Meeting the Khmer Rouge and The Horror of Torture

I felt to post an excerpt out of my book ‘A Fool for Peace’ on the subject of torture. When I hear people say they approve of torture my first thought is ‘so you don’t mind if someone tortures you?’.  Experience is a great teacher and when any person experiences being in extreme pain they may change their tune.  Does it get confessions – yes, does it give information – yes, does it solve the real underlying problem? Or does it create more violence in our world? You have to find that answer. We all get to choose.

Below is my experience of exploring the Khmer Rouge and meeting their leaders. I sat a long time contemplating the mindset of those who justify torture as necessary. My experience catalysed in me a commitment to peace and reiterated the importance of peace education for children.  That was the light in the dark I felt.

From my book in reference to my experience on the Rotary Peace & Conflict Studies Program:

Another important aspect of the Rotary program was travelling to Cambodia to visit the Killing Fields, this was a powerful experience for me. It catalysed the memories from the movie of the same name. I was struck by the reality of 1.5 million Cambodians killed by communist leader, Pol Pot, between 1975 to 1979.  In the 1960’s he was persecuted by Norodom Sihanouk, the leader of Cambodia.  In the jungle he formed the Khmer Rouge to conduct a guerrilla war against Sihanouk’s government. In 1970 Prince Sihanouk ws ousted by a US backed right wing military group. Interestingly, Sihanouk moved closer to the Khmer Rouge and when the US invaded to oust the Vietnamese from the border which drove them deeper into Cambodia where they allied themselves with the Khmer Rouge… From 1969 until 1973 the US bombings in eastern Camodia killed up to 150,000 Cambodians.[i]

Pol Pot studied Marxism in Paris and when in power started an experiment to create an agrarian utopia modelled in part on Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution (Great Leap Forward) which he had witnessed during a visit to China. Cambodia’s name changed to the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea. [ii]  Year Zero began and the aim was to purify society of capitalism, western culture, religion, foreign influences in favour of a peasant communism. The Khmer Rouge killed anyone that opposed Pol Pot or threatened the perceived utopian society, they even killed people wearing glasses believing them to be intellectuals. The irony was many deaths occurred during this period were due to starvation on the very agricultural land they worked. Twenty five (25%) of the population died from starvation, overwork and executions. The cities were cleared and quickly by the rumour of a nuclear threat or at gun point. People fled to the countryside, 20,000 died on route. The people became slave labour working from 4am to 10pm, in what became known, as the killing fields.   

We visited  the Choeung EK Genocide Memorial and were shown where people were killed violently including babies against trees. We were shown the glass exhibit depicting vertical rows and rows of skulls with remnants. (see photo).  The stark reality was in front of you as you deeply contemplated, these skulls were ordinary humans.

We were taken to a converted high school re-named Tuol Sleng Genocidal Museum. We were shown the rooms where people were tortured in and the many torture devices. Apparently 20,000 were tortured into false confessions or suspects shot. We walked past silently the endless rows of photos of those who were perceived as Khmer Rouge traitors.  They were all killed. I felt the death in this place and found myself deeply contemplating the reality and mind-set of murder (see photo). I imagined how negative projection devalues humanity and sees the enemy. I felt the negative energy still in the walls of this place, later I had a shower. I thought how do we educate children to get this? Maybe a course ‘From Pol Pot to Gandhi’.

We were taken to Kep Village, Southwest Cambodia to meet with the actual Khmer Rouge. It was a good test for me to not enter into judgement, dislike or hatred. I wanted the commander to sit next to me. I observed him deeply and saw him march out of the meeting he appeared angry and upset. I contemplated how they processed the past given the present times, whether they had shut away a part of themselves to forget it or if they were in denial or the full weight of guilt affected them. I felt compassion for the commander, as many Khmer Rouge were young people brainwashed (like Hitler youth) by Pol Pot’s propaganda and vision of an agrarian simple society using brutal repression. Sitting with former members of the Khmer Rouge, I reflected on how members of the actual Khmer Rouge were not healed from this horrendous era in Cambodian history. Ironically the Khmer Rouge were still in government, Prime Minister Hun Sen is a former member of the Khmer Rouge. I found that fascinating given the United Nations Criminal Court (ECCC) proceedings investigating the key perpetrators of the genocide of 1975 to 1979 period.  This was being discussed in themedia whilst we were there.

We were taken to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh to see the judicial chambers and hear of viewpoints as to the healing that may or not happen as a result of the trials.The court had bullet proof glass and one can only imagine the pain that ordinary Cambodians felt. There was deep sorrow in Cambodia over this era and every family was affected, some feared the opening of old wounds, others felt only selected people would go on trial (show trial) and others considered healing as the outcome as people weren’t speaking about it. It was a powerful experience, one I will not forget.

