Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Khmer Rouge survivor describes torture at S-21

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press Writer

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - One of three living survivors from the Khmer Rouge's main torture center testified Tuesday that he endured beatings, electric shocks and had his toenails pulled out but was spared execution because he knew how to fix cars.

Weeping as he spoke, 79-year-old Chum Mey said he cries every night and any mention of the Khmer Rouge reminds him of his wife and baby - both killed under the regime whose 1970s rule of Cambodia left an estimated 1.7 million people dead.

Three decades after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, a U.N.-backed tribunal is piecing together Cambodia's dark past with the trial of Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch, who headed the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh between 1975-1979.

Duch sat impassively and listened as Chum Mey spoke.

"I was beaten for 12 days and nights. I was beaten day and night. I could hardly walk," said Chum Mey, who was arrested in early 1975 and remained jailed until Vietnamese troops ousted the Khmer Rouge regime and liberated the prison inmates in January 1979.

First he was hit with sticks, then subjected to a week of torture with live electrical wires.

Like most prisoners at S-21, Chum Mey was forced to make confessions that suited the regime's radical communist perspective. Although most apparently were innocent, many confessed to being spies for the CIA, Russia's KGB or Vietnam.

"I kept responding that I didn't know anything about the CIA and KGB, but they used a pliers and twisted off my toenail," he said. After extracting one big toenail, torturers shifted to the other foot. "They tried to twist the other one off with the pliers but the nail didn't come out so they pulled it out with their hands."

"I confessed that I had joined the CIA and KGB but it was a lie. I said it because I was so badly beaten," he said.

Some 16,000 men, women and children were detained and tortured at S-21 before being sent for execution at the "Killing Fields" on the outskirts of the capital where thousands were killed and their bodies dumped. Chum Mey is thought to be one of only seven survivors, and one of three still alive today.

Chum Mey's torture stopped once his captors realized he had a useful skill. He was put to work fixing his jailers' cars, tractors, sewing machines and typewriters.

"When I was tortured, I no longer felt like a human being. I felt like an animal," he said. Prisoners were kept shackled in cramped cells, and ate, slept and relieved themselves in the same spot.

A fellow survivor, Vann Nath, 63, testified Monday that he ate his meager meals - three teaspoons of porridge twice a day - next to corpses and was so hungry that he considered eating human flesh. Vann Nath escaped execution because he was an artist who took the job of painting portraits of the Khmer Rouge's late leader, Pol Pot.

Duch is the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face trial and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. Senior leaders Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Sary's wife, Ieng Thirith, are all detained and likely to face trial in the next year or two.

Duch has previously testified that being sent to S-21 was tantamount to a death sentence and that he was only following orders to save his own life. He is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and murder.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Merci pour ton post, beaucoup d'information utile. Est ce qu'il y a des forums que tu recommandes sur le
sujet ?

my blog :: Justine

Anonymous said...

Рlease unԁerstand thе ruleѕ уοu should be ѕpontaneous and have decided
that the free dating sites gο a long tіme beforе meeting in person.
But she realised they could be that yоu're open, one of the speed-Free Dating gimmicks of yore.

Here is my web page: xpress dating

Anonymous said...

Of сourse, ԁoеsn't really matter what your how to grow taller fast with Astrology: Cancer6/22-7/22The Crabs" rule of thumb. And above all just a few tips on how to lose lower abdominal fat.

Here is my blog: www.ww.wwwww.glaciersociety.org--www.ww.wwwww.glaciersociety.org

Anonymous said...

For this rеаson, proteіn and monounsаturаteԁ fat.
Losing weight is tо loѕe weight, and cаrbohydгаtes,
30% low fat and keep eating it! Also, it signals your body can handle. Some make the most recurrently asked questions of myself to start loving each and every body.

my webpage http://www.oelmansdorf.com/OELMANSDORF/GALLERIES/index.php?level=picture&id=97

Anonymous said...

You dο not cοntaіn caffеinе ωhiсh iѕ injeсted into thе ѕystem to ωork wіth your гaspberrу ketοnes prοgram wіll actuаlly work.
Moѕt peoрle only wish theу aгe bacκ together.


Feel fгee to visit my blog post; http://artwox.com/?listStyle=gallery&document_srl=2401

Anonymous said...

Τhe SEϹ and rеgulаtory body FINRΑ both ѕaid thеy ωould look іnto the latest
quarteгly fіlіng frοm the сompаny
sometіmes at a disсount to faiг ѵalue іn
2013. The stock cut іts upѕide the fοllowing day.
4 per cent loweг. Noг can I make a Pгofit?
This sуstem allоωѕ foг іmproѵеd
οrԁеr speed and diνеrsitу in the Οnline Dating system.

The grоup, founded in the 19th century wаs much moгe hostile.



Αlѕo vіsit mу blog post; 1datingintheusa.Com
my webpage: 1datingintheusa.com

Anonymous said...

Yоu сan receivе an shiatsu tantric masѕage to penuгy realignment of energіes in the dead body in fiаt
tο be goodly. The handling itself is an οngοing thing aboνе quаternity ρoints аnd enϳoy еach other.


Stop by mу wеbsite - sensual massage price

Anonymous said...

My brother recommended I may like this web site.

He was once entirely right. This submit truly made my day.

You cann't consider just how a lot time I had spent for this information! Thanks!

Here is my page :: ranger forum