VAN Soeun
Pseudonym: 2-TCW-847
Cases: Case 002/02
Category: Witness
Background and role
Van Soeun was born in Leay Bour Commune, Tram Kak District, in Takeo province.
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From late 1974 to 1975, he was a commune militiaman in Leay Bour Commune and later became a member of the Tram Kak District military.
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From late 1975, he was assigned to work at Kraing Ta Chan Security Centre as a guard and a messenger from Kraing Ta Chan to the Tram Kak District Office.
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He testified before the Trial Chamber in Case 002/02 on the Tram Kak Cooperatives and Kraing Ta Chan Security Centre.
Tram Kak District
Tram Kak District was known as District 105 under the Khmer Rouge, located in the Sector 13 of the Southwest Zone.
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The Zone office located in the center of Takeo town, which was to the east of Tram Kak District, and the border was marked by the railway line running through the area.
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The Tram Kak District office was located at Angk Roka market.
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There were successive district secretaries. First, Yeay Khom (Ta Mok’s daughter) was district secretary for the period around the liberation of April 1975.
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Then, it was Pech Chim who later left for the rubber plantation in Kampong Cham province between 1976 or 1977.
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In 1977, Ta San came into the position.
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As to the Tram Kak District military structures, there was a “100-member unit” or “company chief” comprised of 50 to 70 members.
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Another district unit was known as the “50 member unit” comprised of between 10 to 12 members.
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In the district, there were about 10 different “50 members” units.
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The Trial Chamber considered Van Soeun’s testimony on the security and military structures in the district, but considered it unclear whether the “50 member” unit as described by Van Soeun was another name for the commune militia or a separate military unit.
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Kraing Ta Chan Security Center
According to Vann Soeun, Kraing Ta Chan was located in Kus Commune, Tram Kak District.
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It was headed by “Ta An” who issued instructions and was responsible for everything there,
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with Pech as deputy.
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It was also Ta An, his immediate supervisor, who assigned him to be a messenger there.
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However, he could not recognise the signature on some documents from Kraing Ta Chan being Ta An’s.
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There were three detention buildings in the compound: one old building which could house only “a few” prisoners and two newer buildings which could hold 50 to 60 prisoners each.
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Vann Soeun described the interrogation site as approximately 30 meters south of Ta An’s office, in a building that was not fully enclosed.
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Prisoners were sent in the Security Centre almost on a daily basis.
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They were detained in the buildings shackled by the feet and handcuffed, including at night and when relieving themselves,
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a small percentage of them were allowed to work outside the detention buildings,
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and the majority of prisoners were liquidated on site while a few were released.
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Van Soeun guarded only the outside perimeter of the Security Centre.
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He could not see what happened inside the compound, and never saw nor took part in interrogations, executions, or transfers of prisoners.
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The executions of detainees were the work of Party members – not his case.
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However, he was allowed to come inside the compound during the meal time with Ta An and others,
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where the awful smell came from the pits where corpses were buried.
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According to Van Soeun, Party members took turns interrogating prisoners.
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He saw Ta An and his staff writing, working, and one of them using the typewriter in the office “every day.”
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To his knowledge, executions took place once or twice a month.
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As to the administrative and communication structures, the highest-level Tram Kak District cadres oversaw and came to Kraing Ta Chan in addition to the more regular visits by some district cadres.
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Phy, a district committee member, visited and was “overall in charge” of Kraing Ta Chan,
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and Iep Duch, the District Youth Unit Chief, participated in meetings “every month” there, although the frequency of the visits increased in 1978.
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Van Soeun also received orders from Ta An to deliver messages to the District Office located at Angk Roka market.
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The Trial Chamber relied on Van Soeun’s testimony (amongst other evidence) in making findings regarding the establishment and location of Kraing Ta Chan Security Centre
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and the conditions there.
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More specifically, the Trial Chamber relied on his evidence to find that while the release of prisoners was exceptional, the execution was the rule
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and that the District Committee was in regular communications with Kraing Ta Chan.
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However, it considered that Van Soeun’s and other former guards’ testimony was “unreliable in key respects”, having a clear tendency to diminish their roles, including the length of time they spent in Kraing Ta Chan, the tasks they performed, and their knowledge of or their possible involvement in executions.
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Treatment against target groups
A meeting was held at Angk Raoka pagoda in late 1975 chaired by the District secretary Yeay Khom, where she instructed to defrock the monks.
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Later, Van Soeun heard that the monks were defrocked.
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He also heard from other soldiers that there were instructions issued after 17 April 1975 which were to send Lon Nol soldiers back to their respective hometowns, and never saw any of them detained in Kraing Ta Chan.
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He further claimed never see any Vietnamese or Khmer Krom there.
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The Trial Chamber did not rely on this segment of Vann Soeun’s testimony, considering that other evidence established that former Lon Nol soldiers amongst other evacuees were screened at Champa Pagoda and some were killed and/or disappeared as a result.
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The Trial Chamber further considered that there were former Lon Nol soldiers and officers,
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Vietnamese, and Khmer Krom (who were labelled as Vietnamese) in Kraing Ta Chan throughout the regime.
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