Sior Newspaper.)

-End-

I Shed Tears in Prison

Searching for the truth!
Magazine of the Documentation Center of Cambodia

I SHED TEARS IN PRISON

Vannak Huy


Chhim Sam Ol, a 45 year-old farmer living in Ta Cho Village, Sarikakeo Commune, Sva Em District, Kandal Province, was a Khmer Rouge prisoner in the Eastern Zone in 1974 and 1975. Describing the anguish he experienced during his detainment, Chhim Sam Ol said: “I wept when they shackled me. I felt so miserable for this life-changing suffering - sleeping on the ground like animals, fleas all over the body, skin diseases, etc. During the Phchum Ancestor Festival, I could see numerous people carrying offerings to the pagodas through the window. As for me, I cried in custody.” Chhim Sam Ol relates the story of his detention below.

“After the 1970 coup ousting King Sihanouk from his post, I was selected to join a militia unit [Kang Svay Tran] in order to increase village security. One night in the early 1974, the liberation army of the Khmer Rouge assaulted my village, and captured thirty villagers and me for serving the old regime [the Khmer Republic, led by Field Marshal Lon Nol]. At about 10 p.m., a few guerrillas called me, ‘contemptible Ol, come down here!’ Sensing serious trouble, I decided not to come. So I stayed still in my house. When I did so, they used their bayonets to stab me from beneath my house Then they shot at me three times. Because they roared fiercely and I was afraid I might get hit by some of the bullets, I surrendered, raising my hands and walking slowly down the stairs. As I reached the ground, they immediately took my watch, tied me up and walked me away.

“As they were leading me and the other villagers to the edge of the village, Lon Nol soldiers shelled from the Chroy Changva area with their six-cannoned artillery. The Khmer Rouge then ran away, leaving us behind. Panic stricken, we cut the ropes binding us and ran to hide in pits that had been made by previous bombings. After the bombardment was over, the Khmer Rouge soldiers returned, pointed their guns at us and called us to stand up. They tied us up once again and led us to a river, where they began to strip-search us for money. They said, ‘Any money or belongings must be confiscated. They will be returned to you when you are re-educated.’ After searching, they continued their march along the river. As we were walking, planes from Phnom Penh attacked again. But they strafed at the Khmer Rouge only. A few minutes later, the planes disappeared. The Khmer Rouge then brought us to a reeducation camp in Prek Rey, Lvea Em District. I was detained there for two weeks. When they escorted us, I was not afraid. But when they shackled us, I began to fear, shedding tears.”

At this point in the interview, Sam Ol took a huge breath, looked at his wrists, and continued, “Life in the prison was harsh. The utensils we ate with were the open containers used to feed pigs, and we used crab shells as spoons. During this time, the prison’s security guards called me to write my autobiography three times. A guard banged the table and said, ‘You are all members of the militia unit!’ Because they intimidated me, I told them the truth. Every one of us was questioned. Of the three times I was called to be questioned, I told them a lie that ‘I don’t have any relatives.’ Previous captives told me that if I told them the truth about this, the Khmer Rouge would search for my relatives.

“In addition to questioning us, the Khmer Rouge guards ordered all the prisoners to work at farms, collect firewood, move earth, and carry water to the tanks with our hands and shoulders. The prisoners were forced to work continuously all day long, and were provided insufficient food.”

During his one year of detainment, Sam Ol was moved to three different reeducation camps. He revealed: “After being detained at Prek Rey prison for two weeks, the Khmer Rouge moved 15 prisoners including me to Snay Pol reeducation camp in Pea Reang District, Prey Veng Province for one day before continuing to Prek Kralanh reeducation camp. Prisoners who were relocated from Prek Rey prison to Snay Pol prison were not shackled. Instead, the Khmer Rouge tied them using only sewing thread. ‘Anybody who causes the threads to detach will be shot immediately!’ Luckily, the guards did not mean what they said, because as we were walking, if someone walked too fast, the person behind him had to remind the person in front: ‘Don’t walk too fast, the thread will be detached.’ Whenever the threads broke, the prisoners spoke in fright, ‘Help! Help connect the threads together.’ The Khmer Rouge soldiers roared with laughter when they heard that.

“When we reached a village consisting of approximately ten families, the villagers came out. They were carrying sticks, knives, axes, and hoes. They gathered around the prisoners saying, ‘Comrades! Exchange chickens with us! These men are imperialists! Take our chickens!’ All of the prisoners were scared stiff of being slaughtered by the villagers. Fortunately, Santebal prohibited them. They led us for three more days until we reached Snay Pul prison. In fact, the distance from Prek Rey to Snay Pul was only a day’s walk. At night, the guards led the prisoners from Snay Pul to Prek Kralanh prison, which was my final prison.”

Sam Ol was detained in Prek Kralanh for almost a year. On 17 April 1975 when the Khmer Rouge occupied Phnom Penh, he was allowed to farm for the new regime, which he called a “prison without walls.”

Sam Ol talked further about his life during his year of captivity in Prek Kralanh: “When I was detained in Prek Rey prison for a week, the chief of the prison told us in a meeting that ‘We’ll move on in order to live with our people.’ I was very glad to hear about living with ordinary people, but in reality they brought us to another prison, Prek Kralanh. At Prek Kralanh the prison chief said that ‘We come here to get conditioned. So, try hard to rebuild yourself from today on.’ I was always wondering, ‘How do I temper and build myself?’ The Khmer Rouge conditioned the prisoners on every aspect of their lives from sleeping to walking to eating: ‘Train and train until the prisoners became skinny and bony.’ The Khmer Rouge turned schools into prisons. There were about 30 prisoners at my prison. Five inmates were kept in a single room. We were provided two meals a day-at 11 a.m. and at 5 p.m. A ladle of porridge was given to each prisoner and a bowl of crab sour-soup for five prisoners in a meal. The soup had half a crab and five slices of giant cactus tree as a vegetable. Each person was allowed only one spoon of soup. We did not have real bowls for our rice or porridge; they were made instead from palm leaves. We had to gulp our thin boiled-rice immediately after the cooks poured it into our leaf bowls; otherwise it would be gone in seconds through leaks. We gulped down the boiled-rice first and drank the soup later.

“At dawn, the deputy chief of security assigned us to do various jobs. Some were appointed to transplant rice. Others were told to pull rice seedlings or fill water tanks. The chief prohibited all inmates from communicating with villagers. When meeting villagers, a prisoner was not to tell them about his or her miserable life in prison, for this was ‘a secret of Angkar.’ What a prisoner should tell them was that ‘food is plentiful and life in prison is fine.’

“One day in Phchum Ben season, I fetched water from a well at a pagoda. Just when my bucket reached the water, a monk arrived and asked me, ‘Do you have enough food to eat in prison?’ Then I replied frankly that ‘I don’t have anything to eat, except a bowl of boiled-rice.’ With pity, the monk handed me three ansam chruks [a kind of traditional cake with a combination of pork and sticky rice made especially during Phchum Ben season]. ‘Eat carefully, do not let them know,’ he said. To me the cakes were like gold. I thought that ‘this time I would have a chance to eat delicious food.’ I kept one in my pleat, another one folded into my trouser waist, and held the third one in my hand. Just as I was about to eat the one I was holding, a Khmer Rouge guard appeared from nowhere and shouted at me, ‘You’ve stolen them from other people!’ Then the guard hit me four times with his gun butt. I fell flat to the ground close to the well, and then the guard took my cakes away. The villagers preferred to feed the prisoners, but the Khmer Rouge not only took the food away, they blamed the villagers if they wanted to give food to them.

