The Communist Party of Kampuchea ( CPK ), also known as the Khmer Communist Party , was a communist party in Cambodia . Its leader was Pol Pot , and its members were generally known as the Khmer Rouge . Originally founded in 1951, the party was split into pro- Chinese and pro- Soviet factions as a result of the Sino–Soviet split with the former being the Pol Pot faction, and the latter adopting a more revisionist approach to Marxism . As such, it claimed that 30 September 1960 was its founding date; it was named the Workers' Party of Kampuchea before it was renamed the Communist Party in 1966.
172-618: The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the Democratic Kampuchea through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihanouk to describe his country's heterogeneous, communist-led dissidents, with whom he allied after the 1970 Cambodian coup d'état . The Kampuchea Revolutionary Army
344-755: A hybrid court , as the ECCC was created by the government in conjunction with the UN, but remained independent of them, with trials being held in Cambodia using Cambodian and international staff. The Cambodian court invited international participation in order to apply international standards. The remit of the Extraordinary Chambers extended to serious violations of Cambodian penal law , international humanitarian law and custom, and violation of international conventions recognized by Cambodia, committed during
516-564: A Cham who served as the deputy minister of agriculture under the People's Republic of Kampuchea , stated that Khmer Rouge troops had perpetrated a number of massacres in Cham villages in the Central and Eastern zones where the residents had refused to give up Islamic customs. While François Ponchaud stated that Christians were invariably taken away and killed with the accusation of having links with
688-530: A Maoist deviation from orthodox Marxism . According to author Rebecca Gidley, the Khmer Rouge "almost immediately erred by implementing a Maoist doctrine rather than following the Marxist–Leninist prescriptions." The Maoist and Khmer Rouge belief that human willpower could overcome material and historical conditions was strongly at odds with mainstream Marxism, which emphasised historical materialism and
860-723: A Party Propagation and Formation Committee. At its formation, the Cambodian party was called the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP). The Vietnamese heavily dominated the ICP, and the Vietnamese party actively supported the KPRP during its initial phase of existence. Due to the reliance on Vietnamese support in the joint struggle against French colonial rule, the party's history would later be rewritten, stating 1960 as
1032-699: A Supreme Court Chamber was made up of four Cambodian judges and three international judges. All international judges were appointed by the Supreme Council of the Magistracy of Cambodia from a list of nominees submitted by the Secretary-General of the United Nations . There were also Reserve judges who were sometimes called upon to serve. The judges were: Supreme Court Chamber Trial Chamber Pre-Trial Chamber Office of
1204-492: A University of Phnom Penh law faculty member, and started a left-wing French-language publication, L'Observateur . The paper soon acquired a reputation in Phnom Penh's small academic circle. The following year, the government closed the paper, and Sihanouk's police publicly humiliated Khieu by beating, undressing, and photographing him in public—as Shawcross notes, "not the sort of humiliation that men forgive or forget". Yet
1376-459: A Vietnamese attack, Pol Pot ordered a pre-emptive invasion of Vietnam on 18 April 1978. His Cambodian forces crossed the border and looted nearby villages. Despite Chinese aid, these Cambodian forces were repulsed by the Vietnamese. In early 1979, a pro-Vietnamese group of CPK dissidents led by Pen Sovan held a congress (which they saw as the third party congress, therefore not recognizing the 1963, 1975, and 1978 party congresses as legitimate) near
1548-564: A central role in the regime of Democratic Kampuchea. At some time between 1949 and 1951, Pol Pot and Ieng Sary joined the French Communist Party. In 1951, the two men went to East Berlin to participate in a youth festival. This experience is considered to have been a turning point in their ideological development. Meeting with Khmers who were fighting with the Viet Minh (but subsequently judged them to be too subservient to
1720-573: A crest in 1977 and 1978 when thousands, including some important CPK leaders, were executed. The older generation of CPK members, suspected of having links with or sympathies for Vietnam, were targeted by the Pol Pot leadership. For roughly two years after the CPK took power, it referred to itself as the Angkar ( Khmer : អង្គការ , ALA-LC : ʿʹanggakār [ʔɑŋkaː] ; meaning 'Organization'). However, Pol Pot publicly declared on 29 September 1977
1892-899: A degree, but according to Jesuit priest Father François Ponchaud he acquired a taste for the classics of French literature as well as an interest in the writings of Karl Marx. Another member of the Paris student group was Ieng Sary, a Chinese-Khmer from South Vietnam. He attended the elite Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh before beginning courses in commerce and politics at the Paris Institute of Political Science (more widely known as Sciences Po ) in France. Khieu Samphan specialized in economics and politics during his time in Paris. Hou Yuon studied economics and law; Son Sen studied education and literature; and Hu Nim studied law. Two members of
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#17327653857002064-401: A distinctive and eclectic "post-Leninist" ideology that drew on elements of Stalinism, Maoism and the postcolonial theory of Frantz Fanon . In the early 1970s, the Khmer Rouge looked to the model of Enver Hoxha 's Albania which they believed was the most advanced communist state then in existence. Many of the regime's characteristics—such as its focus on the rural peasantry rather than
2236-670: A guerrilla struggle. In 1965, Pol Pot made a visit of several months to North Vietnam and China. He probably received some training in China, which enhanced his prestige when he returned to the WPK's liberated areas. Despite friendly relations between Sihanouk and the Chinese, the latter kept Pol Pot's visit a secret from Sihanouk. In 1971, the party changed its name to the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK). The party statutes, published in
2408-613: A legal political party, the Pracheachon Party, which participated in the 1955 and the 1958 National Assembly elections. In the September 1955 election, it won about 4% of the vote but did not secure a seat in the legislature. Members of the Pracheachon were subject to harassment and arrests because the party remained outside Sihanouk's political organization, Sangkum . Government attacks prevented it from participating in
2580-523: A matter of interest to historians. Some historians, including Michael Ignatieff , Adam Jones and Greg Grandin , have cited the United States intervention and bombing campaign (spanning 1965–1973) as a significant factor which led to increased support for the Khmer Rouge among the Cambodian peasantry. According to Ben Kiernan , the Khmer Rouge "would not have won power without U.S. economic and military destabilization of Cambodia. ... It used
2752-610: A new group, the Khmer Students Union. Inside, the group was still run by the Cercle Marxiste. The doctoral dissertations which were written by Hou Yuon and Khieu Samphan express basic themes that would later become the cornerstones of the policy that was adopted by Democratic Kampuchea. The central role of the peasants in national development was espoused by Hou Yuon in his 1955 thesis, The Cambodian Peasants and Their Prospects for Modernization , which challenged
2924-486: A prisoner of war or civilian the rights of fair and regular trial, unlawful deportation or unlawful confinement of a civilian). Nuon Chea joined the Communist Party of Kampuchea (the Khmer Rouge's official name) while studying law at Thammasat University in Bangkok. In 1960, he was appointed Deputy Secretary to oversee the security of the party and the state. His charges included overseeing Phnom Penh's S-21 prison. It
3096-586: A reputation in Phnom Penh's small academic circle. The following year, the government closed the paper, and Sihanouk's police publicly humiliated Samphan by beating, undressing and photographing him in public; as Shawcross notes, "not the sort of humiliation that men forgive or forget". Yet the experience did not prevent Samphan from advocating cooperation with Sihanouk in order to promote a united front against United States activities in South Vietnam. Khieu Samphan, Hou Yuon and Hu Nim were forced to "work through
3268-482: A request before the Supreme Court Chamber arguing that, in absence of any appeal judgment, Nuon Chea should be considered innocent and that trial judgement issued on 16 November 2018 against him should be vacated. On 22 November 2019, the Supreme Court Chamber clarified notably that Nuon Chea's death did not vacate the trial judgment against him and that, although the presumption of innocence applies at
3440-432: A reserve of easily exploitable agricultural labour, was likely viewed positively by the Khmer Rouge's peasant supporters as removing the source of their debts. Democratic Kampuchea was an atheist state , although its constitution stated that everyone had freedom of religion, or not to hold a religion. However, it specified that what it termed "reactionary religion" would not be permitted. While in practice religious activity
3612-644: A separate Cambodian communist party, the Kampuchean (or Khmer) People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP), was established under Vietnamese auspices; the period following the Second Party Congress of the KPRP in 1960, when Saloth Sar gained control of its apparatus; the revolutionary struggle from the initiation of the Khmer Rouge insurgency in 1967–1968 to the fall of the Lon Nol government in April 1975;
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#17327653857003784-483: A significant factor which led to increased support for the Khmer Rouge among the Cambodian peasantry. According to Ben Kiernan, the Khmer Rouge "would not have won power without U.S. economic and military destabilization of Cambodia. ... It used the bombing's devastation and massacre of civilians as recruitment propaganda and as an excuse for its brutal, radical policies and its purge of moderate communists and Sihanoukists." Pol Pot biographer David P. Chandler writes that
3956-416: A significant part of the supposedly favored segment of the peasantry, were singled out because of their race. According to Ben Kiernan, this was "neither a communist proletarian revolution that privileged the working class, nor a peasant revolution that favored all farmers". While the CPK described itself as the "number 1 Communist state" once it was in power, some communist regimes, such as Vietnam, saw it as
4128-399: A smaller scale since the early 1970s. The Khmer Rouge attempted to turn Cambodia into a classless society by depopulating cities and forcing the urban population into agricultural communes through brutal totalitarian methods. The entire population was forced to become farmers in labour camps . During their four years in power, the Khmer Rouge overworked and starved the population while at
4300-479: A vacant room of the Phnom Penh railroad station. Approximately 14 delegates represented the rural faction, and seven represented the urban faction. This pivotal event remains shrouded in mystery because its outcome has become an object of contention (and considerable historical rewriting) between pro-Vietnamese and anti-Vietnamese Khmer communist factions. The party was renamed the Workers Party of Kampuchea at
4472-421: A voice for the defence in the media and at outreach events, and organised a legacy program. The DSS legacy program was designed to increase understanding of the criminal trial process and the right to a fair trial within Cambodia. The program provided an opportunity for Cambodian law students and lawyers to gain experience practicing international law in the hopes that the court will lead to a lasting improvement in
4644-566: Is estimated that Nuon Chea is responsible for the death of 1.7 million people during the rule of the Khmer Rouge. In 1998, Nuon Chea reached an agreement with the Cambodian Government which allowed him to live near the Thai border. He was arrested and put into custody in 2007. His case, number 002, has been under investigation since 2007 and hearings began in 2011. Although Chea is the highest-ranking official to be detained he denies
4816-517: Is estimated that at least 90% of the foreign aid to Khmer Rouge came from China, with 1975 alone seeing US$ 1 billion in interest-free economic and military aid and US$ 20 million gift, which was "the biggest aid ever given to any one country by China". In June 1975, Pol Pot and other officials of Khmer Rouge met with Mao Zedong in Beijing , receiving Mao's approval and advice; in addition, Mao also taught Pot his "Theory of Continuing Revolution under
4988-602: Is significant. By calling itself a workers' party, the Cambodian movement claimed equal status with the Vietnam Workers' Party. The pro-Vietnamese regime of the People's Republic of Kampuchea implied in the 1980s that the September 1960 meeting was nothing more than the second congress of the KPRP. On 20 July 1962, Tou Samouth was murdered by the Cambodian government. At the WPK's second congress in February 1963, Pol Pot
5160-549: The Cambodian Civil War , where the United States had supported the opposing regime of Lon Nol and heavily bombed Cambodia, primarily targeting communist Vietnamese troops who were allied to the Khmer Rouge, but it gave the Khmer Rouge's leadership a justification to eliminate the pro-Vietnamese faction within the group. The Cambodian genocide was stopped with the Khmer Rouge's overthrow in 1979 by Communist Vietnam. There have been allegations of United States support for
5332-544: The Cambodian genocide which took place under the Khmer Rouge regime led to the deaths of 1.5 to 2 million people, around 25% of Cambodia's population. In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge was largely supported and funded by the Chinese Communist Party, receiving approval from Mao Zedong ; it is estimated that at least 90% of the foreign aid which was provided to the Khmer Rouge came from China. The regime
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5504-581: The French Communist Party . In 1951, the two men went to East Berlin to participate in a youth festival . This experience is considered a turning point in their ideological development. Meeting with Khmers fighting with the Viet Minh (whom they subsequently judged too subservient to the Vietnamese) convinced them that only a tightly disciplined party organization and a readiness for armed struggle could achieve revolution. They transformed
5676-466: The Khmer Republic , executing all its officers. The leadership of the Khmer Rouge was largely unchanged between the 1960s and the mid-1990s. The Khmer Rouge leaders were mostly from middle-class families and had been educated at French universities . The Standing Committee of the Khmer Rouge's Central Committee (Party Center) during its period of power consisted of the following: In power,
5848-624: The Khmer Students' Association (KSA), to which most of the 200 Khmer students in Paris belonged, into an organization for nationalist and leftist ideas. Inside the KSA and its successor organizations was a secret organization known as the Cercle Marxiste. The organization was composed of cells of three to six members, with most members knowing nothing about the overall structure. In 1952, Pol Pot, Hou Yuon, Ieng Sary, and other leftists gained notoriety by sending an open letter to Sihanouk calling him
6020-576: The Party of Democratic Kampuchea . • Khmer Rouge Tribunal The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia ( ECCC ; French : Chambres extraordinaires au sein des tribunaux cambodgiens (CETC) ; Khmer : អង្គជំនុំជម្រះវិសាមញ្ញក្នុងតុលាការកម្ពុជា ), commonly known as the Cambodia Tribunal or Khmer Rouge Tribunal ( សាលាក្ដីខ្មែរក្រហម ), was a court established to try
6192-459: The People's Republic of China . Sihanouk's popular support in rural Cambodia allowed the Khmer Rouge to extend its power and influence to the point that by 1973, it exercised de facto control over the majority of Cambodian territory, although only a minority of its population. The relationship between the massive carpet bombing of Cambodia by the United States and the growth of the Khmer Rouge, in terms of recruitment and popular support, has been
6364-468: The Santebal —a special branch of the Khmer Rouge in charge of internal security and running prison camps. In addition, Iew ran the notorious Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison in Phnom Penh . Iew was the first of the five brought before the tribunal. His hearings began on 17 September 2009 and concluded on 27 November 2010. Seven areas of relevance resurfaced frequently during his trial: issues relating to M-13,
6536-497: The Third World on the economic domination of the industrialized nations. After returning to Cambodia in 1953, Pol Pot threw himself into party work. At first, he went to join with forces allied to the Viet Minh operating in the rural areas of Kampong Cham Province . After the end of the war, he moved to Phnom Penh under Tou Samouth's "urban committee", where he became an important point of contact between above-ground parties of
6708-576: The Vietnam Workers' Party , the Lao Issara , and the Kampuchean or Khmer People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP). According to a document issued after the reorganization, the Vietnam Workers' Party would continue to "supervise" the smaller Laotian and Cambodian movements. Most KPRP leaders and rank-and-file seem to have been either Khmer Krom or ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia. According to Democratic Kampuchea's perspective of party history,
6880-421: The feudal society. Another interpretation, as proposed by historian Michael Vickery, is that of a bottom-up, left-wing peasant revolution with the Khmer Rouge as the revolutionaries. The Khmer Rouge was an intellectual group with a middle-class background and a romanticised sympathy for rural poor people but with little to no awareness that their radical policies would lead to such violence; according to this view,
7052-485: The pro-American Khmer Republic . Despite a massive American bombing campaign ( Operation Freedom Deal ) against them, the Khmer Rouge won the Cambodian Civil War when they captured the Cambodian capital and overthrew the Khmer Republic in 1975. Following their victory, the Khmer Rouge, who were led by Pol Pot , Nuon Chea , Ieng Sary , Son Sen , and Khieu Samphan , immediately set about forcibly evacuating
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7224-816: The tutelary spirits , or neak ta , rapidly eroded as people were forcibly moved from their home areas. The position with Buddhist monks was more complicated: as with Islam , many religious leaders were killed whereas many ordinary monks were sent to remote monasteries where they were subjected to hard physical labour. The same division between rural and urban populations was seen in the regime's treatment of monks. For instance, those from urban monasteries were classified as "new monks" and sent to rural areas to live alongside "base monks" of peasant background, who were classified as "proper and revolutionary". Monks were not ordered to defrock until as late as 1977 in Kratié Province , where many monks found that they reverted to
7396-403: The "purest" Marxist–Leninist movement to characterising it as an anti-Marxist "peasant revolution". The first interpretation has been criticized by historian Ben Kiernan , who asserts that it comes from a "convenient anti-communist perspective". Its leaders and theorists, most of whom had been exposed to the heavily Stalinist outlook of the French Communist Party during the 1950s, developed
7568-457: The "strangler of infant democracy". A year later, the French authorities closed down the KSA, but Hou Yuon and Khieu Samphan helped to establish in 1956 a new group, the Khmer Students' Union . Inside, the group was still run by the Cercle Marxiste. After returning to Cambodia in 1953, Pol Pot threw himself into party work. At first, he went to join with forces allied to the Viet Minh operating in
7740-579: The 1962 election and drove it underground. Sihanouk habitually labelled local leftists the Khmer Rouge, a term that later came to signify the party and the state headed by Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and their associates. During the mid-1950s, KPRP factions, the "urban committee" (headed by Tou Samouth) and the "rural committee" (headed by Sieu Heng), emerged. In very general terms, these groups espoused divergent revolutionary lines. The prevalent "urban" line endorsed by North Vietnam recognized that Sihanouk by virtue of his success in winning independence from
7912-604: The 1970s. Some historians such as Ben Kiernan have stated that the importance the regime gave to race overshadowed its conceptions of class. The Khmer Rouge targeted particular groups of people, among them Buddhist monks , ethnic minorities, and educated elites. Once in power, the Khmer Rouge explicitly targeted the Chinese , the Vietnamese , the Cham minority and even their partially Khmer offspring. The same attitude extended to
8084-409: The CPK's existence shortly before Pol Pot was due to travel to Peking resulted from pressure from China on the Khmer Rouge leaders to acknowledge their true political identity at a time when they increasingly depended on China's assistance against the threats from Vietnam. Accordingly, Pol Pot, in his speech, claimed that the CPK's foundation had been in 1960 and emphasized its separate identity from
8256-740: The Cambodian Civil War and the years afterward. In 1970 alone, the Chinese reportedly gave 400 tons of military aid to the National United Front of Kampuchea formed by Sihanouk and the Khmer Rouge. In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia, and in January 1976, Democratic Kampuchea was established. During the Cambodian genocide , the CCP was the main international patron of the Khmer Rouge, supplying "more than 15,000 military advisers" and most of its external aid. It
8428-717: The Cambodian legal system. Author Mary Kozlovski addresses problems at the Court, including issues impacting fair trial rights, in an essay entitled Bringing the Khmer Rouge to Justice in the June 2012 issue of Global Insight , the journal of the International Bar Association (IBA). Heads of the DSS Victims Support Section The Victims Support Section (VSS) served as the liaison between
8600-487: The Central Committee to occupy the third and the fifth highest positions in the party hierarchy. Another committee member was veteran communist Keo Meas . In Democratic Kampuchea, this meeting would later be projected as the founding date of the party, consciously downplaying the history of the party before Pol Pot's ascent to leadership. On 20 July 1962, Tou Samouth was murdered by the Cambodian government. At
8772-461: The Cercle Marxiste (Marxist circle). The organization was composed of cells of three to six members with most members knowing nothing about the overall structure of the organization. In 1952, Pol Pot, Hou Yuon, Ieng Sary and other leftists gained notoriety by sending an open letter to Sihanouk calling him the "strangler of infant democracy". A year later, the French authorities closed down the KSA, but Hou Yuon and Khieu Samphan helped to establish in 1956
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#17327653857008944-871: The Co-Prosecutors The Office of the Co-Prosecutors (OCP) was an independent office within the ECCC staffed by both Cambodian and international personnel provided by the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT) . The OCP was headed by the Cambodian National Co-Prosecutor (appointed by the Supreme Council of the Magistracy of Cambodia) and the International Co-Prosecutor (nominated by
9116-473: The Communist Party of Vietnam. This secrecy continued even after the CPK took power. Unlike most totalitarian dictators , Pol Pot was not the object of an open personality cult . It was almost a year before it was confirmed that he was Saloth Sar, the man long cited as the CPK's general secretary. Because of several years of border conflict and the flood of refugees fleeing Cambodia, relations between Cambodia and Vietnam deteriorated by December 1978. Fearing
9288-552: The Democratic Kampuchea regime from April 1975 to January 1979; and the period following the Third Party Congress of the KPRP in January 1979, when Hanoi effectively assumed control over Cambodia's government and communist party. In 1930, Ho Chi Minh founded the Communist Party of Vietnam by unifying three smaller communist movements that had emerged in northern, central and southern Vietnam during
9460-619: The Dictatorship of the Proletariat" ( 无产阶级专政下继续革命理论 ). High-ranking CCP officials such as Zhang Chunqiao later visited Cambodia to offer help. Democratic Kampuchea was overthrown by the Vietnamese army in January 1979, and the Khmer Rouge fled to Thailand . However, to counter the power of the Soviet Union and Vietnam, a group of countries including China, the United States, Thailand as well as some Western countries supported
9632-453: The ECCC and the victims or their representatives. Through the VSS, victims had the ability to seek support and assistance by participating in the ECCC's proceedings as Complainants or Civil Parties. The VSS was responsible for informing victims of their rights in the proceedings, and connecting them with legal representatives if they desire it. As such, victims were formally recognized as parties of
9804-600: The ECCC and was responsible for supporting and facilitating the judicial process through the effective, efficient and coordinated provision of services. The office was also responsible for managing the ECCC's relationships with UNAKRT donors. Directors of the Office of Administration The Law on the Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed During
9976-464: The French was a genuine national leader whose neutralism and deep distrust of the United States made him a valuable asset in Hanoi's struggle to "liberate" South Vietnam. Advocates of this line hoped that the prince could be persuaded to distance himself from the right-wing and to adopt leftist policies. The other line, supported for the most part by rural cadres who were familiar with the harsh realities of
10148-405: The Great National Union of Kampuchea as a united front in September 1979 to fight the PRK and the Vietnamese. Khieu Samphan led the front. In December 1979, the armed forces under the command of the party, what remained of the erstwhile People's National Liberation Armed Forces of Kampuchea , were renamed National Army of Democratic Kampuchea . In 1981, the party was dissolved and substituted by
10320-538: The Internal Rules of the ECCC. Victims had the opportunity to actively participate in judicial proceedings through Complaints and Civil Parties, and they could seek collective and moral reparation. The victims' role was crucial since the tribunal was an important mechanism for them to cope with their trauma. “The tribunal facilitates reconciliation and at the same time provides an opportunity for Cambodians to come to terms with their history,” ECCC spokesman Neth Pheaktra said in an interview with D+C. The list below details
10492-468: The KPRP, including Son Ngoc Minh, made a Long March into North Vietnam , where they remained in exile. In late 1954, those who stayed in Cambodia founded a legal political party, the Krom Pracheachon , which participated in the National Assembly elections of 1955 and 1958. In the September 1955 election, it won about 4% of the vote but did not secure a seat in the legislature. Members of the Pracheachon were subject to constant harassment and arrests because
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#173276538570010664-422: The KUFNS, capturing Phnom Penh on 7 January 1979. The Pen Sovan-led party was installed as the governing party of the new People's Republic of Kampuchea . The CPK, led by Pol Pot, withdrew its forces westwards to an area near the Thai border. With unofficial protection from elements of the Thai Army , it began guerrilla warfare against the PRK government. The party founded the Patriotic and Democratic Front of
10836-469: The Khmer Rouge following their overthrow and the United Nations General Assembly voted to continue recognising Pol Pot's Democratic Kampuchea. Communism in South East Asia was deeply divided, as China supported the Khmer Rouge, while the Soviet Union and Vietnam opposed it. There are three interpretations of the Khmer Rouge: totalitarianism , revisionism, and postrevisionism. Historian Ben Kiernan describes their rule as totalitarian but places it within
11008-417: The Khmer Rouge but disputed that it was a primary cause of the Khmer Rouge victory. William Shawcross writes that the United States bombing and ground incursion plunged Cambodia into the chaos that Sihanouk had worked for years to avoid. By 1973, Vietnamese support of the Khmer Rouge had largely disappeared. On the other hand, the CCP largely "armed and trained" the Khmer Rouge, including Pol Pot, both during
