Pol Pot (88 page)

(b. 1952): Deputy Khmer Rouge regimental commander. Fled to Vietnam in 1977. Foreign Minister of the Vietnamese-installed Cambodian government 1979–86; Prime Minister 1985–93. Co-Prime Minister (with Prince Ranariddh) 1993–97; thereafter Prime Minister of the Royal Government.

(b. 1924), real name, Kim Trang, alias Van, Thang and Nenn: Co-founder and head of the Cercle Marxiste, member of the French Communist Party. Married Khieu Ponnary’s sister, Thirith, in 1953. Alternate member of the CPK Standing Committee in 1960; full member in 1963. Khmer Rouge Vice-Premier for Foreign Affairs 1975–79. Marginalised after 1981. Defected to Hun Sen in 1996. Now lives as a private citizen in Phnom Penh.

(b. 1943): Scion of an aristocratic family, most of whose members supported the Khmers Rouges. His elder brother,

was a close friend of Ieng Sary. Worked at the Khmer Rouge Information and Foreign Ministries before becoming Ambassador to Egypt in the 1980s. Now lives as a private citizen in Pailin.

(1933–2002), real name, Ke Vin: Ex-Issarak. Re-joined the communist movement in 1957, rising to become military chief and eventually CPK Secretary of the Northern Zone. Member of the CPK CC from 1976 and of its Standing Committee from November 1978. With Mok, one of Pol Pot’s two principal military supporters. Defected to Hun Sen in 1998, becoming a general in the Royal Army. Died of a liver ailment.

(b. 1926): Pol Pot’s mentor in Paris and the moving spirit behind the informal study circle which developed into the Cercle Marxiste. Led the Democratic Party campaign for the 1955 elections. A dyed-in-the-wool republican who became one of Sihanouk’s

Served as Lon Nol’s Ambassador to France in the early 1970s. Now lives in the Paris suburb of Montmorency.

(1926–76): Ex-Issarak. Head of the clandestine Phnom Penh Committee of the communist movement in 1954, afterwards leader of the

Pracheachon group. Member of the CPK CC in 1960, dropped at the Second Congress in 1963. From 1969 onwards, Khmer Rouge representative in Hanoi. Purged as pro-Vietnamese and killed at Tuol Sleng in 1976.

(1920–2003), alias Yim: Daughter of a judge. In the early 1950s, Democratic Party activist and liaison agent with the Khmers Viet Minh. Married Pol Pot, five years her junior, on July 14 1956, and followed him into the maquis in 1965. President of the Democratic Kampuchea Women’s Association. Alternate member of the CPK CC from 1971. Incapacitated by chronic schizophrenia.

(b. 1931), alias Hem, Nan: Head of the Cercle Marxiste in Paris after Ieng Sary’s departure. PhD in economics. Member of parliament and minister under Sihanouk from 1962. Fled to the maquis with Hou Yuon in 1967. Alternate member of the CPK CC from 1971; full member from 1976, the year in which he became Khmer Rouge Head of State. Pol Pot’s most faithful lieutenant. Defected to Hun Sen in December 1998. Now lives as a private citizen in Pailin.

(b. 1930), alias Phea: Younger sister of Khieu Ponnary. Married Ieng Sary in Paris in 1953. Followed him to the maquis in 1965. Khmer Rouge Minister of Social Affairs. Now lives as a private citizen in Phnom Penh.

(1927–78), alias Keu, Chheang: Schoolteacher. Joined the communist movement in Phnom Penh in 1958. Head of the Democratic Kampuchea Youth League before fleeing to the maquis in the North-West Zone where he became deputy to Ruos Nhim. Played a key role in fomenting the Samlaut uprising in 1967. CPK CC member from 1971, promoted to the Standing Committee in November 1978. Arrested immediately afterwards and killed at Tuol Sleng.

(1933–77), alias Khuon, Thuch: Schoolteacher, childhood friend of Hu Nim. Joined the communist movement in the summer of 1960. CPK CC member from 1971. Secretary of the Northern Zone from 1965 until 1975, when he was replaced by his deputy, Ke Pauk. Arrested in 1976 and killed at Tuol Sleng.

(1907–86), alias Anh Ba: Railway worker. Helped found the ICP in 1930. Imprisoned by the French. Headed the communist movement in southern Vietnam. Took refuge in Phnom Penh for several months in

1957. Appointed Secretary-General of the Vietnamese Workers’ Party in 1960. Succeeded Ho Chi Minh in 1969 and ruled Vietnam with an iron hand for the next seventeen years.

