Abstract:

Led by a former schoolteacher named Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge regime killed between 15 and 40 percent of the Cambodian population in a brutal attempt to transform the nation into a classless society. At the heart of this orchestrated campaign of terror was a death camp known by the code name S-21. Untold thousands of prisoners entered S-21. Only seven escaped alive. INSIDE POL POT'S SECRET PRISON is a harrowing look at one of the most purely evil institutions of the 20th century. Riveting interviews with former guards, executioners and two survivors paint a picture of the unspeakable horrors that were commonplace at S-21. The incredibly detailed prison archives open a window into the Khmer Rouge's program of genocide, raising the question of why no one has been prosecuted so far for the crimes against humanity committed in Cambodia. INSIDE POL POT'S SECRET PRISON also includes an interview with journalist Nate Thayer, who interviewed the ailing former dictator just months before his death.