TUN Soeun
Pseudonym: TCW-742
Cases: Case 002/01
Category: Witness
Background and role
Initially during the Democratic Kampuchea regime, Tun Souen was a member of a children's unit before being sent to Phnom Penh in 1976.
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Between 1976 and 1981, Tun Soeun moved through several places until he became a telegram decoder and worked with Khieu Samphan.
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In 1994, he became Khieu Samphan’s son-in-law.
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Tun Soeun testified as a witness in Case 002/01 making a statement about Khieu Samphan’s character.
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Tun Soeun’s movements during the Democratic Kampuchea period
Before 1975, Tun Soeun lived with his parents in Bati district.
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Initially, he joined the children unit, which was part of the military force in Kampong Speu.
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In July or August 1976, he was selected to go to Phnom Penh.
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He stayed three months at the National Assembly and was in charge of cleaning the compound and looking after the garden.
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After three months, Tun Soeun went to the agricultural office, in a location called K-8.
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In early 1977, Tun Soeun moved to Sothearos School and studied Khmer literature for a year and a half, with a teacher named Phang.
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During that time, he was in the younger group and did not study any decoding program.
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He moved to a location called K-3 in July 1978, where he learned to use the typewriter under the supervision of the same teacher, Phang.
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He stayed there for three to four months.
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Tun Soeun lived in a house near K-3, with normal living conditions, when the Vietnamese arrived.
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He never saw any leadership of the Democratic Kampuchea regime at K-3, including Khieu Samphan.
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Around 1981, Tun Soeun studied in Phang’s unit to decode telegrams.
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Relationship with Khieu Samphan
Tun Soeun met Khieu Samphan in 1982.
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At this time, he worked as a telegram decoder and was delivering telegrams and receiving credentials at Malai.
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Tun Soeun worked under Phang’s supervision but had to travel with Khieu Samphan during some missions between 1982 and 1983.
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In late 1983, Tun Soeun left Khieu Samphan to complete a mission in France.
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Tun Soeun saw Khieu Samphan again in 1989 and was in charge of delivering him messages by telegrams.
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During that time, Khieu Samphan was in charge of foreign affairs.
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If Tun Soeun received a message, he would move from his location to Khieu Samphan’s location to give him the telegram.
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Khieu Samphan wrote telegrams containing topics related to the embassies in other countries and handed them back to his personal secretary.
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Tun Soeun performed this task until 1990, when he was assigned to work at the embassy in Peking, where he stayed until 1991.
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When returning to Cambodia, he reintegrated into the same unit.
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He got married on 9 November 1994 and was an ordinary combatant at the time.
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Khieu Samphan’s character
Tun Soeun described Khieu Samphan as an honest, gentle, and very loved person.
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He stated that Khieu Samphan does not discriminate against anyone and has good rapport with his neighbourhood.
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For Tun Soeun, Khieu Samphan is a very simple person who educated his children to be modest, good, and law abiding.
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Khieu Samphan gave him advice on how to work hard to earn their living and how to do farming.
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Also, Khieu Samphan was loyal to the nation, was not greedy, and did not want to enjoy any excessive power.
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While working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Khieu Samphan’s aim was to reconcile the three parties in order to achieve peace for the nation.
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Tun Soeun remained closed to Khieu Samphan since 1988 until his arrest, as they lived in the same house.
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They never discussed Khieu Samphan’s past during the Democratic Kampuchea period.
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When questioned about Khieu Samphan’s political beliefs, Tun Soeun stated that Khieu Samphan did “his best to follow whatever former prince, Norodom Sihanouk, wanted him to do.”
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The Trial Chamber cited Tun Soeun’s testimony when evaluating Khieu Samphan’s sentence.
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However, it considered that the fact that Khieu Samphan had been kind to people could not play any significant part in mitigating crimes of the severity of those for which he had been found guilty.
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In his Appeal brief, Khieu Samphan argued that the Trial Chamber erred by not considering his good character reflected by the character witnesses’ testimony, such as Tun Soeun’s testimony.
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The Supreme Court dismissed this ground of appeal, finding that it is evident that the Trial Chamber considered Khieu Samphan’s character as a potentially mitigating factor.
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