Tuol Sleng (S-21) Prison

Following the killing fields, our group went to Tuol Sleng prison. Tuol means hill in Khmer and Sleng is a poisonous seed from a tree, hence Tuol Sleng means poisonous hill. During the regime it was called S-21 for Santebal (Khmer for State Security Organization) and 21 (the radio number of a former prison chief), again concealing the true nature of the operation. 

The buildings were a newly constructed high school, converted to a prison and interrogation centre shortly after Pol Pot secured power. More than 12,000 people were tortured and sent to killing fields from Tuol Sleng. Only seven adults and five children were known to survive captivity at S-21 when the Khmer Rouge regime fell in 1979. Of those survivors, two adults and four children are alive today. 

Cell Block C

The children survivors were discovered in the prison by Vietnamese soldiers. There was an infant (who died not long after being rescued), a young girl and a boy who were adopted by a foreign families and are alive and well today, and two brothers who remained in Cambodia. 

One of the brothers and two of the adult survivors now work onsite at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

Survivor Chum Mey

Survivor Bou Meng - the tiniest and nicest old man ever, giving kisses to the ladies.

Scholars believe up to 180 prisoners and guards fled Tuol Sleng when Vietnamese forces overthrew Pol Pot and maybe as many as 23 survived, but only seven have been confirmed. 

Upon detention and arrival at S-21, prisoners were methodically documented and photographed. The walls of the lower level exhibits are covered with photos of prisoners - now all deceased. I asked why they were documented and our local guide said the officers had to provide proof that they were carrying out their duties to their superiors or risk falling victim to their own forces' brutality. 

There were 10 security regulations for prisoners including "while getting lashes or electrocution you must not cry out at all". Prisoners did not know why they were arrested but were tortured into providing information on their families, relatives and educated friends or into confessing to ludicrous crimes like being a CIA or KGB operative. After confessing though, prisoners were marked for execution at the killing field. 

Marks gouged in the wall for illiterate guards to be able to identity the right cell key

Initially prisoners were killed on the grounds of the prison, but as the number of corpses rise and the stench grew out of control, prisoners were transferred en mass to the killing fields by truck in the dead of night.

There are four buildings for incarceration labelled A through D. Cell block A was for the most important prisoners. Prisoners were kept chained to metal bed frames by an iron bar shackled to both ankles. 

There were 14 prisoners held in block A when the prison was evacuated. All 14 were executed and were the last to die in S-21. They are memorialized by 14 white tombs on the lawn of the prison. 

S-21 became the main interrogation centre for the Khmer Rouge. Methods used to secure information or "confessions" included beatings, whipping, water boarding, electrocution and the gallows. The high school gym equipment was appropriated to be tortuous. Prisoners had their hands bound behind their back and were hoisted on the bar until their shoulders dislocated. If they passed out, their faces were submerged in fetid water barrels until they regained consciousness. 

Again, women experienced further atrocities. Many were gang raped and there were multiple accounts of suicide attempts. No women are known to have survived Tuol Sleng. 

Of the known survivors, all had a particular skill valued by the Khmer Rouge leadership enough to keep them alive and spare them further brutal torture. Vann Nath was a carpenter who spent his days carving likenesses of Pol Pot. He passed away in 1998. Bou Meng was a painter who was assigned to paint realistic, photo-like paintings of Pol Pot. And Chum Mey was a mechanic fixing typewriters, water pumps, and electrical works. Bou Meng painted many of the crimes against humanity he had witnessed after his escape from Tuol Sleng. 

A memorial for the tens of thousands of victims of Tuol Sleng was funded by Germany. The goal was to inscribe all the names of known victims on the black tablets, but additional funding is needed. 

For a true recounting of the atrocities and experience of Tuol Sleng, I recommend the following books written by survivors, a portion of which goes to the Kseam Ksan fund which supports former victims of the Khmer Rouge. 

• Survivor: The Triumph of an Ordinary Man in the Khmer Rouge Genocide by Chum Mey
• A Cambodian Prison Portrait: One Year in the Khmer Rouge's S-21 by Vann Nath
• Bou Meng: A Survivor from Khmer Rouge Prison by Huy Vannak