Voices from S-21: The Cambodian Genocide Essay Example

one of the painters Vann Nath, a celebrated survivor of S-21 prison at Phnom Penh. The victim is one of the survivors who faced the history of the dark chapter of leadership by Pol Pot at the prison. Having been detained as the enemy of the people, he became popular after the painting of the prison leader at Khmer Rouge. The sparing of the painter’s life followed the communication of the prisoners who scribbled the notes to spare his life. He was later spared his life due to the skills he had acquired as a painter before his arrest at the rice fields. The human right activist, Vann would never have come out during the regime due to the threats and fear for his life hence used his talent to keep him alive. After the regime, he made various artistic work that made the realization of the torture at the S-21 prison. However, the sickness and torture threats made the life of Van difficult to the point that he could not concentrate on his talent on painting. His portraits were however used to redeem the S-21 after the reconstruction of the torture chamber.

The growing number of missing people after they were brought in for the interrogations and questioning had resulted to the political influence on the center activities. However, in the questioning of the excessive force on the victims of the interrogation process affected the majority of the communist region. The majority of the victims were innocent despite their bringing in into the camp that led to their disappearance. Tuol Sleng's reputation became brutal upon the reports of the missing persons and the war between

the ethnic groups and the American government heated. Despite, the interrogation and the use of force in regaining the region’s mythical rule, the process of extracting information from the citizens led to the loss of lives of the victims.

History and Background

The S-21 prison held the prisoners for arrange of two to three months an effect that led to the loss of many of the prisoners. The Tuol Sleng design was meant to get information from the prisoners by the use of crude interrogation means of torture for confessions to crimes charged with. However, many were the victims that never knew the crimes they were charged against. The process of prosecution resulted to deaths and the abuse of human rights. The incidence that went unknown to the public was supported by different factors including the government and the international community. The fact about the S-21 was that it was known to the senior managers and government officials in the government as a secret operation hence the leveraging of the political leadership of Pol Pot.

Different factors contributed to the secrecy of the S-21 prison which includes the support of the political regime by the external forces. After the overthrow of the military regime by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge became an independent region whose operations could not be influenced by the external communities hence the misuse of power by the leaders. The intelligence behind the S-21 operation involved subjecting the opposition leaders to the torturous means in the protection of the communism. It was therefore an important responsibility to the government of Cambodia to keep prison’s missions a secret from the general public and the international radar

in order to maintain the leadership process and the culture of communism.

Among other factors that facilitated to the secrecy of the S-21 prison include the influence rom both the internal and external forces. The Khmer Rouge, neighbors Vietnam in the East that fought against the French colony years ago to gain the independence. The Buddhists dominated area the Vietnam is found between two differently ruled regions in the land. The pro-Western South Vietnam guided by the United States and the Communist North Vietnam war broke out in the 1954 leading to the political differences in the region. The intrusion of the United States in the civil war in 1964 led to the use of different tactics and weapons between the armies involved in the war. The war led to increased loss of lives for both the Vietnamese and the Americans especially following the use of the powerful weapons that included the firebombs and the airpower.

The war between the different troops escalated with the use of the powerful weapons introduced by the Americans. The regions against the Americans proposals faced the wrath through the bombing and attacks in the region. The rise of the Khmer Rouge guerilla was born in 1970 with the leader as Pol Pot an admirer of the communism and educated in the French. The increasing civil war between the Americans and the Vietnamese led to the separation and increased recruits into the communist guerilla. The division between the regions resulted in the growth of the Pol Pot’s army to over seven hundred thousand men against the rivals Lon Nol’s army that tirelessly fought to suppress the Vietnamese communism.

The Rise of the S-21

Prison

The S-21 became an undercover project in the wake of 1975 when the Vietnamese based on the North forces seized the South Vietnamese hence the ruling of the Khmer Rouge. The war between the two armies led to a massive loss of lives in such for civil justice and freedom. It is estimated that majority of the victims affected by the war were civilians and not the armies with the tactical skills and weapons of defense. It was prudent that the civil war of justice affected the citizens.

The rise of the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Pol Pot led to the exercising of the extremist programs and missions in Cambodia. The overthrowing of the government gave Pot the authority to embark on the ruthless tactics of the Mao’s communist model that resulted in torture on the opposition victims in extracting information that some of the victims were not aware. Intellectuals and the educated were cast out of the society and were to be tortured to minimize the force of rebellion against the new rule in Cambodia. The injustices followed the exodus from the cities and urban centers by the citizens’ failure to which they were tortured and murdered under the rule of Pot.

The expulsion from the urban centers and the forced labor into the rice fields led to the alienation of children at a tender age and the separation of families that led to the development of camps at different locations. The civilization system established by the capitalist Americans was shut down including the schools and hospitals and later the banning of the religion. The civilization process was completely banned and the social norms

destroyed. The banning of the personal relations and the targeting of the minority in the society affected the society.

