March 1, 2017

 An early start today, the bus for our tour picked us up at just after 8:00 a.m.

A rather sobering day to day, we visited the Tuol Sleng Prison Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (the Killing Fields)!   If that doesn’t give you food for thought nothing will. The Tuol Sleng Prison prior to its use as prison used to be a high school.

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge killed thousands of people in a very short four year reign. If they weren’t tortured and murdered at Tuol Sleng Prison Museum (or other prisons throughout Cambodia) then they died of starvation or disease in the countryside at labour camps.

We opted for an English speaking guide at the Tuol Sleng Prison Museum. Mrs Chey was nine years old and lived in Phnom Penh when Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge came into Phnom Penh, within a day the Khmer Rouge had evacuated everyone from the city, over 2 million people removed from their homes. They were told that they could return in a few days. Mrs Chey’s father was an officer in the army and they tortured and killed him. Her mother and sister were sent to a work camp in Krong Svay Rieng Province and they were able to escape to Vietnam. They lived in a refugee camp for two years. As soon as the Vietnamese Army conquered Pol Pot they were sent back to Cambodia. They had nothing to return to and very little to return with. Mrs Chey got quite emotional when she was telling us that no one has been tried for their crimes. Some of the high ranking officials at the time are still in the present day government. Pol Pot died from a heart attack in 1998. “No justice” she said “No justice”.

A Vietnamese journalist took photographs of the prison when it was liberated by the Vietnamese. There were fourteen prisoners who were killed prior to the liberation, their graves are in the grounds of the prison.

The schools classrooms were divided into prisoners cells by building walls within the classroom. The bigger cells were used as places of torture for the high ranking officials.

The victims were photographed.

The Choeung Ek Genocidal Center is located about 17 kms outside of Phnom Penh. After the prisoners had been tortured and made to sign confessions at the Tuol Sleng Prison, they were transported to the killing grounds. It is estimated that there are over 300 killing fields in Cambodia. Some have been excavated and the bodies found have been reburied, others cannot be excavated due to the landmines that surround those areas.

The prisoners were killed during the night, they were bound and blindfolded and killed and then thrown into a pit. Women and children were also killed here – family members of the men who had been tortured.

This tree was called the killing tree and babies were thrown against it and then thrown into the pit, along with their mother and father.

The Stupa in the middle of the grounds is full of the skulls that were found at this site of mass graves. It appears to be a very gruesome way to display the remains. The government has decided that the Stupa is a memorial to all of the people that were found here.

They have had forensic scientists determine the age of the skull, and how the person was killed. Because these skulls were found in mass graves, they could not distinguish individual bodies. It is very difficult for families to find their own relatives in a situation like this so that they can bury them in a family plot. Although the excavation of these mass graves were done in 1980, bones and clothing are still be unearthed after the rainy season. The museum curators find these bones and relocate them. There is not much else they can do with the bone fragments and smaller bones that keep making there way to the surface.

Both Ralf and I were very quiet on the bus back to Phnom Penh. I don’t think either of us can really fathom how people can do this to their own kind. What makes a man or woman, brutally kill another person. One always, thinks that I would not do this, but does it become a case of self-preservation. If I don’t do this I will be killed? Therefore, I have to do this.

Mrs. Chey said that is why a lot of the guards and torturers were not tried in a court of law, they stated that they were under orders and could not go against the orders or they would be killed. She thinks they should have been tried and should be in prison for their crimes. not living a normal life in Phnom Penh or in the countryside.

The entry fee for both areas was very reasonable at $3.00 each. We paid $3.00 each for an audio tour of the killing fields and Ralf gave Mrs Chey $5.00, for her guided tour.

We spent a quiet and reflective afternoon in the hotel room.

Tomorrow we head up to Siem Reap a much more cheerful trip tomorrow and for the rest of our trip, no more war only peace.