Heat on Govt to Act on Military Murders
Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 10 March 1995
By Nate Thayer
H UMAN rights organizations in Cambodia and abroad have been closely monitoring what they say is a clear case of local police and military officers brazenly murdering two civilians in Battambang province.
The incident is being seen as a clear test of whether the government has the political will to arrest officials involved in gross human rights violations.
On the afternoon of Feb 5, farmer Neth Thong, 28, and Mov Ving, 28, a Funcinpec militiaman, were playing volleyball in Mong Russei district when approximately 30 government soldiers, police, and militia surrounded them at gun point, took them into custody, and later executed them at point blank range, according to numerous witnesses and family members.
The Cambodian human rights organizations LICAHDO and ADHOC have been instrumental in collecting information on the cases.
Gunshots were heard less than an hour after the arrest. The bodies were found the next morning in a nearby field. They had been handcuffed, and shot in the head and elsewhere with assault rifles. Evidence indicated they were also severely beaten.
Both victims were Funcinpec party members, according to family members.
Numerous witnesses were present at the arrest which was carried out without a warrant. Witnesses said the soldiers and police were led by Chhoun Ka'th, a militia chief in nearby Mong Kal commune.
Also present at the arrest were Khan, the district military chief; Vy, the Mong commune military chief; the district police chief and others.
Human rights officials say it is a clear test of whether Cambodia's judiciary - designed to be independent under the terms of the constitution and the Paris Agreements - is able to take action against other government officials who have political power but are involved in crime.
The Ministries of Interior, Defence and Justice were all officially informed in February of the details of the case by human rights organizations, as were the military court in Phnom Penh, the Battambang provincial court, the chief of military police in Battambang and the chief of the civilian police in the province.
The United Nations Center of Human Rights is also investigating. To date, no action has been taken to arrest the suspects or interview the witnesses. A government prosecutor has, however, asked local human rights organiztions not to publicize their findings.
The courts, through local prosecutors, and the Justice Ministry are responsible to take action in such cases. But, says one foreign Human Rights lawyer here: "The problem is there is a sense of impunity among the military so there is no authority willing to take action against members of the police or military who commit serious abuses."
When family members attempted to intervene, one of the armed men said: "If you ask for their release, I will kill you too," according to one witness interviewed by rights workers.
At the funeral of the victims, local authorities interrogated the family members and asked them: "Why are you having a funeral for the Khmer Rouge?" according to human rights workers.
Despite what investigators say is overwhelming evidence, no arrests have been made. Numerous witnesses and family members of the victims have been intimidated and threatened with death, human rights investigators say. Several witnesses have fled their homes and some are now living in an area pagoda.
The police report on the killings was allegedly written by Chhoun Ka'th, the head of the Mong Kal commune militia who is alleged to be the leader of the gang of armed government officials who arrested and executed the two.
On Feb 20 Amnesty International released an Urgent Action, one of their highest forms of international appeal.
"Relatives of two men recently killed by members of the Cambodian security forces are now in fear for their own safety," the Amnesty appeal said. "Local authorities seem to be unwilling to investigate these killings on the grounds that these men were alleged to be members of the outlawed Partie of Democratic Kampuchea. A police report on the incident alleges that Neth Thong and Mov Ving were PDK members, but it is believed that the report was written by one of the 30 armed men."
The Amnesty report continued: "The villagers and relatives insist that the men did not belong to the Khmer Rouge but were members of the legal, Royalist FUNCINPEC party. Relatives believe that the two men may have been killed for personal reasons, by people in positions of authority within the province of Battambang who are using the political situation as a smoke screen for illegal acts."
But villagers and other witnesses say the real reason for the killings appear to be a personal dispute involving the commune militia chief Chhoun Ka'th. In Jan 94, Chhoun Ka'th's brother, Chhoun Chherth, was involved in a dispute in which he physically assaulted a man named Vannak. Vannak was then said to join the Khmer Rouge. Chhoun Chherth was later abducted and murdered by the Khmer Rouge. Chhoun Ka'th believed that the two victims were involved in the killing of his brother and had threatened to murder them previously, according to villagers.
Political manipulation of the the "Khmer Rouge Outlaw Law", passed last July, continues to remain a major concern among Cambodian opposition politicians and human rights organizations who say the potential for abuse is immense.