PHOUNG Yat
Pseudonym: 2-TCCP-1047
Cases: Case 002/02
Category: Civil Party
The death of her siblings
Yat had five siblings, three brothers and two sisters.
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During the regime, Yat’s brothers, Phoung Phen and Phoung Phon were selected to join the army at Svay Teab and she never heard from them again.
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Phoung Phon later held the position of deputy battalion commander of Division 450.
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Between 1975-76, her other brother, Phoung Veth, worked in an economic section and was sent to attend a study session in Phnom Penh. Thereafter she lost all contact with him.
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Similarly, her sister, Phoung Im, was sent to Phnom Penh and Yat never heard from her again.
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Discovery of their executions at S-21
After 1979, Yat came to visit Toul Slang museum, also known as S-21 security centre, in Phnom Penh and discovered that her four siblings died there.
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She saw their photos placed on the walls on the prison.
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In particular, S-21 prisoner lists recorded that her sister, Im, was brought to S-21 on 8 December 1978 and killed three days after.
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Her brother, Phon, entered S-21 on 5 March 1977 and was killed on 6 July 1977.
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Working conditions and disappearances at mobile unit
During the Regime Yat was assigned to work at Kaoh Svay where she was tasked with carrying one cubic meter of earth from 4a.m. to 11a.m., then from 1p.m. to 5p.m.
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She only ate watery porridge,
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and lived in fear of being beaten if she could not fulfil her work quotas.
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She was thin and ill because of overwork and poor nutrition.
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Yat knew Kas, a Cham person who slept next to her
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who was taken away at night and disappeared.
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The next day, Angkar gave Yat the scarf of comrade Kas and threatened Yat to accept it.
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Marriage arrangements
One of Yat’s sisters was arranged to get married at Prey Totueng in 1977.
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Her sister refused the marriage by running across the rice field to escape two soldiers who chased her from behind.
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Those two soldiers searched for her at Kaoh Svay village but could not find her because the villagers helped to hide her.
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The chief village, Ta Han, helped to hide her too.
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Her another sister, Phoung Im, was arranged to be married between 1975-1976 in Phnom Penh.
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The Trial Chamber cited Phoung Yat’s testimony about wedding ceremonies taking place in various locations throughout Cambodia during the DK regime, including in Phnom Penh where her sister was married.
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