Charged Persons

The following individuals have been charged with crimes within the jurisdiction of the ECCC and are being held under Orders of Provisional Detention. They have not been indicted. Much of the following information is derived from Stephen Heder and Brian D. Tittemore, "Seven Candidates for Prosecution" (2001).

Nuon Chea (a.k.a. “Brother Number Two”)
There is substantial evidence that Nuon Chea played a leading role in devising and implementing the Khmer Rouge’s execution policies.

When the full-fledged Cambodian Communist Party was established in 1960, Nuon became Deputy Secretary of its Central Committee and a member of its Standing Committee, the most senior bodies responsible for Party policy, and held those posts continuously thereafter. These positions made it possible for him to play a leading role in devising policies, along with Pol Pot and Son Sen. Khang Khek leu (a.k.a. “Comrade Duch,” see below).

Additionally, he has been identified as one of the key decision makers at a meeting in which it was decided to conduct a massive purge of the East Zone. The purge was carried out on May 25, 1978.

Ieng Sary
Ieng Sary held senior positions within the Khmer Rouge as the deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Democratic Kampuchea from 1975 to 1979, among others until his defection to the government in 1996.

There is significant evidence that Ieng repeatedly and publicly encouraged arrests and executions within his Foreign Ministry and throughout Democratic Kampuchea. There is also evidence that he facilitated or failed to prevent the mass arrests and transfers to S-21 of Foreign Ministry personnel.

Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk officially pardoned Ieng Sary in 1996.

Khieu Thirith (a.k.a. Sister Phea, Ieng Thirith)
Khieu Thirith, wife of Ieng Sary and sister-in-law of Pol Pot, was a senior member of the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime. Thirth graduated from the Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh and became the first Cambodian to receive a degree in English Literature. Later she was educated in Paris, majoring in Shakespeare studies at the Sorbonne. While studying In Paris, she met Ieng Sary, who she married 1951. Thirith took her husband's name and became Ieng Thirith.

In 1960 Thirith established an English-language high school in Phnom Penh. In April 1967, Thirith was spotted at Samlaut, at around the beginning of the outbreak of fighting. As early as 1971-1972, Ieng Sary and Thirith had established their political authority over the Khmers living in Hanoi. Thirith was in charge of the radio and in 1972, she ordered Pen Sovan, a CPK resident in Hanoi, to compile a list of those Khmer communists who had spent the Sihanouk years in Hanoi. On October 9, 1975, at a meeting of the CPK Standing Committee, Thirith was placed in charge of culture, social welfare, and jointly responsible with her husband, Ieng Sary, for foreign affairs. She was sent to the Northwest Zone by Pol Pot in 1976 to investigate health, diet, and housing of workers, which was reported to be inadequate.

Khieu Samphan
Khieu Samphan was the chairman of Democratic Kampuchea State Presidium (Cambodia) from 1976 until 1979. He served as the country's head of state and was one of the most powerful officials in the Khmer Rouge movement, though Pol Pot was the group's true political leader and held the most extensive power.

The evidence discovered in connection with Samphan points to his knowledge of Khmer Rouge atrocities and suggests that he personally contributed to those crimes by making public statements supporting the underlying policies and by monitoring the manner in which regional and other authorities implemented them. Also, several documents suggest that he was well aware of the existence and implementation of the Party’s execution policies.

Persons of Interest

There is significant speculation among experts that the following former senior Khmer Rouge leaders may be targets of investigation by the ECCC as individuals most responsible for the atrocity crimes of the Pol Pot regime. They have not been indicted. Much of the information set forth below is derived from Stephen Heder and Brian D. Tittemore, "Seven Candidates for Prosecution" (2001).

Sou Met and Meah Mut
Sou Met and Meah Mut are two surviving Khmer Rouge cadre who were Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) military division chairmen, a ranking within the CPK just below the senior level that positioned them to implement Party policies and influence the conduct of lower-level cadre. Sou Met was Secretary of Central Committee Division 502, which incorporated the DK air force, and Meah Mut was Secretary of Central Committee Division 164, which incorporated the DK navy.

Documents pertaining to Sou Met and Meah Mut provide compelling evidence of their direct involvement in the arrest and transfer to S-21 for execution of cadre from their Divisions. The evidence similarly suggests that both officials may be responsible for arrests and executions perpetrated by subordinates in their respective Divisions.

According to DC-Cam’s holdings of the minutes of meetings of Central Committee military units as well as various messages between Son Sen and those units, in 1976 and 1977 Sou Met regularly and Meah Mut occasionally attended General Staff meetings, where they obtained knowledge of arrests of civilians and CPK cadre as well as knowledge of various "smashings" and "sweepings," including of purge victims to whom the especially damning label of "super-traitors" was applied.