"Accusation of Hor Namhong as jail chief is not backed by any document"
26 July 2011
By Taing Sarada
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soy
Click here to read the original article in Khmer
Recently, DC-Cam confirmed that it did not see any S-21 document indicating that Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was the Boeung Trabek jail chief during the Democratic Kampuchea regime. However, other documents indicated that Hor Namhong was the chief of the prisoners (i.e. a “kapo”) who wielded strong influence in the Boeung Trabek detention center during the KR regime.
Recently, Chhang Youk (pictured), the president of DC-Cam, showed that, through his research within various documents to find the responsible parties under the KR regime, he did not find any documents showing that Hor Namhong was an administrator of the Boeung Trabek jail during the KR regime.
Chhang Youk said that, through his research on a number of confession documents left at S-21 (Tuol Sleng jail), he only found the name of Van Piny [KI-Media note: RFA reported the name as Van Tiny, however, various published documents showed that the name was Van Piny, not Van Tiny as reported by RFA] who confessed that he was the Boeung Trabek jail chief during that period.
Chhang Youk: “The jail chief was Van Piny, it was not him [Hor Namhong]. In general the KR structure is very clear, such as group chiefs, there were 3 of them, a unit has 10 chiefs, a large unit has 30 chiefs. Therefore, they have groups and classes. Furthermore in this case, there is no set list with alphabetical order, there is no such thing.”
The 200-page book published in 2003 by author Ong Thong Hoeung, a former prisoner of Boeung Trabek during the KR regime, confirmed that Boeung Trabek was divided into three sections: B-30, B-31 and B-32 in which Hor Namhong was the chief of the prisoner, whereas his wife the chief of the women prisoners. Their son was the chief of the children group. B-32 was a jail for intellectuals, former government officials or former older diplomats.
On Thong Hoeung’s book indicated that the chief of the Boeung Trabek prisoners had the prerogative and the power to report on the prisoners to the KR leadership to decide whether these prisoners should be sent to kill at the Choeung Ek pagoda, or whether they should be sent to torture at Tuol Sleng, etc…
Chhang Youk said that the role of a Khmer Rouge cannot confirm the actions taken by other Khmer Rouge, he said that Ong Thong Hoeung’s book is only a testimony.
Chhang Youk: “This is what is important. According to Mr. Ong Thong Hoeung, he was only a witness of a witness. Therefore, in general, it was not in the document. Furthermore, the conclusion that a person has the capacity or has so much power, that’s another story because in the KR structure, they had unit chief, large unit chief, and each one of them had different function. As individual, there could be either more or less excess, it’s according to that. But, any function [occupied by a person] could not confirm the actions by that individual.”
On 11 July 2011, Wikileaks published a report attributed to Alexander Avizu, the former deputy chief of mission of the US embassy in Cambodia in 2002, who wrote that Hor Namhong was a former Boeung Trabek jail chief during the KR regime.
On 14 July, Hor Namhong summoned Jeff Daigle, the deputy chief of mission and charge d’affaires of the US embassy in Phnom Penh to protest against the report, and Hor also demanded for a correction.
On 18 July, Hor Namhong sent a letter to Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of State, asking for a correction on his biography which was published by Wikileaks.
In that letter, Hor Namhong was very displeased with the severe defamation report.
Regarding this issue, Hem Heng, the Cambodian ambassador to Washington, said that there is no reply from Hillary Clinton yet because she is still traveling overseas.
On 15 July, Mark Wenig, the US embassy spokesman, said by email that the US embassy does not comment on reports attributed to the US government that were leaked.
Observers indicated that the reason Hor Namhong is seeking correction on his biography as reported by the US diplomat is because he does not want to be linked to the KR killings which the KR Tribunal will investigate.
