Phnom Penh : Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum or Tuol Sleng Museum

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum or Tuol Sleng Museum is a museum in Phnom Penh commemorating the genocide in Cambodia. It is the former Security Service 21 (abbreviated as "S.21") of the Democratic Kampuchea regime led by Pol Pot (original name Saloth Sar) when the Khmer Rouge came to power on April 17, 1975. S.21 was a place of brutal interrogation, torture, and execution after the confessions were completed. On the day of liberation, January 7, 1979, the Party and State organized a collection of evidence from S.21, such as photographs, videos, confessions of victims, torture equipment, handcuffs, and the bodies of 14 victims (including one woman) to be exhibited for national and international visitors. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum opened its doors on the day the Cambodian People’s Revolutionary Court held its trial of Democratic Kampuchea leaders Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, and Khieu Samphan (August 19, 1979). The former S-21 facility measures 600m x 400m, bordered to the north by Norodom Sihanouk Boulevard, to the south by Mao Zedong Boulevard, to the east by Monivong Boulevard, and to the west by Road 163, surrounded by a two-story galvanized fence with barbed wire strewn across the top. Two educational institutions, Tuol Sleng Primary School and Tuol Svay Prey High School, which were located in the area of ​​the enclosure, were surrounded by a similar zinc fence, bordering the two institutions on the east side with Road 113, the west side with Road 131, the north side with Road 320, and the south side with Road 350. This enclosure was made after the people were expelled from Phnom Penh to the forest or remote countryside, where they lived as slaves, like prisons without walls. The four buildings of the high school with classrooms were converted by the S-21 into small cells measuring 2m x 0.80m for the detention of individual prisoners. The front of the building was covered with barbed wire to prevent victims from committing suicide by jumping from the top to the bottom. In 1977~78, Building "A" was arranged as a room measuring 6m x 4m with windows blocked by strong iron bars and covered with glass to prevent the victims' cries of pain from being heard outside during each torture. Building "A" for detaining cadres accused of being opponents of the revolutionary organization has beds, blankets, pillows, and mats. As for the metal boxes and plastic bottles for the victims to use for their excrement. Buildings "B, C, and D" on the ground floor are small rooms built of bricks, the second floor is a wooden room, and the third floor is a shared detention room. The graves of 14 bodies are the bodies of victims found by the Cambodian National Salvation Front troops on January 7, 1979. The bodies were so swollen and rotten that they could not be recognized, they were carried and buried in front of Building "A". The 14 bodies, including one woman. The S-21 killed all the victims last before they fled. The wooden pole used for sports training was used as a place for torture and interrogation, with the victims' hands tied behind their backs and pulled up high and then lowered down repeatedly until they lost consciousness. They then dunked the victims' heads in a jar of sewage water to regain consciousness and interrogate them again. To maintain security and manage the internal affairs of S-21 and its branches, the Democratic Kampuchea employed a staff of 1,684 in 1976, divided into three units: S-21 (Toul Sleng), S-21 A (in Takhmao), and S-21 B (in Prey Sar, west of Phnom Penh, Dangkor District, Kandal Province), which produced agricultural equipment for S-21. All these departments and branches were under the authority of the Ministry of National Defense and Pol Pot’s Central Committee, with one of the Central Committee’s permanent members as an assistant and responsible person, Kaing Geak Eav, alias Duch, a Khmer national, born in Pov Vuy village, Peam Bang commune, Stoung district, Kampong Thom province, and a teacher. Duch was the former head of S-21.

According to research on the list of victims from 1975 to June 1978.

-1975, there were 154 people

-1976, there were 2,250 people

-1977, there were 2,350 people

-1978, there were 5,765 people

This number does not include the young children they killed. It is estimated that there were about 20,000. The detention period was 2 to 4 months, while some political prisoners (political prisoners) were detained for up to 6 or 7 months.

Therefore, it is imperative that we preserve this place, especially the documents and evidence, to prove and instill in our hearts the oppressive acts of the Democratic Kampuchea regime and prevent this regime from returning to Cambodian society. All future generations of Cambodians must always remember this tragic and bitter tragedy as a life experience for the future and strive to build a nation by avoiding this path. Originally, this was Chao Ponyayat High School, but the Khmer Rouge used it as a detention and interrogation center in August 1975, four months after the Khmer Rouge came to power. S-21 was a large central center of the prison system throughout the country, and this prison was also a secret place for detaining, interrogating, torturing, and destroying those considered “political prisoners” of the regime. The Khmer Rouge took prisoners and imprisoned them with their families, based on a policy of systematic guilt. A small number of prisoners were released by the Khmer Rouge after being captured and held at S-21 under its control between 1975 and 1979, and of these, only 12 victims were alive when the Cambodian United Front for National Salvation liberated Phnom Penh.Among the 12 victims were 4 children.