Previous   Next
Home » Images » 0044 Pictures From History » CPA0021506

Cambodia: Nuon Chea and Pol Pot with Khmer Rouge cadre, Phnom Penh, c. 1976

Cambodia: Nuon Chea and Pol Pot with Khmer Rouge cadre, Phnom Penh, c. 1976

The Khmer Rouge top leadership Pol Pot (Brother No. 1, turning away, centre) and Nuon Chea (Brother No. 2, left).

The Khmer Rouge, or Communist Party of Kampuchea, ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan. It is remembered primarily for its brutality and policy of social engineering which resulted in millions of deaths. Its attempts at agricultural reform led to widespread famine, while its insistence on absolute self-sufficiency, even in the supply of medicine, led to the deaths of thousands from treatable diseases (such as malaria).

Brutal and arbitrary executions and torture carried out by its cadres against perceived subversive elements, or during purges of its own ranks between 1976 and 1978, are considered to have constituted a genocide.

Quick links to other images in this gallery: