Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (Khmer: សារមន្ទីរឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្មប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍ទួលស្លែង), also known as simply Tuol Sleng (Khmer: ទួលស្លែង; lit. "Hill of the Poisonous Trees" or "Strychnine Hill"), is a museum about the Cambodian genocide in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The museum is in a former secondary school. The Khmer Rouge used the school as Security Prison 21 (S-21) from 1976 to 1979. About 20,000 people were imprisoned there during those years. It was one of the estimated 150 torture and execution centers (known as "Killing Fields") created by the Khmer Rouge.[1]
History
[change | change source]Background
[change | change source]Tuol Sleng was originally a school called the Tuol Svay Prey High School. In March to April 1976, the Khmer Rouge, the ruling group in Cambodia, turned the school into a prison and interrogation center for people who were suspected of being against the government. They renamed it to Security Prison 21 (S-21).[2]
Torture and executions
[change | change source]People would be arrested if it was suspected that they were against the government of Pol Pot. Prisoners were forced to confess to be members of the CIA or KGB, even if they were not.[3] Torture methods such as waterboarding, cutting, suffocation, drowning, pouring out fingernails and pouring alcohol on the wounds were used, electrocuting genitals, and forcing prisoners to eat human feces or urine.[2][4][5] Some prisoners were used for medical experiments to help train surgeons. At least 100 prisoners were intentionally bled to death.[6] The chief of the prison, Kang Kek Iew (also known as "Duch"), admitted that "live prisoners were used for surgical study and training. Draining blood was also done."[7]
Most prisoners stayed at Tuol Sleng for two to three months before being executed.[2] Kang Kek Iew ordered many executions. On a list containing the names eight teenage prisoners and nine child prisoners, he wrote the order "Smash them to pieces." Many prisoners would be stabbed in the neck or clubbed to death.[4]
Survivors
[change | change source]The total amount of prisoners who were kept at Tuol Sleng is unknown, but it is usually estimated at around 20,000. The amount of survivors is also unknown. There are twelve confirmed survivors, including seven adults and five children (one child would die shortly after liberation).[2] These survivors say they were kept alive because they had talents and skills that the guards thought were important to keep. Some survivors, such as Chum Mey and Vann Nath, wrote and documented their experiences at Tuol Sleng.
Discovery
[change | change source]In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and liberated Tuol Sleng. A Vietnamese photographer named Hồ Văn Tây followed the smell of rotting corpses to Tuol Sleng and took many pictures. He was the first to document Tuol Sleng to the world outside Cambodia. Sometime between 1979 and 1980, Tuol Slong opened as a museum showcasing the actions committed by the prison guards.
Court trial
[change | change source]In 1997, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia was founded to hold trials for the culprits of the Cambodian genocide. On 31 July 2007, the chief of Tuol Sleng, Kang Kek Iew, was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. In February 2008, was taken to Tuol Sleng and collapsed in tears after saying, "I ask for your forgiveness – I know that you cannot forgive me, but I ask you to leave me the hope that you might."[8] He was first sentenced to 35 years but his sentence was extended to life in prison in 2012.[9] He died in 2020.[10]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Locard, Henri, State Violence in Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) and Retribution (1979-2004) Archived 2021-10-31 at the Wayback Machine, European Review of History, Vol. 12, No. 1, March 2005, pp.121–143.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Khamboly Dy (2007). A History of Democratic Kampuchea, 1975-1979. Documentation Center of Cambodia. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia. ISBN 978-99950-60-04-6.
- ↑ "How two men survived a prison where 12,000 were killed". BBC News. 2015-06-11. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wallace, Julia (2011-04-12). "The Eccentricity of Evil: A Khmer Rouge Leader Goes on Trial". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
- ↑ DeNike, Howard J. (2000). Genocide in Cambodia: Documents from the Trial of Pol Pot and Ieng Sary. Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights Ser. John B. Quigley, Kenneth J. Robinson. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-3539-5.
- ↑ "Khmer Rouge executioner found guilty, but Cambodians say sentence too light". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
- ↑ Fawthrop, Tom (2009-07-16). "Cambodia: Trial gives killing fields survivors a chance of justice". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
- ↑ Bizot, François (2009-02-17). "Opinion | My Savior, Their Killer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
- ↑ "After Guilty Verdicts in Khmer Rouge Tribunal, Broader Struggle for Accountability Continues in Cambodia | International Center for Transitional Justice". www.ictj.org. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
- ↑ Mydans, Seth (2020-09-02). "Duch, Prison Chief Who Slaughtered for the Khmer Rouge, Dies at 77". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
