Former Khmer Rouge Leaders Sentenced To Life In Prison For Crimes Against Humanity

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - AUGUST 07: A Cambodian survivor stands in one of the torture rooms of Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21, after the announcement of the verdict for former Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan on August 7, 2014 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodia's UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal sentences two former Khmer Rouge leaders, Nuon Chea, also known as "Brother Number Two", and Khieu Samphan, former head of State to life in prison after being convicted on charges of crimes against humanity. Arrested in 2009, the two Khmer Rouge leaders were charged with crimes against humanity and genocide. The first trial in Case 002, known as Case 002/01, which began on 21 November 2011 and, after 20 months of evidentiary hearings, concluded in late October 2013, focuses on charges of crimes against humanity in relation to forced population movements and the execution of Khmer Republic soldiers at Tuol Po Chrey in Pursat Province, as well as the two defendants' role in developing Khmer Rouge regime policies. In April 1975, the Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as the Khmer Rouge, seized power in Cambodia, forcibly relocating the population to work in labor camps around the country and imprisoning an increasing number of people. Up until the regime's overthrow in January 1979, the policies that were put in place resulted in the creation of a state defined by repression and massacres. Close to two million people lost their lives, due to forced labor, starvation, torture and executions. (Photo by Omar Havana/Getty Images)