Mapping Project 1999; Banteay Meanchey Province.

D119508

Mapping Project 1999; Banteay Meanchey Province.

English

Cambodia

22 June 1999

Banteay Meanchey province

DC-Cam 20 March 2025

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Document center of Cambodia.

11 page Computer typing (tx)

Pit 1 is about 700m from the District Office and 100m from Road 69A.
Pit 2 is about 1,500m from the District Office and 50m from
Road 69A. It is located behind people's houses.
Pit 3 is about 7,500m from District Town and 250m from Road
69A. The site is called Trapeang Suong.

Mapping project 1999

Thmar Puork District is located about forty-three kilometers northeast of Banteay Meanchey Provincial town. Banteay Ampil District bounds it
to the west, the east by Phnom Srok District, the south by Svay Chek District and on the north by the Thai border.

The security situation has only recently stabilized. Before 1989, the district was under the control of the "Liberation Resistance Movement,"
which was associated with the Funcinpec Party. After the general election in 1993, Son San's KPNLF and the Funcinpec Party shared control of
this remote district. The Cambodian People's Party had little access at that time. The district administration was controlled chiefly by resistance
military forces. Even though there were civilian district authorities, they had to ask permission from the military prior to doing anything.

In 1997, Mr. Hean Narun was assigned to be in charge of the district. Because the security situation remained unstable, he decided to spend a
year studying at the National Administrative School in Phnom Penh (1998-1999). Mr. Hean added that the situation prior to 1999 was not as
favorable as it is now. The political situation improved as the civil war came to an end, and all irregular armed forces were disarmed and
demobilized. The national armed forces have been trying to learn appropriate legal procedures and improve their respect for the power of the
civilian authorities. The military has progressively removed itself from civilian affairs. The situation is now good because the country is at
peace, and the military no longer concerns itself with administrative work, concentrating instead on new methods of development and staying
focused on its own responsibilities.

Mr. Hean told us about his life in the Pol Pot regime. He was born in Thmar Puork Village, Thmar Puork District, Battambang Province. He
studied in Serei Saophorn District. His father was a military commander. After the coup against Prince Sihanouk in 1970, he went to study in
Phnom Penh. When the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh, his family was evacuated from Phnom Penh to Bakan District, Pursat Province.
His six siblings and his mother died from starvation in 1976. After that, Angkar took his father to be reeducated because they knew he had been
a Lon Nol soldier; Mr. Hean knows his father was killed. Then in late 1976, the "Pol Pot clique" informed the people in Northwest that theywould be permitted to return to live their previous homes. This news convinced Mr. Hean to set off on a boat journey from Champuh Ka-Ek
pagoda, Bakan District towards Svay Daunkeo District, where he spent the night. The next morning, the Khmer Rouge transported people in ox
carts to Damnak Pongro Village, Russei Kraing Sub-district, Mong Russei District. Mong Russei District was then in Region 2. Upon arrival,
Mr. Hean Narun was shown a hill on which he was told to clear forest in order to build a shelter. He was then 16 years old. He did not know
anything about such manual work, but during the Lon Nol regime he had been taught how to camp, so he used plastic sheets to build a shelter.
He was then assigned to a regional mobile work brigade and forced to do hard labor. Life was miserable, as there was insufficient food, only
one can of rice for twenty to fifty people. Driven by hunger, he exchanged his clothes for rice bran to fry and eat. This caused him to feel very
uncomfortable whenever he defecated, and he sometimes had to use his fingers to help push his feces out. His said his feces looked like "pig's
shit" because he ate rice bran like a pig. He left a "human's track, but a pig's waste."

In the end, he said that he did not know clearly about any evidence of genocidal crimes, because when he arrived here, the evidence had already
been lost. He did not speak ill of the Khmer Rouge.

After meeting with Mr. Hean Narun at 2:30, our team met with Mr. Ek Sangvat, 47 years old, chief of office of Thmar Puork District. He was
born in Andaung Thlong village, Thmar Puork Sub-district, Thmar Puork District, Battambang Province. He now lives in Andaung Thlong
village, Thmar Puork Sub-district, Thmar Puork District, Banteay Meanchey Province.

Mr. Ek told us that during the Pol Pot regime, Thmar Puork District was part of Region 5 in the Khmer Rouge Northwest Zone. District
headquarters was located in Kathen Village, Thmar Puork Sub-district, Thmar Puork District. The Khmer Rouge security office was located in
the same structure that houses the Cambodian People Party's headquarters today. The district chief at that time was named Chhat. Chhat was
accused of having enemy connections and was later killed. Mr. Ek also knows something about the killings committed at the security office in
Thmar Puork district.

In the Khmer Rouge regime, Mr. Ek lived in this village, which is his native place. In 1975, he was 20 years old. At that point, he gave up his
studies to help his parents with work. He was then just an ordinary farmer. The Khmer Rouge accused him of being a student, but in fact he was
just an ordinary literate. They spied on him, and tested him to find out if he knew anything. His parents were middle class peasants, and his
father was a ranking Buddhist official in the region. The Khmer Rouge accused the father of being a "Buddhist soldier." But in fact, he was just
an ordinary clergyman. His parents and his siblings died in early 1979. All together, seven members of his family died during the Pol Pot
regime.

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