The infamous Khmer Rouge was the ruling party of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, with fighting going on for many more years. Led by Pol Pot, also known as Brother Number One, the party is estimated to have killed as much as 1/3rd of the population of Cambodia through murder and starvation. The Khmer Rouge has justly been compared to Hitler for its brutal genocidal actions. Tuol Sleng represents the most brutal example.
TheTuol Sleng covers roughly a city block, but is tucked back among alleys in Phnom Pehn. During the Khmer's rule, two folds of iron sheets encased in electrified barbwire to prevent escape enclosed it. Prisoners were chained to walls and tortured on a daily basis until they admitted crimes against the state. The prisoners were required to follow ten regulations. A shocking sampling include:
The1. Do not try to hide facts by making excuses. You are strictly prohibited from contesting me.
The2. While being lashed or electrocuted, you must not cry at all.
The3. Disobey any rule and you will get 5 lashes with an electric wire.
TheMuch like the Nazi concentration camps, the Khmer Rouge documented ever prisoner and atrocity. Upon arrival, each prisoner's picture was taken and a detailed biography was documented. Prisoners were then confined to cells approximately the size of a closet by chaining them to iron posts. Daily torture was undertaken through beatings, electric shock and other atrocities. At the end of their imprisonment, prisoners were marched about two miles to the killing fields. To save bullets, the Khmer Rouge beat them to death.
TheThe atrocious numbers for Tuol Sleng:
TheFrom 10,500 to 14,500 adult prisoners.
TheAnother 2,000 children prisoners.
The7 survived.
TheYes, just 7.
TheOnly 2 Khmer have ever been prosecuted for the atrocity.
TheToday, Tuol Sleng is a genocide museum. The walls are full of pictures of the prisoners. Men and women. Boys and girls as young as 5 years old. There are still bloodstains on the floors of the interrogation rooms.