HIM Huy
Pseudonym: KW-09
Cases: Case 001
Category: Witness
Background and role
Him Huy joined the army as a soldier in early 1973.
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On 17 April 1975, he was stationed in Prey Touch, where he was part of a 60-member special forces.
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He joined the S-21 detention centre in late 1976 as a member of the Guard Unit,
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and in 1977, became in charge of the unit that received detainees and transferred those who were already interrogated to Choeung Ek.
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In 1978, he was sent to farm near Choeung Ek.
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Organisation of S-21 and Duch’s role
Duch was the Chairman and most senior individual of S-21 and above him was Son Sen.
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Underneath Duch was his deputy, Ta Hor, who was Him Huy's direct superior.
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According to Him Huy, Hor could not object to Duch's decisions.
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Him Huy also responded to Peng, who was overall chairman of the Guard Unit.
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Duch instructed and trained S-21 staff in his house on a fortnightly basis.
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Him Huy heard Duch say that "everyone had to be killed”, and that only 4 million people would be spared.
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Staff members at S-21 would have their tasks assigned orally, they would be promoted orally, spontaneously, and without any mechanism.
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There was no judicial oversight – whoever’s name was on the S-21 list was killed.
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There were 300 guards at S-21.
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Relying on Him Huy’s testimony, the Trial Chamber found that Duch was the most senior person at S-21, who decided on who to arrest and execute.
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It also cited his testimony in finding that Hor was entrusted with managing the daily operations and the work of the guards and interrogators, and that Duch used Hor to issue orders to S-21 staff.
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Arrests and arrival to S-21
Before being sent to S-21, individuals were arrested “after a brief sitting”,
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blindfolded, and shackled with automatic handcuffs and their hands behind their backs.
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When people were not arrested on the spot, they were told that they were being transferred to another workplace.
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They would be arrested upon their arrived to S-21.
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If people were arrested in large numbers, they were hooked with a rope through their arms and walked into the prison blindfolded.
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The largest number of prisoners arrested at once was 60.
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Upon their arrival to S-21, prisoners were sent to Sothy, who registered their names, took their photographs,
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and gave them a serial number.
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Sothy then delivered them to Peng, who assigned them cells.
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The Trial Chamber relied on Him Huy’s testimony in finding that some prisoners were given a pretext before they were arrested,
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and that Him Huy replaced Peng as the head of the Special Unit.
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Detention conditions at S-21
Everyone sent to S-21 was stripped of their clothes to only their shorts.
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Prisoners in individual cells were shackled.
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Each detention room had three rows, with each row having at least 10 prisoners shackled to a bar.
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The cells were not well-kept – there was a bad smell coming from them.
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Prisoners were allowed to have a wash, but were normally hosed with water while still shackled.
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Female prisoners were detained together with the children in one common large room without being shackled or handcuffed.
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They could only relieve themselves in that room.
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At least one woman was raped in detention.
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Prisoners returned from interrogation rooms with wounds sustained on their backs.
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The guards were ordered to make noise to counter the screaming of the victims in interrogation rooms.
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Relying on Him Huy’s evidence, the Trial Chamber found that: (i) S-21 staff went from being gentle to cruel after training;
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(ii) children of young age were executed immediately after being separated from their parents and some were sent to S-24 or Choeung Ek for execution;
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(iii) prisoners were stripped of their clothes, handcuffed, blindfolded and shackled in a cell or a large room;
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(iv) prisoners had bruises after the interrogations and some died in their cells due to abuses;
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and (v) food was extremely scarce.
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Murder and extermination at S-21
No one managed to get out of S-21 alive: after being interrogated, the prisoners would be executed.
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Execution usually occurred one to two weeks after detainees completed their confessions.
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After the guards received the lists of the prisoners to be executed at dusk at about 6 to 6.30 p.m., prisoners would be removed from their detention cells and walked from the prison to a truck parked next to the gate.
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In the evening at about 8 or 9 p.m., prisoners were taken to be executed to the south and north of the prison compound.
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They were told that they were being transferred to a new home and were not aware that they be executed.
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In each load there could be 60, 70 or up to 100 prisoners.
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Prisoners were taken to the execution grounds wearing only underpants.
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Those who were former staff members of S-21 would be walked out covered with blankets to conceal themselves from being seen by the other S-21 staff.
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Executioners were instructed to kill the prisoners by asking them to kneel down near the rim of the pits.
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Then they would use an oxcart axle (metal bar) to strike the back of the necks. After striking prisoners, the executioners slashed their throats with a knife used to slice palm fruit.
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Executioners would untie the corpses and remove their clothes,
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before immediately burying them in a mass grave.
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Mass exterminations took hours, starting at 9 p.m. and finishing at 1 or 2 a.m.
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The work needed to be finished before dawn so secrecy would not be compromised.
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Such executions were carried out at S-21 and, after 1977, at Boeng Choeung Ek.
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Four foreigners were interrogated
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and executed at S-21.
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Instead of being buried, the corpses of the foreigners were burned beside the road.
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Among those executed at S-21 were around 100 children, aged from 1 to 8 years.
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Around 345 Vietnamese military officers were executed at the S-21.
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When Him Huy went to receive Vietnamese prisoners of war from Svay Rieng province who were already detained, they were wearing their military uniforms with their rank displayed.
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Once they arrived at S-21, they were required to wear their uniforms while their photographs were taken, which were later disseminated for propaganda purposes.
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They were detained in individual cells.
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Confessions obtained from the Vietnamese prisoners were broadcasted on the radio.
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Relying on Him Huy and other evidence, the Trial Chamber found that: (i) a handful of guards at S-21 were in charge of maintaining Choeung Ek’s secrecy and burying corpses;
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(ii) prisoners were summarily executed while handcuffed and blindfolded in front of a freshly dug pit at the S-21 or Choeung Ek;
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(iii) all prisoners at S-21 were due to be executed,
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sometimes immediately upon arriving without any prior interrogation.
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It did not find Him Huy’s claims of foreigners being burnt alive to be proven to the required standard.
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Internal purges
Many working at the S-21 were arrested and later executed.
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At the beginning, the S-21 staff consisted of 400 individuals.
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By the end of 1977, there were only 50 or 60 S-21 staff left. Out of 10 guards in Him Huy’s group, only two remained.
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Those that committed minor offences would be sent to work at Prey Sar.
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Relying on Him Huy’s evidence, the Trial Chamber found that high-ranking CPK cadres and S-21 staff was executed at S-21,
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with one of the largest purges in 1978 involving the East Zone cadres.
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Huy Him’s suffering
Him Huy underscored how scared he was of Duch, in particular because Duch said everyone in the country had to be killed.
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Duch also told Him Huy that Nun implicated him.
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Him Huy constantly worried that he would be arrested and executed, because many S-21 staff from Division 703 – the same network as Him Huy – was arrested and detained at S-21:
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“I knew clearly the fate of those workers. They were only waiting for the day that they would be killed and that would be the end of our life […] It means if we commit just one slight mistake then we would be arrested if anyone from our network was arrested”.
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During the regime, Him Huy’s two brothers-in-law were killed. Duch killed also Him Huy’s brother,
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and was also allegedly after Him Huy for having convinced other men to run away.
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Him Huy did not dare look Duch in the eyes while at S-21 and remains fearful of him to this day.
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