Nuon Chea, the right-hand man to Cambodian President Pol Pot, was formally charged with war crimes and for crimes against humanity by the U.N. backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Nuon Chea, known as “Brother Number Two”, was detained and arrested Wednesday in connection with the deaths of nearly 1.7 million people during the Khmer Rouge's reign from 1975 – 79. Nuoan Chea was the Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (Cambodia), which held responsibility over party and state security. He is 81.
According to the detention order, Nuon Chea was complicit in “murder, torture, imprisonment, persecution, extermination, deportation, forcible transfer, enslavement and other inhumane acts.” The charges allege that Nuon Chea was responsible for laying out the “master plan” of the Khmer Rouge that called for aggressions against ethnic Vietnamese and other elites deemed unfavorable by the extremist Beijing-backed Communist faction. The detention order notes Nuon Chea's counter to the charges, stating that he had no direct authority over military commanders and bears no responsibility for their action.
Nuon Chea did, however, hold authority of state security matters, including the notorious S-21 detention center. Centered at the Tuol Sleng high school, the S-21 detention center was used to “re-educate” prisoners to the Khmer Rouge ideology of creating a "new people" in a classless agrarian utopia. More than 14,000 people were killed in the detention center – 10 people survived their internment. Kaing Guek Eav, known as “Duch”, headed the detention center and was charged with war crimes on July 31. In an interview from 1999, Duch claims Nuon Chea ordered the execution of 300 soldiers in a party purge, stating “He called to meet me and said, ‘Don't bother to interrogate them – just kill them.”
Nuon Chea faces life imprisonment of convicted of all charges. As is consistent with the majority of modern society, Cambodia does not use capital punishment.
