The atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime remain one of the darkest chapters in human history. The brutal campaign led by Pol Pot between 1975 and 1979 claimed the lives of nearly two million Cambodians—approximately a quarter of the country’s population. At the heart of this horrifying genocide was Tuol Sleng (S-21), a former school transformed into a death prison where tens of thousands were tortured, forced into false confessions, and ultimately executed.
To understand Tuol Sleng’s chilling role in the genocide, we must first examine the origins of the Khmer Rouge, the ideology that fueled their brutality, and the devastating consequences of their rule.
The Rise of the Khmer Rouge: The Seeds of Terror
Cambodia Before the Khmer Rouge
In the 1960s, Cambodia was a fragile nation struggling to find its place in a world divided by the Cold War. After gaining independence from France in 1953, the country was ruled by Norodom Sihanouk, who promoted a policy of neutrality. While urban areas experienced some modernization, rural Cambodia remained deeply impoverished. This stark divide created resentment, particularly among the peasant class.
One of the discontented voices in the countryside was a man named Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot. Influenced by Maoist ideology, he and a group of radical communists formed the Communist Party of Kampuchea, later known as the Khmer Rouge. Their vision was extreme: a self-sufficient, agrarian society free from Western influence, private property, and capitalism.
The Road to Power
During the Vietnam War, Cambodia became entangled in the conflict. The U.S. conducted secret bombing campaigns in Cambodia, killing thousands of civilians and pushing many into the arms of the Khmer Rouge, who capitalized on the growing anger toward the government. In 1970, Sihanouk was overthrown in a coup, further destabilizing the nation.
By April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge had captured Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. But instead of celebrating victory, the regime immediately emptied the cities, forcing millions into brutal rural labor camps. This marked the beginning of four years of horror.
Tuol Sleng (S-21): A School Turned Slaughterhouse
A Hidden House of Horror
Among the Khmer Rouge’s 189 detention centers, none were as notorious as Tuol Sleng, codenamed S-21. Located in central Phnom Penh, Tuol Sleng was originally a high school but was repurposed into a torture and execution facility. The regime closed all schools, viewing education as a threat, and ironic as it may seem, the man in charge of S-21, Comrade Duch, was a former teacher himself.
From the outside, Tuol Sleng looked like an ordinary building. Inside, it became a factory of death, where at least 17,000 men, women, and children were brutally interrogated, tortured, and later executed.
A Bureaucracy of Death
The prison was a cold, calculated machine of repression. Prisoners went through a systematic intake process that involved:
- Photographing and documenting each detainee.
- Confiscation of all personal belongings.
- Interrogations designed to extract false confessions.
The Khmer Rouge, paranoid of internal betrayal, arrested thousands of their own officials and soldiers, forcing them to confess to being foreign spies—often under extreme duress.
Brutal Conditions and Daily Torture
Life in S-21 was unbearable. Prisoners were kept in tiny cells, shackled to the floor, and given barely enough food to survive. Any act of disobedience, even sitting up without permission, resulted in severe beatings or electrocution.
The interrogation rooms became chambers of agony, where victims endured:
- Beatings with electrical cables and metal rods.
- Waterboarding and near-drowning.
- Forced feeding of bodily fluids.
- Electric shocks and toenail removal.
- Sexual violence, including rape.
The goal was not just to extract confessions but to completely break the spirit of the prisoners. Many were forced to implicate their family members, who would then also be arrested and executed.
The Road to The Killing Fields
Once prisoners signed confessions—usually false—they were sentenced to death. Most were sent to Choeung Ek, known today as The Killing Fields. Here, to save bullets, executioners bludgeoned victims to death with clubs, axes, and machetes, then dumped their bodies into mass graves.
One of the most haunting reminders of this brutality is the “Killing Tree”, where babies and small children were smashed against the trunk before being discarded. The Khmer Rouge viewed even infants as a threat, adopting the chilling philosophy:
“To kill the grass, you must remove the roots.”
The Fall of the Khmer Rouge and Tuol Sleng’s Legacy
The End of the Nightmare
By 1979, after years of growing instability and border conflicts, Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge was overthrown, and Tuol Sleng was discovered by Vietnamese forces, who were horrified at what they found.
The prison had been hastily abandoned, with the bodies of the last victims still inside, throats slit to cover up evidence. The meticulous records left behind, including thousands of mugshots and confessions, provided irrefutable proof of the genocide.
Justice and Reckoning
Despite the horrors committed at Tuol Sleng, justice was slow. Many former Khmer Rouge leaders lived freely for decades, including Pol Pot, who died in 1998 before ever facing trial.
However, in 2010, Comrade Duch was sentenced to life in prison, marking the first significant conviction for crimes against humanity. His victims, including survivors like Chum Mey and Bou Meng, testified against him, ensuring the world would not forget.
Tuol Sleng Today: A Museum of Memory and Mourning
Tuol Sleng is now a Genocide Museum, serving as a grim reminder of the atrocities committed there. Exhibits include:
- Rows of haunting prisoner mugshots.
- Blood-stained torture instruments.
- Glass cases filled with human skulls.
- The preserved prison cells and execution grounds.
Survivors like Chum Mey continue to share their stories, urging visitors to remember the past so that history never repeats itself. As he solemnly states:
“Visiting every day brings me closer to the victims in those photographs. I feel their presence here, and it is our responsibility to tell the world what happened.”
Conclusion: A Lesson from the Past
Tuol Sleng stands as a stark reminder of what happens when power goes unchecked, when paranoia replaces reason, and when ideology overrides humanity. The lessons of the Khmer Rouge genocide are painfully clear:
- Unchecked authoritarianism leads to mass suffering.
- Hatred and division breed unimaginable cruelty.
- We must never turn a blind eye to oppression.
The people who perished at Tuol Sleng were not just numbers. They were teachers, farmers, children, parents—ordinary people caught in an extraordinary nightmare. Their stories must continue to be told, not only for Cambodia but for the world, as a warning against the dangers of tyranny and mass violence.