The increasing torturous method adopted by Pot led to the political challenges of facing an arising that was against his rule either within his rivals or the society. The solution to continued leadership and ruling of the Vietnamese resulted in the establishment of the Khmer Rouge interrogation centers. The centers were specifically designed to carry out the interrogations at the S-21 prisoners and those suspected of rebellions against the unfair treatment by the system. The politicians, elites, and their families were among the affected victims of the torturous process at the Khmer Rouge interrogation center.

Despite the development of the S-21 prison center, many civilians had suffered the exhaustion, starvation ad diseases as the result of the unjust rule by Pot leadership. The executions had brought more deaths against the human rights and the intervention to the civil war was necessary during the period. The rise of rivalry in Cambodia had resulted to increased civil war among the East and the North ethnics. The two ethnic communities were under the international support of both China and the Soviet Union an element that led to the increased torturous tactics by the leader Pot on the treacherous followers in fear of loss of power in the region.

The Cambodian insurgency had led to the resulting unjust tactics of getting information through the torturous means at the S-21 prison. It was believed that the communists had purged thousands of the Khmer Rouge into the communism in consideration of the Vietnamese communist nature. The paranoia over the Vietnamese communists by Pol Pot led

to the increase in the deaths of the Cambodians in the region. The seizing of the Cambodian government in 1979 led to the liberation of the citizens after one of the most torturous experiences ever experienced in the World. The formation of a new government People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK) led by Governor Hun Sen led to the hopes of the Vietnamese.

Discussion

Incidences at S-21 Prison

The utilization of the interrogation methods at the S-21 prison by the Pol Pot’s governance led to the loss of lives and dictatorship in the region. The torture system designed to get confessions from the prisoners led to the unjust methods of torture that resulted in death. The use of searing hot metals and the electric shocks were the signs of the various devices against human rights were used in the system. Torture has been characterized as one of the most extreme forms of human violence that result from the psychological and physical consequences in the society. It causes enduring effects on the survivors and perpetrators when acquiring the information during the interrogations. The utilization of the torturous methods during the Khmer Rouge affected the society in different ways against the human rights. The utilization of mass execution is adverse actions against the humanity that affect the development and growth of the society. The use of the mass execution by the Soviet Union during the Vietnamese war to gain control over Cambodia expressed the wrong utilization of leadership in the view of human rights. Political power does not necessarily require the execution of civilians in masses and dumping the bodies in the mass graves as experienced in the Khmer Rouge scenario.

The incident at Khmer Rouge turned out to be one of the most dangerous in history recording about 20,000 missing people after the establishment of the Khmer Rouge interrogation and execution center and photographing of the victims for evidence. The political situation had escalated to the uncontrollable level affecting the social background of the citizens.

The interrogations methods evoke a lot of concern at the Khmer Rouge interrogation and execution center following the intervention of various stakeholders to question the validity of the methods and devices utilized by the management. The important perspectives of social justice as highly focused by the archivist in the Tuol Sleng indicated the violation of human rights at the extreme by the political power. The photographs left behind during the ambush evidenced the dictatorship and misuse of authority in the region following the war between the ethnic backgrounds coupled with the political affluence that led to war within a society.

The use of force and torture were beyond utilized in the Khmer Rouge interrogation centers forcing the victims into photography and writing of their biographies against their will. The observation of the human rights during the regime led to the misuse of the political power by the leader Pol Pot with the support from the Soviet Union. The leader was the supreme law of the land and disrespect to human life became the norm of the day. The Khmer Rouge Leader Pol Pots ordered the digging of grave awaiting the burial. The murder incidence escalated with the common graves expected for the political leaders who opposed the government at the period. The families of the political leaders were not spared either but

killed innocently without trial but the lack of the information required by the interrogators who used just but a tip for the arrests.

The use of the power unlawfully in the trial and execution of citizen express the injustices against the human rights to safeguard the rights of citizens and their life by Cambodia Government at Khmer Rouge. The excessive use of force and death threats were just but a political strategy to rule people under fear of being executed in case of opposition. The documenting of the voluminously and in lurid details about the prisoners led to the creation of tension in Khmer Rouge about the number of people who had passed on due to the disagreement with the law in place. The people on the inside had the fear of execution just like anyone else in the society. The environment developed at Khmer Rouge resulted in the torture of the victims such as citizens and the government operators for the political leaders.

The major victims of the Khmer Rouge genocides were the citizens especially those members of the public affiliated to the political link in Cambodia. The interrogation process was initially designed to extract the information from the citizens with information about the opposition in fear of the coup. However, the interrogators were prone to the process just as the victims according to the system set up due to the silly mistakes during the process. The system had acquired a self-governance and operational protocol where the leader dictated the orders for every citizen to abide.

