CHEA Say
Pseudonym: TCW-91
Cases: Case 002/01
Category: Witness
Background and roles
Before the “liberation” of Phnom Penh in 1975, Chea Say worked as a trainee driver in a military unit.
1
He then served as a mechanic in the Khmer Rouge auto repair unit (K-12) mending trucks and transporting people.
2
He testified in Case 002/01 about his experiences and what he witnessed during the Khmer Rouge regime, including the evacuation of people, the K-12 office, and political training sessions.
The evacuation of Phnom Penh in April 1975
When Phnom Penh was captured by the Khmer Rouge in April 1975,
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armed Khmer Rouge soldiers lined the main roads and supervised the evacuation as they directed the population to keep moving out of the city and onwards.
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Chea Say was assigned by his commander to help evacuate and protect people.
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He travelled on a ship with evacuees all the way from Phnom Penh to Preaek Pou, Kampong Cham province.
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K-12 office and other offices
Chea Say testified that during the Khmer Rouge regime, he was assigned to work at the K-12 office, which was an auto repair unit, and also the office that organized motor vehicles and drivers in Phnom Penh.
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The head of K-12 was Ta Meal
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and Vuy was the deputy head.
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K-12 was part of Office 870 under the supervision of Pang.
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The witness worked in the auto repair unit with 30 other people, most of whom came from the North and the East Zones.
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His tasks were repairing trucks and driving or transporting people.
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He transported some workers to work, sometimes took garbage to the dump sites,
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and drove medics to watch movies.
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Aside from K-12, he also mentioned other offices such as K-6, which was a CPK political school at Borei Keila;
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K-11, a medical facility;
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and K-20, a production unit.
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Political study sessions
Chea Say participated in many political education sessions at the Technological Institute and Borei Keila,
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with themes such as working hard, economization, and engaging in good work to build the country.
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He and his 30 colleagues took turns to attend the sessions.
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The political study sessions usually lasted at least three days, while a normal study session would be an hour or two.
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At the end of the sessions, the attendees immediately returned to their workplace as they had to put effort in the rebuilding of the country.
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Party leaders, including Pol Pot, Khieu Samphan and Noun Chea, led education sessions in Phnom Penh, beginning soon after 17 April 1975 and continuing throughout the DK era.
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Khieu Samphan rarely gave instructions at the study sessions; mostly instructions were given by Nuon Chea.
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The Trial Chamber, relying on the evidence of Chea Say among others, found that a number of witnesses attended large-scale political training sessions during the DK period, at which KHIEU Samphan lectured or taught.
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Fear of execution
The witness testified that during the Khmer Rouge regime he was focused on performing his tasks very well, so he didn’t pay much attention to other things going on, but he noted that people disappeared, and he had no idea about where they could have gone.
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He was frightened because of the uncertainty behind the disappearances, not knowing whether those people had been moved to other locations or killed.
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According to the witness, people were removed if they were seen as enemy “elements”.
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When Sor Phim, who was the head of the East Zone, was accused of being a traitor, the witness, as a man who was from the same East Zone, was implicated as well.
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For this reason, he was very worried that he would also end up being executed.
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Radio broadcasting
The witness listened to a shared radio at K-12 office
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and heard Khieu Samphan speak on the radio about education, economization, and working hard to build the country.
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Khieu Samphan continued to make public statements supporting the CPNLAF (Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces) and the new regime, denouncing the previous Lon Nol government.
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Videos
| Date | Written record of proceedings | Transcript number |
|---|---|---|
| 20/09/2012 | E1/124 | E1/124.1 |
| Document title Khmer | Document title English | Document title French | Document D number | Document E3 number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| កំណត់ហេតុនៃការស្តាប់ចម្លើយសាក្សី ជា សាយ ថ្ងៃទី ១១ ១២ ២០០៧ | [Corrected 1] Written record of interview of CHEA Say | [Corrigé 1] Procès-verbal de l’audition de CHEA Say | D91/12 | E3/69 |