Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan – first leaders of murderous regime to be jailed – lose appeal against conviction over deaths of two million Cambodians

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Cambodia’s UN-backed court upheld life sentences for two top former Khmer Rouge leaders on Wednesday for crimes against humanity, delivering a blow to their hopes of release as they face a second trial for genocide.



“Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea, 90, and ex-head of state Khieu Samphan, 85, were in 2014 the first top leaders to be jailed from a regime responsible for the deaths of up to two million Cambodians from 1975 to 1979.

They appealed against their convictions, accusing the court of a string of errors and the judges of failing to remain impartial due to their personal experiences under the regime.

In a lengthy ruling on Wednesday after months of hearings, the bench upheld the bulk of the convictions and the jail terms, but accepted some legal errors had been made in the initial trial.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Former Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan at the extraordinary chambers in the courts of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. Photograph: Reuters

Kong Srim, the supreme court chamber’s top judge, said the pair “had a complete lack of consideration for the ultimate fate of the Cambodian population”, adding that the scale of their crimes was “massive”.

“The supreme court chamber considers that the imposition of a life sentence for each of the accused is appropriate,” he added.

The Khmer Rouge regime dismantled modern society in Cambodia in its quest for an agrarian Marxist utopia, killing vast numbers and leaving a generational scar.

The tribunal, known as the extraordinary chambers in the courts of Cambodia (ECCC), is a complex hybrid court on the outskirts of Phnom Penh combining elements of international and domestic law.

It was set up following an agreement between Cambodia and the United Nations to prosecute senior Khmer Rouge leaders.

The number of allegations against Chea and Khieu Samphan – and the complexity of their cases – was so vast that the court split their trials into a series of smaller hearings in 2011, fearful the pair might die before justice could be served.

The Khmer Rouge and Cambodian genocide: how the Guardian covered it Read more

Their convictions in August 2014 followed a two-year trial focused on the forced evacuation of around two million Cambodians from Phnom Penh into rural labour camps and the murders of hundreds of enemy soldiers at one of several execution sites.

Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan are also currently undergoing a second trial for genocide of ethnic Vietnamese and Muslim minorities, forced marriage and rape.

But the tribunal has had mixed successes. Despite the brutality unleashed by the Khmer Rouge, survivors have seen just a handful of perpetrators brought to justice.

Many key leaders have died without facing justice, including “Brother Number One” Pol Pot, who died in 1998.

Four Cambodian judges and three international judges sit in the supreme court chamber that heard the appeal. Rules state at least five out of the seven of them must agree on the verdict to reach an accord.