Bou Meng: Artist Who Survived S-21 | Dover News

Dover News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Aug 17, 2026 · 2m

Bou Meng, one of the last survivors of Cambodia’s S-21 prison — where 16,000 mostly women and children were murdered under the Khmer Rouge — has died at 85. Forced to paint portraits of Pol Pot and other leaders, including a grotesque image of Ho Chi Minh on a dog’s body, his artistic skill became his only lifeline during nearly two years of brutal imprisonment. His testimony helped convict Kaing Guek Eav, the prison’s commandant, and his voice remains vital to remembering the genocide that killed 1.7 million Cambodians. With Bou Meng gone, the world loses a crucial witness — but his story…