UN tribunal convicts two of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge leaders

They were leaders of Cambodia’s infamous Khmer Rouge, the fanatical communist movement behind a 1970s reign of terror that transformed this entire Southeast Asian nation into a ruthless slave state — a place where cities were emptied of their inhabitants, religion and schools were banned, and anyone deemed a threat was executed.

When the nightmare ended, in 1979, close to two million people were dead — a quarter of Cambodia’s population.

Yesterday, a UN-backed tribunal convicted two of the men who ruled during that era of crimes against humanity in the first — and possibly the last — verdicts to be issued against the group’s aging, top members.