(1911–90): Founder member of the ICP who became Le Duan’s closest collaborator in southern Vietnam. VWP Politburo member responsible for relations with the Cambodian communists. Negotiated the Paris peace accords with Henry Kissinger in 1973, for which he was awarded, but refused to accept, the Nobel Peace Prize.

(1913–85): Defence Minister and Chief of the General Staff under Sihanouk, whom he overthrew in a

in March 1970. Six months later turned Cambodia into a republic, of which he became President. Suffered a debilitating stroke in 1971, but clung to power with US support. Flown to exile in Hawaii in April 1975, sixteen days before the Khmer Rouge victory.

(b. 1947): PhD in cartography from Budapest. Returned to Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge victory. Interned until 1979. After the Vietnamese invasion joined the PRK administration, becoming Ambassador to Cuba and Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs.

(b. 1947), real name Nuon Chanthân, alias Nuon Bunno: Joined the Khmers Rouges after Lon Nol’s coup in 1970, rising through the ranks to become a company commander. Based at Pochentong Airport 1975–79. One of Pol Pot’s secretaries at Office 131 in the 1980s. Deputy Khmer Rouge Military Representative to the Supreme National Council 1991–94. Defected to Hun Sen in 1996.

(1921–2001): Member of the Cercle Marxiste in Paris. Followed Pol Pot into the maquis to join the Khmers Viet Minh, returning with him to Phnom Penh in August 1954. Expelled with the rest of the population of Phnom Penh in 1975, but remained a Khmer Rouge sympathiser until his death.

(b. 1925), real name Chhit Chhoeun, alias Nguon Kang, Ta 15: Ex-Issarak. Member of the CPK CC from 1963, Secretary of the Southwestern Zone from 1968, CPK Second Deputy Secretary, ranking just behind Pol and Nuon Chea, from 1978. With Ke Pauk, he was one of Pol Pot’s two principal military supporters. Rebelled against Pol’s leadership in 1997. In detention awaiting trial since 1999.

(1925–77), alias Achar Sieng, Men San, Ya: Ex-Issarak. Worked as a teacher in Phnom Penh in the 1950s. Joined Office 100 in 1964. Member of the CPK CC and Secretary of the North-Eastern Zone from 1971. Accompanied Pol Pot to meet Mao in 1975. Purged as a pro-Vietnamese element and killed at Tuol Sleng.

(b. 1940), real name Son Nhan: Youngest brother of Son Sen. Schoolteacher and communist activist in Siem Reap. Entered the maquis in 1967 and worked at Pol’s headquarters in Ratanakiri. In 1978 he became Chief of Protocol at the Khmer Rouge Foreign Ministry. After the Vietnamese invasion, commander of Khmer Rouge forces at Samphou Loun, on the Thai border. Defected to Hun Sen in 1996.

(

. 1927–77), alias Sen, Chey Suon: Ex-Issarak. Chairman of the South-Western Zone in 1952. Spokesman for the Pracheachon group. Probably elected to the CPK CC in 1960, but dropped three years later. Imprisoned in 1962. Amnestied after Lon Nol’s coup in 1970 and became a CPK Regional Secretary. Khmer Rouge Minister of Agriculture. Purged as a pro-Vietnamese element and killed at Tuol Sleng.

(b. 1944): Son of King Sihanouk. Spent the Khmer Rouge period as a research fellow at the University of Aix-en-Provence. Leader of FUNCINPEC and First Prime Minister from 1993, but ousted four years later by the Second Prime Minister, Hun Sen, in a

Since 1998, President of the National Assembly.

(b. 1922): King of Cambodia 1941–55, when he abdicated in favour of his father, Suramarit. Head of State 1960–70. After being overthrown in a coup in March 1970, allied himself with his former Khmer Rouge opponents against the US-backed government of Lon Nol, which was defeated in April 1975. Returned to Phnom Penh as Head of State in October, but resigned the following spring. Held incommunicado by Pol Pot’s government until January 1979. Under pressure from China, renewed his alliance with the Khmers Rouges in 1982, opening the way to the Paris peace agreement of 1991. Became King of Cambodia for the second time in 1993.

(b.c.1923), real name Long Bunruot, alias Long Rith, Nuon, Second Brother, Grand-Uncle: Studied law at Thammasat University in Bangkok. Member of the Thai Communist Party. Joined the Khmers Viet Minh in 1949. Worked undercover in Phnom Penh from the 1950s.

