Son Sen

Son Sen
Sen in the 1970s, wearing the krama
Minister of National Defence
In office
15 January 1976 – 7 January 1979
Prime MinisterPol Pot
Preceded byUnknown
Succeeded byPen Sovan
Deputy Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea
In office
14 April 1976 – 7 January 1979
Prime MinisterPol Pot
Personal details
Born(1930-06-12)12 June 1930
Trà Vinh, Cochinchina, French Indochina
Died15 June 1997(1997-06-15) (aged 67)
Anlong Veng District, Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia
Cause of deathExecution by shooting
Political partyCommunist Party of Kampuchea
SpouseYun Yat

Son Sen (Khmer: សុន សេន pronounced [son seːn]; 12 June 1930 – 15 June 1997), alias Comrade Khieu (សមមិត្តខៀវ) or "Brother Number 89",[1][2] was a Cambodian Communist politician and soldier. A member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea/Party of Democratic Kampuchea, the Khmer Rouge, from 1974 to 1992, Sen oversaw the Party's security apparatus, including the Santebal secret police and the notorious security prison S-21 at Tuol Sleng.

Son Sen was responsible for ordering the massacre of more than 100,000 people in the Eastern Zone of Cambodia during the last six months of 1978.[3]

Sen was married to Yun Yat, who became the Party's minister of education and information. Along with the rest of his family, he was killed on the orders of Pol Pot during a 1997 factional split in the Khmer Rouge.

  1. ^ Atkinson, Carole. "Tuol Sleng and the Cambodian Genocide: Khmer Rouge and Its Leaders". Cornell University Library.
  2. ^ "Brother System of the Khmer Rouge". Young Pioneer Tours. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  3. ^ Nic Dunlop (2005). The Lost Executioner – A Journey into the Heart of the Killing Fields. Walker & Company, New York. ISBN 0-8027-1472-2.

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