SEANG Vandy
Pseudonym: D25/13
Cases: Case 001
Category: Civil Party
Background and Role
Seang Vandy was born in Khsach Tob Chrouy Banteay sub-district, Preaek Prasab district, Kratie province.
1
Mr Seang Vandy lost his younger brother, Seang Phon, who died at S-21,
2
a “security centre which was directly controlled by the Central Committee”.
3
Moreover, his brother Seang Phat, disappeared and his fate is still unknown.
4
Seang Vandy’s reason for becoming a civil party in Case 001 was his search for justice, potential reparations and the preservation of the memory of his brother, Seang Phon.
5
The Trial Chamber relied on his evidence in Case 001 to find Duch responsible for the loss of Seang Phon, Seang Vandy’s brother, among other victims.
6
The loss of Seang Vandy’s brothers and his desire for justice
Seang Vandy mainly testified about the suffering of his family and his desire for justice.
Seang Vandy followed Prince Norodom Sihanouk’s appeal to join the Khmer Rouge in early 1970.
7
In 1975, when he returned home, he discovered that his two younger brothers, Seang Phon and Seang Phat, had been forced to join the Khmer Rouge army in 1973.
8
Seang Phon was his younger brother,
9
who lived with his uncle Kiev Vuoch.
10
The civil party described Seang Phon as a very gentle and honest person as well as an obedient child.
11
As of January 1979, people who had been forced to join the army gradually began coming home to be reunited with their families, but Seang Phon and Seang Phat did not.
12
Seang Vandy and the other members of the family were worried because they had heard about arrests and executions en masse.
13
Their concerns became more persistent when, in the early 1980s, a son of a villager, Em Siet, told them he had seen security guards calling Seang Phat away, and that he had never returned after that. Em Siet used to be a soldier in the same unit as Seang Vandy’s brothers, so his words were reliable.
14
Seang Vandy’s family’s hopes dissipated; they held a ceremony to pray for Seang Phat’s soul.
15
From that moment, the family realized that both brothers must have been killed.
16
In late 2007 or early 2008, Seang Vandy and his family discovered, through a magazine called “Searching for the Truth”, that Seang Phon had been arrested at the age of 25 years old on the 2nd of October 1977,
17
and brought to S-21 where he was murdered.
18
Seang Vandy suffered a great loss, he had a feeling of being in despair, of hopelessness, and he declared that the separation was indescribable, bringing the greatest loss and suffering upon the family.
19
Seang Vandy testified that he had: “[…] been trying to find justice for my brothers [so] that the soul would be peaceful and detach from this world and move on to the next peaceful world.”
20
During the hearing held on 19th August 2009, the civil party put forward questions to the accused KAING Guek EAV, alias Duch: “The accused said he followed the political line, the Party's line, and he said he is a patriotic person. How could he claim that if he only killed Khmer nationals?”
21
The accused, Duch, replied that he has never claimed to be a patriotic person.
The Trial Chamber found Seang Vandy to have proved the existence of immediate victims of S-21 and either close kinship or particular bonds of affection or dependency in relation to his brother Seang Phon.
23
For the Trial Chamber, the death of his brother caused a demonstrable injury within the scope of Internal Rule 23(2) and this harm was a direct consequence of the crimes for which Duch was convicted.
24
The Trial Chamber did not expressly consider Seang Vandy’s evidence regarding his other missing brother, Seang Phat.
Statement of harm
Seang Vandy suffered a great loss, he had a feeling of being in despair, of hopelessness, and he declared that the separation was indescribable, bringing the greatest loss and suffering upon the family.
25
He expressly said: “[…] I've been trying to find justice for my brothers and that the soul would be peaceful and detach from this world and move on to the next peaceful world.”
26
Videos
