Ieng Sary: Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs of Democratic Kampuchea from 1975 and 1978.

Born: October 24, 1925

Charges: Crimes against humanity; war crimes

Ieng Sary, sometimes referred to as “Brother Number 3” in the Khmer Rouge regime, began his association with Pol Pot while they studied together in France. Sary was also related to Pol Pot by marriage when he wed Khieu Thirith, the sister of Pol Pot’s wife. Sary fled to the jungles of Cambodia with Pol Pot to escape persecution from the Sihanouk government. He later went to Beijing where he actively supported groups that would ultimately be instrumental in overthrowing Cambodia’s government and installing the Khmer Rouge to power. Once the Khmer Rouge assumed control of the country in 1973, Sary returned to Cambodia and was a leader in foreign policy.

Sary oversaw the recruitment of former non-Communist diplomats into the Communist party. Many of these diplomats participated in ideological training. However, many were arrested by the foreign ministry and sent by Sary to S-21 where they were executed. Sary made frequent public statements in which he encouraged “smashing” opponents of the regime. “Smashing” reportedly was a euphemism for systematic executions. These statements allegedly demonstrate his complicity with and encouragement of atrocities. There is evidence to suggest that Sary was instrumental in attaining coerced confessions from some prisoners of the Khmer Rouge. Sary also played a key role in convincing ex-patriate Khmer intellectuals to return to the country, upon which many were executed. In 1996, Sary was pardoned after his defection from the Khmer Rouge. He and his wife were arrested on November 12, 2007. They both await trial.