S21 & The Killing Fields

16/01/17

Phnom phen (Cambodia's capital)

Hangover mostly cured we know what we need to do to lift our spirits.... Attend a mass genocide site and also a torture prison. Brilliant.

An American breakfast sets us up with its excessive carbs, then we get a Tuk Tuk sorted for $12 for the day (seems good value to me).

On the way along the bumpy roads (this is what happens when you have 10mm of cover over spaghetti like re-bar) we get a good glimpse of sub-urban life. What I still like about this place is how raw the economy is (and I think proper as well). Everyone on the road has construction materials. In the back of Tuk Tuks, giant panes of glass on a tiny moped and 6m lengths of re-bar on the best tractors ever. Then on the side of the road there are lines of shops... But by shops I mean work shops.... Fabricators, mechanics, wood carvers making furniture (national heritage they're really good at it) and actual retailers selling massive generators, or water pumps, or drainage pipe work. It's so proper it's exciting!

Everyone seems to be dressed and fed well out here which I wasn't sure would happen.... The same can be said for all areas of Cambodia we have seen so far which is interesting for one of the poorest countries on the planet. I'm sure when the cities grow and people re-populate then that will change.

We're on our way out to 'The Killing Fields'. This is where the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge regime in 1975 brought over 20,000 people over a 4 year period to 'exterminate' them. The Khmer Rouge were an extreme communist party who Took over from some guys (forgotten who!) to bring piece after years of civil war and relentless bombings from the Americans during the Vietnam conflict. People were tired and when the Khmer Rouge army came into the city everyone was so excited and welcomed his army (formed with ill educated farm workers) into the capital city with smiles and waves.

Within three hours of marching into the city the Khmer Rouge soldiers told the people that the Americans were going to bomb the city so everyone needed to evacuate. Men, women and children were forced to leave the city immediately carrying little more than the clothes on their back. All urban developments were completely empty of all people within 3 days. Schools, hospitals, police stations and shops were all shut, and they stayed that way for 4 years. The national bank was demolished, and cash was gotten rid of.

Turned out Pol Pot was a massive commie but a commie with not much of a plan. his party wanted to turn the country into a totally independent self sustainable state run by farmers, so the people from the cities were sent to the rice fields, to grow rice these were seen as the 'new people' and were now third class citizens. Thousands of people died on the side of the road on the way to the fields through exhaustion.

Having had no experience at farm work the city dwellers were not very good working the paddies and the regime fell at the first hurdle.... Feeding people. So they upped the anty and had millions of men, women and children in the fields for 12-19 hours in the scorching heat with no breaks, fed on two watery small bowls of rice a day. Many thousands died. the troops were fed well during this period, as well as the 'old people' who were the villagers who had never gone to the city.

Cambodia is a very fertile land and where ever we go we see bananas, mangos (I like de mango mango) and fruits we've never seen before growing everywhere. Couldn't people eat these?

The thing is if people took fruit from a tree for their family it was seen as theft from the state and would get you and your whole family arrested. So people starved, women couldn't produce Brest milk, so babies starved. Everyone starved and worked.

The international community was invited to come and have a look at the utopia that had been created. The Swedes came for two weeks and saw the cheery well dressed workers in the fields and factories, at the volume of food which was produced so they could gorge at a banquet and at how simple and great life was with no money. The swedes went back to Europe and the west, and called the refugees who had managed to escape liars. They said that the Khmer Rouge were doing a great job. This showed that even journalists didn't realise a good stage set when they saw one. So the international community sat back. All borders were closed due to the wars and millions of landmines which filled the country side prevented operations into the country. The swedes were believed and the regime left to do what it saw fit.

Meanwhile, the family that tries to eat a mango from a tree to prevent starvation is caught and arrested. The whole family is sent to a prison to be dealt with as an enemy of the state.

The family are taken in trucks to a local high school named security centre 21 (S21). There are thousands of these centres all over the country, S21 is one of the most hideous.

Here we went after the killing fields and soent around three hours in silence as we walked around the actual rooms where thousands of men women and children had been tortured. The exact cells, with guard graffiti, keys hooks and even blood were still everywhere. It was so intense seeing everything so well preserved, even to the beds which prisoners were tied to. The last act of horror in this place was the final prisoners who were being tortured as the Vietnamese 'liberated' the prison. Thy were executed as the guards fled to the jungle borders of Thailand.

Before the liberation the prisoners were tortured until they provided false confessions confirming they worked for the CIA AND KGB!?

One international who was captured was a New Zealander who had been sailing around the world and was picked up by the Khmer Rouge. He was tortured and left a confession confirming he was working for colonel harland Sanders (KFC) , sergeant Pepper was his handler, he also made reference to his mum by her initials. The KR had no idea what any of this meant and documented it all.

He was later taken to the killing fields where he, along with thousands of Cambodians, was executed. They were taken to the side of a mass grave and hit with hammers, hoes, spades, bamboo and battered to death. Then pushed into the hole. Many were not dead and were buried alive. All of this happened at night, under the sound of blaring communist music to muffle the screams of the murdered. This was only around 10km from the capital city.

Now as we walked around we were told not to walk on bones of clothes which are continuously pushed up with the groundwater.

The worst element was the 'killing tree' which was where the soldiers would take a baby by the feet, and smash there heads against a tree trunk until their brains were visible. Thousands of baby's were killed along with their parents. The KR Moro being, "to kill the weed you must dig down to the roots" believing that killing a whole family would prevent revenge attacks.

To us this was crazy! The international community failed to act or listen to refugees! Millions (one quarter) were killed for no good reason... For working for the government, being a teacher, having soft hands or wearing glasses.

Tb'd international community allowed the Pol Pot regime a seat a the UN for 25 years even whilst they were in exile when the world could see what had happened and has access to evidence. Margaret thatcher sent the SAS on missions to support the KR I AM SO CONFUSED WTF THIS IS RIDIC!!

Heavy day! Noblet wanted to go to hooters to see how they could run one where the girls are 'slight' but it hadn't been built yet!! He had to settle for motor boating the hoarding instead 🙈😂Read more