Why Did They Kill? by Hinton Alexander Laban;

Author:Hinton, Alexander Laban;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 2005-08-10T16:00:00+00:00

When the Khmer Rouge took Kompong Som, a port city on the southwest coast of Cambodia, Ung Pech and many other people were happy because they thought the country would again have peace.5 Like those living in other cities, the inhabitants of Kompong Som were told to evacuate the city and not allowed to return; instead they were put to work cultivating rice and performing other agrarian labor.

Because Pech was a skilled technician, however, the Khmer Rouge later ordered him to return to Kompong Som to repair machinery at the port. He said, “They had us work from 6 A.M. to 11 P.M. with just a short break to eat. If one of us didn’t work properly, he or she would be reprimanded, punished, or taken away. We didn’t know where they disappeared to.” Pech labored like this for a year or so before being told he had just three months to train a group of new workers, most of whom were ten to sixteen years old and illiterate. When Pech protested that completing the training in such a short period would be impossible, “they accused me of being an imperialist who was selfishly withholding my knowledge from others.”

A few months later, Pech was arrested. He was tortured for one night and then taken, blindfolded and shackled, to Tuol Sleng. Upon arrival, Pech and another prisoner were led into a room and questioned. Pech recalled, “They asked me, ‘Scum, where are you from, you despicable traitor?’ A bit later they called my name and asked me to give my life history. At that time, we became the object of great spite and savagery. They told us, ‘You, scum, are going to become fertilizer.’ I thought in my heart that I hadn’t done anything wrong. Why were they accusing me of being a traitor?” Afterward, Pech was photographed and taken to a room full of prisoners where he was made to strip down to his underpants and shackled. He was then informed of the prison regulations: it was forbidden to speak to others and prisoners had to ask permission before doing anything, even sitting up or defecating. Those who violated the rules were often beaten.

At mealtimes, the prisoners were each given a spoon with which to eat their scant rations. Afterward, the utensils had to be returned and were counted. One day, a new prisoner who didn’t know the system took two spoons by mistake. When the guards discovered the man had the missing spoon, they accused him of plotting to escape and contacted their supervisor, Peng. The prisoner explained to Peng that he was new and didn’t know the rule about the spoons and pleaded for forgiveness. Pech noted, “Despicable Peng didn’t listen to his begging. He began to beat the prisoner and kick his head. The guy was bleeding all over. Peng beat him for perhaps an hour. We were all upset, but what could we do?”

In addition to mealtime checks, the guards inspected the prisoners several times each day.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.