“What I’ve never forgotten was the time when I met my older brother as the guards were leading me and other inmates to transplant rice. When I saw my brother, I asked him, ‘Brother! Where have you come from?’ After my brother had walked past, a Khmer Rouge soldier asked me, ‘Who did you talk to?’ ‘I called my brother,’ I told him. Suddenly, he hit violently three times using the butt of his gun and warned me, ‘Do not do this again! If you want to ask him, ask me first.’ The Khmer Rouge guards working at the prison were mostly teenagers between the ages of 16 to 17, yet the prisoners did not have enough physical strength to revolt. As an example, a strong gust of wind could easily knock me down if I did not walk carefully outside the prison.

“All prisoners had the same fate. The difference was just a matter of time. Some died of swelling caused by lack of food. Other died attempting to escape.”

Sam Ol emphasized the causes of death: “Most prisoners were too weak to work under the sun, because they were provided very little food to eat… They were pale and easily infected by disease, causing the body to swell and fluids to flow out. One night five prisoners attempted to escape through the door. Unfortunately, the chief of the unit knew and informed the security chief. In the morning, the security chief called all prisoners to attend the meeting and asked, ‘Listen! Who made an attempt to escape last night?’ All prisoners replied that they did not know anything. ‘You all conspire to lie to me! You wanted to escape last night!’ said the chief. However, the chief had known everything, since the chief of the unit who had informed him was a former prisoner assigned to keep a lookout on the activities of other prisoners and report on them to the security chief. We did not know where this lookout worked in the daytime, but he returned to sleep inside the cell with other prisoners at night. When the meeting ended, the security chief ordered the guards to tie five prisoners’ hands behind their backs until their elbows almost touched. They were all blindfolded. Then they were led to the north behind the prison, while the remaining prisoners were allowed to go back to their cells. The security chief closed the door and warned, ‘If anyone causes chaos upon hearing gunshots, they will be killed.’ A moment later I heard him counting: ‘One! Two! Three!’ followed by the sound of several gunshots.” Nevertheless, Sam Ol added that he did not hear the cry of the prisoners, but “when I looked to the front, I could recognize some clothes belonging to the prisoners hung on the fence.”

What he saw was three prisoners being executed using the sharp edge of a palm tree branch. It was “carried out before our very eyes three months after I first arrived. A group of Khmer Rouge soldiers brought these prisoners from Prek Rey to Prek Kralanh prison to be slaughtered for attempted escape.” Sam Ol said, “Punishing prisoners for breaking rules was a way to warn others against repeating the same crime.”

He stated: “I’ll never forget the punishment imposed on me by the Khmer Rouge. I wonder how these people, who spoke the same language as us, could kill their own race? During each Phchum season, I’ve always thought about what happened 25 years ago in which ‘I shed tears in prison.’”

KING NORODOM SIHANOUK responded to Vannak Huy

BMD

NORODOM SIHANOUK

Phnom Penh, le 20 Janvier 2005
______________________________


Le problème du Jugement et de la Condamnation des Khmers Rouges Polpotiens (suite).

Avant de poursuivre l’expression de mes sentiments et opinions à cet égard, je tiens à reproduire ci-sessous un texte de Monsieur Vannak Huy :

_____________________________
Monday, January 17, 2005
The Cambodia Daily
OPINION

KR Tribunal Needed to Heal Wounds of All Cambodians


In response to the letter to the editor, “Ex-Khmer Rouge killer Has No Excuse for Past Crimes,” (Jan 12, Page 15), Nuon Sotheavy is absolutely right in the sense that “There is no one life that is more valuable than another.”

After former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein of Iraq was arrested and brought to justice for having committed genocide on thousands of Kurd minority people, the international community turned its focus on aiding the thousands of victims of the devastation tsunami. There is no proper compensation for victims and their suffering cannot be compared.

Unfortunately, the lives of millions of victims of the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979 have been given low priority, again and again.

The Khmer Rouge regime ended more than 26 years ago, but it still affects the country and its people. Since 1979, Cambodia has moved forward slowly and has had difficulty integrating into the region and the globe.

The Khmer Rouge history remains a battleground for Cambodians. It is important for Cambodians and the international community to view this history and find ways to deal with it.

During my research between 2000 and 2002 for my book, “The Khmer Rouge Division 703: From Victory to Self-destruction,” I interviewed numerous surviving Khmer Rouge perpetrators and victims. Most of the perpetrators had the same feelings and story as Suy Vith. They were recruited to join the revolution when they were young and had low education. They were indoctrinated to become nationalists with little consciousness.

During the regime, Suy Vith lost his dear parents as well. In this case, Suy Vith should be viewed as not only a killer, but also as a tool of the revolution and a victim of the Khmer Rouge.

Survivors from the Khmer Rouge regime returned home, suffering or traumatized by the regime.

The delay of the Khmer Rouge tribunal will continue to make Cambodians view each other and their history in different ways.

Cambodians need their value and dignity as equal human beings.

Two of my uncles joined the Khmer Rouge revolution in 1973 in the hope that they could help their family and country. Unfortunately, my uncles disappeared. During the Khmer Regime, I lost my elder bother, my grandfather and more than 30 relatives. My mother always sheds tears when she recalls this bitter past.

Although Suy Vith was involved in the Khmer Rouge regime, he is now making the right decision to testify in the future Khmer Rouge tribunal. The tribunal will not only clear his past and accountability, but also give justice to the victims.

I hope that the international community will open their hearts and take all efforts to find justice for the victims and those who have been victimized.

It is the wish and dream of the Cambodian people. Our hope is that the Khmer Rouge tribunal will bring not only justice, but also new thoughts, peace, reconciliation, and development to the country.

One alone cannot achieve real justice. But together we shall make a difference.

Vannak Huy,
Rutgers University graduate student
New Jersey, USA

_________________________________________

Je respecte les sentiments et opinion exprimés ci-dessus par M. Vannak Huy tout comme je respecte les sentiments et opinion de Samdech HUN SEN, ceux de Mr Youk Chhang, ceur du Dr Lao Mong Hay, etc….

Mais je me permets de poursuivre mes idées sur ce Problème.

Mon Epouse Monique-Monineath, elle aussi, avait beaucoup pleuré quand il apparut que sa sœur Nanette et l’un de ses frères furent tués par les Khmers Rouges, certainement de tres cruelle façon.

En tant qu’un etre humain, moi aussi j’ai atrocement souffert et je continue de souffrir beaucoup eu égrad à la mort, à coup sûr dans d’horribles conditions, de ceux et celles qui m’étaient chers et ceux et celles qui étaient si attachés à ma personne.

En 19790-1980, cerains ex-Lonnoliens aux USA, en France, m’ont dit que les Khmers Rouges Polpotiens avaient fait mourir des bébés et enfants en bas âge en les lançant violemment contre des troncs d’arbre ou les donnaient vivants aux crocodiles d’élevage qui s’en régalaient. Mes petits-enfants devaient mourir dans ces atroces conditions.

*
* *

Mais la question est de savoir si la condamnation par le fameux Tribunal Khméro-onusien de cinq ou six Khmers Rouges suffiraient à apaiser mon esprit. S’il fallait réaliser une véritable Justice, il faudrait condmner et punir également les centaines et peut-être milliers de tortionnaires et assassins responsables des mises à mort ordonnées par leur ultra-infernal Angkar.

Puisque ces bourreaux ont aujourd’hui accès à une vie heureuse et à des honneurs enviables, je ne vois vraiment pas comment on peut me donner ainsi qu’à mes «semblables » le sentiment que « Justice est rendue aux victimes et à leurs familles respectives ».
Pour moi, mettre en prison cinq ou six Khmers Rouges, cela ne sera que comédie et hypocrisie.

