DOUNG Oeurn

Background and role

Doung Oeurn testified as a Civil Party in Case 002/02 about the working conditions she endured, the fate of her family members, and the deportation and deaths of Vietnamese.

Working conditions

During the Khmer Rouge regime, Doung Oeurn lived with her family in Pou Chentam village, Svay Antor commune, Prey Veng province. She was assigned to forced labour by working the rice fields and having to dig the soil and channels as well as harvest and transplant seedlings for growing rice.

The fate of her family members

Before the Khmer Rouge regime, Doung Oeurn married a Vietnamese man named Chuy. He was a militiaman in Vietnam before coming to live with her in Prey Veng. In 1975, Chuy was assigned to carry cow and buffalo dung in order to fertilize the rice fields and was later tasked to cut “rumpeak” vine in 1977, after which Doung Oeurn learned from her mother that her husband was taken away and disappeared. Doung Oeurn had a son named Meang from a previous marriage who was killed during the Khmer Rouge regime. Then after marrying Chuy, she had a daughter named Kim Va who was renamed Kamean because villagers suggested to spare her daughter’s life when the Khmer Rouge entered Pou Chentam. She testified that if “the child was the offspring of Cambodian mother; only the father was taken. If the mother was a genuine Khmer, the child would be spared. [...] The Vietnamese would be taken away, all of them would not be spared in that regime. Since my child belonged to a Cambodian mother, only the husband was taken away”.

Deportation, deaths and disappearances of Vietnamese in Pou Chentam

Doung Oeurn testified that, after the Khmer Rouge took over in 1975, an announcement was made that Vietnamese had to return to Vietnam, but her husband refused to leave Cambodia. She knew of a Vietnamese family (Ta Ki, Yeay Min and their children) that did leave after the announcement was made, and did not return to Cambodia until after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. Doung Oeurn also knew a family with a Vietnamese husband named Ngang who was taken away to cut “rumpeak” vine and disappeared never to return, while the rest of the family remained. She also learned that the Vietnamese wife of Lach Ny and their six children were sent away; only he was spared. She recalled that Ngang was arrested first, then later Lach Ny’s wife along with her children, and then after Doung Oeurn’s husband Chuy. The Trial Chamber, recalling that it was seized of killings of Vietnamese starting in April 1977, was unable to establish with certainty when the killings of Ngang, Lach Ny’s wife, and Chuy took place within the temporal scope of the charges, and therefore declined to take these killings into account in its legal findings.

Videos

Testimony
Date	Written record of proceedings	Transcript number
25 January 2016	E1/381	E1/381.1

Relevant documents
Document title Khmer	Document title English	Document title French	Document D number	Document E3 number
ពាក្យសុំតាំងខ្លួនជាដើមបណ្តឹងរដ្ឋ ប្បវេណីរបស់អ្នកស្រី ដូង អឿន	Civil party application of Ms. DAUNG Oeun	Constitution en partie civile de Mme DAUNG Oeun	D22/212	E3/9696
ឯកសារបន្ថែមរបស់ដើមបណ្តឹង រដ្ឋប្បវេណី	Supplementary information of civil party applicant	Informations complémentaires de la partie civile	D22/212A	E3/9696a
[ផ្នែកមួយនៃប្រតិចារឹក] បទសម្ភាសន៍របស់មជ្ឈមណ្ឌលឯកសារកម្ពុជាជាមួយអ្នកស្រី ដូង អឿន	[Partial T.] DC-Cam Statement of Daung Oeun	Déclaration DC-Cam [partielle] de Daung Oeun	N/A	E3/7562
កំណត់ហេតុនៃការស្តាប់ចម្លើយ សាក្សី ឌិន អឿន	Written Record of Interview of Din Oeun	Procès-verbal de l’audition de Din Oeun	N/A	E3/7809
[ផ្នែកមួយនៃប្រតិចារឹក] បទសម្ភាសន៍របស់មជ្ឈមណ្ឌលឯកសារកម្ពុជាជាមួយអ្នកស្រី ដូង អឿន	[Partial T.] DC-Cam Statement of Daung Oeun	Déclaration DC-Cam [partielle] de Daung Oeun	N/A	E3/7562