The Khmer Rouge Army afterwards...

Fragile Coalitions:

In 1985, the principle leaders of the Khmer Rouge were recognized to be Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, and Son Sen, but Pol Pot was still in great power behind the scenes. The Khmer Rouge continued to recruit refugees and peasants. The NADK, with Son Sen being the chief commander, had a total of 40,000 to 50,000 combatants. With NADK’s strength and the other two groups Hun Sen, the PRK prime minister at that time wanted to negotiate with the CGDK about having a four-party coalition government. Sihanouk seemed to be happy with this, but Khieu Samphan and Son Sann were not happy. That is one factor prevented Sihanouk and Hun Sen from meeting. Sihanouk’s first precondition before any negotiation was the withdrawal of the Vietnamese from Cambodia and that actually became a condition of the peace plan between the CGDK and Hun Sen. Even though Son Sann wasn’t that happy, he still announced his readiness to join the final negotiation on December 21, 1988. The Khmer Rouge was not part of the negotiation and later departed away from the CGDK.

Source: Omestad, Thomas. “Pol Pot’s secrets: the truth about the killing fields could implicate many.” 7 July 1997. U.S. News & World Report.

After Phnom Penh fell, Pol Pot actually fled to the Thailand-Cambodia border. Pol Pot had many conflicts with his soldiers and relatives such as his brother-in-law, Ieng Sary. In 1997, at the age of 69, he suffered from cerebral malaria, being kept alive only with IV treatments. In the same year Pol Pot was finally captured by his rebellious guerillas in Northern Cambodia after Pol Pot ordered the murders of his ex-defense minister, Son Sen, and his family. Pol Pot’s purpose was to prevent Son Sen from defecting to the Vietnamese because two of Son Sen’s relatives had defected already. The soldiers were angered by Son Sen’s death, and that is how Ta Mok took over, and became the current Khmer Rouge leader.

Pol Pot on Trial :

In the 1990s, many officials defected to the Cambodia’s government. In 1996, Ieng Sary, Pol Pot’s brother-in-law, defected and was granted amnesty. Now, he is currently a leader of the Pallin enclave, the former Khmer Rouge guerillas. Then in 1998, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, the prime minister of the Khmer Rouge government defected as well.

Cambodian’s first Prime Minister Prince Norodom Rananriddh had once asked the United Nations to put Pol Pot on trial. Even though having the trial in Cambodia seemed to be natural, the U.S. officials said no because trying him in Cambodia might turn on tensions between the rival government factions. Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands were actually good places to try Pol Pot because they had laws that could be used. Evidence to try him was found by the Cambodian Genocide Project funded by the United States and other Western governments. This project found thousands of documents of prisoners and killings that were left behind by the group when they fled during the Vietnamese invasion.

Later, Pol Pot reportedly died of a heart attack, but some people suspect that he was poisoned by his former comrades. Pol Pot’s body was then cremated.

Source: Brunner, Borgna. Who was Who in the Khmer Rouge. 2000-2003. Family Education Network, Inc. 3 July 2003. <http://print.infoplease.com/spot/khmer2.html>.

\Home / Before / During / After

Interactivities / Experiences / Author's Page / Reference / Site Map