Searching for the truth Issues 21 - Documentation Center of Cambodia

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Searching for the truth ⎯ Family Tracing 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 Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) Number 21, September 2001 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.’” DISCOVERY RAISES QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCHER When I was young, my mother told me how her uncle Chen Seng was taken by the Khmer Rouge to be killed because he was a lieutenant colonel in the Army of the Khmer Republic. Chen Srei Touch, Keo Kanitha Kim Chen Seng’s daughter, recalled that Chen Seng was a brave solder. She had lived with him until he was tricked into going to an “educational session.” Despite his age, Chen Seng became a commander in charge of military training in Takeo province. When the Khmer Rogue attacked Phnom Penh in 1975, Chen Seng was ordered to defend the city. He decided to leave his son Chen Sydin alone in Takeo province, since Sydin was busy with his studies and was needed to take care of the household. Unfortunately, on April 16, 1975, my great Keo Kanitha Kim uncle and his family were ordered to leave Phnom Penh. They then traveled by foot to Krek in Kampong Cham province. There, Chen Seng had to change his name and tell the local villagers that he was a charcoal seller. Chen Seng did not leave the place Angkar had assigned him until mid-1976, when a village chief asked him and two other villagers to go for “education.” About a week later, a young cow herder told Chen Seng’s wife that he had found three male bodies deep in the forest. Since it was widely believed that one of the bodies was probably that of Chen Seng, no one dared to go and look at the corpses. My great uncle was never seen again. His son, Chen Sydin, was evacuated to Tram Kak district, Takeo province in April 1975. His Aunt Henag, who still lives in Takeo province, said Angkar arrested him in 1978 for unknown reasons. Like his father, Chen Sydin was never seen again. When conducting research at the Documentation 47 100 100 100 100 100 100 50 50 50 50 Black Yellow Magenta Cyan
100 100 100 100 100 100 50 50 50 50 Black Yellow Magenta Cyan Number 21, September 2001 48 Chen Seng in the 1960s Center of Cambodia, I was greatly shocked when I discovered the confession document of Chen Sydin while reading Khmer Rouge documents from Kraing Ta Chan prison, Takeo province. My great uncle’s military position is mentioned in this confession of July 7, 1978. Because he died before the confession was completed, it does not appear that Chen Sydin’s confession had an impact on Chen Seng’s fate. Had the latter still been alive, however, the confession would have cost him his life under the Khmer Rouge policy of “smashing” internal enemies. (“To dig up grass, one must dig up the roots.”) Chen Sydin, who was tortured before confessing, was executed, too. In his confession, Chen Sydin asserted that with the help of six other people, he led treacheries against Angkar ranging from destroying hoes, earthmoving baskets, knives and axes, to placing a curse on the Khmer Rouge, asking for its collapse. He admitted that he had been a first lieutenant in the Khmer Republic regime army. Located in Trapeang Lien village, Tram Kak district, Takeo province, the grounds of Kraing Ta Chan prison are riddled with 21 mass graves containing the remains of some 10,042 people. The Khmer Rouge cadres employed torture or trickery with their victims, known as “hot measures,” so that they could obtain “confessions” that Searching for the truth ⎯ Family Tracing corresponded with the preconceived “truth” they were required to uncover. I ask myself while reading Chen Sydin’s confession about my great uncle: What happened to him? To what degree was the content of his “confession” the result of torture? How much pain did he suffer? How many Cambodians revealed the real status of family members after being tricked and tortured? How cruel were the methods of interrogation? These confessions surely led to the deaths of many people. During this occasion of Pchum Ben, my family and I believe that the souls of the dead will come to surrounding pagodas, hoping to receive offerings from their relatives or descendants through the prayers recited by the Buddhist monks. For more than 20 years the souls of Khmer Rouge victims have waited not only for offerings but also for justice. These souls, including those of my great uncle and uncle, will rest in peace as long as real justice is done for their suffering. May they rest in peace! KRAING TACHAN DOCUMENT D168 Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam)
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Searching for the truth Issues 21 - Documentation Center of Cambodia

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