Khmer Rouge death camp survivor wins human rights award

A Khmer Rouge death camp survivor now battling chronic health problems has been chosen as a recipient of a human rights award, a New York-based human rights groups said today.

Vann Nath – who managed to survive the infamous Khmer Rouge S-21 prison by painting and sculpting portraits of the regime’s late leader Pol Pot – is among the writers from 22 countries to receive the prestigious Hellman/Hammett award, Human Rights Watch said in a statement today.

It said the award recognises courage in the face of political persecution.

Vann Nath, 62, is one of seven survivors of the prison now known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.

He is “an important painter and writer whose memoirs and paintings of his experiences in the Tuol Sleng prison are a powerful and poignant testimony to the crimes of the Khmer Rouge”, Marcia Allina, who co-ordinates the Hellman/Hammett program, was quoted as saying in the statement.