[Straits Times] A SENIOR security guard at the most notorious Khmer Rouge prison told a genocide tribunal on Thursday that prisoners were told they were being freed as they were led to Cambodia's killing fields. Instead, one by one, they were bludgeoned with oxcart axles and their throats slashed, he testified.Him Huy, 54, was giving evidence at the trial of his former prison chief Duch, who has admitted responsibility for overseeing the torture and execution of around 15,000 people held at Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21, during the late 1970s.
Him Huy told the UN-backed court that he was assigned to protect executioners while they killed up to 100 prisoners per day. 'The prisoners were told that they were being transferred to live in new homes and were never told that they would be executed,' he said.
He said the killings were conducted at night with the detainees shackled and blindfolded as they were taken to the execution grounds at Choeung Ek, 15 kilometres from S-21 prison. 'The executioners were instructed to kill the prisoners by asking them to kneel down near the pits. Then they used oxcart axles to strike the back of their necks and later they used knives to slash their throats,' he said.
Him Huy told the court that although he never saw Duch abuse a prisoner, the prison chief witnessed killings. 'I saw him (Duch) twice at Choeung Ek. He stayed there until all detainees were executed and then he would leave,' Him Huy said.