TRAUMATIZED SURVIVOR PAINTED POL POT AMIDST SCREAMS FOR HELP

July 1, 2009

By Laura MacDonald, Member of the New York Bar and Consultant to the Center
for International Human Rights, Northwestern University School of Law

Today, the Trial Chamber heard the testimony of 68 year old civil party Bou
Meng, the third Tuol Sleng prison (S-21) survivor to testify in the trial of
prison chief Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch). Like his fellow S-21 inmates Vann
Nath and Chum Mey who testified earlier this week, Bou Meng’s life was
spared because he possessed a skill Duch wanted to exploit – he could paint
excellent black and white portraits of Pol Pot.

Bou Meng’s Story

After the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) came to power on April 17,
1975, Bou Meng was ordered by the regime to work at a technical school
drawing sketches of machines for students to study. Sometime in 1976, he and
his wife were transferred to a farming cooperative where he was forced to
dig canals, build dams, make plows, and plant vegetables while she worked in
the rice fields. One day, he was told he would be moved to a fine arts
school to teach, so he and his wife happily boarded a truck. Unfortunately,
it did not take them to an art school, but rather dropped them off at S-21
where they were arrested, photographed, blindfolded, and walked to different
prison cells. Bou Meng never saw his wife again. Sadly, the picture taken of
his 25 year old wife that day wearing a prisoner identification number is
the only photograph he has of her today.

Bou Meng was shackled in a large common room with around 40 other prisoners
who “all looked like hell.” His account of the conditions and treatment
there accord with the testimony of his fellow artist, Vann Nath. He slept on
the floor head-to-head with other prisoners, at least one of whom died when
a guard stomped on his chest; that corpse was not removed until much later.
He spoke of extreme hunger such that he wished lizards would fall from the
ceiling so he could eat them. Thirst was constant. Prisoners “were washed
like pigs” by being sprayed with a hose through a window every week or so.
Prisoners took off their only item of clothing – their underwear – for the
event. After guards mocked their naked bodies, the prisoners used their
shorts to dry the floor so they could again lie down. Prisoners developed
terrible skin rashes and lice. No one was allowed to speak. “It was like
hell.”

Prisoners constantly disappeared and never came back, including a few
Westerners. He said guards waited for prisoners to get weak to torture them
or “peel [their] skin,” as they called it. Therefore, they waited roughly
five months before they started to interrogate Bou Meng. Over the course of
several weeks, he was tortured by five guards, one at a time until they had
exhausted themselves. He was typically taken to a house outside the S-21
complex and shackled face down to receive lashes and beatings. One guard
dropped a bunch of sticks next to Bou Meng and told him to choose one.
Another forced him to count the lashes on his back out loud and then
punished him for allegedly miscounting. As if his back wounds did not hurt
enough, guards shoved gravel in the wounds and poured salt water on them,
the latter being a form of supposed medical treatment. Bou Meng was also
electrocuted with a wire running from the wall through a machine to his
inner thigh. The voltage knocked him unconscious and he came to soaked in
water. One civil party lawyer asked him how long he was unconscious and Bou
Meng chuckled explaining that when one is unconscious one is not aware of
the time. As with the other survivors, interrogators repeatedly asked Bou
Meng about his involvement with the CIA and KGB. At the time, he did not
know anything about these organizations. Bou Meng still questions why they
thought he was a spy when he served the CPK diligently. Eventually, since he
would not confess, interrogators typed up a false confession and Bou Meng
signed it without knowledge of the contents. After these twice daily torture
sessions, he was placed in an individual cell, rather than back in the
common room.

Shortly after his “confession,” a guard came around asking if anyone could
paint and Bou Meng raised his hand. He then had a face to face meeting with
Duch who tested his artistic abilities with a pencil and paper. While Vann
Nath was a master of color paintings, Bou Meng specialized in black and
white portrait painting. He was given a small photograph of Pol Pot, whom he
did not recognize, and produced four large reproductions of it over the
course of many months in a workshop at the center of S-21. He also painted
Mao Zedong and a dog bearing Ho Chi Minh’s head. Duch would come to observe
and monitor his painting regularly, usually during the daytime, making
suggestions about such things as modifying Pol Pot’s neck. Sometimes he
laughed and smiled, but he “did not treat [Bou Meng] like a human being.”
Duch never beat Bou Meng personally, but he did threaten him, saying he
could be turned into “human fertilizer.” On one occasion, Duch also forced
Bou Meng to fight with another worker until he ordered them to stop. During
this time, Bou Meng spent his nights sleeping in a generator room with a
group of other skilled workers and received “adequate” food.

