RUOS SUY

Pseudonym: TCW-570

Cases: Case 002/01

Category: Witness

Background and role

Throughout the Regime, Ruos Suy worked as part of the cadre at the Ministry of Commerce in two different state warehouses and, subsequently, as a rice farmer. During the Case 002/01 trial, he testified as a witness in regard to his role managing various CPK warehouses in Phnom Penh from 1975-1979, the practice of arrests and disappearances at these warehouses, as well as his encounters with CPK senior leaders Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea. Suy joined the Vietnamese Resistance Movement in late 1970, but later defected from their forces after he was mistreated. He then joined the Khmer Rouge movement on 15th of April 1973 in Svay Chek village. There, he was assigned to the economic section where he became a group chief supervising up to 50 members, including a number of defrocked monks. He was put in charge of supplying food to the armed forces.

His role at the warehouses and knowledge of CPK leadership

After the fall of Phnom Penh in April 1975, Suy was sent to Phnom Penh where he became chief of a 15-member crew unit at Office 311 and was assigned to work at Kampong Tik Kak warehouse near Phsar Thmei in Phnom Penh. He was put in charge of this state warehouse and worked there between 1975 and 1976 before he was transferred to another branch of the warehouse unit, called Kilometre Number 6 where he stayed until Vietnamese forces approached Phnom Penh in early 1979. When examined about his knowledge concerning the upper echelons of the CPK, Suy testified that he did not know about the composition of both the Standing Committee and the Central Committee of the CPK, except for Pol Pot being the Secretary of the CPK and Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea. While maintaining that he neither knew about the existence of offices K 1 , K 3 or S-21, he confirmed he knew of the existence of Office 870. Aside from this information, he testified that he had never personally met any high-ranking officials.

The Warehouse Structure & Function

Suy testified that the Warehouse Committee – which oversaw the supervision and running of the state warehouses – was comprised of a person called Roeung (also known as Rith), who was assisted by Teng, acting as his deputy, and a person named Chuon. Suy was questioned about the role of Van Rith, whom he identified as the person in charge of commerce. While orders were given and reports received by Roeung, the main responsibilities at both warehouses included the accumulation and storage of different materials and goods. The Kampong Tik Tak warehouse stored rice, hoses, fabrics, steels, or screws and the Kilometre Number 6 warehouse stored resin, salt, or rice. Suy explained that external requests for goods were rendered by Roeung and afterwards handled through subordinates, including himself. Suy explained that certain goods, including rubber and rice , were exported, but never distributed to the zones and sectors. When challenged by defence counsel, Suy qualified his prior testimony to the effect that unhusked rice was not exported in large quantities, but rather used for local consumption, whereas husked rise was exported in greater numbers and that ministries and offices in Phnom Penh also received rice from the state warehouse at Kilometre 6 after respective requests were actioned through Office K-25. Suy testified that he had no additional substantive knowledge concerning Office K-25; similarly, he did not remember requests coming from Office K-22.

