Bou Meng, Survivor of Khmer Rouge Security Prison, Dies Aged 85
The painter was one of 14,000-plus men, women, and children who were sent to S-21 between 1975 and 1979 – and one of just a handful to survive.
Bou Meng, a Cambodian artist and one of the few survivors of the notorious S-21 security prison in Phnom Penh, has passed away at the age of 85. The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a U.N.-backed tribunal that has tried former Khmer Rouge leaders for genocide and other crimes against humanity, announced his death on Friday at 11:00 p.m. due to age-related illness.
The ECCC emphasized that the loss of Mr. Bou Meng represents the disappearance of an important historical witness to the horrific crimes committed during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, especially the history and tragedy that occurred at the former S-21 Security Centre. Among the 14,000+ individuals sent to S-21 during the 1975-1979 rule of Democratic Kampuchea, Bou Meng was one of the 7 adult prisoners who survived.
He was imprisoned for two years for allegedly spying for the United States and was spared execution due to his talent as a painter. Bou Meng produced propaganda portraits of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot and other officials, but his family, including his wife and two children, perished under the Khmer Rouge. Alongside Vann Nath and Chum Mey, who also survived, Bou Meng was a witness at the ECCC trial of Kaing Guek Eav, known as Comrade Duch, the former prison commandant.
During his testimony, Bou Meng described the extreme torture he endured at S-21, including being kept in chains with empty bullet boxes and plastic bottles as makeshift toilets. He also recounted seeing 20 emaciated prisoners with long hair, hoping a lizard would drop on him so he could eat it. Bou Meng continued to paint until S-21 was liberated by Vietnamese forces in January 1979.
In 2010, the ECCC convicted Duch of crimes against humanity and war crimes, sentencing him to 35 years in prison, which was later increased to life imprisonment. Bou Meng frequently visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, where he sold copies of his memoir and shared his experiences with visitors. His death leaves Chum Mey as the sole surviving adult survivor of S-21.
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