Appointed CPK Deputy Secretary in 1960. Responsible for Party and state security. President of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Democratic Kampuchea 1976–79. Defected to Hun Sen in 1998. Now lives as a private citizen in Pailin.

(1944–78), real name Chhim Sam Aok: Recruited into the communist movement by Son Sen while a seventeen-year-old schoolboy in Phnom Penh. Worked at Office 100 at Ta Not and in Ratanakiri. After 1970, Pol’s chief assistant for administrative matters, a post which he continued to hold after the Khmer Rouge victory. Purged and killed at Tuol Sleng.

(1906–85): Veteran Cambodian statesman. Democratic Party stalwart before rallying to Sihanouk’s Sangkum. Prime Minister of the GRUNC 1970–76. Spent the entire Khmer Rouge period in Phnom Penh, officially as an adviser to the Democratic Kampuchea government. Died in exile in France.

(1906–2000): The son of the private secretary to Vietnam’s Emperor Duy Tan. Imprisoned by the French as a communist agitator. Joined Ho Chi Minh in China in 1942. Headed the Vietnamese delegation at the Geneva talks in 1954. Vietnamese Prime Minister 1955–87.

(b. 1947), real name Rochoem Ton, alias Cheam: Of Jarai nationality. Joined the revolutionary movement in Ratanakiri while a teenager. In 1968 served as a bodyguard to Pol Pot and later his aide-decamp, a post which he conserved until the Khmer Rouge victory. Chief of Security under Ieng Sary at the Foreign Ministry 1975–79. Defected to Hun Sen in 1996. Currently deputy governor of Malay.

(b.

.1945), alias Tho: A protege of the Northern Zone Secretary, Koy Thuon. Founded a guerrilla force in 1969, rising to the post of Zone Chief of Staff. In 1975 succeeded Non Suon as director of the National Bank. Subsequently Ambassador to China. Survived the purge of Northern Zone officials thanks to his marriage to Pol’s former cook,

Defected to Hun Sen in 1998. Now lives in Anlong Veng.

(b. 1926), alias Sang, Chheang: Member of the Cercle Marxiste and the French Communist Party. In the 1950s, editor-in-chief of the Democratic Party newspaper,

Twice imprisoned by Sihanouk.

Attended the CPK’s founding congress in 1960. Subsequently a member of the communist underground in Phnom Penh. Entered the maquis in 1973 but fell into disfavour. Now lives as a private citizen in Phnom Penh.

(1930–

.1972): Co-founder of the Cercle Marxiste and member of the French Communist Party. Returned to Cambodia to join the Khmers Viet Minh. After the Geneva accords in 1954, lived in Vietnam. Died, probably of illness, in the ‘liberated zone’.

(1922–78), real name, Moul Oun, alias Moul Sambath: Ex-Issarak. Aide to Sieu Heng in 1948. Member of the CPK CC from 1963 and Secretary of the North-Western Zone. With Kong Sophal, instigated the Samlaut uprising in 1967. CPK Standing Committee member from 1975. Purged and killed at Tuol Sleng.

(1932–77), alias Tum: Buddhist monk, worked as a schoolteacher in Phnom Penh 1954–64. Joined Office 100 at Ta Not. Subsequently an Eastern Zone regional secretary. Accompanied Pol to meet Mao in 1975. The same year appointed Logistics Chief at General Staff HQ. Purged and killed at Tuol Sleng.

(

1920–75): Ex-Issarak. Cousin of Nuon Chea. Founding member of the PRPK in 1950. After the 1954 Geneva accords, appointed by the Vietnamese to head the provisional Cambodian communist leadership with responsibility for the rural areas. Defected to Sihanouk’s government in 1959. Killed after the Khmer Rouge victory in 1975.

(1914–75): Cousin of King Sihanouk. Minister of Defence and of Foreign Affairs in the 1950s. Subsequently Cambodian Ambassador to China. Principal architect of Lon Nol’s coup against Sihanouk in March 1970. Killed immediately after the Khmer Rouge victory.

(

1925–78): Ex-Issarak, military leader of the Eastern Zone. Founder member of the PRPK in 1951. Alternate member of the CPK Standing Committee, ranking fifth in the hierarchy, from 1960; full member three years later. CPK Secretary of the Eastern Zone from 1960 onwards. Committed suicide to avoid arrest after Pol Pot ordered a massive purge of the Zone hierarchy.