Je sais que ce que je vais dire et écrire suscitera un inoubliable tollé:


R.S.V.P
Signature

Reconciliation: The Role of Arts

The SEACSN Conference 2004
Issue and Challenges for Peace and Conflict Resolution in Southeast Asia. Penang, Malaysia, 12-15 January 2004


Reconciliation: The Role of Arts

Vannak Huy
Researcher and Author of The Khmer Rouge Division 703: From Victory to Self-destruction.
Documentation Center of Cambodia
www.dccam.org
truthvannak.huy@dccam.org


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, and my colleagues at the Center for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
1- Legacy of the Khmer Rouge
2- The Khmer Rouge Prison S-21
3- From a Killing Site to a Memorial and Archive
4- Voices of the Victims and Perpetrators
5- Getting the Younger Generation Involved
6- Preserving Khmer Rouge History
7- Reconstructing the Rule of Law
Conclusion



INTRODUCTION
_____________

During the Khmer Rouge regime, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum was a state-run secret prison called “Office “S-21.” Approximately 14,000 Cambodian and foreign prisoners were tortured at this site and then sent to be executed. The Khmer Rouge took thousands of mug shots of their prisoners before and after death. Today, they are displayed at the Tuol Sleng Museum as proof of Khmer Rouge atrocities.

In October 2002, the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) and the Tuol Seng Genocide Museum launched a photo exhibition entitled “The Victims of History: Voices of the Khmer Rouge Victims and Perpetrators.” It comprised the photos of 13 former Khmer Rouge prison guards. One objective of the exhibition was to pursue “reconciliation” by helping to arrange for former guards and executioners to meet face-to-face with their victims and hold dialogues.

This paper examines the healing role of the arts, specifically, a recent photo exhibition at Tuol Sleng, in bringing about some form of reconciliation between the victims and perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge. During Democratic Kampuchea, nearly two million people died of starvation, forced labor, disease, and execution. Since the regime collapsed in January 1979, not a single Khmer Rouge leader has been brought to justice. Surviving veterans of the Khmer Rouge also see themselves as the regime’s victims. But in the eyes of many of the civilians who suffered during the regime, they are not victims, but perpetrators of massive genocide.

To discuss the role these photographs might play in reconciliation, it is necessary to examine first the history of the photos the Khmer Rouge left behind. This paper details the reasons why the Documentation Center of Cambodia and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum chose photos of former Khmer Rouge soldiers for this exhibition. It then highlights the quotes of the former Khmer Rouge soldiers selected for this exhibition, as well as the reactions of viewers. Next, this paper discusses the role of this exhibition in bringing about reconciliation between the victims and perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge. The paper concludes with a brief look at the value of the exhibit in educating the Cambodian public and the world through photographic displays and looks at the continuing aftermath of genocide in Cambodia.


Chapter 1
LEGACY OF THE KHMER ROUGE
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“After raining, sky is clear” is the usual expectation of Cambodian people. In contrast, the fate of the Cambodian people fell into darkness after the arrival of the Khmer Rouge regime on April 17, 1975. Nearly two millions people died of starvation, forced labor, disease, and execution. This darkness is still visible in tens of thousands of photographs held at Tuol Sleng Museum (former S-21 prison of the Democratic Kampuchea regime), and in the piles of skulls and bones, left behind by the Khmer Rouge regime. Since 1995, the Documentation Center of Cambodia has extensively documented the crimes of the Khmer Rouge regime. So far DC-Cam has carefully mapped 348 burial sites, 19,521 mass graves, 194 prisons and 90 genocide memorials.

Almost 25 years since they were driven from power in January 1979 the Khmer Rouge legacies of death, starvation, and suffering live on across Cambodia. It can still be seen in the psychological problems suffered by many who cannot forget what they saw. Legacies of the Khmer Rouge continue to create doubt, accusation and revenge among the Cambodian people. The legacies of the Khmer Rouge still affect the future of the surviving veterans of the Khmer Rouge, whereas the victims are trying to heal from the past. Cambodia is actively searching for solutions to minimize these problems so its people can once again live together in peace.

The following chapter describes the Khmer Rouge prison S-21 where tens thousands of prisoners were detained, tortured and executed and where thousands of photographs have been preserved.


Chapter 2
THE KHMER ROUGE PRISON S-21
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Even before they came to power, the Khmer Rouge leadership created security offices at the zone, region, and district levels. In the months following their victory of April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge regime established a secret prison S-21 to interrogate and ultimately exterminate suspected “enemies” of Angkar, or the Democratic Kampuchea.

During its first eight months of operation, S-21 was under the command of the Khmer Rouge Division 703 and was located in the compound of the National Police Commission south of Phsar Thmei. In March or April 1976, as the number of prisoner rose, S-21 was relocated to the Tuol Svay Prey High School in the Sangkat Tuol Svay Prey area of Phnom Penh. Built in 1962 on a 600 by 400 meters plot of land, the school was originally called Vithayalai Nhonheayat. In the 1970s during the Khmer Republic, it was renamed Tuol Svay Prey High Scholl. In the rear of the compound were two wooden school buildings with thatched roofs that comprised the Boeng Keng Kong Primary School. This school was later renamed the Tuol Sleng Primary School. Like the lower-level prisons, S-21 was created because the Khmer Rouge leadership felt that Cambodian society was full of “enemies” (khmang). Unlike them, however, there was no reforging or reeducation of prisoners at S-21. Being sent to this office was a near-certain death sentence: only 14 of its approximately 14,000 prisoners were still alive when the regime ended in January 7, 1979.


Officially S-21 prison was called “Office S-21” (munti S-21). It was under the control of the Army General Staff of the Democratic Kampuchea regime. S-21 was, in effect, its own legal system, acting as the police who investigated and tracked down potential criminals, the judge of a prisoner’s guilt or innocence, and the executioner. The 1976 Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea ostensibly vested power with the courts. But the courts of Democratic Kampuchea did not fulfill the functions described in the Constitution. Neither did power originate from the people, as the Khmer Rouge leadership constantly told its members. Instead, all power and decisions resided only with Angkar. Thus, justice was dispensed at the whim of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea.

All incoming S-21 prisoners, including officials of the former regimes (Sihanouk and Lon Nol regimes) and high-ranking Khmer Rouge cadres were photographed before they were sent to either a small cell of the S-21 prison or to the execution site Cheung Ek. Some prisoners were also photographed while they endured torture and others were photographed after death in S-21. These photographs show the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime, which resulted when they ruled country between 1975 and 1979.


Nheim Ein was trained in photography in China in 1976 and served as photographer at S-21 until the end of the Khmer Rouge reign. While he was viewing photos displayed in the Tuol Sleng Museum in 1997, Nheim Ein stated that “Taking photograph is a leisure activity for most people. But, when we look back into the past during the Khmer Rouge regime, thousands of innocent people who stand before the camera, were destined to go to the hell.”6

Not only the prisoners, but also staff of S-21 were photographed. After having his or her photographs taken, every soldier was also required to fill out a one-page biography and submit it to their group leader. Some soldiers were photographed two or three times. For example, I found two different photographs of Nheb Ho aka Sovann, a former guard of S-21 and his biography, which was made during the Khmer Rouge regime.

The next chapter presents the Cambodian efforts to commemorate the past using the archives and photos left by the Khmer Rouge regime.


