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Tuol Sleng S21 - The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine |
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I can't write a travel article about Cambodia and keep it upbeat or positive with the mention of Tuol Sleng. So what I've decided to do is seperate out the history of Cambodia, or the recent history at least, and just tell it like I see it. I've never seen anything like Tuol Sleng and it really affected me. I have a real issue regarding my reasons for going to such a place to start with. What sort of person wants to go and have a look at a Tuol Sleng or a Daytona Beach in Normandy? I hope I go to these places for the right reasons; because we should never forget. But I have a nagging doubt about the whole voyeuristic nature of such trips. The Cambodian people are, at least on the face of it, quite content for us to be there and open about what happened. My belief is that tourism will help to repair Cambodia, visitor numbers went through the one million mark in 2005 and look set to rise. There are no punches pulled here, Tuol Sleng and the Killing fields is not pretty, but I think it important to try and understand what happened in Cambodia, and if you want to understand Cambodia's recent history then there are worse places you could start than Tuol Sleng. Throughout the piece, the images are clickable and will bring up bigger pictures.
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A Brief History Cambodia got dragged into the Vietnam conflict because America believed that the Vietcong were smuggling arms through Cambodia. The American response was to bomb the shit out of Cambodia; the USA dropped more ordnance on Cambodia in 1973 than they did on Japan in the whole of WW11. Between 1970 and 1975 , a brutal civil war raged throughout the country. On one side, the anti-communist General Loon Nol, who had seized power in a military, coup ran an increasingly corrupt and American backed government. On the other side, the deposed Prince Sihanouk alligned himself with the anti-American Khmer Rouge. When the Americans pulled out, and the Loon Nol regime fell, Pol Pot and his barbaric 'year zero' vision was put into place. Under the Khmer Rouge communist ideal, the country was to be returned to an agrarian society where all crops (Cambodia was a nett exporter of rice) belonged to the state, Angkar, and the state fed the people. Pol Pot literally set the clock back to zero. There are no accurate figures for the number of people who died in Cambodia under the Pol Pot regime. Best estimates are that between 1.5 and 2 million people were killed or starved to death; around a quarter of the population at the time. What is certain is that almost twenty thousand people perished either in Tuol Sleng or the killing fields at Choung Ek 7km outside of Pnom Penh. |
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Images of Tuol Sleng In a place of powerful images, these particular pictures fairly screamed at me. I can't look at the image of the young man above without stopping and thinking. He must be 14 or 15 tops, I would think younger. He was in an adult 'prison' and clearly did not survive, only seven people did. Note how his tag is attached; that is all anybody needs to know about this place.And yet this is not the worst image we see. This young girl of a similar age would have been preyed upon by the guards , young women were terribly abused in Tuol Sleng. Her only blessing may be that she had no children, children were brutally treated at Tuol Sleng and the scenes depicted in the pictures here are accurate; Vann Nath survived the prison and his paintings are on display there. |
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Paintings by Vann Nath, one of only seven Tuol
Sleng survivors
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Torture Cell at Tuol Sleng |
Conditions at Tuol Sleng There are seven torture cells at Tuol Sleng. The ammo boxes on the bed were the toilet facilities. Each cell was occupied when the camp was liberated and the picture of the person who was found there is displayed in each particular room. I apologise for the quality of the pictures of victims, they are neccessarily pictures of pictures, but I hope they give some sort of idea of what this place is like. |
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Chan Kim Srun Increasingly, the Khmer Rouge turned upon itself and it's own officials in a paranoid attempt to impose it's ideals on the people af Angkar, and to root out counter-revolutinaries. The lady in this picture was the wife of a party official. Such people were often arrested, 'interviewed' and killed once they had confessed to their crimes, usually of working for the CIA.
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One of The Final 7 Victims at Tuol Sleng |
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Liberation of Tuol Sleng When the Khmer Rouge regime fell to the Vietnamese invasion in 1979, Tuol Sleng was abandoned and the final victims were left, literally, to the vultures. It is possible to actually stand in the torture cells at the foot of the bed and touch the place where this happened. The blood stains in the rooms, on the ceilings and on the walls, are left intact. Ho Van Tay, a Vietnamese combat photographer, was the first person to bring images of Tuol Sleng to the world and is readily acknowledged here.
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Photography Collection Doug Niven and Christopher Riley,discovered the damaged collection of negatives at Tuol Sleng, and restored the collection to that which we can see at the site today. They too are readily acknowledged here, their work has enabled us to see and understand a little of what happened in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. |
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Picture Boards and a Visitor
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History of S21 In different times, Tuol Sleng was a school; Tuol Svay Prey High School. When the Khmer Rouge turned it into a prison the conversion was rough, basic and very effective. It is preserved as it was found, although it is very difficcult to stand there in the peace and quiet and imagine the twisted savagery that was inflicted on so many people there. |
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Individual Cells Prisoners would typically spend two months in these cells. Again, the ammo box is the only 'facility' and they had to ask before using it. |
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Images of Tuol Sleng as it is Today
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Tombs of the final 14 victims |
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Acknowledgements The images here are pretty graphic, but I believe it to be important that these things are seen. I have read a couple of books which have been a real help in my research of Cambodia. Amit Gilboa's is a great read. Pin Yathay's Is a first person account of life under the Khmer Rouge and one man's escape to Thailand, a moving and poignant read. |
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Choung Ek Choung Ek, the Killing Fields, is the final resting place for the majority of the Tuol Sleng victims. There are human bones lying on tree stumps, clothing from the victims is left lying on the ground, and the tower of skulls is open to the elements. Choung Ek is the most appalling sight, and yet it is so important that it must be preserved; not restored.
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Conclusion Although I wanted to visit the genocide museum at Tuol Sleng and the killing fields at Choung Ek, I wasn't really prepared for what I saw and learned there. I'm glad I went, and I do believe that I went for the right reasons. I hope others go as well, because visitors will be an important part of the healing and rebuilding process if Cambodia is to prosper in the future. Make no mistake, it's a tough day this one and the images of Tuol Sleng will move all but the hardest of hearts. If you can go to Cambodia you should; this poor, abused and battered country deserves our support. |
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