Former Khmer Rouge prisoner describes torture at S-21

July 1, 2009
Anne Barrowclough in Sydney
The Times Online (UK)

One of the last four survivors of the Khmer Rouge's most infamous jail wept today as he told a Cambodian war crimes tribunal how he lost his wife at Tuol Sleng prison after the couple were arrested by the regime.

Bou Meng, 68, never saw his wife again after the couple were taken to Tuol Sleng, accused of being CIA spies.

He told the UN backed tribunal that he was whipped for hours every day as his torturers tried to force him to confess to being a spy, although he did not even know what the CIA was.

He had to stop several times to compose himself as he described the torture sessions to the court on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the capital.

"(My torturer) asked me to count the lashes. And when I got to 10 lashes he said, 'How can you get to 10 lashes? You've only had one lash,'" Bou Meng said, taking out a handkerchief to wipe his eyes."

Every time they beat me up, they asked me questions. When did I join the CIA and who introduced me to the CIA network?... I did not know what a CIA agent or network was, so how could I respond?" he added.

Mr Bou was testifying at the trial of Duch, the notorious director of Tuol Sleng who is accused of crimes against humanity, torture and the murder of 15000 people. Mr Bou was one of only 14 adult prisoners who walked out of Tuol Sleng alive when the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979, bringing to an end Pol Pot's four year long genocidal regime.

He had survived the horror of Tuol Sleng - where prisoners were brought to be tortured to death - because he was able to paint Khmer Rouge propoganda. He told the court that before his and his wife's arrest in 1977 he had worked at a technical school, was forced to the limit of his physical abilities building dams and canals, and finally planted vegetables.

"My wife and I put our hands behind our backs, and then they cut our hands. Then my wife cried and said, 'What did we do wrong? We are both orphans,'" Bou Meng told the court.

The couple were blindfolded with black cloth, Bou Meng said, and he realised they were being sent to prison as they were taken to be photographed."That (Tuol Sleng photo) is the only photograph I have of my wife with me today," he said.

He is the third former prisoner to give evidence at the trial of Duch, who has begged forgiveness from his victims despite refusing to accept full responsibility for the atrocities committed under his rule.

Although he admits culpability for the atrocities carried out atTuol Sleng in general, Duch has denied personally executing or torturing any prisoners.

Earlier this week another former prisoner, artist Vann Nath, told the court that the prisoners were given so little to eat that: "I even thought eating human flesh would be a good meal."Duch is the first of five former Khmer Rouge leaders to be tried for crimes committed as they presided over the obliteration of their people from 1975 - 79.

Last week the tribunal's Canadian co-prosecutor announced his intention to stand down, denying reports that he was standing down over his Cambodian counter-part's refusal to extend the prosecution to more former Khmer Rouge leaders.

Robert Petit, a highly respected prosecutor who has presided over some of the most notorious war crimes tribunals of recent years including Sierra Leone and the Balkans, was reported to have collated enough evidence to prosecute another six members of Pol Pot's regime.

However Cambodian prosecutors argued that extending the tribunal to include more cases would make it unnecessarily complicated and drawn out.Mr Petit said he was resigning from the tribunal for family reasons.