Chapter 3
FROM THE KILLING SITE TO THE MEMORIAL AND ARCHIVES
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Since the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, S-21 has been preserved as the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, where the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge including torture instruments and photographs of those killed are displayed. Tuol Sleng Museum opened in 1980. Since that time, it has welcomed thousands of visitors from inside the country and abroad. Since opening, the archives of the museum have changed ownership at least three times. They were first obtained by the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRP), which governed the country until the United Nations-sponsored elections in 1993. It was during the PRK period that documents in the archives were given the cataloging code that they retain to the present. Also during that time, Tuol Sleng was transformed into a historical museum and parts of the files in the archives were microfilmed by Cornell University. After the 1993 elections, the documents were kept by the coalition government headed by Samdech Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh.

The Tuol Sleng archives including photographs, as an important repository of historical materials of the Democratic Kampuchea period has been central to historical analysis and Cambodian cultural politics in the Khmer Rouge period. The archives provide Cambodian researchers and curators associated with Tuol Sleng Museum with significant insight into Democratic Kampuchea. These insights have been variously incorporated into the work of local scholars, historical and political analyses, state press agency publications, as well as into the museum’s displays. The museum, overseen by the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, is considered “a reminder not only of Cambodia’s recent history, but of the inhumanity that sometimes overwhelms ordinary human beings.

The next chapter describes the role of the arts – through a photo exhibition at Tuol Sleng Museum – in pursuit of a constructive means for healing and reconciliation between victims and perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge.


Chapter 4
VOICES OF VICTIMS OF HISTORY
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On October 15, 2003, thirteen present-day photos of former Khmer Rouge soldiers were placed on display at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Using the archives of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), Mr. Heng Sinith and a team of researchers at DC-Cam prepared large-format photos of guards and others soldiers who worked at Tuol Sleng prison during the Khmer Rouge regime. They then located these very same people, interviewed and photographed them, and displayed the photographs side-by-side along with excerpts from the interviews. The exhibition entitled “The Victims of History: Voice of the Khmer Rouge Victims and Perpetrators.” Those photos were exhibited in two rooms at the first floor of building “D”. The exhibition shows texts describing a brief history of former Khmer Rouge soldiers and the quotations from the interviews asking for forgiveness, justice and reconciliation. The exhibition, which is publicly opened, pairs the recent photographs of former Khmer Rouge with photos taken when they were young soldiers. The current photos of these Khmer Rouge soldiers depict their daily lives, praying, working in their fields, and holding their children.

Heng Sinith a photographer for this exhibition was also a victim of the Khmer Rouge. In discussing the objective of the exhibition he stated that “I could not openly express my feelings or open my heart. However, I can use my skill as a photographer to show the world the life of these cadres living today with their families. While they once worked at S-21, known as a barbarous prison in the Khmer Rouge regime, they can now serve as our eyewitnesses of this chapter of Khmer Rouge history.”

Ysa Osman, a researcher at the Documentation Center of Cambodia, lost 13 siblings and relatives during the Khmer Rouge regime and agreed with Sinith. “I want visitors to learn about the lives of those Khmer Rouge cadres, their families and their relation with villagers. Even though they used to work at the killing place,
S-21, but we should not blame and hate them. Visitors can see in the quotations that they worked under extreme pressure from their superiors. The exhibition is not for revenge or hate. It is meant to contribute to the search for the truth about the KR history. We can try to forgive those who acknowledged or apologized for their mistakes rather than hate them endlessly. That’s why, Buddha preached, “Vindictiveness is ended by non-vindictiveness.”


To prepare for this exhibition, researchers of the Documentation Center of Cambodia traveled throughout the country for several years to interview former Khmer Rouge cadres still alive today. They were surprised to find that many of those interviewed wanted to talk about the past, as long as they felt secure. The researchers learned a great deal that was not previously known about the behavior of these people because they were also fellow Khmers and trusted with revelations depicted in these life stories. Ysa Osman recalled his experience with Prak Khan, a former interrogator of S-21. “Before I met him, I thought that he was cruel, ruthless and blood-handed. I did not believe he could change his character. In contrast, during the interview he was cordial and smiling. He enjoyed cordial relations with his children, wife and other villagers. Actually, I now think he was cheated by the KR to serve the revolution.”


There is still a great deal of debate concerning issues of reconciliation in Cambodia. After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, some former Khmer Rouge youths were arrested, burned alive, shot, bitten or axed to death, and buried under rocks by the people. Some youths, that feared such attacks, committed suicide. Others fled, never to return. Most former Khmer Rouge prison cadres were sent to provincial prisons or T-3 prison in Phnom Penh because of their involvement with the Khmer Rouge regime.

One of those interviewed, Tuy Kin, served eighteen months in Kandal provincial prison solely because of the fact that her photograph was exhibited at the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum among other photographs of persons alleged to have worked at the S-21 prison under the Khmer Rouge regime. She was also accused by the Kandal Provincial Court of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) of having taken part in the killing of hundreds of prisoners. Kin rejects the accusations and insists that she never killed anyone. She said, “Today I am praying and swearing to God that I never killed anyone or had my hands stained with blood. If it be otherwise, may I be punished by all the supreme beings.” However, she has been living under constant suspicion from her neighbors concerning her past.

It is not easy to ask a victim to reconcile with a person who tortured or killed their parents, siblings and relatives. It is imperative that we do not forget the past, or as some have suggested, simply “dig a hole and bury the past.” One former S-21 prisoner, who lives not far away from the home of a former S-21 guard, said when he sees the former guard walk near his house he is tempted to kill him in order to avenge his suffering during the Khmer Rouge regime.

However, it is important to try to help these victims and the former soldiers of the Khmer Rouge heal and reconcile. For many years these 13 former Khmer Rouge soldiers have been living under constant suspicion from neighbors concerning their past. Nhep Ho aka Sovann served as prisoner guard at S-21 for nearly two years. “The villagers called me pro-Pol Pot. I do not mind them, since it is true that I worked for the Khmer Rouge revolution. Most villagers know I used to work in Tuol Sleng prison (S-21). However, I am sympathetic to my wife and my kids”. They have also become victims and continue to suffer.

Him Huy, a former deputy chief of guards at S-21, whose responsibilities including arresting and transporting prisoners to the execution site Cheung Ek, returned to his village just after the collapse of Khmer Rouge regime. During the 1980s most of the former solders of S-21 were called for reeducation and some were arrested and imprisoned. Because of his involvement with the Khmer Rouge regime, Huy was also arrested by the People’s Republic of Kampuchea authorities in Kandal province and held in a dark cell for nearly two years. Even though Huy was released from the jail, he is still living with constant suspicion and from neighbors and especially from Bou Meng, one of the 14 survivors of S-21. Meng said “when I see Huy, I want to kill him in revenge for what his cliques did to me in S-21.”

To reveal the truth and reply to the blame Him Huy said, “to tell the truth, I did not want to work there (S-21). I asked Son Sen, the Minister of National Defense of Democratic Kampuchea regime, if I could leave, but he refused. People still brand me as an S-21 worker. I shouldn’t have been one, but Duch (S-21 chief) and Hor (deputy chief of S-21) forced me to serve at that prison. I was ordered to do this. If I had refused, they would have killed me.”

In 1981, Sous Thy, who served in the documentation unit of S-21, was imprisoned in T-3 prison in Phnom Penh for three years. After he was released from the central prison, he says that he worked hard in his rice field, raised pigs and cows and tried to provide for his family. Because of his role in the Khmer Rouge, his wife and children also suffered isolation and suspicion. He now believes that few people in the village still hate him or his family, but he now lives alone with his wife about 60 kilometers south of Phnom Penh City, while his children are studying and working in Phnom Penh City. Thy claimed that “this is not because he believes that the villagers hate his children, but for their future.”

