Phnom Penh, Cambodia: S-21 prison and the Killing Fields

Last Tuesday was a somber day of traveling in Cambodia.  Two hostelmates, Martin and Isabella, and I hired a tuk-tuk for the day who took us to the Tol Sleung Genocide Museum, which also goes by the name S-21, short for Security Prison-21 and one of the killing fields.

Heartbreakingly, the S-21 prison used to be a high school.  Then in 1975, the Khmer Rouge, the Community Party in Cambodia, under Pol Pot, seized power and control of Phnom Phen.  Their plan was restructure the country.  They forced people from the city into rural areas to work in the farms.  They arrested professionals-- mechanics, doctors, teachers.

The prisoners at S-21 were innocent people, arrested because of their profession.  They were tortured at the prison and were forced to confess to crimes they didn't commit and name innocent family and friends as enemies of the Khmer.

Each prisoner was photographed and their photos were on display.  Hundreds of photos were on display in room after room.  Some of the prisoners were only children.  To identify the prisoners the Khmers saftey-pinned an identification number to the prisoner through the skin of their throat.  You could see the pin going through their skin in the photographs.

In another room hung paintings by one of the prisoners who survived.  He painted scenes of torture that he either witnessed directly, or was told about by another prisoner   In one picture, a man was struggling to bear weight under a pole on his shoulder while standing in a container of water.  Eventually, he would tire out and drown.  Another picture showed the Khmers transporting a person like they were an animal, with their feet and hands bound to a pole, while the rest of the body hung.

Seven of the prisoners survived when the Khemers were defeated by the Vietanemese.  2 are still living.  I took pictures with both.  I can't imagine how hard it must be for them to sit in the prison every day to try to sell their book.

Prisoners were confined to small places and chained together at their feet.  The guide told us that they were so hungery and would eat anything they could find, including leaves and insects.

In 4 years Pol Pot was responsible for killing 20% of Cambodia's population.  Many of the people who carried out the tortures and killings denied involvement.  Some are still alive and are confined to prison not too far from S-21.

We then went to one of the several "killing fields" or mass graves.  We went to Choeung Ek.  Prisoners were brought here from Toul Selig and were beaten on their head with machetes or clubs and then buried   They weren't shot because for the Khmer, bullets were too valuable.

On one tree hung hundreds of colored bracelets people hung to memorialize the infant victims.  The person who discovered the killing filed described how he saw blood and tissue matter on the tree.  It is proposed that the Khmers would grab babies by their legs and smash their heads on the tree, and then dump their bodies in graves.

I couldn't believe it when my audio guide said that you could still see human bones and pieces of cloth in the field.  But sure enough, Isabella and I spotted teeth, bones, and clothing.  Imagine that!  After 30 years.  And workers collect all the bones and clothing that surfaces every 6 months.