Brother Number 2

Nuon Chea, "Brother Number 2": Chief political ideologist of Khmer Rouge; served as Pol Pot’s “right hand man.”

Born: July 7, 1926

Charge: Crimes against humanity.

Nuon Chea worked with the Cambodian Communist party from its 1960 inception. He served as the Deputy Secretary of the Central Committee and a member of the Standing Committee. This high status made him Pol Pot’s “right hand man.” He is accused of playing a leading role in crafting the Khmer Rouge’s policy of targeted execution. In order to consolidate the Party’s ideology, Chea lead its efforts to target political opponents. Many of the details of Chea’s role have been provided by Duch’s statements since his arrest. According to Duch, Chea orchestrated mass “purges” within the party. These purges involved direct orders from Chea to kill particular political opponents. Further, Duch testified that Chea directed his activities at S-21. According to Duch, on one occasion when the prison was overcrowded, Chea recommended killing 300 arrested soldiers, rather than interrogating them and obtaining forced confessions to expedite processing. In 1998, Nuon Chea surrendered, publicly “confessed,” and was given amnesty. His confession infamously lamented the deaths of Cambodians alongside the deaths of animals killed in the transition to the Khmer Rouge’s classless society. After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge, he lived in a small village near the Thai border where he was arrested on September 19, 2007. Chea currently awaits trial in custody.