Arya News - "Meng and his wife were imprisoned at S-21 in 1977, and their children were sent to a children’s camp. He never saw his wife or children again. He had survived extensive torture at the Khmer Rouge detention centre because of his skills as a painter."
PHNOM PENH – Bou Meng, one of only seven known survivors of the Khmer Rouge’s Tuol Sleng prison, has passed away. He was 85 years old.
“We, the leadership, officials, and staff of the Tuol Sleng Museum, wish to express our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased, Mr. Bou Meng, who passed away at 11pm on Friday, August 14, 2026,” the museum announced.
“The passing of Meng is a loss of a crucial historical witness to the crimes that the Pol Pot genocidal regime committed against the Cambodian people, particularly the events that occurred in the former S-21 detention centre. He actively contributed to the process of seeking justice for the victims through the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC),” it added.
Meng and his wife were imprisoned at S-21 in 1977, and their children were sent to a children’s camp. He never saw his wife or children again.
Meng survived extensive torture at the detention centre, only surviving until the fall of the Khmer Rouge because of his skills as a painter. He later testified at the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, alias Comrade Duch, commandant of the prison, at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, or ECCC.
In recent years, he spent his time sharing the history of Tuol Sleng prison with visitors to the museum, in the hope that his personal story of survival would educate future generations about the need to ensure that such evil never be repeated.