PE CHUY Chip Se
Pseudonym: TCW-507
Cases: Case 002/01
Category: Witness
Background information
Pe Chuy Chip Se testified that he joined the Khmer Rouge in 1971
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and worked as a clerk in Pongro Security Centre from 1972 or 1973 to 1977 where he prepared prisoner records
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and confessions.
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When the Security Centre closed in 1977 he moved back to his home village in Pongro Kraom district, Siem Reap province.
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He testified as a witness on two occasions in the Case 002/01 trial on the evacuation of Siem Reap,
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operation of Pongro Security Centre,
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and the treatment of 17 April and Cham people.
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Evacuation of Siem Reap
After 17 April 1975, people residing in Siem Reap provincial town were evacuated at gun-point to rural areas, while former officials and soldiers were transported in military trucks and placed in Kampong Kdei where they awaited execution.
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The situation during the evacuation was miserable: there were dead bodies along the streets and some people lost their loved ones.
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Evacuees died from starvation and diseases and young children had no breast milk to survive.
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People were threatened at gunpoint and instructed to leave the city.
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He testified that the soldiers would use their guns to “shoot into the air, threatening people to leave the city as quickly as possible, otherwise they would be punished or they would be killed, so on and so forth”.
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The Chamber relied on his testimony to find that on and after 17 April 1975 the CPK mobilized a massive population from Phnom Penh and various provinces – including Siem Reap - to worksites across Cambodia.
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Pongro Security Centre
This district-level security centre was situated about 7 kilometers from Kampong Kdei Market.
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Although the purpose of the center was reportedly to re-educate prisoners and return them to their villages, those people were actually executed.
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Civilians and evacuees who committed moral offenses and other crimes were brought and detained there, while former Lon Nol soldiers and officials were taken for interrogation and execution.
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The Chamber cited his testimony to find that many security centres existed and operated before 1975, like Pongro Centre.
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Pe Chuy Chip Se described that no-one was spared upon being brought for execution.
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The executioners were both the security personnel of Pongro and Khmer Rouge soldiers.
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He did not witness executions but learned from security officers of Pongro district.
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As a clerk, he observed that when prisoners’ details were crossed out in red, it meant that those prisoners were to be executed.
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Prisoners were whipped or beaten, and those accused of serious offences were tortured to death.
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He admitted that he also beat prisoners.
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Their confessions were extracted and written down, and prisoners gave their thumbprints at the end of the day.
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Prisoners were placed in different cells based on their offences.
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He witnessed many detainees die in the detention facility while being shackled.
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He stated that Pongro security center was closed down in 1977 because people working there were accused of betraying the Khmer Rouge.
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Upon its closure about 100 prisoners were released and went back to their home villages.
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Upon being taken to the execution site about 1 kilometer away from the detention center, prisoners were tied, blindfolded, ordered to kneel, and beaten with clubs, before having their throats cut and bodies thrown in the pits.
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PE CHUY Chip Se learned about this from the executioners who sometimes told him directly and he sometimes overheard their conservations.
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17 April people
PE CHUY Chip Se explained that the Khmer Rouge were not pleased with 17 April people and they would search their backgrounds and keep a close eye on them.
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After arriving in rural areas the 17 people ate collectively and worked with the Old People who also mistreated them.
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In Chi Kraeng district, after Ta Sok became the new district chief, the 17 April people were not only spied upon but badly mistreated.
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The 17 April people had more assigned tasks, could not hold any positions, and had no access to medicine.
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Many 17 April people were brought into Pongro Security Center, after being reported by the Base People and accused of committing moral misconduct, stealing, and laziness.
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He received orders to note down whether detainees were 17 April people or not.
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Restrictions on Cham religious and cultural practices
After 1975 Cham people were evacuated to his village, Pongro Kraom, and had to live with Khmer local people and follow their local customs, including to eat pork.
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The Chamber cited his testimony when stating in that it had “heard testimonial evidence of Cham being forced to eat pork in the Southwest Zone and the Northwest Zone, and has before it numerous written accounts corroborating that the CPK forced the Cham to eat pork throughout the country”.
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In addition, the Chamber noted, “while individual leaders may not always have imposed the forced consumption of pork, CPK announcements made it clear that it was one of the ways in which the Cham were expected to assimilate into Khmer culture.”
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