LY Hor
Pseudonym: E2/61
Cases: Case 001
Category: Civil Party
Background
Ly Hor, alias Ear Hor, was born in Koh Thom district, Kandal province.
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From 1972 to 1975, he served as a Khmer Rouge soldier in Regiment 119.
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Before his arrest, he deserted from the army and ran away to his house in his homeland where he worked in the animal husbandry unit.
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He was arrested in 1975 for stealing food; detained at Pou Tonle; transferred to and detained at Ta Khmau prison in 1976; and then transferred to and detained at S-21 and S-24, respectively.
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He lived in Banteay Meanchey province and was a 57-year old sailor on the date of his testimony in 2009.
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He was married and had five children.
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Ly Hor filed an application as a civil party in Case 001 against the accused Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch.
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The Trial Chamber decided that Ly Hor’s civil party application did not satisfy the required standard, because it was uncertain whether he was the detainee named as “Ear Hor” at S-21.
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However, the Supreme Court Chamber admitted Ly Hor’s civil party application, reasoning that Ly Hor’s parents’ names matched the parents’ names of “Ear Hor” and Ly Hor’s thumbprint matched “Ear Hor’s”.
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Conditions at Pou Tonle, Ta Khmau Prison, S-21 and S-24
In 1976, Ly Hor was arrested on a charge of stealing food, and detained at Office 15 of Sector 25 at Pou Tonle, where he was handcuffed, interrogated and tortured.
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In late 1976, he was transferred to and detained for about one month at Ta Khmau prison where he was chained all day and night and beaten during interrogations.
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Ly Hor was then transferred blindfolded by vehicle to S-21, and detained for more than one month.
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He was kept in a room adjacent to the kitchen with around 10 prisoners, who could not walk because of their wounds and sickness.
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He was handcuffed and shackled, causing wounds to his feet and ankles; and beaten if he split urine when relieving himself or if he asked for medication.
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He heard screaming during an interrogation about who initiated escape plans; was ordered to eat spoiled milk; and received threats of torture using the “bull’s penis club” or the electric cable if he was stubborn.
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He was tortured every time he was interrogated until his upper left arm did not properly work.
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Ly Hor was given a small container to relieve himself in the cel1 and only two meals of rice and watery soup without meat per day, and was allowed to take a bath once every three days.
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He witnessed detainees in a miserable condition with wounds; they were shackled, could not walk, were very thin and were beaten for spilling urine and talking loudly.
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Some died in the detention cells.
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Ly Hor was then transferred blindfolded by a truck to, and detained at, Prey Sar or S-24 detention center, for more than one month.
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At S-24, he was ordered to dig canals and was handcuffed after a “16-hour work day” from 4 a.m. till 9 p.m. with one-hour break from 12 to 1 p.m., shackled along with other prisoners in the cell, and given a small bowl of rice each meal.
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Considering Ly Hor’s evidence among others, the Trial Chamber found that detainees at S-24 were subject to forced labour, worked long hours from early morning to night with harsh working conditions, had no rights or freedom of movement (it was “like a prison without walls”), received inadequate food consisting of rice or thin gruel, were beaten resulting in scars, and were shackled.
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Ly Hor’s Escape from S-24
Knowing that he would not survive if he continued to stay at S-24, Ly Hor decided to run away.
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He was chased; however, he managed to flee.
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He hid in the forest during the daytime and walked during the night time, picking up forest fruit to feed himself.
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Finally, he reached his homeland in Koh Thom district, Kandal province, where he lived until 7 January 1979.
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He hid himself in his house for about one month.
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His whereabouts was declared by his father to the district secretary who kept it secret and would give him some rice if he needed it.
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Statement of Harm
Ly Hor testified that he suffered injuries on his ankle and arms caused by the handcuffs; received an injury on his head; bore scars which can still be seen, and that his hand, which was critically injured at the time, has never been used again.
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Ly Hor said: “I had only noticed that during the last five or six years, and emotionally I experienced anger and I started to be scared of other people and I could not lift my hand. So I could -- you know, like because of this it makes me feel bad and I got a God-sister at Angkor Borey who could tell me also about my condition during the Khmer Rouge regime, that I was severely beaten; that I could become mentally ill and that I tried to find some kind of medicine to cure the sickness, but it was impossible. But, later on, I could use the medicine my family sells that I could control my emotion and I have been living with this kind of anger and traumatization."
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