Tuol Sleng
Originally Tuol Svey Prey secondary school in Phnom Penh, this became security office 21 (S-21), the biggest prison in Kampuchea. Thousands were held and tortured in "Building B", pictured here, which now has photos of the victims and details of court cases. From 17,000 people imprisoned here between 1975 and 1978, only seven survived; one of them, Heng Nath, has painted picture of the tortures which took place here, and some of the implements remain.
Duch, the head of Tuol Sleng, was a former schoolteacher, Kong Kech Eav. He ran the secret security police and perfected the Khmer Rouge's purge system. Photos were taken of everyone admitted here, and when they were close to death, to prove that the enemies of the state had been killed. But the torture was secret. Bulletin boards kept rules for the inmates, including not to cry out. Interregators were told to promise prisoners the right confession could save their lives, or the lives of their families. Prisoners had to write and sign their own confessions. Tuol Sleng was the nerve centre of the system of terror.
According to Elizabeth Becker's "When the war was over" there were Tuol Slengs all around the country but killings were never done out in the open. At Tuol Sleng the confessions were written down, detailing the party debates, intrigues and power struggles that took place in 'democratic Kampuchea'.
Tuol Sleng
Originally Tuol Svey Prey secondary school in Phnom Penh, this became security office 21 (S-21), the biggest prison in Kampuchea. Thousands were held and tortured in "Building B", pictured here, which now has photos of the victims and details of court cases. From 17,000 people imprisoned here between 1975 and 1978, only seven survived; one of them, Heng Nath, has painted picture of the tortures which took place here, and some of the implements remain.
Duch, the head of Tuol Sleng, was a former schoolteacher, Kong Kech Eav. He ran the secret security police and perfected the Khmer Rouge's purge system. Photos were taken of everyone admitted here, and when they were close to death, to prove that the enemies of the state had been killed. But the torture was secret. Bulletin boards kept rules for the inmates, including not to cry out. Interregators were told to promise prisoners the right confession could save their lives, or the lives of their families. Prisoners had to write and sign their own confessions. Tuol Sleng was the nerve centre of the system of terror.
According to Elizabeth Becker's "When the war was over" there were Tuol Slengs all around the country but killings were never done out in the open. At Tuol Sleng the confessions were written down, detailing the party debates, intrigues and power struggles that took place in 'democratic Kampuchea'.