7. Pol Pot
Cambodia
Years in Power: 1975-1979
Pol Pot ranks 7th in our list of most evil and hated dictators of all time. He was the leader of the Khmer Rouge, an underground communist movement that captured the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh in 1975 – this year marked the start of a vicious regime that attempted to completely alter the face of Cambodia. They reset the calendars to year zero and brought in a new constitution, which renamed the country to Democratic Kampuchea. Forced evacuation was carried out immediately afterward, which in itself killed many. Deliberate rationing led to widespread famine, acts of burying people alive were carried out, and summary executions took place in a mere span of four years, leading to the deaths of over a million citizens. After the invasion of Vietnam, Pol Pot fled across the border, but he was never put to justice. He died in house arrest in 1998.
