Phnom Penh

Part of the palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

We went to Tuol Sleng, a former school which the Khmer Rouge called S21.  It was used as a torture and detainment centre between Apr 1975 to Jan 1979 to get 'confessions' out of the prisoners held there. When the Vietnamese army came in they found the last 14 victims who the Khmer Rouge hadn't had time to get out, so they killed them.  The Vietnamese took photos to show the world what they'd found

These were the rules

The last 14 victims were buried onsite.  The other 20,000 victims were taken a few kms north of the capital to a killing field

The type of room some of the torturing took place in. The ammunition box was used instead of a toilet

This was originally used by children to climb up ropes hanging from the frame

The Khmer Rouge used it for torture, pulling the prisoners up by a rope tied round their hands behind their backs, then dropped to the floor.  This would be done until they lost consciousness.  To revive them, they would hold them by the ankles and put them head first in the pots which were full of faeces and urine.  Then they would start if all over again

Pol Pot, top left, was the leader of the Khmer Rouge.  No one can be sure why he did what he did as there doesn't seem to be much sense to it.  Upon taking control he emptied the cities and sent the people to work in the farms.  Anyone of any intelligence would be sent to a detention centre, tortured until they confessed to being CIA or KGB and would then be taken away and killed.  Wearing glasses, speaking a foreign language, having a neighbour talking to the wrong person about you were enough to get you taken to a centre like S21.  The person below him was his second in command, Duch, a former teacher.  Unfortunately Pol Pot died a natural death before he could be held accountable.  Trials are currently taking place, though naturally, a lot of Khmers think it's too little, too late

The prisoners were catalogued when they came into the centre

There are loads of boards in the museum, full of faces, none of whom survived

Once you'd confessed they'd take you away and catalogue pictures of you dead.  These would be put on file along with your confession to make it 'right'

Being a child did not get you any reprival, though they didn't always bother cataloging you

Some prisoners were kept in rooms with all their legs locked together in long rows

These are some of the mass graves found.  In all, the Khmer Rouge killed about 2 million people (more than the Nazis did in WW2), which left the country without specialised people like doctors and such

Some people were kept in cells like this.  The Khmer Rouge tried to dismantle the centre once they heard the Vietnamese were coming in but didn't have enough time

Barbed wire was put on all the buiildings after a woman threw herself off the 2nd floor to save herself being tortured

These ordinary items were used as weapons of torture.  The victims were killed by being hit over their head with something heavy and blunt to save bullets.  Bullets were to be saved for armies

The only 7 who survived Tuol Sleng.  They were being taken away as the Khmer Rouge were fleeing and they encountered the Vietnamese.  They ran in the ensuing confusion and fight.  The middle man was an artist who lived as he could paint pictures of Pol Pot that he liked.  He later painted and drew lots of pictures about what had happened there, some of which are at the museum

Skulls showing the evidence of brutality

We went for a walk through the capital to cheer ourselves up after the museum

One of the rivers that run through Phnom Penh and lots of traditional looking boats

The green thing is a 7 year old girl who passed us as we were waiting to cross the junction (yes, this is a 4 way junction with no lights or roundabout.  We felt a bit like jessies as she just strolled through the centre, all the vehicles steering round her