SUOS Thy

Mr. Suos Thy was called as a witness to testify on the functioning of S-21.

Mr. Suos Thy joined the Khmer Rouge army in late 1971 following the appeal of Prince Sihanouk. In late 1975, he was asked by Hor to join the staff of PJ prison and take care of the prisonersí records. When the prison was relocated to S-21, Suos Thy was assigned to the guards unit. He was in charge of the lists of detainees and worked at S-21 until the Vietnamese army arrived in Phnom Penh.

As a witness, Suos Thy described the structure of S-21. He told the Trial Chamber that there were three branches at S-21: S-21A or the "interrogation unit", S-21B or the "guards unit", and S-21D or S-24. He explained the processing of incoming and outgoing prisoners and the differing procedures for children, prisoners brought en masse, and former S-21 staff detained at S-21. Suos Thy was in charge of updating the lists and recording the deaths of prisoners due to illness or starvation as well as the lists of prisoners "to be smashed". He recalled seeing lists of prisoners requested by the medical unit to "have their blood drawn"; all of them died.

Suos Thy told the Trial Chamber that he clearly identified Duch as S-21 Director, however he was not in contact with him directly. Orders were relayed to him through Hor. He recounted hating his work at S-21, during which fear was "always with him". Nowadays, he said he felt remorse and pity toward the prisoners arrested and killed at S-21.

A lawyer assisted Suos Thy in case an issue of self-incrimination arose.

  • Witness acronym :
    KW-07
  • Age at the time of testimony :
    58
  • Appeared as :
  • Cases : Case 001
  • Date(s) of testimony :

Transcript from testimony

Video recordings

session 4 - 28 July 2009 - Case 001Date:
Session 3 - 28 July 2009 - Case 001Date:
Session 2 - 28 July 2009 - Case 001Date:
Session 1 - 28 july 2009 - Case 001Date: