The Santebal, a Khmer term meaning "keeper of the peace", was the Special Branch of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. The Santebal was in charge of internal security and running prison camps like Tuol Sleng (S-21) where thousands of people were imprisoned, tortured and killed. It was part of the Khmer Rouge organizational structure well before April 17, 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took control over Cambodia. The name is an amalgam of two words: santisuk meaning security and norkorbal meaning police.