While brief, these excerpts from the Exhibit help to demonstrate the content and context of the display. We hope that it will help both the victims and perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge gain some understanding and perspective of this defining period in the history of Cambodia. Understandably, some victims and visitors will not able to find settlement for such loss by simply viewing this exhibit. Chum Mey and Vann Nath – two of the 14 survivors of S-21 – are stunned by their former jailer’s claims of innocence that “If they are victims, We don’t know what we are.”

It is not easy to achieve reconciliation in a short period of time and there is no way to change the view of Khmer people about themselves and others in a blink of an eye. Youk Chhang, director of Documentation Center of Cambodia said, “It is not right to lay all the blame for Cambodia’s present problems on the Khmer Rouge. But it is also not right to urge Khmer Rouge victims to forgive perpetrators while they see perpetrators walking freely in front of them.” Youk Chhang suggested that “What we can do now is to provide strategies for the victims and perpetrators so that they may seek justice by themselves, enabling them to forgive and to free themselves from the grip of the past so that both feel free to move on.”

The exhibition did provide a good healing process for the lives of those 13 soldiers and their families. It also helped bring greater insight to their neighbors and other Cambodians regarding their past. Most visitors – including Cambodian and non-Cambodian people – have gotten an opportunity to learn much about the history of Cambodia. Buth Vuthy, a young Buddhist monk from Niroth Rang-Sey pagoda, who visited the exhibition at Tuol Sleng wrote that “I heard what my parents told me about the Khmer Rouge atrocity. I did not fully believe them. But right now, I strongly believe what happened during the Khmer Rouge after visiting Tuol Sleng.” He also said that, “I pray for peace for Cambodia.”

Even though the Khmer Rouge genocide happened in Cambodia, it is part of the human experience and we need to prevent it from happening again. Carl, an Australian, commented that “The faces in the photographs show the reality of what happened. With all my heart I hope such acts will never happened again. I will tell all I know about this.” Lain Linn, a Burmese shared her regret that “I am really sorry for the people who have died in the past not only here also everywhere. We must try to stop the wars and the human rights violations that are happening in the world.”

Letting victims and perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge express their views of the truth from both sides can provide some relief. Silence can not help us understand nor will it lead to the truth. Since their pasts have been revealed, these 13 soldiers have begun a healing process. They claim that they will not hesitate to provide testimony regarding their actions in the S-21 prison if they are summoned to the forthcoming Khmer Rouge tribunal.

Education about the Khmer Rouge and the genocide they inflicted is essential for the next generation .The next chapter presents information on how the younger generation of Cambodians can benefit from getting further involved and learn from our recent history.


Chapter 5
GETTING YOUNG GENERATION INVOLVED
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Young people, all too often, are those most easily persuaded by ideologies, however frightening or strange they might seem to others. The lives of the 13 soldiers depicted in the Photo Exhibit should be considered as an example as most of them were very young when they joined the Khmer Rouge. Today, many high school and University students in Cambodia are not aware of the Khmer Rouge history. For example, during the national election campaign, several high school students were sited their opinions regarding the characteristics of leaders they want to see elected in Cambodia. One 15-year-old boy, a student at Sisowath High School, said, “I want to have a good leader who loves the nation like Hitler, is serious like Stalin, is friendly like Churchill, respects ideals like Lincoln and is brave like Napoleon.” This might be seen as a grim sign that genocide has the potential to return to Cambodia in the future if we fail to better educate our younger generations about genocide in general and the Khmer Rouge in specific.

Using photographs as a teaching tool is highly effective in the Cambodia. The Cambodian public’s response to this exhibition indicated not only positive reactions but also illustrated the dearth of information available to the public on this topic. For example, a group of students from Santhor Muk high school recorded in the visitor comments book that ”We were in shock while reviewing these photos. We were lucky that we were not born in the Khmer Rouge regime. We hope that such atrocities will not happening again.” Andrew, from England, and one of the Tuol Sleng visitors recorded that “It is all a matter of education. This museum is a start, but only to those travelling in Cambodia. Bring the leaders both dead and alive to trial and publicly educate the world. Unbelievable it happed so recently. But perhaps believable in one form or another, in one country or another, this torture will not be continued.”

In a country where nearly a third of population cannot read or write, access to the information about genocide such as provided in this photo exhibition is essential to educate Cambodians about our history. In the near future, the Documentation Center of Cambodia will publish books of this exhibit and distribute them nationwide. Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia said, “It is our intent that viewing these books will help preserve memory, spur public debate on Khmer Rouge issues, and serve as a stimulus to increase the public’s participation in Cambodia’s civil society.”

The following chapter presents the role of Documentation Center of Cambodia and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, which will continue to provide assistance to victims of the Khmer Rouge history.


Chapter 6
PRESERVE THE KHMER ROUGE HISTORY
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Since its founding in1995, the Documentation Center of Cambodia has worked to: 1) serve as a permanent resource to provide the public with a better understanding of the KR regime and 2) prevent the return of the killing field to Cambodia through legal and peaceful means. DC-Cam has been active in collecting documents relevant to the history of the Democratic Kampuchea era. To date, DC-Cam has amassed well over 600,000 pages of documents, approximately 35,000 photographs left behind the Khmer Rouge, and a variety of other potential evidence. With these documents, DC-Cam has published research papers and a monthly magazine called Searching for the truth. DC-Cam delivers these materials to villagers, to chiefs of villages, to top government officials, to schools and to libraries throughout the country. These publications serve as useful materials for villagers and students to learn about and preserve the Khmer Rouge history.

Moreover, DC-Cam has carried out numerous projects to promote the reconciliation between victims and perpetrators in the same community and toward genuine national reconciliation. Tuol Sleng Museum has also worked hard to keep the world aware of the massacre of the Cambodian population and to preserve the Khmer Rouge legacy for the next generation. It is very important for the next generation to remember the past and learn for the future.

Beyond the above principles and actions, it is necessary to construct the rule of law. The last chapter discusses the role of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal to bring about immediate and imperative change. We trust that the Tribunal will play a major role in furthering national reconciliation.
Chapter 7
RECONSTRUCTION THE RULE OF LAW
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“The Khmer Rouge victims cannot possibly be compensated for the horrors that they had to live through. Compared to their plight for a credible tribunal, justice is a very small demand.”
--- Youk Chhang, Director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia

For many years that, Cambodians have awaited justice for the crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. The Khmer Rouge atrocities were over 25 years ago, but it still follows fellow Cambodian people like shadow. Their abuses have hung like a dark shadow over the lives of the victims and their families, and hindered our nation’s development. Due to the slow process of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, either some oldest survivors who suffer the most in terms of justice and living conditions or Khmer Rouge leaders died before the trial. Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia said, “It is important to remember that 24 years after the regime of Democratic Kampuchea, was deposed, Cambodia has not yet achieved its goal of establishing a credible tribunal to try former Khmer Rouge leaders.” The future of Cambodia should not be a hostage of the Khmer Rouge history.

Recently, The United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia have signed an agreement that will lead to the establishment of the Khmer Rouge tribunal. This is a long and difficult process to seek justice for millions of victims. It is the most important step but this can never be sufficient. Dealing with the legacy of the Khmer Rouge period is a long-term process in Cambodia. It involves reconstructing the economy, strengthening the organs of democracy, and educating the younger generations. It also entails psychological healing and forgiveness in local communities. A tribunal will support these processes, but it will not eliminate the need for them. However, for the Cambodia context, the Khmer Rouge tribunal will play an important role in preserving peace, democracy and sustainable development in Cambodia.

