SENG Soeun
Pseudonym: 2-TCCP-219
Cases: Case 002/02
Category: Civil Party
Background and roles
Seng Soeun joined the Communist Party of Kampuchea (“CPK”) in 1970 by serving in the art performance groups in sector 13 of the Southwest Zone.
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In October 1972, he joined the army as a group chief in a platoon.
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He was injured during his time in the army and in April 1975 he was assigned to be the deputy chief of the youth handicap office in sector 13 of the Southwest Zone in Takhmau.
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He got married in 1978
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and one month before the fall of the regime in 1979, he was in charge of the autonomous sector 505 office in Kratie,
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which had just been purged.
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Seng Soeun testified as a Civil Party before the Case 002/02 Trial Chamber on the CPK’s policy to target former Khmer Republic officials, his role in matching couples for marriage and the CPK’s practice of arranging marriage for hanicapped soldiers.
Treatment of the former Khmer Republic officials
After 17 April 1975, Seng Soeun attended a three day political session in his battalion in Kaoh Andet district in the South West Zone on the CPK policy to cleanse and smash the former regime's officials.
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Citing his testimony, the Trial Chamber found that although instructions were issued not to harm former Lon Nol soldiers and officials after May 1975, this position changed in 1976.
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Forced marriage under the Regime
As the S’ang district office chief, Seng Soeun was informed of his own wedding by his superior, the district committee named Phon.
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He was arranged to marry with Phon’s cousin who was deputy chief of the district hospital.
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After Phon insisted many times, Seng Soeun agreed to get married.
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He received instructions from Phon to implement the CPK’s plan to arrange marriages to all the commune chiefs during meetings.
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That plan was for the general population to be married in their respective communes.
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Following Phon’s instruction, Seng Soeun matched individuals by collecting biographies of male and female workers in mobile units who reached the age of marriage - at least 25 years old for men and between two to five years younger for women.
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Couples were screened and matched according to their ages, statuses – i.e. whether they were new people or old people - and the communes in which they lived.
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The Trial Chamber cited his testimony in finding that biographies of individuals were screened before matching them to get married.
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The lists of matched couples were submitted to the district committee for approval.
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The Trial Chamber accepted his testimony and reached the finding that the decision to authorize a marriage rested at the district level for the general population and those who worked below the district level.
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Couples were not consulted or aware of the arranged marriage.
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On the day of the wedding, their respective unit chiefs called the intended spouses to the wedding venue at the district office on the pretext that they would be attending a study session or meeting.
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Seng Soeun said that “if they didn't like one another, they could walk away. But I did not know whether, later on, […] they were sanctioned or punished for their acts”.
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During the regime, if someone protested about the arranged marriage, “the person would disappear”.
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The district committee made an announcement that the couples were to be husband and wife.
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Some marriages were approved and organized following an individual’s proposal to Phon.
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The Trial Chamber accepted this testimony when reaching its finding that even though some male cadres were allowed to choose their wives, their spouses were forced to marry without being asked.
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Seng Soeun saw two instances where couples were killed because they were found to have violated the morality code as they fell in love with each other.
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Seng Soeun heard from his former superior at the “Youth Handicap Unit” in Takhmau, that Ta Mok made instructions for the marriage of disabled soldiers because those soldiers “were old”.
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They were aged from 25 to over 30 years old.
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The women to be married to the handicapped soldiers were normal civilians brought in from pepper plantations in Kampot.
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The Trial Chamber cited his testimony when reaching its finding that marriages between disabled soldiers, considered as war heroes and trusted revolutionaries, and young women selected from among Base People, were implemented according to a policy promoted by the highest levels of the CPK.
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Statement suffering
Seng Soeun stated that “my life has suffered a lot from 1970 to now. I served the nation and I sacrificed for the nation. I became a handicapped soldier. My relatives were killed and those sufferings [were] beyond words to describe. I, myself, as a handicapped person, suffered a lot. I do not know the […] words that I should use to describe about this situation, about the experiences I encountered in my life. I would like to request the Chamber to find justice for me”.
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