We had the privilege to meet the only survivor from Tuol Sleng, an artist by the name of Wan Nath (see photo). He had witnessed at Tuol Sleng Prison the murder of thousands of people under the tyranny of the prison commandant nicknamed Duch (Kang Kek Iew or Kaing Kek Iev).  The only reason he survived is that Duch liked his artwork. He was the only one. 

Here is a profile of Kaing Guek Eav’s (Duch) crimes:

May 1976 all the prisons in Phnom Penh were consolidated and relocated to Tuol Sleng. Prisons like Tuol Sleng were created to cleanse the ranks of the Khmer Rouge of suspected enemies of the revolution.Duch ordered the execution of prisoners after their interrogation was completed. For example, on a list containing the names of 17 prisoners (eight teenagers and nine children), he wrote the order “Smash them to pieces.” On a longer list of detainees, his annotation reads “smash: 115; keep: 44 persons.” The text below this annotation reads “Comrade Duch proposed to Angkar; Angkar agreed.” On a list of 20 female detainees, Duch wrote annotations for each of them, ordering: “take away for execution,” “keep for interrogation” or “medical experiment”. At least 100 detainees died after having their blood drawn for transfusions for wounded soldiers. Surgical operations were also performed on detainees in order to train medical staff.[11]

Duch impressed his superiors with his work and was appointed the head of Democratic Kampuchea’s dreaded “special branch” – the Santebal.

… in February 2008, as part of the judicial process, Duch was taken to the scene of his crimes. He reportedly collapsed in tears after stating, “I ask for your forgiveness – I know that you cannot forgive me, but I ask you to leave me the hope that you might.”
On 16 February 2009, the UN supervised trial of Duch began at a Phnom Penh court. Duch was prosecuted by international co-prosecutors William Smith and Anees Ahmed and was charged with “personally overseeing the systematic torture of more than 15,000 prisoners.”[2] The presiding judge of the case was Nil Nonn. Duch was tried by a panel of five judges — three Cambodian, one French and one New Zealander — according to a 2003 pact between Cambodia and the United Nations establishing the tribunal.[iii]

After an Initial Hearing on 17 and 18 February 2009, the substantive part of the trial commenced on 30 March 2009. Duch’s trial concluded 27 November 2009. During the 77 days of trial, 9 expert witnesses, 17 fact witnesses, 7 character witnesses and 22 Civil Parties were heard before the Trial Chamber. More than 31,000 people followed the proceedings at the court building. On 26 July 2010, the Trial Chamber convicted Kaing Guek Eav and sentenced him to 35 years imprisonment. His sentence was reduced by five years as a remedy for his illegal detention by the Cambodian Military Court between 10 May 1999 and 30 July 2007. He also received credit for time already spent in detention under the authority of both the Cambodian Military Court and the ECCC.[iv]
Key allegations:

•  Crimes against humanity
– persecution on political grounds,  

          – extermination (encompassing murder)

          – enslavement,

          – imprisonment,

          – torture and

          – other inhumane acts

•   Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 

           – wilful killing,      

           – torture and inhumane treatment, 

          – wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, 

          – wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or civilian of the rights of fair and regular trial,

       – unlawful confinement of a civilian

Duch was a simple math’s teacher who joined the Khmer Rouge, he learned torture techniques and had no compassion for those who he tortured to death. His beliefs enabled him to disconnect. I thought deeply about mind control, government authority, militarism, power, disconnection, fear and cruelty.  I imagined what if I was lying on those wire beds listening to the screams of those tortured? How would I feel? I awoke in the middle of the night whilst editing this section. I do have an understanding of the feeling of torture, I realised it has been when I’ve felt powerless and believed another has felt nothing in the face of my suffering. I then turned my attention to my own society where there is: bullying, abuse, domestic violence, stonewalling, lack of consideration for neighbours and so on. I was able to see there is a bit of Hitler and Pol Pot in everyone. So if under certain circumstances there is an aspect of humans which is selfish, emotionally disconnected and cruel, then can we create circumstances, environments, values where the opposite can flourish? I wonder who this maths teacher would have been in his life had Pol Pot the dictator never existed, probably a person enjoying teaching his students. Such is the power of mind control and beliefs disconnected from inner virtues where we know our inner navigation. How important is emotional intelligence?  How important is questioning?  Love?

Another important source for readers here is the Miligram experiment by psychologist Stanley Milgram which is a well known story about obedience to authority even when another is visibly suffering.[v] The experiment was not actual electric shocks but the participant being asked to administer the electric shock, believing it to be real. They employed an actor pretending to suffer. What was interesting was when the actor got an answer wrong the participant was asked by an authority figure to give a shock.  The intensity of this shock was increased overtime. The actor would scream louder and plead for it to stop. It was fascinating to discover that some people would obey authority over their own conscience to the point where it was perceived as lethal to the person receiving the shock.   

So the key question is:

How do we create a future where men and women feel empathy for others and follow their own emotions as their conscience?

 Perhaps you have that answer now.