Im

I. Facts

In 1975 the Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia. Peti- tioner Im — then 22 years old and one year out of high school — was impressed into service as a forced laborer for the new 9760 IM v. GONZALES totalitarian regime, and his family was killed. Four years later, the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia, removing the Khmer Rouge from power. Vietnamese troops arrested Im in July of 1979. No criminal charges were ever filed against Im, and the army installed him as a prison guard in PJ, a small prison in Phnom Penh that housed between 35 and 70 prison- ers, including a number of Khmer Rouge. All of the guards were Cambodian and none belonged to the Communist party. At the top of the prison hierarchy was the prison chairman, followed by the vice-chairman and five guards. Two of the guards, including Im, worked in the administrative section. The three remaining guards worked in the political section.

Im did not receive payment for his job but was given rice and cooking oil in exchange for his labor. His principal duties included distributing rice to the prisoners, taking them to bathe or receive medical attention, and overseeing their fit- ness and hygiene…