Ney Saran, aka Comrade Ya

The New Mandela continues to publish stellar content. Today, it’s a detailed look at Lao connections to the Khmer Rouge revolution. The piece is written by Martin Rathie, PhD, a former scholar with the Department of History at the University of Queensland. The primary subject of the story is Ney Saran, aka Comrade Ya, who was a high-level Khmer Rouge leader in the Northeast Zone.

Comrade Ya played an important role in building Khmer Rouge popularity in the northeast. He was a lifelong servant to the party and by most accounts admired by his men. His popularity, however, coupled with Pol Pot’s paranoia, would also prove his downfall.

In bit of serendipity, perhaps, Comrade Ya is also the subject of a story in the current edition of the Phnom Penh Post. Titled “Anatomy of an interrogation: The torture of Comrade Ya at S-21,” The Post article picks up exactly where the Rathie story ends. Unfortunately, the Post article is behind the pay wall. But those words should soon come to light in a book by Sara Colm and Sorya Sim, titled “Khmer Rouge Purges in the Mondulkiri Highlands, Region 105,” soon-to-be-released by DC-CAM. Although finding a copy of the Post probably will be faster.

CORRECTION: Mr. Rathie points out that he is still working on his doctorate: “I haven’t got a Ph.D. at this point in time, I’m just a candidate.”