Biographic28,821
Bibliographic93,161
Victim Participation Meas Chhean
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Record No
លេខឯកសារ
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VPA-KH0041 | |
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Name
ឈ្មោះ
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Meas Chhean
មាស ឈាន
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Gender
ភេទ
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Male
ភេទ: ប្រុស
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Date Of Birth
ថ្ងៃ-ខែ-ឆ្នាំកំណើត
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19510108 | |
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Nationality
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Khmer
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Ethnicity
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Khmer
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Birth Place
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Pring Kaong village, Cheung Kreav commune, Rolea Pha-ae district, Kampong Chhnang province
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Occupation
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Farmer
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Current Address
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Pring Kaong village, Cheung Kreav commune, Rolea Pha-ae district, Kampong Chhnang province
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Mode Participation
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Complainant
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Request Protective Measures
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No;
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Prefer form of Reparation
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Genocide education
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Main Crime Date
កាលបរិច្ឆេទឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្មសំខាន់ៗ
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1975 |
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Main Crime Location
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Detention and forced labor In 1975, after the liberation of Phnom Penh, Khmer Rouge militiamen (unknown) evacuated my family. This consisted of my wife, Ruos Channly, my mother-in-law, Meach Nhory (deceased), my brother-in-law, Ruos Heap, currently living in the Damnak Porpol village, Damnak Porpol commune, Kampong Chhnang province, and me. We were removed from the Pring Kaong village, Cheung Kreav commune, Rolea Phieat district, Kampong Chhnang province to the Peam Laok mountain, located in Chreap commune, Tik Phos district, Kampong Chhnang province. They [Khmer Rouge militiamen] said that everyone needed to move to other districts. In approximately July or August, at noon, roughly more than fifty armed Khmer Rouge militiamen ordered everyone to get out of the village. After this, following their orders, we walked five days to the Peam Laok mountain. Upon arrival there, our family was sent to live separately. I was put to work in a unit responsible for chopping down trees. My wife and mother-in-law were put to work in a dinning hall, and my brother-in-law was put to work in a children’s unit. In mid 1976, the local Khmer Rouge cadres found out that my brothers used to serve as Lon Nol soldiers. And it was true, that my brothers, Chhea and Chhin, used to be Lon Nol soldiers. After this, they were executed. At this time, Hoan, a Khmer Rouge cadre who had taken charge of the area, ordered his militiamen to call us from our work sites. At this point, we were all held at gunpoint and told to follow the militiamen. Shortly after that, we reached the Peam Lok mountain, located in the Kampong Chhnang province. At the time, the location of the village, commune, and district was unknown to me. After four or five days of walking day and night, we arrived at a village next to the Peam Lao mountain. The first thing I did in this village was to build a small cottage for the four of us. Hoan (deceased) took charge of the area. Later, Hoan had me dig up tree roots and cut down the forest at the foot of the mountain, in order to have more land for farming. At this time [as I have said], my mom and wife were put to work at the dinning hall in the village, and my brother-in-law was put to work in the children’s unit. Later, at some point, a number of unknown Khmer Rouge militiamen came to tell me and other people who were working in the village, to move to another work area. However, they did not tell us where we were supposed to go. Being held at gunpoint, we just followed them. Later, we learned that they had sent us to live and work at the foot of the mountain, in order to dig up tree roots and clear the forest. By doing so, [they] would have more land for farming. At the time, a person named Nhork Siphon, also living in my village [at the time], suffered through and witnessed these events. At first, I and other people did not know why the Khmer Rouge or Hoan was forcing us live and work at the foot of the mountain. However, we learned later on that we were sent to that place, accused of having leanings [towards Lon Nol]. This was because our brothers used to serve as Lon Nol soldiers. They actually were former Lon Nol soldiers, and I was aware that they had been executed. I learned this about this incident [their executions] from Ley, a militiaman and Hoan’s son, who told me that he was brought here, because he too was accused of leanings [towards the Lon Nol side]. I am not certain whether Lay is still alive or dead. When we arrived there, we were divided into groups. Then, those people, whose siblings had been discovered to be former Lon Nol soldiers, were put in chains after they came back from work at night. One by one, everyone was shackled and put to sleep in a line. At night, when we needed to pee, we just peed where we slept, while the Khmer Rouge cadres walked close to our heads and observed us. However, when we needed to defecate, we told the guards, and they would release us and let us defecate. Uprooting and chopping down the trees, we worked from five or six a.m. to twelve p.m., without having any breakfast. In the afternoon, we had a bowl of watery rice soup. After eating, we continued our work until five p.m. in order to receive the same amount of food. Once again, after eating, we worked until nine p.m. Whenever we worked, the militiamen were always present, guarding us all the time. During the nights, when there was enough moonlight to see by, they also had us work. And when there was no moonlight, they used kerosene lamps to light up the dark and make us work. Hoan took charge of the whole area. Other people and I lived in the area until the Vietnamese troops arrived. We were shackled for only the first half year of our detention. And the assigned tasks were, of course, extremely difficult. While working, I saw that when a plow broke during plowing, the people who had not fully uprooted their trees were simply killed. For example, one morning, Chheu Boan, currently living in Baribo district of Kampong Chhnang province, and I saw four people who were uprooting trees at gunpoint. At the time, one Khmer Rouge militiaman used a bamboo stick to kill those four people in front of us. The four were executed, because they did not uproot the trees well. And because the trees were not completely uprooted, the plow broke during plowing. I was terrified, seeing the incident with my own eyes. I do not know the Khmer Rouge militiamen who killed those people. At the time, I was about twenty-three or twenty four years old. At this place, those who felt sick were not only banned from taking a day off, but were also forced to work. They were accused of laziness. Due to overwork and a lack of food, some people became exhausted and fell down at the worksite. In fact, once I too fell down due to exhaustion at the worksite. At the time, the Khmer Rouge militiamen allowed my colleague to carry me to the cottage. Then, after a medic gave pills to the militiamen, they later passed them on to me. Only people who fell gravely sick and could not even walk were allowed to take a day off. Speaking of taking rabbit dropping [useless] pills, they not only forced us to take the pills but also observed us whether we took them or not. The pills, however, were not effective at all. Later on, I snuck out to find and eat Youk, a kind of animal, and Cha Khuoy, a root, in order to have energy. When we snuck out to find these things, we, of course, avoided being seen. Otherwise, we would surely have been killed if they had seen us. Because the water taken from the Youk was sweet, I was able to recover from my illness and have strength after eating the Cha Kuoy and the sweet water taken from Youk. Fortunately, I was able to survive such a terrible place. I want to confirm, that I was sent to live in this area in approximately 1976, and that I continued to live there until the Vietnamese came. From the time I was sent to uproot the trees, until the Vietnamese came, I asked permission from Hoa three times to allow me to meet with my family. There was tremendous suffering living there, with a lack of food, and terrible working conditions. Additionally, there was no medicine at all, except the rabbit dropping [useless] medicine. If I had not caught frogs, fish, and found others things to eat, I would have starved to death. After the arrival of the Vietnamese, I went back to find my wife, and then headed to our homeland. Hoa (deceased) was the one responsible for what happened during the [Khmer Rouge] regime, because he was the regional chief. |
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Date Completion of Form
កាលបរិច្ឆេទនៃការបំពេញបែបបទ
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20090723 | |
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Petitioner
អ្នកដាក់ញ្ញាត់
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Yes; | |
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