Cambodia: Khmer Rouge 'Brother No 2', Nuon Chea, making a speech, c.1977.

This is a rare picture of Nuon Chea, 'Brother No 2' and Pol Pot's closest confidant, during the Democratic Kampuchea period. Nuon Chea, aka Long Bunruot, was born in Battambang Province in 1926. A Sino-Khmer, originally named Lau Ben Kon, he studied at Bangkok's Thammasat University before going on to become the most secretive and ruthless Khmer Rouge theoretician.

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. Several former Khmer Rouge cadres are currently on trial for war crimes in Phnom Penh.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd

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Pictures From History

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DEMOCRATIC KAMPUCHEA