CHAN Khan
Pseudonym: KW-32
Cases: Case 001
Category: Witness
Background and role
In 1973, Chan Khan was recruited as a teenager to be a soldier but instead was sent to the M-13 security centre to work as a guard.
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He worked at M-13 until late 1973 or early 1974, when he was transferred to farm the rice fields of Oudong.
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While at M-13, his main task was preventing prisoners from escaping.
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He testified in Case 001 about the conditions of and events at M-13 where Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch was in charge.
Organisation of M-13, Duch’s role and internal purges
In 1973, M-13 or “13 13”,
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was a security centre chaired by Duch,
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with between 10-20 guards.
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M-13 was a secret security centre
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for detaining former Lon Nol soldiers, Khmer Rouge soldiers, and civilians,
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including pregnant women.
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There were no foreigners or children.
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Chan Khan was not aware that M-13 consisted of M-13A and M-13B divisions.
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At M-13, Duch organised regular self-criticism meetings,
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where they would reveal their mistakes and criticise one another.
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Duch took notes of who criticized whom;
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no one ever dared criticise him as he was the most important person at M-13,
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with a strict character who everyone feared.
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Mistakes by staff resulted in imprisonment.
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Duch emphasised that the prisoners were enemies, while the guards were friends.
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Staff accused of an “immoral offence” were executed.
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Chan Khan remembers one of the staff members, Phal, being imprisoned and executed.
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Another staff member, Chan Voeun, who allowed prisoners to escape, was also arrested but managed to escape.
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Chan Khan also observed that some staff that was sent to study sessions never returned.
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Detention conditions at M-13
M-13 encompassed 50sqm and was surrounded by fence with only one entry and exit from the north of the compound.
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There were small pits with spikes to prevent prisoners from escaping. Prisoners were held in other pits that had wooden floors and were covered with branches.
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Each pit was designed to hold between 20 to 60 prisoners,
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though there were only about four to 10 prisoners in each pit,
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chained by their ankles and necks.
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Prisoners were allowed to bathe every afternoon at the Trapeang Chrap pond.
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Some were also allowed to work during the day.
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Guards inspected the compound for bamboo sticks or scarves that could be used by the prisoners to commit suicide.
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During 1973, Chan Khan did not see any prisoners commit suicide “except when a higher authority in the detention asked people to do so”.
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Both food and medicine were insufficient.
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Most of the prisoners died of starvation,
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and a number of prisoners got ill due to insufficient medicine.
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Chan Khan remembered the 1973 flooding when three or four prisoners drowned because they were not moved on time to higher grounds.
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During the flood, prisoners were unshackled by their ankles – although still chained to the necks – and marched to a hillside that was insulated by barbwires and fence, and covered with leaves.
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Some prisoners died later on of disease or traumatization in response to the flood.
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Interrogation and torture at M-13
The M-13 interrogators were Duch, Chan, Meas, Pon and Pol.
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Duch’s interrogation hut was 500m to the north of the compound,
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far from the prisoners, under a mango tree.
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The hut had only a desk, a chair, and a cradle; when interrogated, prisoners would sit on the dirt floor.
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Others would interrogate prisoners at different locations to the north of Trapeang Chrap pond in small insulated huts that were hidden and far from the prison.
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Prisoners were tortured during the interrogations.
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Chan Khan noticed whip marks, blood, and scars on their faces and bodies from being beaten with bamboo sticks.
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After the beatings, medics would not treat the prisoners.
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Some prisoners never returned from their interrogations.
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Chan Khan could not relate much about the executions at M-13, since the execution place was secret,
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though he occasionally heard shootings by Chan, Pon, Meas, Phal.
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Prisoners caught trying to escape were tied to a pole and shot to intimidate others.
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Their graves were dug by other prisoners.
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Chan Khan’s suffering
Chan Khan did not willingly go to M-13; he was obliged to follow orders
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and had no right to object.
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Although he did not agree with Duch’s orders, he followed them and never attempted to escape out of fear of being killed.
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He was afraid of Duch, never looking at him in the eyes.
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He felt ashamed for his role at the M-13 security centre, where he witnessed corrupt activities, people (including his relatives) shackled and malnourished, and killings.
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Both Chan Khan’s maternal and paternal grandfathers were detained at M-13; the latter died at M-13.
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Each time he would hear gunshots, Chan Khan feared that one of his grandfathers had been killed.
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He was also told to regard his grandfathers as his enemies.
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After the release of his maternal grandfather, Chan Khan refrained from asking him how he managed to survive the M-13, for fear of being reported and killed. “[D]uring that period everyone was being followed and monitored, so we had to be vigilant all the time and we had to be careful of what we said or we would be dead”.
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