Many Cambodians want a comprehensive trial of former Khmer Rouge members, but the government wishes to bring only top Khmer Rouge leaders to trial. Despite the stunning magnitude of these crimes, no senior leader of the Khmer Rouge regime has been brought to justice before a court of law. Instead, they walk freely, smiling at their surviving victims. In my view, that is a very bad example for future generations, as well as for Cambodia’s present and future leaders.



CONCLUSION
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For the future of Cambodia, it is necessary to change our suffering and to bring national reconciliation. The Photo Exhibition is one step in the process. It has also increased the pressure to bring the Khmer Rouge leaders to justice, to end the culture of impunity, and to help preserve peace and national reconciliation in Cambodia. In addition, in a country where nearly a third of the population cannot read or write, and where access to such luxuries as television and newspaper is difficult for many, these photos have proven to be invaluable educating the Cambodian people about its history and in helping them better understand their role in building and preserving the democratic process.

-End-

Khmer Rouge Tribunal Needed to Heal Wounds of All Cambodians

Opinion
The Cambodia Daily
Monday, January 17, 2005


Khmer Rouge Tribunal Needed to Heal Wounds of All Cambodians

Vannak Huy,
Rutgers University graduate student
New Jersey, USA


In response to the letter to the editor, “Ex-Khmer Rouge killer Has No Excuse for Past Crimes,” (Jan 12, Page 15), Nuon Sotheavy is absolutely right in the sense that “There is no one life that is more valuable than another.”

After former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein of Iraq was arrested and brought to justice for having committed genocide on thousands of Kurd minority people, the international community turned its focus on aiding the thousands of victims of the devastation tsunami. There is no proper compensation for victims and their suffering cannot be compared.

Unfortunately, the lives of millions of victims of the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979 have been given low priority, again and again.

The Khmer Rouge regime ended more than 26 years ago, but it still affects the country and its people. Since 1979, Cambodia has moved forward slowly and has had difficulty integrating into the region and the globe.

The Khmer Rouge history remains a battleground for Cambodians. It is important for Cambodians and the international community to view this history and find ways to deal with it.

During my research between 2000 and 2002 for my book, “The Khmer Rouge Division 703: From Victory to Self-destruction,” I interviewed numerous surviving Khmer Rouge perpetrators and victims. Most of the perpetrators had the same feelings and story as Suy Vith. They were recruited to join the revolution when they were young and had low education. They were indoctrinated to become nationalists with little consciousness.

During the regime, Suy Vith lost his dear parents as well. In this case, Suy Vith should be viewed as not only a killer, but also as a tool of the revolution and a victim of the Khmer Rouge.

Survivors from the Khmer Rouge regime returned home, suffering or traumatized by the regime.

The delay of the Khmer Rouge tribunal will continue to make Cambodians view each other and their history in different ways.

Cambodians need their value and dignity as equal human beings.

Two of my uncles joined the Khmer Rouge revolution in 1973 in the hope that they could help their family and country. Unfortunately, my uncles disappeared. During the Khmer Regime, I lost my elder bother, my grandfather and more than 30 relatives. My mother always sheds tears when she recalls this bitter past.

Although Suy Vith was involved in the Khmer Rouge regime, he is now making the right decision to testify in the future Khmer Rouge tribunal. The tribunal will not only clear his past and accountability, but also give justice to the victims.

I hope that the international community will open their hearts and take all efforts to find justice for the victims and those who have been victimized.

It is the wish and dream of the Cambodian people. Our hope is that the Khmer Rouge tribunal will bring not only justice, but also new thoughts, peace, reconciliation, and development to the country.

One alone cannot achieve real justice. But together we shall make a difference.

-End-

Former Khmer Rouge Fighters Speak Bravery to Hide their Fear

Letter to editor
The Cambodia Daily
March 26, 2003


Former Khmer Rouge Fighters Speak Bravery to Hide their Fear

Vannak Huy,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia


If the US army really fought against the Khmer Rouge soldiers during the 1970s as the claim of the Khmer Rouge that they were fighting against the Americans and the US took measures as they are doing in Iraq, they would be dead since then.

Many children between the ages of 15 and 18 joined the Khmer Rouge between 1970 and 1973, believing that they could help return Prince Norodom Sihanouk to power and end Cambodia's civil war. However, by 1974 and 1975, after the number of volunteers began to wane, village and commune chiefs forced children to become cadres.

The young Khmer Rouge soldiers had never believed that the war in Cambodia caused by Cambodian and killed their own people. Up to now, some former Khmer Rouge believed they fought against the US army in 1970s.

During their rule, most Khmer Rouge leaders were always boasting, too. Soon after the victory, the Khmer Rouge leaders ordered their young soldiers to arrest and kill many former Lon Nol officers by accusing them as CIA. Moreover former officers of Sangkum Rastr Niyum regime of King Norodom Sihanouk were arrested and killed one by one by the Khmer Rouge.

When the fighting along the border intensified, many youths and cadres of the Khmer Rouge were arrested and killed under the accusation of CIA, KGB or Vietnamese spy. However the victims were only Cambodians.

During the war against the Khmer Republican in early 1970s and against Vietnam in early 1979, the Khmer Rouge soldiers did not use heavy kit bags which the American and British troops are carrying in the recent war in Iraq. In late 1978 when the Vietnamese troops controlled some provinces, Pol Pot still asserted that a Khmer Rouge soldier was capable of fighting against 30 Vietnamese soldiers. Underestimating the war and overconfidence in victory of killing their people was just a self-destruction.

I am sure that all the former Khmer Rouge soldiers who are now watching the Iraqi war are frightening and scared to death, but they dare not say!

-End-

Don’t Let KR Chiefs Hole Up Against Justice

Letter to editor
The Cambodia Daily
Friday, December 19, 2003


Don’t Let KR Chiefs Hole Up Against Justice

Vannak Huy,
Researcher, Documentation Center of Cambodia

During his three decades of rule in Iraq, Saddam Hussein caused the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Kurds.

The arrest of Saddam on Saturday was a message to the world that those responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide must brought to trial and their victims given justice.

More than 1 million people -- from farmers to the royal family – were killed during the Khmer Rouge regime. Since 1979, some KR leaders have died without ever being prosecuted, and others have escaped responsibility from the acts they perpetrated.

In August 1979, the People’s Revolutionary Tribunal was held in Phnom Penh to prosecute the genocidal crime of the Pol Pot-Ieng Sary clique.

Unfortunately, there were no Khmer Rouge leaders at the trial; they were hiding in the jungle. But if they had been arrested at that time, then Cambodians would not have had to continue suffering and living with the past.

Since the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, Khmer Rouge leaders have had the chances to speak ill of their victims and tell lies to their supporters.

Hussein was arrested about 10 months after the collapse of his regime, and he will be prosecuted in the near future. The number of victims in Iraq under the rule of Hussein was less than in Cambodia under the rule of Khmer Rouge leaders, but they were similar in terms of suffering.

I hope that the KR leaders will not escape from the forthcoming tribunal to hide in the hole or cave.

-End-

The Need to Strengthen Cambodia’s rule of Law

The Need to Strengthen Cambodia’s rule of Law

Vannak Huy,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
February 1, 2002.


Many Cambodian youths got angry with a Thai film star who declared that “she will perform in Cambodia as long as she will be giving Angkor temple as a gift.” Angkor temple is representing the culture and soul of Cambodians and one of the marvelous things in the world.