11180-427: The Khmer Rouge by visiting them in the field, their ranks swelled from 6,000 to 50,000 fighters. Many of the new recruits for the Khmer Rouge were apolitical peasants who fought in support of the king, not for communism, of which they had little understanding. Sihanouk's popular support in rural Cambodia allowed the Khmer Rouge to extend its power and influence to the point that by 1973 it exercised de facto control over
11352-470: The Khmer Rouge carried out a radical program that included isolating the country from foreign influence, closing schools, hospitals, and factories, abolishing banking , finance and currency , outlawing all religions , confiscating all private property and relocating people from urban areas to collective farms where forced labor was widespread. This policy aimed to reform professional and urban Cambodians, or "New People", through agricultural labor under
11524-408: The Khmer Rouge had largely disappeared. China armed and trained the Khmer Rouge both during the civil war and the years afterward. When the United States Congress suspended military aid to the Lon Nol government in 1973, the Khmer Rouge made sweeping gains in the country, completely overwhelming the Khmer National Armed Forces . On 17 April 1975, the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh and overthrew
11696-474: The Khmer Rouge launched a national insurgency across Cambodia. Though North Vietnam had not been informed of the decision, its forces provided shelter and weapons to the Khmer Rouge after the insurgency started. The guerrilla forces of the party were baptized as the Kampuchean Revolutionary Army . Vietnamese support for the insurgency made it impossible for the ineffective and poorly motivated Royal Cambodian Army to counter it effectively. The political appeal of
11868-577: The Khmer Rouge leadership on the peasantry as the base of the revolution was according to Michael Vickery a product of their status as " petty-bourgeois radicals who had been overcome by peasantist romanticism ". The opposition of the peasantry and the urban population in Khmer Rouge ideology was heightened by the structure of the Cambodian rural economy , where small farmers and peasants had historically suffered from indebtedness to urban money-lenders rather than suffering from indebtedness to landlords. The policy of evacuating major towns, as well as providing
12040-400: The Khmer Rouge was increased as a result of the situation created by the removal of Sihanouk as head of state in 1970 . Premier Lon Nol , with the support of the National Assembly, deposed Sihanouk. Sihanouk, in exile in Beijing , allied with the Kampuchean Communist Party and became the nominal head of a Khmer Rouge-dominated government-in-exile (known by its French acronym GRUNK ) backed by
12212-411: The Khmer Rouge was not able to win over, but were mainly motivated to tear down the old one and violence became an end in itself. The history of the communist movement in Cambodia can be divided into six phases, namely the emergence before World War II of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP), whose members were almost exclusively Vietnamese; the 10-year struggle for independence from the French, when
12384-465: The Khmer Rouge were defined as "any person or legal entity who has suffered from physical, psychological, or material harm as a direct consequence of the crimes committed in Cambodia by the Democratic Kampuchea regime between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979 that are under the jurisdiction of the ECCC". The rights provided to the victims in regards to the ECCC were stated in the Cambodian Law under
12556-603: The Khmer Rouge) held onto Cambodia's United Nations seat (with considerable international support) until 1993, when the monarchy was restored and the name of the Cambodian state was changed to the Kingdom of Cambodia. A year later, thousands of Khmer Rouge guerrillas surrendered themselves in a government amnesty. In 1996, a new political party called the Democratic National Union Movement
12728-634: The Khmer Rouge-dominated Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea to continue holding Cambodia's seat in the United Nations, which was held until 1993, after the Cold War had ended. In 2009, China defended its past ties with previous Cambodian governments, including that of Democratic Kampuchea or Khmer Rouge, which at the time had a legal seat at the United Nations and foreign relations with more than 70 countries. The governing structure of Democratic Kampuchea
12900-481: The Paris student group came from landowners' or civil servants' families. Three of the Paris group forged a bond that survived years of revolutionary struggle and intraparty strife. Pol Pot and Ieng Sary married Khieu Ponnary and Khieu Thirith (also known as Ieng Thirith ), purportedly relatives of Khieu Samphan. These two well-educated women also played a central role in the regime of Democratic Kampuchea. At some time between 1949 and 1951, Pol Pot and Ieng Sary joined
13072-755: The Period of Democratic Kampuchea established the crimes over which the Court has jurisdiction. It had jurisdiction over certain crimes that violate the 1956 Penal Code of Cambodia, crimes under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide , general crimes against humanity , crimes under the Geneva Conventions ( war crimes ), crimes under the Hague Convention for
13244-709: The Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict , and crimes under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations . If found guilty, criminals could be sentenced to prison or have their property confiscated. The Court, as with all other tribunals established by the United Nations, didn't have the power to impose the death penalty. Five people had been indicted by the Court for genocide, crimes against humanity and/or war crimes. Three had been convicted and all sentenced to life imprisonment. Victims of
13416-444: The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency , at least some cadres appear to have regarded it as preferable to the "feudal" class-based Buddhism. Nevertheless, it remained deeply suspect to the regime thanks to its close links to French colonialism ; Phnom Penh cathedral was razed along with other places of worship. In analysing the Khmer Rouge regime, scholars place it within historical context. The Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975 through
13588-545: The United Nations Secretary-General), who served as co-prosecutors. The role of the OCP was to prosecute the senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge and others most responsible for the crimes committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea. The OCP was responsible for the prosecution of cases throughout the investigative, pre-trial, trial and appellate stages. The OCP processed victim complaints; conducted
13760-441: The United States intervention saved the Lon Nol regime from collapse in 1970 and 1973. Craig Etcheson acknowledged that U.S. intervention increased recruitment for the Khmer Rouge but disputed that it was a primary cause of the Khmer Rouge victory. William Shawcross wrote that the United States bombing and ground incursion plunged Cambodia into the chaos that Sihanouk had worked for years to avoid. By 1973, Vietnamese support of
13932-533: The VSS since its official recognition as an organ of the ECCC. The financial assistance went primarily towards legal representation for the victims, effective legal participation, and information dissemination. Germany donated in total 1.9 million euro to the VSS. Office of Administration The Office of Administration oversaw the Budget and Finance, Information and Communication Technology, Security and Safety, General Services, Public Affairs, and Personnel units of
14104-452: The Viet Minh's failure to negotiate a political role for the KPRP at the 1954 Geneva Conference represented a betrayal of the Cambodian movement, which still controlled large areas of the countryside, and which commanded at least 5,000 armed men. Following the conference, about 1,000 members of the KPRP, including Son Ngoc Minh, made a Long March into North Vietnam , where they remained in exile. In late 1954, those who stayed in Cambodia founded
14276-673: The Vietnamese border. Along with Heng Samrin , Pen Sovan was one of the foremost founding members of the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation (KUFNS or FUNSK) after becoming disillusioned with the Khmer Rouge. Effectively, the CPK was then divided into two, with the Pen Sovan-led group constituting a separate party, the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (now the Cambodian People's Party ). The Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia along with
14448-497: The Vietnamese), they became convinced that only a tightly disciplined party organization and a readiness for armed struggle could achieve revolution. They transformed the Khmer Students Association (KSA), to which most of the 200 or so Khmer students in Paris belonged, into an organization for nationalist and leftist ideas. Inside the KSA and its successor organizations, there was a secret organization known as
14620-487: The WPK's "liberated areas". Despite friendly relations between Sihanouk and the Chinese, the latter kept Pol Pot's visit a secret from Sihanouk. In September 1966, the WPK changed its name to the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK). The change in the name of the party was a closely guarded secret. Lower ranking members of the party and even the Vietnamese were not told of it and neither was the membership until many years later. The party leadership endorsed armed struggle against