Bou Meng witnessed a few examples of prisoner ill-treatment. A Vietnamese
civilian who claimed he could make a wax mold was kicked “like a ball” after
failing Duch’s skill test. He saw a pregnant prisoner kicked by female
guards who yelled that she was walking too slowly. He saw a very thin man
carried to a truck with his hands and feet tied to a wooden stick “like a
pig.” While he did not witness interrogation or torture directly, Bou Meng
said cries and screams for help seemed to be “coming from everywhere” as
houses used for interrogation were scattered around S-21. Later, the defense
challenged him on this assertion given that he also said prisoners were not
allowed to talk. Bou Meng dramatically pointed outside and exclaimed, “If I
am exaggerating, I would be run over by a bus.” The defense sought to
clarify some other minor inconsistencies, possibly trying to establish the
foggy memory of this aging torture victim who many times today apologized
for his poor memory. The defense also established that when Bou Meng worked
at the CPK-run technical school sketching machines he obeyed orders out of
fear. Perhaps, the defense was setting up a weak analogy for a later time –
that, like Bou Meng, Duch followed orders to massacre 12,000-plus prisoners
out of fear.

Thirty years later, Bou Meng is still suffering. He believes his poor
hearing, memory loss, tooth loss, and insomnia are the result of the torture
and ill-treatment. He says he is far older than his years and receives
psychological treatment. He has numerous scars on his back. He appeared
traumatized throughout his testimony: “I could not even eat my lunch today I
was so overwhelmed.”

A Missing Chapter in the Story

The flexibility of civil law allowed for the most powerful exchange of the
day. President Nil Nonn allowed Bou Meng to ask Duch if he knew where his
wife was killed. In a heartbreaking plea, Bou Meng said he just wanted to be
able to pick up some soil so he could finally put his wife to rest. Duch
stood to provide an emotional response. He said he was especially moved by
Bou Meng’s testimony and would like to give him an answer, but it was beyond
his knowledge as his subordinates carried out these matters. Duch said he
presumed she was killed at Choeung Ek. He then expressed his “highest
respect and regards toward the soul of [Bou Meng’s] wife.” Bou Meng broke
down in tears as Duch took his seat.

Interesting Aspects of the Proceedings

The civil parties reacted to President Nil Nonn’s arguably cold demeanor
toward Chum Mey yesterday. Before Bou Meng took the stand this morning, his
lawyer Silke Studzinsky requested that the Chamber instruct witnesses that
they can take short breaks to compose themselves if needed and allow such
breaks during the proceedings, for example to allow a witness to consult
with the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) that is on hand.
Studzinsky also requested such emotional break time as well as time spent on
procedural matters not count against a party’s question clock given that the
parties are “feeling very much under pressure.” The President seemed annoyed
as he explained that the Chamber was already vigilant about keeping track of
the time used for questions and would “be flexibly accordingly.” The
President instructed lawyers to alert the Chamber if witness assistance
seemed warranted. He said the Chamber noted yesterday that the witness
composed himself after a few moments.

Indeed, yesterday Chum Mey broke down several times. Each time, he was
immediately instructed by the President to “compose himself.” During Bou
Meng’s testimony, the President was quick to instruct the witness to console
himself, but today did so in a wordier, more reasoned manner. The President
repeatedly reminded Bou Meng – who broke down countless times – that he had
waited so long for this opportunity to speak and today was his only chance
to tell his story. Moreover, the President said if Bou Meng was emotional he
might forget details.

After her initial plea, the only time Studzinsky jumped in to protect the
witness came when the President asked Bou Meng to take off his shirt to show
the Chamber the scars on his back. After a short break, the President said
the panel changed its mind and would like photographs to be taken instead.
Bou Meng agreed.

Predictably, the civil party lawyers requested more question time again
today, specifying ten minutes. The defense stated that if the civil parties
were given extra time, they would expect the same. Predictably, the request
was denied.

On Monday and again today, head international co-prosecutor Robert Petit was
in the courtroom instead of one of his deputies, perhaps signaling the
importance of these witnesses to the prosecution. There was some speculation
that he is spending more time in the courtroom given the recent announcement
that he will resign September 1, 2009. While on Monday he made a few
eloquent statements and put forth several interesting questions, curiously,
today he stood only to thank the witness for his testimony and let his
Cambodian counterpart ask all the questions. The prosecution did not use all
of its 30 minute allowance.

While much, if not most, of Duch’s testimony is based on his “conclusions”
and “opinions” after reviewing surviving documents, the President made clear
today that the Chamber is not interested in the assumptions or conclusions
of witnesses, telling Bou Meng it was “not appropriate” for him to state any
presumptions.

Timely Press Conference on Witness Support

The head of the ECCC’s Witness and Expert Support Unit (WESU) briefly
explained to the press the role it plays during trial. WESU offers a variety
of support services, including getting witnesses to the trial, preparing
them for the experience of testifying, and providing monetary allowances for
their time. WESU further offers individually-tailored witness protection
services given that many witnesses fear retaliation and feel threatened in a
variety of ways. In this role, WESU consults with judges as to what, if any,
protective measures are appropriate.

Noting President Nil Nonn’s recent behavior, members of the media were very
interested in what sort of coaching or instruction is given to judges
regarding how to handle traumatized victim witnesses. Apparently, WESU
provides all the parties, including judges, with guidance and information
and holds meetings on a regular basis. While it is not the role of WESU to
“monitor and criticize the judges,” WESU is in a position to make
recommendations. While the speaker dodged the question about whether she
provided feedback to the President after yesterday’s questioning of Chum
Mey, if nothing else, I imagine the judges had a discussion about how to
handle emotional witnesses because there was a clear difference in approach
today.