Vann Nath

At the time of his arrest on January 7, 1978, Vann Nath was working in a rice field in his home province of Battambang like many other Cambodians. The Khmer Rouge took him to Wat Kandal, a Buddhist temple used as a detainment centre. They told him that he was accused of violating the moral code of the organization of Angka. He did not understand what that meant.

Vann Nath was a painter and writer whose memoirs and paintings of his experiences in the infamous Tuol Sleng prison are a powerful and poignant testimony to the crimes of the Khmer Rouge.

Vann Nath was an outspoken advocate for justice for victims of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge and this is reflected in his writing. His 1998 memoir A Cambodian Prison Portrait: One Year in the Khmer Rouge's S-21 Prison, about his experiences at S-21 is the only written account by a survivor of the prison. It has been translated from English into French and Swedish.