Ae Li

 

 

 

            A young woman from Takaev who became a courier for Ieng Thirith in 1976 recalled that Thirith had three or four houses, a residence at Chamkar Mon, an office in front of the Palace, and a residence at the Central Market, but seemed to spend most of her time at the one in front of the Palace, to the south of the main palace, near Voat Botum, where the bigshots resided and worked.  The women carried letters and packets of documents for Thirith, always travelling in a vehicle driven -- with an escort -- by Uncle Ra, who was armed with a pistol, then either handing over the letter personally to the addressee or a receptionist.   Some went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Ieng Sary, others to Pol Pot, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, and some to textile factories for which Thirith was responsible, tailoring and textile factories near the Foreign Ministry, Au Reuhsei market and Calemette Hospital (including the K1, K2 and K3 factories), where Thirith went on a number of occasions to talk to the workers, just like she periodically went to hospitals to ask the patients how they were.  Sometimes, the woman also brought letters back to Thirith, although on other occasions, letters were delivered by other couriers.

 

The woman recalled having heard of S21 when she was Thirith's courier, but did not know where or what it was, never heard of Duch, and had not taken letters there for Thirith, because Thirith had told her S21 was too far away for Li to do the delivering; explaining that other, older couriers should carry out such tasks.   The woman stated these couriers – a woman named Phâl and a man named Pheap  – had taken letters to S21 for Thirith.

 

As for the exact nature – the substantive content -- of Thirith's work and responsibilities, she also was not allowed to know.  Thirith attended meetings around Phnom Penh, including at the Foreign Ministry, and Thirith and Sary were living together, but sometimes did not sleep in the same house, and did not often work together, seeming to see each other only at major official gatherings.  They had separate bodyguards. As often as once a fortnight, the woman went with Thirith in her vehicle to meetings and on other work outings, usually to one of the bigshot offices in the vicinity of the palace, where she saw various senior leaders, mostly with enormous pot bellies.  She commented that the bigshots seemed constantly to be in meetings, rarely going down to see what was really going on, although they got regular reports from their subordinates, Thirith typically receiving two or three a day.   On the other hand, Thirith never had visitors from he countryside, although she sometimes went to Angkor Voat, with Li accompanying her twice.  Along the way, Li saw people carrying dirt and manure, but Thirith never got out of the vehicle, and the people were quite a distance from the road.

 

Despite their close working relationship, she never dared to be casual with Thirith, never asking her about personal matters.  Still, she considered Thirith a good and nice woman, not someone who was mean or vicious, someone who never raised her voice, always talking sweetly and patting Li on the head, always generous.  She did not believe Thirith had ever killed anyone, nor did she believe that Pol, Nuon, Sary or Samphan had ever personally committed murders.  She believed executions occurred only in the countryside, where people were killing each other, not in the city.   Thirith never spoke to her about the threat of enemies.   Food was plentiful, and every ten day week there was a treat, such as a meat sandwich or something sweet.   And there were movies to which, film of fighting.  It was a fun life.[1]

 

 

[1] Ae Li, interviewed aged 40 inBasaet district, Kampung Speu province, on 20 March 2003.