14792-444: The WPK's second congress in February 1963, Pol Pot was chosen to succeed Tou Samouth as the party's general secretary. Tou's allies Nuon Chea and Keo Meas were removed from the Central Committee and replaced by Son Sen and Vorn Vet . From then on, Pol Pot and loyal allies from his Paris student days controlled the party center, edging out older veterans whom they considered excessively pro-Vietnamese. In July 1963, Pol Pot and most of
14964-662: The agreement between Cambodia and the UN, the tribunal was composed of both local and international judges. Due to Cambodia's predominantly French legal heritage, investigations were performed by the Investigating Judges, who would conduct investigations and submit a closing order stating whether or not the case would proceed to trial. Both the Pre-Trial Chamber and the Trial Chamber were composed of three Cambodian and two international judges, while
15136-483: The appeal stage, it does not equate to post mortem finding of not guilty. Ieng Sary allegedly joined the Khmer Rouge in 1963. Before he studied in France where he joined the French Communist Party and upon his return to Cambodia, he joined CPK. When the Khmer Rouge took control in 1975, Ieng became the Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs. When the regime fell in 1979, Ieng fled to Thailand and
15308-505: The applicability of genocide is rejected and the violence was an unintentional consequence that was beyond the Khmer Rouge's control. For Vickery, communist ideology does not explain the violence any more than those closer to the peasants', such as agrarianism, populism , and nationalism . Vickery wrote of communisms, as different communist factions were opposed to each other and fought against each other, resulting in further escalation of violence. A synthesis of both interpretations rejects
15480-515: The bombing "had the effect the Americans wanted – it broke the Communist encirclement of Phnom Penh", but it also accelerated the collapse of rural society and increased social polarization. Peter Rodman and Michael Lind claim that the United States intervention saved the Lon Nol regime from collapse in 1970 and 1973. Craig Etcheson acknowledged that U.S. intervention increased recruitment for
15652-479: The bombing's devastation and massacre of civilians as recruitment propaganda and as an excuse for its brutal, radical policies and its purge of moderate communists and Sihanoukists." Pol Pot biographer David P. Chandler writes that the bombing "had the effect the Americans wanted – it broke the Communist encirclement of Phnom Penh", but it also accelerated the collapse of rural society and increased social polarization. Peter Rodman and Michael Lind claimed that
15824-475: The central committee left Phnom Penh to establish an insurgent base in Ratanakiri Province in the northeast. Pol Pot had shortly before been put on a list of thirty-four leftists whom Sihanouk summoned to join the government and sign statements saying Sihanouk was the only possible leader for the country. Pol Pot and Chou Chet were the only people who escaped. All the others agreed to cooperate with
15996-428: The city and would return in "two or three days". Some witnesses say they were told that the evacuation was because of the "threat of American bombing" and that they did not have to lock their houses since the Khmer Rouge would "take care of everything" until they returned. These were not the first evacuations of civilian populations by the Khmer Rouge. Similar evacuations of populations without possessions had occurred on
16168-468: The civil war was brutal, its estimated death toll has been revised downwards over time. The relationship between the massive carpet bombing of Cambodia by the United States and the growth of the Khmer Rouge, in terms of recruitment and popular support, has been a matter of interest to historians. Some scholars, including Michael Ignatieff , Adam Jones and Greg Grandin , have cited the United States intervention and bombing campaign (spanning 1965–1973) as
16340-451: The context of "xenophobic European nationalism ", from which came their agrarianism and the establishment of a Great Cambodia, rather than communism or Marxism . Pol Pot's biographers David P. Chandler and Philip Short place more emphasis on their ideological heritage of communism; it was not easy to apply Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin 's ideas to Cambodia, and communism was chosen as a way to get rid of French colonialism and transform
16512-521: The conventional view that urbanization and industrialization are necessary precursors of development. The major argument in Khieu Samphan's 1959 thesis, Cambodia's Economy and Industrial Development , was that the country had to become self-reliant and end its economic dependency on the developed world . In its general contours, Samphan's work reflected the influence of a branch of the dependency theory school which blamed lack of development in
16684-557: The convictions, upheld this sentence. On 16 November 2018, in the second case opened against him before the ECCC (Case 002/02), the Trial Chamber found him guilty of genocide against the Vietnamese people and the Cham people . Nuon Chea died on 4 August 2019 while appealing his conviction for genocide against the Vietnamese people and the Cham people in Case 002/2. The Supreme Court Chamber terminated these remaining proceedings against him on 13 August 2019 but his defense lawyers filed
16856-500: The country in April 1975 and established the state known as Democratic Kampuchea . The party lost power in 1979 with the establishment of the People's Republic of Kampuchea following the intervention of Vietnamese military forces . The party was officially dissolved in 1981, with the Party of Democratic Kampuchea claiming its legacy. The party was founded in 1951, when the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP)
17028-598: The country's major cities. In 1976, they renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea. The Khmer Rouge regime was highly autocratic , totalitarian , and repressive . Many deaths resulted from the regime's social engineering policies and the "Moha Lout Plaoh", an imitation of China's Great Leap Forward which had caused the Great Chinese Famine . The Khmer Rouge's attempts at agricultural reform through collectivization similarly led to widespread famine, while its insistence on absolute self-sufficiency, including
17200-504: The countryside, advocated an immediate struggle to overthrow the " feudalist " Sihanouk. During the 1950s, Khmer students in Paris organized their own communist movement which had little, if any, connection to the hard-pressed party in their homeland. From their ranks came the men and women who returned home and took command of the party apparatus during the 1960s, led an effective insurgency against Lon Nol from 1968 until 1975 and established
17372-443: The counts against each individual indicted in the Court and his or her current status. The column titled CCL lists the number of counts (if any) of crimes under Cambodian law with which an individual has been charged. G the number of counts of the crime of genocide , H the number of counts of crimes against humanity , W the number of counts of war crimes , DCP the number of counts of destruction of cultural property, and CAD
17544-534: The crimes of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. Allegations against Ieng Sary include crimes against humanity, genocide and breaches of the Geneva Convention. Ieng Sary died in March 2013 while the case against him was still ongoing and no verdict had yet been handed over. Ieng Thirith , wife of Ieng Sary and sister-in-law of Pol Pot, was a senior member of the Khmer Rouge. She studied in France and
17716-569: The deterioration in relations between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Democratic Kampuchea , the Vietnamese government no longer recognize the legitimacy of the Khmer Rouge, and as a result, they call the Khmer Rouge the Pol Pot-Ieng Sary clique ( Vietnamese : Tập đoàn Pol Pot-Ieng Sary ) or the Pol Pot-Ieng Sary reactionary clique ( Vietnamese : Tập đoàn phản động Pol Pot-Ieng Sary ). The movement's ideology
17888-625: The elite Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh before beginning courses in commerce and politics at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (more widely known as Sciences Po) in France. Khieu Samphan , considered "one of the most brilliant intellects of his generation" , was born in 1931 and specialized in economics and politics during his time in Paris. In talent, he was rivaled by Hou Yuon (born in 1930), who studied economics and law. Son Sen (born in 1930) studied education and literature, while Hu Nim (born in 1932) studied law. Most members of
18060-529: The establishment of S-21 and the Takmao prison, the implementation of CPK policy at S-21, armed conflict, the functioning of S-21, the establishment and functioning of S-24; and issues relating to character of Iew himself. His lieutenant Mam Nay , the feared leader of the interrogation unit of the Santebal, gave testimony on 14 July 2009 and, although implicated in hands-on torture and execution along with Duch, he
18232-513: The existence of the CPK in a five-hour-long speech. He revealed the true character of the supreme authority in Cambodia, an obscure ruling body that had been kept in seclusion. The CPK had been extremely secretive throughout its existence. Before 1975, secrecy was needed for the party's survival. Pol Pot and his closest associates relied on continuing the extreme secrecy to consolidate their position against those they perceived as internal enemies during their first two years of power. The revelation of
18404-461: The experience did not prevent Khieu from advocating cooperation with Sihanouk to promote a united front against United States activities in South Vietnam. As mentioned, Khieu Samphan, Hou Yuon, and Hu Nim were forced to "work through the system" by joining the Sangkum and accepting posts in the prince's government. From 28 to 30 September 1960, twenty-one leaders of the KPRP held a secret congress in