Due to the great anger, the Thai Embassy in Cambodia was burn by a group of demonstrators who most of them were undergraduate students on January 29, 2002. The total destruction of the Thai embassy and businesses was widely reported by the national and international media. These events reveal that Cambodia’s rule of law is still weak.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has consistently pointed out that this failure is the number one problem obstructing not only Cambodian democracy but also Cambodia's return to the rule of law. AHRC has observed that anarchy and chaos prevail in Cambodia as it lacks a foundation upon which to cement an orderly society.

The response of Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen to the Thai embassy incident is typical of the way justice has been dispensed in Cambodia for decades. He was quoted as saying that, "The Government was incompetent for failing to crack down on the riots for the following reasons: we could not control the inflammatory information and did not use armed force to shoot rioters."

The Prime Minister's admission of government responsibility for the failure to prevent this incident was accompanied by remarks that show he simply is unable to comprehend the causes of this chaos.

In recent years, Cambodia's earlier rule of the gun had been diminished, and some opposition groups held public demonstrations without being attacked. This, however, was mostly due to the intervention and even physical presence of the international community.

Today, due to the lack of a rationally functioning police force overseen by an effective judiciary, a return to the armed forces shooting rioters is all that the Prime Minister can think about.

It turns out that the rule of law is probably more basic than privatization. Privatization is meaningless if you do not have the rule of law.

The fate of those Thai businessmen who made their investments in a country with no basic rule of law will naturally be taken seriously by others. The economic consequences on Cambodia, which is already impoverished, are sad to reflect upon.

The lesson from this incident is that judicial institutions--the police, prosecution and judiciary--must be firmly secured to ensure stability in Cambodia, including security for outside investors. This will require serious involvement by the international community, as there are powerful local interests militating against development of the rule of law in Cambodia.

After years of negotiations, the Royal Government of Cambodia and the United Nations finally reached an agreement to establish a tribunal to bring the senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime to trial.

Most donation countries and diplomacies believe that the future international Khmer Rouge Tribunal will help improve the local “justice system,” which deprives every living Cambodians the possibility of enjoying a society that respects the law.

Cambodia context at this moment, it’s clear that without such external recruitment and intervention from the international community, there is no way that Cambodia can move forward.

In fact, given the sheer devastation of recent decades, Cambodia's situation is much worse than that of any other country in the region. Hopefully this most recent incident will lead to more sobering reflections on Cambodia's problems, and more effective solutions.

-End-

Youth Speak Out on Election

Letter to editor
The Cambodia Daily
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2003

Youth Speak Out on Election

Vannak Huy,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia


I recently read a magazine, Save the Children Norway's Bamboo Shoots, about Children's opinions on the upcoming election. I am interested in their suggestions to the Cambodian politicians. Although they are unable to vote to elect the country's leaders, they do have a right to express their opinions regarding the characteristics of leaders they want to see elected in Cambodia.

A 14-year-old girl, a student at Lycée Descartes in Phnom Penh, said, “Cambodian politicians should not promise more than what they can do.” A 15-year-old boy, a student at Sisowath High School, said, “I want to have a good leader who loves the nation like Hitler, is serious like Stalin, is friendly like Churchill, respects ideal like Lincoln and is brave like Napoleon.”

Furthermore, I wish that the politicians respect children's opinions and the voters and will not lie to themselves, as well.

-End-

Vannak Huy on the Associated Press

Cambodia: 25 years after the Khmer Rouge

By Ker Munthit
The Associated Press


SROK SA'ANG, Cambodia — As a record keeper at the Khmer Rouge's most dreaded prison, Suos Thy would receive from above a list of prisoners. Each name was followed by the words: "Smash. Smash."

Suos Thy would cross the names off his register and the wardens would lead the inmates out of the S-21 prison to their deaths — often to be cudgeled on the head because bullets were too few to be wasted.

Tomorrow Cambodia marks the 25th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge's fall with new hope that a U.N. sponsored genocide tribunal will start work this year and bring long-awaited justice for the regime's atrocities.

But a big task will be to figure out who should be held accountable: those who gave orders, or those like Suos Thy who carried them out?

Now a 52-year-old pig farmer in a country struggling with democracy and mired in poverty and corruption, he sees himself as a victim of Khmer Rouge, forced by fear and the need to survive.

"I know I used to serve a regime that killed and was inhumane. But
whatever people say about me, so be it. I have survived," he said.

Two former inmates strongly disagree, saying they're stunned to hear their jailers claiming innocence. Thus the stage is set for bitter recriminations if and when the proposed tribunal starts working.

The communist Khmer Rouge's four-year rule, and their ambitions to create an agrarian utopia, turned the country into a vast labor camp riven with starvation and diseases. Those who disobeyed were executed. Some 1.7 million Cambodians — more than a tenth of the population — died. That's on top of tens of thousands killed during a U.S. bombing of North Vietnamese supply lines in eastern Cambodia.

The Khmer Rouge were ousted by an invading Vietnamese army on Jan. 7, 1979, but none of its leaders has ever been held accountable in a court. Its leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998 in the jungle as a hunted man. Cambodia's prime minister, Hun Sen, is a Khmer Rouge deserter.

Meanwhile, Cambodia has struggled out of the Cold War and embraced
democracy. It took five years of negotiations with the United Nations to set the terms for the tribunal.

Suos Thy sees it as a chance to not only to clear his name but also to seek justice for himself and the four siblings he says he lost to the Khmer Rouge for reaons unknown.

He admits to facilitating the killings at the S-21 prison, now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, in Phnom Penh.

He said those he processed for death included former comrades, and he was constantly afraid he would be next because of his association with them.

Huy Vannak, a researcher at a Cambodian center that compiles evidence against the Khmer Rouge, says the final decision will rest with the tribunal, but he believes the surviving jailers of S-21 can be seen as victims of the regime.

They were forced at young ages into joining the revolution, later becoming its "absolute tools immersed in ideology," he said.

"Arrests did not just end with those who failed in their duties, but
continued in chain to their family members, too," he said.

Up to 16,000 prisoners passed through S-21's gates before being killed at the Choeung Ek mass graves outside the capital, now a grim tourist site of piled-up skulls. Only 14 prisoners are known to have survived the prison. Among them are Chum Mey, 72, and Vann Nath, 58. They don't accept their former jailers' arguments.

"If they are victims, I don't know what we are," said Vann Nath.
He said he is "crystal clear" about the role of Suos Thy, who used to "go by the cells to call out prisoners to get on trucks" for a journey to death.

Vann Nath was kept alive by his skills in painting portraits of Pol Pot. Chum Mey, an engine mechanic, recalled never daring to look his jailers, including Suos Thy, in the eyes. He survived 12 straight days of torture — electric shocks, fingers broken, toenails ripped out — until he "confessed" to working for the CIA.

"I told them I was sworn in as a CIA spy in front of an American flag. I made up 50 to 60 names for them, and they wrote them down," he said. He had no clue what the CIA was, but the lie saved him, he said.

The day after the Vietnamese freed him, he saw his wife and youngest son shot by a Khmer Rouge soldier in a rice field.

" 'Run! run! They are killing me now,' " Chum Mey recalls his wife
shouting to him. He managed to escape, he said in a choked voice.

He said he can't stop thinking about his wife's death "while no justice has been done for her."

