State terror under the Khmer Rouge Cambodian genocide

remains of victims of khmer rouge in kampong trach cave, kiry seila hills, rung tik (water cave) or rung khmao (dead cave).

a security apparatus called santebal part of khmer rouge organizational structure before april 17, 1975 when khmer rouge took control on cambodia. son sen, later deputy prime minister defense of democratic kampuchea, in charge of santebal, , in capacity appointed comrade duch run security apparatus. when khmer rouge took power in 1975, duch moved headquarters phnom penh , reported directly son sen. @ time, small chapel in capital used incarcerate regime s prisoners, totaled fewer 2 hundred. in may 1976, duch moved headquarters final location, former high school known tuol sleng, hold 1,500 prisoners.

skulls of khmer rouge victims

the khmer rouge government arrested, tortured , executed suspected of belonging several categories of supposed enemies :

anyone connections former government or foreign governments.
professionals , intellectuals—in practice included education, people understood foreign language , people required glasses. ironically , hypocritically, pol pot himself university-educated man (albeit drop-out) taste french literature , fluent french speaker. many artists, including musicians, writers , film makers executed. ros sereysothea, pan ron , sinn sisamouth gained posthumous fame talents , still popular khmers today.
ethnic vietnamese, ethnic chinese, ethnic thai , other minorities in eastern highland, cambodian christians (most of whom catholic, , catholic church in general), muslims , buddhist monks.
economic saboteurs : many of former urban dwellers (who had not starved death in first place) deemed guilty virtue of lack of agricultural ability.

through 1970s, , after mid-1975, party shaken factional struggles. there armed attempts topple pol pot. resultant purges reached crest in 1977 , 1978 when thousands, including important kcp leaders, executed.

today, examples of torture methods used khmer rouge can seen @ tuol sleng genocide museum. museum occupies former grounds of high school turned prison camp operated khang khek ieu, more commonly known comrade duch .

the torture system @ tuol sleng designed make prisoners confess whatever crimes charged captors. in confessions, prisoners asked describe personal background. if party members, had when joined revolution , describe work assignments in dk. prisoners relate supposed treasonous activities in chronological order. third section of confession text described prisoners thwarted conspiracies , supposed treasonous conversations. @ end, confessions list string of traitors prisoners friends, colleagues, or acquaintances. lists contained on hundred names. people names in confession list called in interrogation. typical confessions ran thousands of words in prisoner interweave true events in lives imaginary accounts of espionage activities central intelligence agency (cia), kgb, or vietnam.

some 17,000 people passed through tuol sleng centre (also known s-21) before taken sites (also known killing fields), outside phnom penh such choeung ek executed (mainly pickaxes save bullets) , buried in mass graves. of thousands entered tuol sleng 7 known have survived. tuol sleng 1 of 196 prisons operated khmer rouge.