18576-601: The facts alleged by the Co-Prosecutors in their Introductory and Supplementary Submissions to determine whether the person(s) under investigation were to be indicted and sent to trial, or whether the case against them should be dismissed. Co-Investigating Judges Defence Support Section The Defence Support Section (DSS) was responsible for providing indigent defendants with a list of lawyers who could defend them, for providing legal support and administrative support to lawyers assigned to represent individual defendants, and for promoting fair trial rights. The DSS also acted as
18748-561: The government and were afterward under 24-hour watch by the police. In the mid-1960s, the United States Department of State estimated the party membership to be approximately 100. The region Pol Pot and the others moved to was inhabited by tribal minorities, the Khmer Loeu , whose rough treatment (including resettlement and forced assimilation ) at the hands of the central government made them willing recruits for
18920-412: The government, then led by Sihanouk. In 1968, the Khmer Rouge was officially formed, and its forces launched a national insurgency across Cambodia. Though North Vietnam had not been informed of the decision, its forces provided shelter and weapons to the Khmer Rouge after the insurgency started. Vietnamese support for the insurgency made it impossible for the Cambodian military to effectively counter it. For
19092-599: The group, Khieu Samphan and Hou Yuon, earned doctorates from the University of Paris while Hu Nim obtained his degree from the University of Phnom Penh in 1965. Most came from landowner or civil servant families. Pol Pot and Hou Yuon may have been related to the royal family as an older sister of Pol Pot had been a concubine at the court of King Monivong . Pol Pot and Ieng Sary married Khieu Ponnary and Khieu Thirith, also known as Ieng Thirith , purportedly relatives of Khieu Samphan. These two well-educated women also played
19264-612: The idea of history as inevitable progression toward communism. In 1981, following the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, in an attempt to get foreign support, the Khmer Rouge officially renounced communism. One of the regime's main characteristics was its Khmer nationalism, which combined an idealisation of the Angkor Empire (802–1431) and the Late Middle Period of Cambodia (1431–1863) with an existential fear for
19436-550: The late 1920s. The party was renamed the Indochinese Communist Party, ostensibly so it could include revolutionaries from Cambodia and Laos. Almost without exception, all of the earliest party members were Vietnamese. By the end of World War II, a handful of Cambodians had joined its ranks, but their influence on the Indochinese communist movement as well as their influence on developments within Cambodia
19608-515: The leadership of the communist movement in the 1960s, was born in 1928 (some sources say in 1925) in Kampong Thum Province , northeast of Phnom Penh. He attended a technical high school in the capital and then went to Paris in 1949 to study radio electronics (other sources say he attended a school for printers and typesetters and also studied civil engineering). Ieng Sary was a Chinese-Khmer born in 1930 in South Vietnam. He attended
19780-528: The left and the underground secret communist movement. His comrades Ieng Sary and Hou Yuon became teachers at a new private high school, the Lycée Kambuboth, which Hou Yuon helped to establish. Khieu Samphan returned from Paris in 1959, taught as a member of the law faculty of the University of Phnom Penh, and started a left-wing French-language publication, L'Observateur . The paper soon acquired
19952-406: The long-awaited genocide tribunal for surviving Khmer Rouge leaders. The judges were sworn in early July 2006. In June 2009, the international Co-Prosecutor Robert Petit resigned from his assignment due to "personal and familial reasons". In November of the same year, Andrew T. Cayley was appointed as new international Co-Prosecutor, and his Cambodian co-prosecutor is Ms. Chea Leang. Under
20124-457: The majority of Cambodian territory, although only a minority of its population. By 1975, with the Lon Nol government running out of ammunition, it was clear that it was only a matter of time before the government would collapse. On 17 April 1975, there was the Fall of Phnom Penh , as the Khmer Rouge captured the capital. During the civil war, unparalleled atrocities were executed on both sides. While
20296-589: The majority of his involvement in the Khmer Rouge: "I was president of the National Assembly and had nothing to do with the operation of the government. Sometimes I didn't know what they were doing because I was in the assembly". On 7 August 2014, in Case 002/1, the Trial Chamber found Nuon Chea guilty of numerous crimes against humanity and sentenced him to life imprisonment. On 23 November 2016, The Supreme Court Chamber, although reversing some of
20468-416: The meeting. The question of cooperation with, or resistance to, Sihanouk was thoroughly discussed. A new party structure was adopted, and for the first time, a permanent Central Committee was appointed with Tou Samouth (who advocated a policy of cooperation) as the party's general secretary. His ally Nuon Chea (Long Reth) became deputy general secretary. At the same time, Pol Pot and Ieng Sary were named to
20640-563: The members of the Pol Pot clique, particularly So Phim and Nhim Ros, both of whom were vice presidents of the state presidium and members of the Politburo and Central Committee respectively. A possible military coup attempt was made in May 1976, and its leader was a senior Eastern Zone cadre named Chan Chakrey, who had been appointed deputy secretary of the army's General Staff. A reorganisation that occurred in September 1976, during which Pol Pot
20812-471: The mid-1970s, claim that the party congress approved the name change in 1971. The change in the party's name was a closely guarded secret. Lower-ranking members of the party and even the Vietnamese were not told of it, and neither was the membership until many years later. The party leadership endorsed an armed struggle against the government led by Sihanouk. In 1967, the CPK made several small-scale attempts at insurgency but failed with little success. In 1968,
20984-539: The mid-1990s. Its leaders were mostly from middle-class families and had been educated at French universities. The second significant faction was made up of men who had been active in the pre-1960 party and had stronger links to Vietnam as a result; government documents show that there were several major shifts in power between factions during the period in which the regime was in control. In 1975–1976, there were several powerful regional Khmer Rouge leaders who maintained their own armies and had different party backgrounds than
21156-691: The new conflict in any form other than air power, the Nixon administration supported the newly proclaimed Khmer Republic. On 29 March 1970, the North Vietnamese launched an offensive against the Cambodian army. Documents uncovered from the Soviet Union archives revealed that the invasion was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge following negotiations with Nuon Chea. A force of North Vietnamese quickly overran large parts of eastern Cambodia reaching to within 15 miles (24 km) of Phnom Penh before being pushed back. By June, three months after
21328-500: The next two years, the insurgency grew as Sihanouk did very little to stop it. As the insurgency grew stronger, the party finally openly declared itself to be the Communist Party of Kampuchea. The political appeal of the Khmer Rouge was increased as a result of the situation created by the removal of Sihanouk as head of state in 1970 . Premier Lon Nol deposed Sihanouk with the support of the National Assembly . Sihanouk, who
21500-418: The northeast. Pol Pot had shortly before been put on a list of 34 leftists who were summoned by Sihanouk to join the government and sign statements saying Sihanouk was the only possible leader for the country. Pol Pot and Chou Chet were the only people on the list who escaped. All the others agreed to cooperate with the government and were afterward under 24-hour watch by the police. The region where Pol Pot and
21672-612: The number of crimes against diplomats. Note that these are the counts with which an individual was indicted, not convicted. Dismissal Order by the National Co-Investigating Judge Dismissal Order by the National Co-Investigating Judge Dismissal Order by the National Co-Investigating Judge Kang Kek Iew , or "Comrade Duch", was one of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge. He headed
21844-457: The others moved to was inhabited by tribal minorities, the Khmer Loeu , whose rough treatment (including resettlement and forced assimilation ) at the hands of the central government made them willing recruits for a guerrilla struggle. In 1965, Pol Pot made a visit of several months to North Vietnam and China. From the 1950s on, Pol Pot had made frequent visits to the People's Republic of China, receiving political and military training—especially on
22016-451: The party and the state. During the 1950s, Khmer students in Paris organized a communist movement, which had little connection to the hard-pressed party in their homeland. The men and women who returned home and took command of the party apparatus during the 1960s came from their ranks. They led an effective insurgency against Sihanouk and Lon Nol from 1968 until 1975 and established the regime of Democratic Kampuchea. Pol Pot , who rose to
