Khieu Samphan
(b. 1933), Cambodian political figure. Khieu Samphan was an important member of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between April 1975 and January 1979—a period when more than 1.5 million Cambodians lost their lives. Born the eldest son of a Kompong Cham judge in 1933, Samphan attended the Collège Norodom Sihanouk and the Lycée Sisowath. He completed his studies at the University of Paris, where he wrote a thesis about Cambodia's economic development that many later mistakenly believed was a blueprint for the radical economic policies of the Khmer Rouge. It was during his time in Paris that Khieu Samphan became a dedicated Communist.
When he returned to Cambodia from France, Samphan taught at a private school and edited the leftwing newspaper L'Observateur. His writings about social justice and veiled criticisms of the injustices of the ruling regime made him a popular figure among Cambodia's students. In 1962 he was elected to Cambodia's National Assembly and was also appointed secretary of state for commerce. He was reelected in 1966, before disappearing into the maquis in 1967, fearing for his life after Sihanouk had begun to crack down heavily on Communists and suspected Communists.
Samphan occupied several important posts in the Democratic Kampuchea regime (1975–1979) and, after it was ousted by the Vietnamese, continued to represent the movement on the international stage. He played an important role in negotiating the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements, before withdrawing to the region of Cambodia's border with Thailand, where the Khmer Rouge continued its struggle against the ruling regime. Following the death of Pol Pot and the disintegration of the Khmer Rouge movement in the late 1990s, Samphan eventually surrendered to the Cambodian government. He was allowed to retire to the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin, to await a decision on whether he would be called to appear before an international genocide tribunal.
Further Reading
Chandler, David. (1991) The Tragedy of Cambodian History: Politics, War and Revolution since 1945. Bangkok, Thailand: Silkworm Press.
Heder, Steve. (1991) Pol Pot and Khieu Samphan. Clayton, Australia: Monash University Center of Southeast Asian Studies Working Paper 70.
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