Mr. CHUM Sirath
Chum Sirath was a Civil Party in Case 001 on the basis of having suffered from the loss of his two brothers, Chum Sinareth and Chum Narith, as well as of his sister-in-law Kem Sovannary.
When the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, Chum Sirath was abroad in Geneva, where he had been working as a representative for a Cambodian telecommunications company since November 1974. As a Civil Party, Chum Sirath told the Trial Chamber about his search for the truth concerning his brothers' fate. He discovered that Chum Narith, his wife Kem Sovannary, and their young child were arrested and transferred to S-21 on 29 October 1976. Chum Narith was executed on 1 January 1977. Chum Narith, who was outspoken, was arrested because he had openly criticized the collectivization plan of the Khmer Rouge. Chum Sirath was not able to find information on the fate of his other brother Chum Sinareth, except for a photo taken at S-21. Chum Sirath described the constant dilemma he feels between the obligation to remember his siblings' suffering and the effort to forget as an obligation to the survivors with whom he lives today.
During his testimony, Chum Sirath rejected Duch's self-depiction as someone working without concern for his own suffering, referring to the French poem Duch had quoted. He also criticized Duch's apology as not being genuine.
- Witness acronym :
D25/6
- Age at the time of testimony :
- Appeared as :
- Cases : Case 001,
- Date(s) of testimony :