22188-422: The party remained outside Prince Norodom Sihanouk 's Sangkum . Government attacks prevented it from participating in the 1962 election and drove it underground. It is speculated that the decision of Pracheachon to file candidates for the election had not been approved by the now renamed "Workers' Party of Kampuchea" (WPK). Sihanouk habitually labeled local leftists the Khmer Rouge, a term that later came to signify
22360-525: The party's own ranks, as senior CPK figures of non-Khmer ethnicity were removed from the leadership despite extensive revolutionary experience and were often killed. A Vietnamese official called the Khmer Rouge leaders "Hitlerite-fascists", while the General Secretary of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party , Pen Sovan , referred to the Khmer Rouge as a "draconian, dictatorial and fascist regime". The Khmer Rouge's economic policy, which
22532-400: The period between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979. This includes crimes against humanity , war crimes and genocide . The chief purpose of the tribunal as identified by the Extraordinary Chambers was to provide justice to the Cambodian people who were victims of the Khmer Rouge regime's policies between April 1975 and January 1979. However, rehabilitative victim support and media outreach for
22704-721: The preliminary investigations (first investigatory stage); and issues Introductory Submissions to the Office of Co-Investigating Judges where there was sufficient evidence of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ECCC having been committed. Introductory Submissions set out the facts, applicable law, alleged offences, and person(s) to be investigated. The OCP also participated in the judicial investigations (second investigatory stage), filing Supplementary Submissions as necessary when new facts came to light and original allegations required additions or amendments. Co-Prosecutors Office of Co-Investigating Judges The Office of Co-Investigating Judges (OCIJ) undertook pre-trial investigations of
22876-445: The proceedings and eligible for either collective or individual reparations for damages caused during the regime. The VSS also ensured the safety and protection of its participants. This support and protection could be either physical protection for providing key testimony, or emotion support in the form of psychiatric help and assistance. In early 2012, Germany donated 1.2 million euros to the VSS. This marks Germany's fourth donation to
23048-442: The propagation of the policy of autarky . He was reportedly impressed with the self-sufficient manner in which the mountain tribes of Cambodia lived, which the party believed was a form of primitive communism . Khmer Rouge theory developed the concept that the nation should take "agriculture as the basic factor and use the fruits of agriculture to build industry". In 1975, Khmer Rouge representatives to China said that Pol Pot's belief
23220-503: The purpose of national education were also outlined as primary goals of the commission. Upon the denial of Khieu Samphan's appeal, and with no other living senior members of the Khmer Rouge to indict, the tribunal concluded in December 2022, with three convictions in all. In 1997, Cambodia's two Co-Prime Ministers wrote a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations requesting assistance to set up trial proceedings against
23392-406: The regime of Democratic Kampuchea. Pol Pot, who rose to the leadership of the communist movement in the 1960s, attended a technical high school in the capital and then went to Paris in 1949 to study radio electronics (other sources say he attended a school for fax machines and also studied civil engineering). Described by one source as a "determined, rather plodding organizer", Pol Pot failed to obtain
23564-428: The removal of Sihanouk, they had swept government forces from the entire northeastern third of the country. After defeating those forces, the North Vietnamese turned the newly won territories over to the local insurgents. The Khmer Rouge also established "liberated" areas in the south and the southwestern parts of the country, where they operated independently of the North Vietnamese. After Sihanouk showed his support for
23736-584: The rule of the Khmer Rouge, Nuon Chea , party's chief ideologist, acted as the right-hand man of leader, Pol Pot . Allegations against Nuon Chea included crimes against humanity (murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation imprisonment, torture, persecution on political, racial, and religious grounds), genocide, and serious breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (willful killing, torture or inhumane treatment, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, willfully depriving
23908-478: The rural areas of Kampong Cham Province (Kompong Cham). After the end of the war, he moved to Phnom Penh under Tou Samouth's "urban committee", where he became an important point of contact between the above-ground parties of the left and the underground secret communist movement. His allies, Ieng Sary and Hou Yuon, became teachers at a new private high school, the Lycée Kambuboth, which Hou Yuon helped to establish. Khieu Samphan returned from Paris in 1959, taught as
24080-469: The same time executing selected groups who had the potential to undermine the new state (including intellectuals ) and killing many others for even minor breaches of rules. Through the 1970s and especially after mid-1975, the party became increasingly paranoid, blaming failures caused by its agricultural policies on external enemies (usually the CIA and Vietnam) and domestic traitors. The resultant purges reached
24252-590: The senior leaders and the most responsible members of the Khmer Rouge for alleged violations of international law and serious crimes perpetrated during the Cambodian genocide . Although it was a national court, it was established as part of an agreement between the Royal Government of Cambodia and the United Nations , and its members included both local and foreign judges. It was considered
24424-570: The senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge . After lengthy negotiations, an agreement between the Royal Government of Cambodia and the United Nations was reached and signed on 6 June 2003. The agreement was endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly . In May 2006, Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana announced that Cambodia's highest judicial body approved 30 Cambodian and United Nations judges to preside over
24596-413: The status of lay peasantry as the agricultural work they were allocated to involved regular breaches of monastic rules. While there is evidence of widespread vandalism of Buddhist monasteries, many more than were initially thought survived the Khmer Rouge years in fair condition, as did most Khmer historical monuments, and it is possible that stories of their near-total destruction were propaganda issued by
24768-418: The successor People's Republic of Kampuchea. Nevertheless, it has been estimated that nearly 25,000 Buddhist monks were killed by the regime. The repression of Islam (practised by the country's Cham minority) was extensive. Islamic religious leaders were executed, although some Cham Muslims appear to have been told they could continue devotions in private as long as it did not interfere with work quotas. Mat Ly,
24940-467: The supervision of the untainted rural "Old People". The goal was to develop an economy based on the export of rice to develop industry later. The party adopted the slogan: "If we have rice, we can have everything". These actions and policies resulted in massive deaths through executions, work exhaustion, illness, and starvation. In Phnom Penh and other cities, the Khmer Rouge told residents that they would be moved only about "two or three kilometers" outside
25112-472: The supply of medicine, led to the death of many thousands from treatable diseases such as malaria . The Khmer Rouge regime murdered hundreds of thousands of their perceived political opponents, and its racist emphasis on national purity resulted in the genocide of Cambodian minorities. Summary executions and torture were carried out by its cadres against perceived subversive elements, or during genocidal purges of its own ranks between 1975 and 1978. Ultimately,
25284-485: The survival of the Cambodian state, which had historically been liquidated during periods of Vietnamese and Siamese intervention. The spillover of Vietnamese fighters from the Vietnamese–American War further aggravated anti-Vietnamese sentiments: the Khmer Republic under Lon Nol , overthrown by the Khmer Rouge, had promoted Mon-Khmer nationalism and was responsible for several anti-Vietnamese pogroms during
25456-454: The symbolism and language of Cambodian Buddhism so that many revolutionary slogans mimicked the formulae learned by young monks during their training. Some cadres who had previously been monks interpreted their change of vocation as a simple movement from a lower to a higher religion, mirroring attitudes around the growth of Cao Dai in the 1920s. Buddhist laity seem not to have been singled out for persecution, although traditional belief in
25628-488: The system" by joining the Sangkum and by accepting posts in the prince's government. In late September 1960, twenty-one leaders of the KPRP held a secret congress in a vacant room of the Phnom Penh railroad station. This pivotal event remains shrouded in mystery because its outcome has become an object of contention and considerable historical rewriting between pro-Vietnamese and anti-Vietnamese Khmer communist factions. The question of cooperation with, or resistance to, Sihanouk
25800-468: The theory of dictatorship of the proletariat —from the personnel of the CCP. From November 1965 to February 1966, Pol Pot received training from high-ranking CCP officials such as Chen Boda and Zhang Chunqiao , on topics such as the communist revolution in China , class conflicts , and Communist International . Pol Pot was particularly impressed by the lecture on political purge by Kang Sheng . This experience had enhanced his prestige when he returned to
