PHOTO
Khmer Rouge prison survivor Bou Meng testifies at Cambodia war crimes tribunal.
Robert Carmichael,
Phnom Penh
A survivor of the Khmer Rouge's notorious S21 prison has testified before a United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal in Cambodia, speaking of torture, abuse, and how his artistic talent ultimately saved his life.
Bou Meng spent 18 months in S21. Of the handful of living survivors, he served the longest period there.
Speaking at the tribunal of former S21 commander Kaing Guek Eav, who is also known as Comrade Duch, Bou Meng says Duch warned him to be careful and work hard or he could end up as fertiliser for the rice fields.
Duch is charges with crimes against humanity.
Daily whippings
Bou Meng says he and his wife were arrested in 1977. They were separated on entering S21 and he never saw or heard from her again.
He described extensive torture at the hands of S21 staff. He recalled daily whippings from guards trying to extract confessions of joining the CIA or KGB, a commonly trumped-up charge against perceived enemies of the Khmer Rouge regime.
More than 15,000 people were tortured and murdered at S21 and only a handful survived.
Bou Meng says he didn't see comrade Duch beat anyone, but he regularly heard the screams of inmates being tortured and prayed he would survive. He recalled seeing a guard stamp on another prisoner's chest, causing the man's death.
In preceding days the tribunal has heard survivors recount similar stories of beatings and other horrors.
Saved by talent
He says his life was spared when authorities learned he was an artist. They then put him to work painting huge black-and-white portraits of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.
Four other former Khmer Rouge leaders will face the tribunal once Duch's trial ends.
He described extensive torture at the hands of S21 staff. He recalled daily whippings from guards trying to extract confessions of joining the CIA or KGB, a commonly trumped-up charge against perceived enemies of the Khmer Rouge regime.
More than 15,000 people were tortured and murdered at S21 and only a handful survived.
Bou Meng says he didn't see comrade Duch beat anyone, but he regularly heard the screams of inmates being tortured and prayed he would survive. He recalled seeing a guard stamp on another prisoner's chest, causing the man's death.
In preceding days the tribunal has heard survivors recount similar stories of beatings and other horrors.
Saved by talent
He says his life was spared when authorities learned he was an artist. They then put him to work painting huge black-and-white portraits of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.
Four other former Khmer Rouge leaders will face the tribunal once Duch's trial ends.
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