Political Influence of the S-21 Establishment

The attainment of power by the Khmer Rouge led to the deterioration of the government since

the educated, and the politically influential citizens were eliminated from the society through death. The managers and leaders left behind were the peasants that were easily controlled by the leader of the Khmer Rouge through the effective power. The role of intelligence in the society in the safeguarding the human rights are represented by the incidences at Khmer Rouge. Ignorance had a contribution to the continued murder operations through inhuman interrogation techniques.

The killing of the former government officials after the attainment of power by Khmer Rouge reveals the impact of the political opposition that equals the ruling authority in a democracy. The Khmer Rouge leadership realization of the upcoming rebellion against the Communist rule that had a set-back on the society resulted in the implementation of the interrogations that would suppress any challenging political parties in the society. The observation of human rights in the society require the utilization of equally capable individuals in the process of monitoring the governance of both parties. However, amidst all the powers and political competition the citizens suffered the interrogation processes most with the women and children being the primary victims.

When the political influence overcomes the human rights observation, the citizens of the regions have no choice but elope from the region or face the political turmoil. After the human catastrophe of the genocides in Khmer Rouge, the leaders retained their political power. The more shocking incidences and shifts in the political arena retained the leaders unprosecuted and unpunished of the injustices committed during their regime. However, the arrest of the installed prime minister brought about tension within the citizens in concern of the protection and the return of

the interrogation chambers.

The influence of the political war led to the diminishing of the citizens’ activities in the region that affected the existence of the citizens. The relocation of the citizens and the spread of diseases were among the social problems experienced after the war. The closer observation on the effects of the political war in Vietnam about the social life of the citizens expresses the negative livelihood by the people of Cambodia. Despite the fight for the humanity the leaders linked to the death of millions of people in Cambodia retained the political positions and in some way continued their responsibilities until death. Ironically, the leader of the Khmer Rouge at the period of genocide activities Pol Pot died in 1998 without serving the jail term despite the fight for the rights of the Khmer Rouge citizens.

Reasons for the Secretive Establishment of S-21 Center

The influence of the society regarding the unlawful and inhuman rule at Cambodia deprived the civilians the right to their freedom, body health and development at democracy leadership. The nation that had been built on strong foundation of leadership and education system crushed with the rise of the Khmer Rouge into power hence the torture process in 1975. The education system was destroyed with minimal intervention of the international body who were focused on the political gain in the region.

In a different perspective, the international community is to blame for the inhumane and treatment and killings in Khmer Rouge. The effective impact of the organization was never expressed during the political torture period hence the death of the 1.7 million people. The intelligence in the region was ignored due to the

political affiliation to the Soviet Union in particular by the American government. The slow pace of human rights justice was later executed at a slower pace hence the failure to prosecute the perpetrators of the political war. Despite the adoption of the Communism form of political system the influence on the civilians at Khmer Rouge was never expected to turn out as it did due to various of reasons including the lack of support from the external political organizations.

The negative perception of the Communism and the education system failed the people of Cambodia in different ways considering the education system of the leaders. Pol pots, the leader of the Khmer Rouge was educated in a French school after which he was awarded a scholarship to France to study radio engineering in Paris. In Paris, he joined various political affiliation and promised to bring democracy to his hometown after education system. The teaming up with the Khmer Rouge political friends at the institution and formation of the political parties led to the influence of his power upon the return to Cambodia. However, the scholarship of Pol Pot was revoked, and he was forced to return home where he conducted a series of revolts against the leadership of Sihanouk as the King of the region.

External Factors That Led to S-21 Prison Establishment

The political difference follows the education system adopted by the leadership hence the contribution of the education into the genocide at Khmer Rouge. The French education system influenced the leadership process especially with the leaders who visited China and the Soviet Union. The regions influenced the authoritarian communism as adopted by Pol Pot back in the

Cambodia, Vietnam. The Chinese Culture of Revolution was adopted from the Soviet Union and communism countries hence impacting on the leadership process of the Cambodia citizens. The ideological argument for support to the Maoism influenced the leaders acquisition of power in Cambodia as small groups.

The conflict between the superpowers contributed to the regional conflicts in Cambodia hence the abandonment by the international society. The opposition between the three superpowers; United States, China and the Soviet Union had a role in the Cambodian conflicts and political suppression on their watch. Initially, the region was a conflict between China and Vietnam hence, the evolution of the colonization and territorial gain led to the intervention of the United States and the Soviet Union. The interest to remain neutral after independence and the continued culture by King Sihanouk resulted in the political struggles of the region. The Chinese government offered the initial assistance with governance and the adoption of the communist form of leadership before the intervention of the United States during the Cold War.