26 July 2011
By Taing Sarada
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soy
Click here to read the original article in Khmer
Recently, DC-Cam confirmed that it did not see any S-21 document indicating that Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was the Boeung Trabek jail chief during the Democratic Kampuchea regime. However, other documents indicated that Hor Namhong was the chief of the prisoners (i.e. a “kapo”) who wielded strong influence in the Boeung Trabek detention center during the KR regime.
Recently, Chhang Youk (pictured), the president of DC-Cam, showed that, through his research within various documents to find the responsible parties under the KR regime, he did not find any documents showing that Hor Namhong was an administrator of the Boeung Trabek jail during the KR regime.
Chhang Youk said that, through his research on a number of confession documents left at S-21 (Tuol Sleng jail), he only found the name of Van Piny [KI-Media note: RFA reported the name as Van Tiny, however, various published documents showed that the name was Van Piny, not Van Tiny as reported by RFA] who confessed that he was the Boeung Trabek jail chief during that period.
Chhang Youk: “The jail chief was Van Piny, it was not him [Hor Namhong]. In general the KR structure is very clear, such as group chiefs, there were 3 of them, a unit has 10 chiefs, a large unit has 30 chiefs. Therefore, they have groups and classes. Furthermore in this case, there is no set list with alphabetical order, there is no such thing.”
The 200-page book published in 2003 by author Ong Thong Hoeung, a former prisoner of Boeung Trabek during the KR regime, confirmed that Boeung Trabek was divided into three sections: B-30, B-31 and B-32 in which Hor Namhong was the chief of the prisoner, whereas his wife the chief of the women prisoners. Their son was the chief of the children group. B-32 was a jail for intellectuals, former government officials or former older diplomats.
On Thong Hoeung’s book indicated that the chief of the Boeung Trabek prisoners had the prerogative and the power to report on the prisoners to the KR leadership to decide whether these prisoners should be sent to kill at the Choeung Ek pagoda, or whether they should be sent to torture at Tuol Sleng, etc…
Chhang Youk said that the role of a Khmer Rouge cannot confirm the actions taken by other Khmer Rouge, he said that Ong Thong Hoeung’s book is only a testimony.
Chhang Youk: “This is what is important. According to Mr. Ong Thong Hoeung, he was only a witness of a witness. Therefore, in general, it was not in the document. Furthermore, the conclusion that a person has the capacity or has so much power, that’s another story because in the KR structure, they had unit chief, large unit chief, and each one of them had different function. As individual, there could be either more or less excess, it’s according to that. But, any function [occupied by a person] could not confirm the actions by that individual.”
On 11 July 2011, Wikileaks published a report attributed to Alexander Avizu, the former deputy chief of mission of the US embassy in Cambodia in 2002, who wrote that Hor Namhong was a former Boeung Trabek jail chief during the KR regime.
On 14 July, Hor Namhong summoned Jeff Daigle, the deputy chief of mission and charge d’affaires of the US embassy in Phnom Penh to protest against the report, and Hor also demanded for a correction.
On 18 July, Hor Namhong sent a letter to Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of State, asking for a correction on his biography which was published by Wikileaks.
In that letter, Hor Namhong was very displeased with the severe defamation report.
Regarding this issue, Hem Heng, the Cambodian ambassador to Washington, said that there is no reply from Hillary Clinton yet because she is still traveling overseas.
On 15 July, Mark Wenig, the US embassy spokesman, said by email that the US embassy does not comment on reports attributed to the US government that were leaked.
Observers indicated that the reason Hor Namhong is seeking correction on his biography as reported by the US diplomat is because he does not want to be linked to the KR killings which the KR Tribunal will investigate.
