[Paragraph number refers to the the paragraph number in the Case 002 Closing Order (Indictment). For editorial purposes, footnote reference have been omitted from this web version]
Disclaimer:The paragraphs below from the Closing Order contain allegations of crimes. All allegations must be proven through adversial trial proceedings, and cannot be taken as facts unless these facts have been confirmed through a final judgement.
Movement of the Population from the Central (Old North), Southwest, West and East Zones (Phase 2)
Time and Location
262. Around September 1975 and continuing into 1976 and 1977, a large number of persons were moved from the central and southwestern parts of the country, which applying the CPK’s system of identifying administrative boundaries, encompassed the Central and Southwest Zones and parts of the West and East Zones: the provinces of Kandal, Kampong Thom, Takeo, Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang and Kampong Cham. Most of them were sent to what the CPK then designated Sector 106 (Siem Reap Sector), Sector 103 (Preah Vihear) and the Northwest Zone (including locations in today’s provinces of Battambang, Pursat and Banteay Meanchey) or sent to what the CPK designated the Central (Old North) Zone (today’s Kampong Thom and parts of Kampong Cham provinces).
263. Furthermore, there is also evidence of other movements of population over the same period of time, such as from or within the East Zone (Prey Veng and Svay Rieng), to Kratie (Sector 505), within the Central (Old North) Zone or within Battambang Province. Most witnesses state that people were moved several times before reaching their final destination, including a number of the persons who had initially been moved from Phnom Penh.
People Moved
264. It is difficult to estimate the number of people moved from central and southwestern Cambodia to the North and Northwest Zones between late 1975 and 1976. A document of the Standing Committee dated August 1975 refers to the need to add 400,000 or 500,000 people to the population of the Northwest Zone and also to relocate an unspecified number of people to the then North Zone. According to a September 1975 Party document 500,000 people were to be relocated to the Northwest, 20,000 to Preah Vihear and others to Kampong Thom in the North Zone and certain sectors of the East. A telegram dated November 1975 (“Telegram
#15”) indicated that 50,000 people were to be moved from the East Zone. According to the evidence of former railway operators it appears that thousands were sent by train through Phnom Penh to their destinations in Pursat and Battambang in the Northwest Zone.
265. According to most of the witnesses (some of whom were moved),1018 children, women, elderly, and entire families were moved. Some were connected to the Lon Nol regime. Others were considered as “new people”1021 including people who had previously been moved from Phnom Penh. Some witnesses state that only “new people” were told to leave. One witness refers to the movement of the Chinese and Kampuchea Krom minorities.
266. A number of Cham people were also amongst the persons moved. This occurred in late 1975,after the Cham rebellion in two East Zone locations. Many Cham people were moved from their home villages in Kampong Cham Province and sent to other various villages within the same province. Some were sent further to villages in the provinces of Kratie, Kampong Thom and Battambang. Telegram #151033 and other evidence suggests that a decision was made by the CPK Central Committee and subsequently implemented to relocate thousands of Cham people to the North and Northwest Zones.
Means and Method of the Population Movement
267. People were moved by military or civilian truck,train, boat, oxcart, tractor, or had to walk. In many cases it was a combination of these various means, depending on the destination. Most witnesses felt threatened or forced to leave. People who thought they were being given a choice would still leave for fear of being arrested or executed. There is evidence that some people were tied up or had a gun pointed at them whilst others state they were neither tied up, nor mistreated or beaten. Some witnesses state that they were permitted to pack some belongings or a little food before departing.
268. The people who were moved,including Chams, were organised into groups. Some people were separated either when departing, during the journey, or upon arrival. A former local cadre states “we did not have a policy that prohibited the new people from living with their relatives who were the base people”. A number of witnesses declare that the Cham people were dispersed through Khmer villages with only a minority of Cham people allowed in each village. There is evidence that Cham men, women and children were split up and moved to different places. Some Cham witnesses, however, state that they remained with their families throughout the movements of population or that they were subsequently allowed to join their families. Others indicate that whilst the majority of Cham people were moved, a small number were required to remain in their home villages. Three witnesses explain that they were made to live in the open spaces under the houses of
Khmer people. Two others state that the elders and religious leaders in their village were arrested and killed before the movement of the population occurred.
269. Travel time could take one or several days, with stops on the way. People could rest a few minutes,overnight or a few days to one week,depending on the distance and the journey. People would travel during day and/or at night, the vast majority in very poor physical condition. Many witnesses explain that people were packed into crowded train carriages, onto trucks or boats. People were given little or nothing to eat or drink during the movement of population1 or upon arrival; although one witness said that CPK soldiers provided bread before people were put on the boat.Medicine also was lacking. People would die before, on the way, or after the journey from starvation because they were too old or too weak, or from disease. Witnesses also state that arrests occurred in the context of these movements of population.
270. Some people disappeared during the movements. One witness explains having been told at a meeting that those who would refuse to leave would be sent for reeducation from where people never returned.
