Duch Denies that Another “Survivor” Was Imprisoned at S-21

by Laura MacDonald, Member of the New York Bar and Consultant to the Center for international Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law
— 6 Jul, 2009

The Trial Chamber started off the day by announcing the removal of yet another witness from the list of those set to testify during the trial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch). After a strange day of testimony by civil party Ly Hor in which few, if any, new facts regarding Tuol Sleng prison (S-21) came to light, I expect the Chamber will increase its standards even further and more witnesses will be struck from the list.

Last week, after a day of detailed testimony by child survivor Norng Chan Phal, Duch argued he was never a prisoner at S-21 because all children were killed as a matter of policy and none ever escaped. Duch noted there were no documents demonstrating Chan Phal or his mother ever arrived at S-21. Duch’s challenge came in the late afternoon and appeared to shock all parties, including the judges. Today, the defense took a new approach announcing Duch refuted the fact that the witness was an S-21 survivor before the witness began to testify. The defense stated that it made the challenge known early so the judges and parties could question accordingly. President Nil Nonn brushed the suggestion aside, responding that the defense would be given an opportunity to verify Ly Hor’s statements during the defense’s regular question time. However, not long into the President’s examination of the witness, certain questions from the bench were clearly aimed at determining if Ly Hor was in fact at S-21.

57-year-old Ly Hor had trouble understanding questions put to him and recalling the events from 1975 to 1979. After defecting from the Khmer Rouge army and being arrested sometime in 1975, he allegedly spent time in four detention facilities – Office 15’s prison, Ta Kmao Psychiatric Hospital, S-21, and Prey Sar re-education camp, also known as S-24. The lines among these four facilities seemed to be blurred in his memory and his testimony. At Ta Kmao, he claims he was interrogated three times and beaten into giving confessions before being transferred to S-21 where he was interrogated only once. He spent about a month at S-21 before being transferred to S-24 from which he eventually escaped by swimming across a river…

Read more: ctm_blog_7-6-2009

Cambodia Tribunal Monitor’s Trial Observer posts are written according to the personal observations and opinions of the writer and do not constitute a transcript of ECCC proceedings or the views of Cambodia Tribunal Monitor and/or its partners. Official court transcripts for the ECCC’s hearings may be accessed at the ECCC website.