Y Ly

VPA-KT0104

Y Ly

Male

49

Khmer

Khmer

Phlong Village, Ty Po Commune, Santuk District, Kampong Thom Province

19571209

Farmer

Phlong Village, Ty Po Commune, Santuk District, Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia

1978

Sre A Ko Village, Boeng Lvea Commune, Santuk District, Kampong Thom Province

Disappearance of my father :

After the Khmer Rouge soldiers liberated Phnom Penh in 1975, my father, Hang Sy, about forty-six or forty-seven years of age, was the cooperative chief of Phlong Tipo Village. Prior to 1975, in approximately 1973 or 1974, Lon Nol soldiers evacuated my uncle and other villagers to Kampong Thom provincial town. Later, after the Khmer Rouge soldiers took charge of Kampong Thom provincial town, my uncle returned to the village. My uncle, Nhe, who is my father’s brother-in-law, was arrested by commune militiamen (whose names I do not recall) and brought to meet the security chief named Mi. He has never been seen since. People said that he was executed because he had joined in with Lon Nol soldiers after being deported by the Lon Nol soldiers to Kampong Thom provincial town.

I do not know who killed my uncle. When my father discovered that his brother-in-law had been arrested and killed by the security police, my father escaped from the village and enlisted as a soldier in another village of Ty PO Commune, located in Kampong Thom Province. After this incident took place, we never heard from my uncle again. I am not certain whether my uncle has disappeared or was executed by the Khmer Rouge soldiers. Moreover, I do not know who arrested him or how he was killed. I do know that if my father had lived in Thlong Village, he would have been arrested and accused of being involved with the enemy – the Lon Nol soldiers – and executed just as my uncle was.

Execution:

During the rainy season in late 1978, my colleagues and I from the mobile work unit saw district militia forces take about fifteen prisoners, consisting of the 17 April people and Chams, by boat along the 6 January Dam. Those prisoners were taken to be executed and dropped into a well at Kares field, located in Srae Ako Village, Boeng Lvea Commune, Santuk District, Kampong Thom Province. Two district militia men came to borrow two hoes from a group of people who worked in the mobile unit. At that time, I was building the dam. Around thirty people witnessed the incident.

About nine a.m., the district militia forces escorted the prisoners who were to be killed. The prisoners were comprised of women, men, and youth whose hands were not tied with rope. The Khmer Rouge militia forces escorted the prisoners to the well, hit them on the back of the neck with the hoe, and dropped them into the well. My colleagues and I witnessed the incident while we were working. I think that the Khmer Rouge district militia forces intentionally wanted us to see the incident because it would serve as a threat to everyone not to challenge their group or be lazy with work. I am not certain why the district militia forces wanted to kill the 17 April people and people whose parents had served as high ranking officials in the previous regime. The people who were executed were probably Chams.

Complainant

No;

Depend on the judges

No;

20080321

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