As a teenager I read several John Pilnger books and watched his documentaries and followed the Australian peace keepers in Cambodia, so I am interested to see the memorials and museums.
I visited the S-21 prison where 17,000 people passed through form 1975 to 1979 – there are only 12 known survivors. I was prepared for horrific stories and walking through the prison and reading the stories of survivors, guards and events, I left with tears in my eyes. How can people be so brutal to one another in the 1970s and not question their part?
Individuals spent approximately 3 months in the prison and were tortured into false confessions. The academics, doctors, teachers, students, factory workers, monks, engineers were the first group imprisoned and later the Khmer Party’s paranoia turned on its self. The methods of torture included water boarding, beatings, electric shock and hot metal instruments, female prisoners raped and suffocation with plastic bags were part of their repertoire. The explanation of the guards about their part was they were too scared to speak up and afraid of what could happen to their families.
During the 4 year period of the Khmer Rouge up to 2.2 million people died – war with Vietnam, starvation or as prisoners – from a total of 7 million. The new ideals of removing technology and starting at Year Zero meant the country could not produce enough food to feed everyone. I remember the Vietnamese were given international condemnation for fighting the Khmer Rouge – at least one country did something!
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