About Kratie province (Mapping the killing fields of Cambodia project)

D119520

About Kratie province (Mapping the killing fields of Cambodia project)

English

Cambodia

29 March 1999

Kratie province

DC-Cam/20 March 2025

DC-Cam

12 pages Computer typing (Tx)

Information in Kratie province.

Conclusion

The research conducted on our second trip to Chhloung and Snuol Districts, Kratie Province, was a partial success. We achieved a variety
of good results.

The administrative relationship between our team and the Sub-district, District, and provincial officials was good. We received detailed
information about Khmer Rouge prisons, our two target Districts, and provincial regulations. Khmer Rouge activity was not a concern on
this trip, but the possibility of bandits was worrying. In May 1999, there were five or six robberies along National Road #7; travelers had
been shot and relieved of their belongings. The trip by water from Chhloung District to the province was no problem. It is one hundred
and four kilometers from Snuol District to Chhloung District. The road from Snuol District to Chhloung District running through Memut
and Mambe, known as Sam Linh Road, was isolated and too quiet. That can be worrying.

Collecting information on the execution sites from District and provincial officials was problematical. We got some information on the
location of the prisons and execution sites, but we did not get detailed information on the number of victims, mass grave pits or identities
of informants. Nonetheless, we carried on with our research quite easily, because the provincial governor had informed the District chiefs,
and District officials in turn told the Village administrators to be ready for us.

The roads in the Districts and Sub-districts were generally easy to travel, but some of our target sites were thirty to fifty kilometers from
easily accessible places in the Sub-districts, particularly Damrei Phong, Sre Lngaok and Roung Damrei in Chhloung District. Sometimes,
there were no good routes and no people, but plenty of bandits. Consequently, we found it impossible to reach some locations. It terms of
DC-Cam: Mapping the Killing Fields of Cambodia, 1999 --

environmental conditions, we worked well in the morning because there was no rain at that time of day, but it tended to start getting dark
around noon, and the light would fade. Sometimes, therefore, we could not work in the afternoon. Both Districts are heavily forested.

The execution site at Trapeang Chhouk in Khsoem Sub-district, Snuol District was five kilometers from National Road #7. We could not
reach that location due to the lack of roads and poor security conditions. We did not want to meet any bandits. Facing these barriers, we
were able to get to only two sites.

To complete our surveys in these Districts, we will need to wait for the dry season, and we will need to budget a lot of time. We will also
require security assistance from the local authorities. It is more efficient when we get clearer guidance from provincial and District
officials, reducing the time required for us to locate the sites and find informants who have first-hand information. For example, the
information given to us by District officials regarding the Region 21 Prison in Kanh Chor Sub-district was not particularly clear. However,
our team went there and was able to find victims were held in that prison. Thus we managed to get clear and reliable information. If we
had been timid or inattentive to what provincial officials were telling us, we would not have been able to meet Sub-districts and Village
chiefs, and would not have achieved any results. End.

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