271. There is consistent evidence that local leading CPK cadre were in charge of the implementation at both departure and reception stages. At departure, they would receive instructions from the upper echelon although one witness states that the decisions to select villagers to be moved were made in secret by the platoon leaders. People who would ask questions would be threatened. According to some witnesses, local CPK cadre were given lists of names and would call meetings where these names would be read out and would also determine how people would be transported.
272. Troops, militiamen or security personnel supervised the movements of population. Most witnesses report their presence at all stages of the movement: at departure; during the movement of population; guarding people on boats; trucks; trains or oxcarts; and upon arrival. Conversely, a few witnesses state that they were not always escorted by armed forces.
273. In Battambang or Pursat, most moved persons would arrive by train. The organization of the railway network was clearly and hierarchically defined with the Phnom Penh Railway Unit at the top of the hierarchy. A former railway operator in Battambang reports that the trains were escorted by armed soldiers and that militiamen were in charge after the arrival of train. His impression was that “all the transportation was organised by the higher level”. Two former railway operators explain that three soldiers managed the stations’ communication network in both Pursat and Battambang. According to the witnesses who operated the
railways in Battambang and Pursat, the CPK cadre in charge of the railway stations reported directly to the Phnom Penh Railway Unit. Further, confirming that the CPK Centre was kept informed of these movements of population, one of these witnesses explains that as a Party member, the cadre in charge of Pursat station would attend study sessions in Phnom Penh.
274. Local leading CPK cadre would receive people1106 and assign them to cooperatives. Some witnesses state that they were questioned by CPK cadres about their biographies upon arrival. One civil party explains that at one point, she was given the opportunity to choose the cooperative where she wanted to go, and she was subsequently sent for reeducation further to the arrest of her husband. Regarding people sent to central parts of the country or to Kratie, relevant witnesses gave similar accounts.
Return
275. Most of the people who were moved and survived the DK regime returned to their homes or native villages as soon as they could. Some witnesses found that their old villages were deserted, houses destroyed and that grave pits had been dug. Witnesses state that it was not possible for the population to return to their home villages during the DK regime.
Reasons Given to the Population for the Movement
276. A document of the Standing Committee dated August 1975 pertains to the visit of the Standing Committee to the Northwest Zone. The report insists on the need to develop rice production in the whole of the Northwest Zone, with “Angkar” delivering its directions regarding inter alia economic and crop diversification and stating that the North and the Northwest Zones had “good qualities” such as better paddy land and rice to sustain “new people”. A meeting minute of the Standing Committee dated July/August 1976 and containing the CPK 4-year plan nsists on the need to focus efforts on rice production.
277. A number of the witnesses who were moved were told that they were being sent to an area where there was more food and fertile land or because there was a shortage of labour. One witness states that people were being told that they had to work for the socialist regime.1123 Upon arrival, people were sent to work in cooperatives on building dams and canals or on rice farming.
278. A former local CPK cadre explained that “the central policy was to remove the new people from the East when the war broke with Vietnam in late 1975 or early 1976 … the new people had to be evacuated because the war broke out at the border”.
Planning
279. Witnesses and documents provide evidence as to how the Centre was involved in these movements of the population. The decision to send people to the North and North West Zones of the country appears to have been made following the visit of the CPK Standing Committee to this area around August 19750and a Party document dated September 1975 discusses its implementation.
280. Telegram #15 dated November 1975 describes a high-level decision of the Party regarding movements of population, which, according to numerous and consistent witness testimonies, was subsequently carried out. This telegram was sent by Chhon to Pol Pot and copied to Nuon Chea, Brother Doeun (Secretary of the 870 Political Office) and Brother Yem (Office 870). One witness who translated telegrams for Office K-1 during the DK regime states that the Chairman of the Telegram Unit made the decision to copy this telegram to Nuon Chea, indicating that “this telegram was originally sent to Pol Pot alone, but the person in charge of
the telegram knew that this matter must also be sent to the person who was in charge of the people like Nuon Chea in order to find a solution”. This witness also refers to the involvement of the Standing Committee in the resolution of the problem. Another witness, former chairman of the Central (Old North) Zone Telegram Unit explains that “[the East Zone] had to send the report from the Zone to Pol Pot of the Centre level first, and then waited for Pol Pot instruction. Ke Pork [Secretary of the Central (Old North) Zone] received this telegram about this matter from the Centre, not directly from the East Zone”.
281. Telegram #15 specifically refers to a problem raised by the movement of Cham people from the East Zone and reads “more than 100,000 more Islamic people remain in the East Zone … In principle their removal was to break them up, in accordance with your views in your discussions with us already. But if the North refuses to accept them, we will continue to strive to persevere in grasping the Islamic people”. This happened a few weeks after the rebellion of Cham people in Koh Phal and Svay Kleang. When read in that context, this document suggests that the underlying reason for the movement and planned separation of the Cham people was to address the security concern they represented, illustration of the CPK policy to “break up” the Cham.