LACH Mean
Pseudonym: 2-TCW-898
Cases: Case 002/02
Category: Witness
Background and role
Lach Mean joined the Khmer Rouge movement as a soldier in 1974.
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From late 1975 or 1976 he worked at S-21 Security Centre in Phnom Penh as a prison guard and was later assigned to type prisoner confessions.
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In September or October 1978 until the end of the regime, he worked at S-21 as an interrogator.
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Lach Mean testified as a witness in the Case 002/02 trial about the operation of S-21 prison, including the detention conditions, categories of enemies, interrogations, and executions.
S-21 structure and personnel
Lach Mean worked within the S-21 compound and was not allowed to leave, even during mealtimes.
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Nearby were three teams of seven to ten guards on each of the three floors who rotated guard duty.
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He only knew people on his own team and others by face, but not name.
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S-21 had two fences, one covered with barbed wire to hold the prisoners in and the other an outer tin wall about 50 metres from the compound within which guards walked freely.
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During study sessions, Lach Mean received instructions from the upper echelon that anyone brought into S-21 was considered a traitor and needed to be smashed.
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Duch instructed the interrogators weekly or monthly through observation on how to extract confessions quickly and get detainees to tell only the truth.
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He also saw Son Sen conduct political training sessions about smashing traitors at S-21 every month or two.
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The Trial Chamber found that political study sessions specifically for interrogators at S-21 taught interrogation techniques and Party values, at varying intervals, arranged by Duch.
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However, it did not rely on Lach Mean’s evidence regarding Son Sen conducting political training sessions at S-21 due to other credible evidence, but did not question the otherwise general veracity of his evidence.
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S-21 arrivals
Prisoners arrived at S-21 on a daily basis by fully covered vehicles and wearing only shorts.
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No legal representation was provided.
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They were blindfolded, with their hands cuffed behind their backs,
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and ordered to take off clothes due to a concern that they would use them to hang themselves.
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The Trial Chamber cited Lach Mean’s evidence, in addition to other evidence, in finding that prisoners arrived in trucks that could transport 50 or 60 at a time,
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blindfolded with their hands tied, wearing only shorts,
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and were not provided with legal counsel.
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However, the Chamber did not rely on his testimony that prisoners had their clothes removed to prevent suicide attempts given its speculative nature.
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S-21 conditions and interrogations
Prisoners were placed in a common room and shackled when they did not have to be interrogated.
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They remained shackled until they were transported out.
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Prisoners slept directly on the floor without mats or pillows.
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Those detained in small cells were not allowed to bathe, while a water hose was used collectively on the rest.
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Lach Mean was to make sure that the prisoners did not break their lock or hang themselves.
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He confirmed the rule that they were not to “threaten or beat the prisoners” and that they had to report disobedience to S-21 leadership.
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Prisoners were tortured and beaten.
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Lach Mean witnessed his squad leader beat prisoners with wood and use electrocution on them.
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He saw prisoners bloodied with wounds and scars on their backs, hands, and feet.
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He also heard their screams.
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Medics walked around treating prisoners in the room
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and distributing medicine or pills.
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The Trial Chamber considered that this, and other evidence of both physical and mental mistreatment applied to prisoners during interrogations, demonstrates the environment of fear and oppression in which the prisoners were held. It further found that the use of torture to extract confessions was a factor that undermines the reliability of S-21 confessions, given that they were used as a basis for the arrest of implicated enemies.
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Interrogations were confidential and took place outside the S-21 premises
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to avoid being seen or heard by guards, staff, and other prisoners.
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Interrogations lasted from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., then from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and finally from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
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Interrogators were assigned to discover connections with CIA, KGB, and the Vietnam Labour Party through torture.
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Duch and his deputy, Hor, instructed interrogators to be thorough to avoid getting untrue answers.
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To get a “correct’ answer, interrogators sometimes had to use threats
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and it was Hor who made the decision to use physical violence.
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Lach Mean’s team interrogated ordinary prisoners while a more experienced “strict unit” was used for senior prisoners.
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After obtaining a full confession, a report was sent to Duch
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through Hor.
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While Lach Mean initially testified that there were no female interrogators, he acknowledged that he was not aware whether there was a special interrogation unit for female prisoners which consisted of the wives of S-21 cadre.
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The Trial Chamber relied on Lach Mean’s, and other evidence, to find that interrogators were instructed on how to inflict physical and mental abuse in order to obtain confessions.
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The Trial Chamber noted that Lach Mean’s testimony downplayed mistreatment by guards
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and did not find his testimony reliable regarding the policy not to threaten or beat prisoners, and to report disobedience, due to witness Chum Mey’s credible testimony on the issue (though it found Lach Mean’s testimony generally credible).
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S-21 Deaths and Killings
Prisoners who were transported out never returned.
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Despite receiving treatment, some prisoners died from diarrhoea or other illnesses.
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Nuon Chea submitted that the number of detainees was around 6,000 and there was no evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they were killed.
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In rejecting this submission, the Trial Chamber found that based on Lach Mean’s testimony, and other evidence, prisoners who entered S-21 were labelled as “enemies”, were almost never released, and were removed from the facility to be killed.
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