External Influence by Superpowers and Foreign Power

The competition between the two superpowers extended in the 1960s leading to the division of the region. The United States extended the financial, and economic aid came up with the Cambodian military training that strengthened the political leadership of the region. The support to the South Vietnam- friendly guerilla against the French ruling, was the main aim of the extensive effort in support of the small, underdeveloped country for the defense against the Soviet Union.

The international influence on the Cambodia nation developed up until 1970 when the United States launched the bombing campaign that was aimed at suppressing the

rivals at the Soviet Union and China and on the lower level affecting the civilians of Cambodia. The international community failed the citizens of the Cambodia by failure to control the actions of the superpowers. However, the superpower countries were the majority voters and decision makers across the board hence the observation of human rights considered as the final option. The result of the crashes between the two superpowers led to the war between the Eastern and Southern of Cambodia. The Vietnam grounds were turned into battlefields between the two super powers hence further affecting the civilians.

The fall of the Sihanouk leadership as the result of the bombing expressed the weakness of the monarch leadership in Cambodia. The strength of the political leadership and stand with the decision requires the alliance with a stronger superpower a thought Sihanouk never considered during the Cold War between the three superpowers. The weakness of the monarch resulted in the rejection by the United States hence the effect of the internal crashes that included the rise of the Pol Pot. The rise of Pol Pot and the military general Lon Nol regimes were the results of abandonment by the superpowers. The start of civil war in Phnom Penh begin with the two leaders hence affecting the civilians.

The external forces influenced the operations at the S-21 prisons hence the adopting of the political influence in the region. According to the prisoners’ testimony, the torture experiences were never known beyond the boundaries of the prison due to the consequences and torture both the workers and the prisoners experienced. All the operations were conducted under the cover of the international relations and

the government human rights department due to the fear instilled in the general public.

Impact of the S-21 Interrogation Methods on Civilians and Staff Members

The initial process of torture for the people of Khmer Rouge through the migration and relocation had affected the social norms of the society. The lack of culture and freedom to social and cultural norms led to the death of the society that was once rich in cultural norms and ways of life. The citizens were turned into prisoners in their land before the establishment of the S-21; hence, the news about the prison could never rich the international community. The leader Pol Pot had ensured the establishment of the political system that paralyzed the intelligent and educated hence suppressing the rise of opposition and activism. The affiliated political group of politicians was executed through the S-21 initiated for the purpose of instilling fear against the opposition of the cruel rule of the land.

In various instances during the confessions, the prisoners were asked of their political affiliation and the support for the foreign regimes that resulted in their execution. The prisoners would be forced to describe their backgrounds in explanation of their party affiliation and the time they joined revolutions. The relation to the treason activities would then follow during the interrogations and later the conversations with the traitors ever held between the prisoners and the external forces. The process ensured that Pol Pot extracted all the possible information concerning his leadership from the victims whom he murdered after the confessions.

Conclusion

The S-21 affected both the staff and the prisoners in the prison due to the cruel methods of management exercised by the

government at the watch of the international organization. The operations at the prison were a secret due to some factors that range from the political influence by the external forces and the education system that had trained the communist leaders that ran the operations at the S-21. About the confessions by the member of senior staff the interrogations methods were forced to them through the threats from the high political influence. The members of the staff were also tortured due to failure in the procedure as instructed. The use of the iron bars, ammunitions, and the mass graves were the routines hence an adoption in the prison camp at S-21. Despite working as the prison staff majority ended up as prisoners hence the burying of the prison evidence that would leak to the public concerning the operations at the prison. The dictatorship leadership by Pol Pot had no chances of leaving the prison walls.

Among other contributing factors to the secrecy of the S-21 included the use of the security regulations and the external influence of the Cambodian leadership. The Pol Pot leadership had paralyzed the social ties of the civilians through the abduction and the discouragement of the social relations hence suppressing the spread of information. The silent rule at the prison did not allow the prisoners to communicate hence another criterion to suppress the spread of word concerning the S-21. The abduction of the educated also broke the chances of having the news or stories written about the incidences of the regime. The images and autobiographies remain as the hard evidence of the occurrences of the S-21 hence the lack of adequate evidence of

prosecuting the perpetrators of the rule at the time of the prison’s operations. The external influence of the global community failure to prosecute the perpetrators of S-21 affects the process of social justice in the society. The external political influence led to the establishment of the prison that denied the country development and social culture. The international human rights and the justice department have failed to prosecute the leaders of the S-21, yet the country registered the largest incidence of prison massacre as a result of the political influence. It is an indication of the power over social justice the political influence and interest for territories effect in the world.

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