The Roles of Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea

When questioned as to whether he knew Khieu Samphan, Suy testified that he only knew him from seeing him at the warehouses. In his view, Khieu Samphan was not part of the upper echelons after 1975 because he was not the prime minister and apparently “not the top leader or the senior leader”. He added that he saw Khieu Samphan on various occasions when he visited the warehouse and assumed that Khieu Samphan must have been startled to learn about the insufficient food supply. Suy testified that staff at the warehouse did not have enough to eat and that the food supply was mainly limited to gruel. Relying on Suy’s testimony, the Trial Chamber noted that Khieu Samphan visited the state warehouses together with Van Rith, “where he inspected products destined for export and encouraged workers to be careful and attentive […]By his [Khieu Samphan] own admission, he had responsibility for the distribution of goods”. Regarding the activities undertaken at the warehouse, Suy mentioned that annual meetings were held by Samphan, which he attended four times , and also confirmed his participation at the 5th of January 1979 meeting, to which he had been called to attend by Roeung. The meeting included leaders from the army, industry, and commerce. During this meeting, Samphan distributed information about temporarily leaving Phnom Penh following Vietnamese advancements on the city. Samphan emphasized that problems with “the outside enemy would not have occurred if it wasn’t for internal enemies”. Samphan also spoke about a ‘future plan’ to attack Vietnamese forces. The study sessions, which were in part chaired by Nuon Chea, also touched upon politics and administration, which addressed notions of policy and implementation. Suy testified that Nuon Chea also spoke about alleged traitors or internal enemies at these sessions and confirmed that units were called upon to conduct investigations into traitors. During one session, a tape recording was played by Nuon Chea, implicating that Koy Thuon was considered a spy, thereby in part recalling his previous testimony in which he had claimed that Samphan played the recording. The recording stipulated that Thuon allegedly attempted to kill Pol Pot – as Suy speculated, by food poisoning – but was unsuccessful. It was noted by the Trial Chamber that Thuon’s so-called confession would constitute debatable evidence, as it was obtained at S-21 prison through the use of torture. Suy also testified that, after the session in question, he heard that Sao Phim was considered a traitor; and Nuon Chea, who lectured the relevant session, stated this. Taking into account the evidence of Sao Phim’s suicide on 3rd of June 1978, the study session was determined to have taken place in 1976 or 1977.

Arrests and Disappearances at the Warehouses

Suy testified that arrests were regularly carried out at the warehouses and that people disappeared, however he explained that he saw no torture taking place on site. That said, he testified that people who were implicated by others were repeatedly taken away and killed. At first he stated to have not taken part in arrests himself and of not being informed about these measures, however, when confronted with his prior testimony, Suy acknowledged that the National Security Unit would regularly contact the state warehouses, informing them that they were coming to carry out arrests and that Suy himself had assisted by calling those who were to be taken away. Suy claimed that while he held a position of authority, he was not given any information as to when arrests occurred and that he was fearful that he might also be arrested given his proximity to the other accused. To that effect, he maintained that he never spoke directly with Nuon Chea about the need to uncover ‘enemies within’. In its Judgment, the Trial Chamber referred to Suy’s testimony, finding that Nuon Chea appeared as the chairman, speaker, or trainer at various meetings, trainings, or study sessions. Relying on Suy’s testimony, the Trial Chamber emphasised Nuon Chea’s involvement in the purges of cadres and military, in particular referring to a meeting with other party leaders – including Pol Pot, Son Sen and Ta Mok – during which “members of the East Zone, particularly Sao Phim, were declared internal enemies of the Party to be purged”.

Videos

Testimony
Date	Written record of proceedings	Transcript number
25/04/2013	E1/184	E1/184.1

Relevant documents
Document title Khmer	Document title English	Document title French	Document D number	Document E3 number
បទសម្ភាសន៏របស់មជ្ឈមណ្ឌលឯកសារកម្ពុជា ជាមួយ រស់ ស៊ុយ សម្ភាសនៅថ្ងៃទី ១៩ ខែសីហា ឆ្នាំ២០០៣ ដោយ ផាន់ សុជា និង ជួង សុភារឹទ្ធ	[Partial T ] DC Cam interview with RUOH 00899424 Suy on 19 August 2003 by PHANN Sochea and Choung Sophearith. [Partial T ] DC Cam interview with RUOH Suy on 19 August 2003 by PHANN Sochea j and Choung Sophearith	Audition de RUOH avec le DC-Cam [Partiel T] 00899424 Suy le 19 août 2003 par PHANN Sochea et Choung Sophearith. Audition de RUOH Suy par PHANN Sochea avec le DC-Cam le 19 août 2003 [Partiel T] et Choung Sophearith	19.158	E3/4594
កំណត់ហេតុនៃការស្តាប់ចម្លើយសាក្សី រស់ ស៊ុយ	Written record of RUOS Suy	Procès-verbal d’audition de RUOS Suy	D94/16	E3/469
DC-Cam បទសម្ភាសន៍លើកទីពីរជាមួយ រស់ ស៊ុយ	DC-Cam second interview with Ros Suy	Deuxième audition de Ros Suy avec le DC-CAM	N/A	E190.1.67
N/A	Interview of RUOS Suy	Audition de RUOS Suy	D94/16R	E3/4595R