25972-438: The totalitarian theory in favor of a bottom-up perspective, which emphasises that the peasants did not have revolutionary ambitions. According to this perspective, the Khmer Rouge was able to effectively manipulate the peasants to mobilise them towards collective goals that they did not understand, or where the revolutionaries had no desire to create a new society, which would require a certain level of support and understanding that
26144-458: The urban proletariat as the bulwark of revolution, its emphasis on Great Leap Forward -type initiatives, its desire to abolish personal interest in human behaviour, its promotion of communal living and eating, and its focus on perceived common sense over technical knowledge—appear to have been heavily influenced by Maoist ideology; however, the Khmer Rouge displayed these characteristics in a more extreme form. Additionally, non-Khmers, who comprised
26316-498: The way of their own military resources, accomplished their seizure of power by forming an alliance with Southwestern Zone leader Ta Mok and Pok, head of the North Zone's troops. Both men were of a purely peasant background and were therefore natural allies of the strongly peasant ideology of the Pol Pot faction. Communist Party of Kampuchea The party operated underground during most of its existence, and it took control of
26488-456: The year of the party's foundation. According to Democratic Kampuchea's version of party history, the Viet Minh 's failure to negotiate a political role for the KPRP at the 1954 Geneva Conference represented a betrayal of the Cambodian movement, which still controlled large areas of the countryside and which commanded at least 5,000 armed men. Following the conference, about 1,000 members of
26660-466: Was Son Ngoc Minh , and a third of its leadership consisted of members of the ICP. According to the historian David P. Chandler, the leftist Issarak groups aided by the Viet Minh occupied a sixth of Cambodia's territory by 1952, and on the eve of the Geneva Conference in 1954, they controlled as much as one half of the country. In 1951, the ICP was reorganized into three national units, namely
26832-565: Was chosen to succeed Tou Samouth as the party's general secretary. Samouth's allies Nuon Chea and Keo Meas were removed from the Central Committee and replaced by Son Sen and Vorn Vet . From then on, Pol Pot and loyal comrades from his Paris student days controlled the party centre, edging out older veterans whom they considered excessively pro-Vietnamese. In July 1963, Pol Pot and most of the central committee left Phnom Penh to establish an insurgent base in Ratanakiri Province in
27004-582: Was coined by King Norodom Sihanouk and it was later adopted by English speakers (in the form of the corrupted version Khmer Rouge). It was used to refer to a succession of communist parties in Cambodia which evolved into the Communist Party of Kampuchea and later the Party of Democratic Kampuchea . Its military was known successively as the Kampuchean Revolutionary Army and the National Army of Democratic Kampuchea . Since
27176-464: Was convicted of genocide and sentenced to death by the People's Revolutionary Tribunal of Phnom Penh. Ieng remained a member of the Khmer Rouge government in exile until 1996 when he was granted a royal pardon for his conviction and royal amnesty for this outlawing of the Khmer Rouge. Ieng Sary was arrested on 12 November 2007. He is alleged responsible (through his acts or omissions) for planning, instigating, ordering, aiding/abetting, or overseeing of
27348-559: Was demoted in the state presidium, was later presented as an attempted pro-Vietnamese coup by the Party Center. Over the next two years, So Phim, Nhim Ros, Vorn Vet and many other figures who had been associated with the pre-1960 party were arrested and executed. Phim's execution was followed by that of the majority of the cadres and much of the population of the Eastern Zone that he had controlled. The Party Centre, lacking much in
27520-427: Was divided into separate Cambodian, Lao and Vietnamese communist parties. The decision to form a separate Cambodian communist party was taken at the ICP congress in February of the same year. Different sources claim different dates for the party's founding and first congress. Son Ngoc Minh was appointed as acting chairman of the party. The party congress did not elect a full Central Committee , but instead appointed
27692-488: Was formed by Ieng Sary, who was granted amnesty for his role as the deputy leader of the Khmer Rouge. The organisation was largely dissolved by the mid-1990s and finally surrendered completely in 1999. In 2014, two Khmer Rouge leaders, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, were jailed for life by a United Nations-backed court which found them guilty of crimes against humanity for their roles in the Khmer Rouge's genocidal campaign. The term Khmers rouges , French for red Khmers ,
27864-528: Was in exile in Beijing, made an alliance with the Khmer Rouge on the advice of CCP, and became the nominal head of a Khmer Rouge–dominated government-in-exile (known by its French acronym GRUNK ) backed by China. In 1970 alone, the Chinese reportedly gave 400 tons of military aid to the United Front. Although thoroughly aware of the weakness of Lon Nol's forces and loath to commit American military force to
28036-452: Was largely based on the plans of Khieu Samphan , focused on the achievement of national self-reliance through an initial phase of agricultural collectivism . This would then be used as a route to achieve rapid social transformation and industrial and technological development without assistance from foreign powers, a process which the party characterised as a "Super Great Leap Forward". The party's General Secretary Pol Pot strongly influenced
28208-557: Was negligible. Viet Minh units occasionally made forays into Cambodian bases during their war against the French and in conjunction with the leftist government that ruled Thailand until 1947. The Viet Minh encouraged the formation of armed, left-wing Khmer Issarak bands. On 17 April 1950, the first nationwide congress of the Khmer Issarak groups convened, and the United Issarak Front was established. Its leader
28380-510: Was not charged. On 26 July 2010, the tribunal found Kang Kek Iew guilty of crimes against humanity, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. Initially, Iew was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment. However, this was reduced owing to his illegal detention by the Cambodian Military Court between 1999 and 2007 and time already spent in the custody of the ECCC. The sentence was extended to life in prison on appeal. During
28552-419: Was not tolerated, the relationship of the CPK to the majority Cambodian Theravada Buddhism was complex; several key figures in its history such as Tou Samouth and Ta Mok were former monks, along with many lower level cadres, who often proved some of the strictest disciplinarians. While there was extreme harassment of Buddhist institutions, there was a tendency for the CPK regime to internalise and reconfigure
28724-432: Was removed from power in 1979 when Vietnam invaded Cambodia and quickly destroyed most of its forces. The Khmer Rouge then fled to Thailand, whose government saw them as a buffer force against the Communist Party of Vietnam . The Khmer Rouge continued to fight against the Vietnamese and the government of the new People's Republic of Kampuchea until the end of the war in 1989. The Cambodian governments-in-exile (including
28896-432: Was shaped by a power struggle during 1976 in which the so-called Party Centre led by Pol Pot defeated other regional elements of its leadership. The Party Centre's ideology combined elements of Communism with a strongly xenophobic form of Khmer nationalism . Partly because of its secrecy and changes in how it presented itself, academic interpretations of its political position vary widely, ranging from interpreting it as
29068-597: Was slowly built up in the forests of eastern Cambodia during the late 1960s, supported by the People's Army of Vietnam , the Viet Cong , the Pathet Lao , and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Although it originally fought against Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge changed its position and supported Sihanouk following the CCP's advice after he was overthrown in a 1970 coup d'état by Lon Nol who established
29240-465: Was split between the state presidium headed by Khieu Samphan, the cabinet headed by Pol Pot (who was also Democratic Kampuchea's prime minister) and the party's own Politburo and Central Committee. All were complicated by a number of political factions which existed in 1975. The leadership of the Party Centre, the faction which was headed by Pol Pot, remained largely unchanged from the early 1960s to
29412-426: Was that the collectivisation of agriculture was capable of "[creating] a complete communist society without wasting time on the intermediate steps". Society was accordingly classified into peasant "base people" ( ប្រជាជនមូលដ្ឋាន prâchéachôn mulôdthan ), who would be the bulwark of the transformation; and urban "new people" ( ប្រជាជនថ្មី prâchéachôn thmei ), who were to be reeducated or liquidated. The focus of
29584-540: Was thoroughly discussed. Tou Samouth, who advocated a policy of cooperation, was elected general secretary of the KPRP that was renamed the Workers' Party of Kampuchea (WPK). His ally Nuon Chea , also known as Long Reth, became deputy general secretary, but Pol Pot and Ieng Sary were named to the Political Bureau to occupy the third and the fifth highest positions in the renamed party's hierarchy. The name change
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