Santebal

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The Santebal (Khmer: សន្តិបាល, lit. 'Keeper of Peace') was the secret police and security apparatus of the Khmer Rouge in Democratic Kampuchea. It was an integral part of the structure of the government, the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and served the party—referred to as "Angkar"- by purging "traitorous" elements, which meant anyone, including all foreigners (Westerners), suspected of opposing the party, including intellectuals and ethnic minorities (such as the Vietnamese). The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975 and began the forced evacuation of all urban centers into the countryside. Like the Imperial Japanese Army’s Kempeitai, the regime—one predicated on violent ethnonationalism—was obsessed with "foreign influence." Prisoners were routinely forced to confess to being agents for the CIA or Vietnam, and accused of being "traitors" or "hidden enemies" of Angkar. The name is a portmanteau of two Khmer words: sântĕsŏkh (សន្តិសុខ), meaning "security," and nôkôrôbal...

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