Prison S-21, and the Killing Field

I really like Cambodia and Phnom Penh so far, but of course you cannot come here and not see the Killing Fields.

This is the third and perhaps most intense profound location on this trip, the other two being the Wall in Berlin, and Robbin Island in South Africa.

We toured a school that had been converted into a prison in Phnom Penh, just one of many, Prison S-21. We saw the large prison cells where important prisoners stayed and were tortured. The guide was very matter-of-fact about the torture details and methods. We also toured the small cells, read about the history in print and photographs (everything was well documented by the Khmer Rouge). It was an emotional start to the morning.

We then drove outside the city to the Killing Field associated with Prison S-21. Again, there were many Killing Fields all over Cambodia, corresponding to a prison. Prisoners were brought by truck and were generally killed the day they arrived, unless there were too many of them, then they would be killed the next day. Bullets were too expensive to kill the people, so they would usually kill them with a hit to the back of the head with a steel pipe. If that did not kill them, they would drown them after that, or cover them with chemicals and bury them alive.

As I walked across the fields of mass graves in silence, I was suddenly massively overcome with emotion, and started crying uncontrollably. I put my stuff down, and sat in lotus position breathing and bringing my body back under control. I was OK after a bit, perhaps a bit numb to the whole experience.

Why do we keep doing this? Hitler, Pol Pot, Rwanda and now Darfur..........