-End-

King Sihanouk BMD and Vannak Huy

Question de l'Equipe du BMD

(Chhorn Hay, Ke Kimsè, Srey Nory)

et

Réponse de Sa Majesté NORODOM SIHANOUK

_________



Phnom Penh, le 27 Juillet 2003

_________





BMD : “Dans THE CAMBODIA DAILY, Thursday, July 10, 2003, Mr Tim Sirois, Phnom Penh, écrit: "I was shocked and horrified to read the letter "Youth Speak Out on Election (July 18, page 15). Vannak Huy quotes a 15-year old Cambodian high school student: "I want to have a good leader who loves the nation like Hitler, is serious like Stalin …". The quote from the student goes on to mention Churchill, Lincoln and Napoléon. Is this a true, factual quote from a 15-year-old Cambodian high school student, or a twisted fabrication to illustrate a point? If this is a representative of youth in Cambodia, then obviously youth here need to learn the facts about Hitler and Stalin because they were monster-like leaders who murdered millions of innocent men, women and children. I sincerely hope that this twisted thinking is not the opinion of a real Cambodian youth. Surely Vannak Huy doesn't wish the leaders of this country to love their country "like Hitler" ".

Sire, quels sont Vos sentiments eu égard à ce souhait de voir le Cambodge se doter d'un Leader national ressemblant à Hitler, Staline, Churchill, Lincoln et Napoléon ?”.





NS : “Je me permets, à cet égard, de présenter quelques remarques:



I/- Ce jeune compatriote n'admire, n'aime aucun de nos Leaders nationaux. C'est son droit.



II/- Churchill et Lincoln: très bien. Mais faire un "cocktail" de Churchill et Lincoln avec Hitler et Staline, cela me dépasse. Quant à Napoléon 1er, il y eut ses glorieuses conquêtes, mais la France napoléonienne si glorieuse "au départ" eut, en fin de compte, une très triste et très humiliante "fin". Elle perdit tous les pays et autres territoires conquis et Elle fut occupée à son tour par la grande Coalition des Souverains et des Etats victimes de l'Impérialisme napoléonien.



III/- A l'heure actuelle (2003), nous avons un grand Sage en la très respectable et si sympathique Personne de S.E. Samdech CHEA SIM, lequel a dit récemment: "ce que notre Cambodge doit faire, c'est sauvegarder son intégrité territoriale (181 035 kilomètres carrés). Ni plus ni moins".



Ces 181 035 km², le Cambodge des années 1947-1962-1969 avait su les réaliser puis les sauvegarder. Mais après l'assassinat du SRN, c'est devenu une toute autre affaire”.

Youth Need to Know What Happpen

Letter to Editor
The Phnom Penh Post

Youth need to know what happened

Many high school and university students in Cambodia are not well aware of the history of Democratic Kampuchea. And many also seem to have little grasp of world history and politics. During the campaigns preceding the 2003 national elections, for example, the media solicited several high school students' opinions about the characteristics of the leaders they would like to see elected in Cambodia. One 15-year old boy said that he wanted to have a good leader who loves the nation like Hitler, is serious like Stalin, is friendly like Churchill, respects ideals like Lincoln, and is brave like Napoleon. Impressionable and ill-educated youth like this boy might be easily persuaded to adopt extreme and possibly dangerous ideologies, as did the Khmer Rouge.

Some Khmer Rouge survivors wanted to live in the dark past of the Khmer Rouge regime because of their recent poor living conditions, while others believed that the Khmer Rouge policy was very good, but bad in terms of arbitrary killing. This is because those people lost their spouse, children, and relatives during the Khmer Rouge regime; hold up many painful memories; and also lost productive forces. This is also seen as a grim sign of the Khmer Rouge atrocities torment Cambodia's youth.

Cambodian youth need to learn their country's history if they are to help build a nation that does not repeat the mistakes of its past. One of these "mistakes" was the rise of the Khmer Rouge. Their massive violations of human rights and their responsibility for the deaths of 2 million people must be fully understood by more than the regime's survivors and a handful of scholars. Without addressing the historical truths about the Democratic Kampuchea regime, the leaders who were responsible for committing one of the most extreme genocides of modern history will not be held accountable. They will continue to live with impunity, as they have for the nearly 24 years since the regime fell.

Future generations of Cambodians need to see how the shadow of Democratic Kampuchea still hangs over Cambodia today. By killing those with education and those who might voice opposition to the regime, by tearing families apart, by destroying both commerce and the arts, and by traumatizing and entire nation with fear and grief, the Khmer Rouge nearly destroyed Cambodia's culture. It has also hindered the country's development.

Providing a brighter future for Cambodia will be a long-term process. It will involve reconstructing the economy, strengthening the organs of democracy, and educating the younger generation about the consequences of the past. It will also involve forgiveness and reconciliation, which will allow us to heal and move forward. Only when we understand our past can we move toward a society that respects the rule of law and individual freedom.

- Vannak Huy - Researcher, Documentation Center of Cambodia, Phnom Penh(Vannak Huy is the author of The Khmer Rouge Division 703: From Victory to Self-Destruction).

The Khmer Rouge Division 703

Documentation Center of Cambodia
www.dccam.org
Email: dccam@online.com.kh

Vannak Huy
The Khmer Rouge Division 703
FROM VICTORY TO SELF-DESTRUCTION
Publication Date: October 2003

Price: $22 (English version)

Subject: Cambodia--Politics and Government
Cambodia-History, 1975-1979
Cambodia-Armed Forces-1975-1979

Physical Description: 220 pages, 160 x 240 mm, 20 illustrations, 1 map.

Abstract:

One of the most favored of the Khmer Rouge's nine military divisions, Division 703 was founded in January 1972 as Division 12, and was put in charge of the battlefields south of Phnom Penh. Most of its 5,000-6,000 soldiers came from peasant families in Region 25 (mainly from Kandal province). In July 1975, Division 12 was renamed Division 703 and placed under the authority of the Army chief of staff.

This monograph examines the careers of 40 cadres who worked in Division 703. Many young men and women between the ages of 15-18 joined the Khmer Rouge between 1970 and 1973, believing that they could help return Prince Norodom Sihanouk to power and end Cambodia's civil war. However, by 1974, after the number of volunteers began to wane, village and commune chiefs increasingly forced children to become cadres.

At the end of 195, soldiers from Division 703 with "clean" backgrounds were given positions at S-21 (Security Office 21, also known as Toul Sleng prison), its branch office S-21D (also called Prey Sar Prision), and various government offices and ministries. At least 85 of these cadres were later branded as "enemies" of the regime, arrested, and executed at the prison where they had worked. Another 482 of the division's soldiers were brought to S-21 as prisoners and eventually killed. In total, 567 soldiers from Division 703 were killed at S-21.

Those who survived the January 1979 defeat of the Khmer Rouge returned to their villages, only to find themselves called to their commune offices for "training" by leaders of the new People's Republic of Kampuchea government in the early 1980s. While some of them were allowed to return home after a short period of questioning and "reeducation," most of the former S-21 and Prey Sar cadres were sent to provincial prisons or the T-3 prison in Phnom Penh as a result of their involvement with the Khmer Rouge regime.

About the Author:

Vannak Huy was born in a Khmer Rouge hospital on February 1, 1978 in Pring village, Ang Kanh subdistrict, Prey Kabass district, Takeo province. His father is Huy Phon and his mother is Yit Kim Leng. In ealry 1979, one of his seven siblings, Huy Vannath, disappeared at the age of 28 in Pursat province when the Khmer Rouge were forcing people into northwestern Cambodia.

Mr. Huy graduated from the Royal Phnom Penh University in 2000 with a degree in Khmer literature. From 2000-2002, he received training in journalism under a USAID-funded project at Royal Phnom Penh University (RUPP). He conducted research on this monograph from August 2000 to December 2002.

Contact email: vannak@pegasus.rutgers.edu