Former Khmer Rouge leader ''Brother Number Two'' Nuon Chea attends his trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in this November 22, 2011. The top surviving commanders of the 1970s Khmer Rouge regime masterminded one of the "worst horrors" of the 20th century, creating a living nightmare by killing or enslaving millions of Cambodians, a U.N.-backed war crimes trial heard on Monday. REUTERS/Mark Peters/ECCC/Handout (CAMBODIA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW HEADSHOT) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNSReuters
Former Khmer Rouge leader ''Brother Number Two'' Nuon Chea attends his trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in this November 22, 2011. The top surviving commanders of the 1970s Khmer Rouge regime masterminded one of the "worst horrors" of the 20th century, creating a living nightmare by killing or enslaving millions of Cambodians, a U.N.-backed war crimes trial heard on Monday. REUTERS/Mark Peters/ECCC/Handout (CAMBODIA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW HEADSHOT) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNSReutersCambodia's former President Khieu Samphan attends his trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in this November 22, 2011 handout. The top surviving commanders of the 1970s Khmer Rouge regime masterminded one of the "worst horrors" of the 20th century, creating a living nightmare by killing or enslaving millions of Cambodians, a U.N.-backed war crimes trial heard on Monday.ReutersCambodia's former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary attends his trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh November 21, 2011. Three top commanders of Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime appeared before a U.N.-backed tribunal on Monday to hear the opening arguments against them for their roles in the 1975-79 "Killing Fields" revolution that wiped out a quarter of Cambodia's population. REUTERS/Mark Peters/ECCC/Handout (CAMBODIA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW HEADSHOT) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNSReutersFrom 1975-1979, an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned, tortured and killed in S-21, a high school that was turned into an interrogation centre during the Khmer Rouge regime.ReutersExterior of S-21 prison, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, early January 1979. From 1975-1979, an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned, tortured and killed in S-21, a high school that was turned into an interrogation centre during the Khmer Rouge regime.http://www.tuolsleng.com/histoA tourist takes a photograph of skulls at a memorial stupa with bones of more than 8,000 victims of the Khmer Rouge regime at Choeung Ek, a "Killing Fields" site located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh November 20, 2011.ReutersTorture instruments on a bed frame are seen in a room once used as a torture chamber at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom PenhReutersA survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime Hem Sakou stands in front of portraits of victims at the Tuol Sleng (S-21) genocide museum in Phnom PenhReutersSign outlining the security rules in the notorious Prison S-21http://www.edwebproject.org/asCambodian man tries on shackles used on prisoners inside the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, also known as the notorious "Security Prison 21", in Phnom PenhReutersKhmer Rouge's Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary attend trial on the outskirts of Phnom Penn. The three most senior surviving commanders of the 1970s Khmer Rouge regime masterminded one of the "worst horrors" of the 20th century, killing or enslaving millions of Cambodians, a U.N.-backed war crimes trial heard on Monday. In opening statements in one of the world's most high-profile genocide trials, prosecutors said the three had called the shots in the bloody "Killing Fields" revolution that wiped out a quarter of the population and destroyed the lives of millions of survivors.Reuters
The three defendant on trial in Cambodia before the Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia, a UN-backed Tribunal , Nuon Chea, 85, Kieu Samphan,78, and Ieng Sary, 86, deny charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for their alleged roles in the deaths of up to 2.2 million people the Khmer Rouge four-year-rule from 1975 to 1979.
On November 17, the tribunal revealed that Ieng Thirith, the former social affairs minister, who was expected to be the fourth defendant, was unfit for trial because of dementia.
The trial opened on Monday and despite the accused's denial, the opening statements provided detailed "a system of brutality that defies belief to the present day."
Between 1.4 and 2.2 million people died of execution, starvation, exhaustion or lack of medical care during the Khmer rouge regime after the party's hard-line policies turned Cambodia into a forced labour camp as the movement attempted to create a pure agrarian socialist society.
Following are more information about the three defendants
