Khmer Rouge Prison 21 - The Chilling High School In Phnom Pehn,
Cambodia
Most travel stories are of the happy-go-lucky variety. Every
once in a while, however, one visits a place that evidences the
vicious, dark side of mankind. Khmer Rouge Prison 21, known as
Tuol Seng, is one such place. It is a stark reminder of the
cruelties humanity can visit upon itself.
Tuol Sleng
In 1962, the high school of Ponhea Yat was opened in the center
of Phnom Pehn. The school consists of three buildings in a
horseshoe layout with each building having three stories. In the
1970s, the name was changed to Tuol Svay Prey High School. In
May of 1976, the school became the headquarters of the Khmer
Rouge genocide campaign in Cambodia.
The infamous Khmer Rouge was the ruling party of Cambodia from
1975 to 1979, with fighting going on for many more years. Led by
Pol Pot, also known as Brother Number One, the party is
estimated to have killed as much as 1/3rd of the population of
Cambodia through murder and starvation. The Khmer Rouge has
justly been compared to Hitler for its brutal genocidal actions.
Tuol Sleng represents the most brutal example.
Tuol Sleng covers roughly a city block, but is tucked back among
alleys in Phnom Pehn. During the Khmer's rule, two folds of iron
sheets encased in electrified barbwire to prevent escape
enclosed it. Prisoners were chained to walls and tortured on a
daily basis until they admitted crimes against the state. The
prisoners were required to follow ten regulations. A shocking
sampling include:
1. Do not try to hide facts by making excuses. You are strictly
prohibited from contesting me.
2. While being lashed or electrocuted, you must not cry at all.
3. Disobey any rule and you will get 5 lashes with an electric
wire.
Much like the Nazi concentration camps, the Khmer Rouge
documented ever prisoner and atrocity. Upon arrival, each
prisoner's picture was taken and a detailed biography was
documented. Prisoners were then confined to cells approximately
the size of a closet by chaining them to iron posts. Daily
torture was undertaken through beatings, electric shock and
other atrocities. At the end of their imprisonment, prisoners
were marched about two miles to the killing fields. To save
bullets, they were beaten to death.
The atrocious numbers for Tuol Sleng:
>From 10,500 to 14,500 adult prisoners.
Another 2,000 children prisoners.
7 survived. Yes, just 7.
Only 2 Khmer have ever been prosecuted for the atrocity.
Today, Tuol Sleng is a genocide museum. The walls are full of
pictures of the prisoners. Men and women. Boys and girls as
young as 5-years old. There are still bloodstains on the floors
of the interrogation rooms.
Why visit or write an article about Tuol Sleng? Traveling is
about discovery, even if the subject is something horrible.
Failing to recognize the dark side of humanity dooms us to
repeat those failings. The Nazi concentration camps existed in
the 40s, Tuol Sleng in the 70s, and today similar atrocities are
occurring in North Vietnam and Darfur. Will we ever learn?