6 comments:
We all condemned KR regime and all the most known leaders of that period. You know that at that time, children were told to denounce theirs parents; a wife was asked to report any thing done by the husband, if judged "un-revolutionary"... It was cruel society! There were groups of three, of ten, etc. (Pouch, Krum, Kong, etc.) Each member of the group had to report the behaviour of the others, and at the end the president of the committee of the place had to report to "Angkor"! or the Khmer Rouge officers responsible of the places (Savorn for B32 for example). You should be reported simply if you were telling someone that you want to eat something good, or you were telling the persons that you used to live in foreign countries or you talked about your trips abroad. For just something like that, you can be killed, because they judged that you want to brink back the old society, or to live the way of life of the "imperialists", etc. Anyone can report anything. There should be disputes... between individuals, or just "heard-says"... Unless you didn't live in those re-education centers or "prisons" if you will, you cannot be safe. All the cooperatives, any community or 'center' was organized the same way had the same structure. Every one belonged to some kind of committees. The cooperative chiefs, or presidents, any executive’s members who didn't report anything, would found themselves treated as the "enemies" of the "Angkar", and be brought to interrogation centers, and they were later executed. And we should remember that no one can refuse any duty given to him. So we can understand why there was millions of death at that time. Only if you were outside the country at that time, you can say that you are clean... The regime was evil, the first thing that we should see and condemn! Otherwise we should bring to KR Court several thousands of those survivors... yes they are survivors that you want to comdemn! There should be several thousands to be condemned on top of those innocents’ deaths around the country. Please remember that accusations were easily to invent, even a kid can brink his parents to death. In small camps like B32, there were people who didn't like each others. Sure that there were those "equals", former diplomats from abroad, whore more equals than other!
Correction (of the first post to be deleted if you can)
We all condemned KR regime and all the most known KR leaders of that period. You know that at that time, children were told to denounce theirs parents; a wife was asked to report any thing done by the husband, if judged "un-revolutionary"... It was cruel society! There were groups of three, of ten, etc. (Pourk, Krum, Kong, etc.) Each member of the group had to report the behaviour of the others, and at the end the president of the committee of the place had to report to "Angkar"! or the Khmer Rouge officers responsible of the places (Savorn was that officer at B32 for example). You should be reported simply if you were telling someone that you want to eat something good you used to eat in the old society, or you were telling the persons that you used to live in foreign countries or you talked about your trips abroad. For just something like that, you can be killed, because they judged that you want to brink back the old society, or to live the way of life of the "imperialists", etc. Anyone can report anything. There should be disputes... between individuals, or just "heard-says"... Unless you didn't live in those re-education centers or "prisons" if you will, you cannot be safe. All the cooperatives, any community or 'center' were organized the same way and had the same structure. Every one belonged to some kind of committees. The cooperative chiefs, or presidents, any executive’s members who didn't report anything, would found themselves treated as the "enemies" of the "Angkar", and be brought to the interrogation centers, and they were later executed. And we should remember that no one can refuse any duty given to him. So we can understand why there was millions of deaths at that time. Only if you were outside the country at that time, you can say that you are clean... The regime was evil, the first thing that we should see and condemn! Otherwise we should bring to KR Court several thousands of those survivors... yes they are survivors that you want to condemn! There should be several thousands to be condemned on top of those innocents’ deaths around the country already counted. Please remember that accusations were easily to invent, even a kid can brink his parents to death. In small camps like B32, there were people who didn't like each others. Sure that there were those "equals", former diplomats from abroad, whore were more equals than other!
ar hor namhomg give money to ar chhang youk 5 million dollars under table
Where is my cut man? I'll be corrupted, just give me half. Hor Namhong, I didn't see nothing, hear nothing at all. My man, you are totally innocent. What is Sam Rainsy talking about? I am piss now because Chang Yuk doesnt share; ss long as you share, it is ok to be corrupted.
I read Chhang Youk's comment in RFA in Khmer. What he said was not academic and not based on his research at all, but just his wildness imagination. Was Chhang trying to protect Hor or was he too afraid to say the truth? Many survivors of Boeung Trabek said Hor Nam Hong was the chief and many documents had proved it.
Youk Chhang usually based his information on research. Based on the document shown; it looks like FM Hor Namhong is implicated. We don't know what extend his role. It look like he worked there.
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