Nine Inmates Buried Within Battambang Prison
By Saing Soenthrith and Elizabeth Tomei
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Nine prisoners allegedly killed by a grenade during an attempted jail-break at Battambang Provincial Prison on Sunday have been buried within the prison's walls, the prison's Deputy Director Chay Sovann said Wednesday.
The prison decided that the bodies of the slain inmates, who died following an hours-long siege that ensued after an armed inmate took a guard hostage, should not be returned to their relatives, Chay Sovann said.
"We did not permit any of the dead bodies to be sent to their families, because [the prisoners] have been sentenced to up to 30 years, so we keep their bodies until they finish their punishment," he said.
Those killed were buried on the afternoon of the incident he added.
Yin Mengly, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, said the bodies should have been returned to their next of kin.
"If the dead bodies of prisoners are not given to their families to have a funeral, it is against Buddhist religion and Khmer tradition," he said.
Henrik Stenman, deputy director of the UN center for human rights in Phnom Penh, said that his organization was seeking information from authorities about what had been done with the bodies, but declined further comment.
Police have said that the inmates detonated the grenade to kill themselves when they realized their escape attempt had failed.
An Adhoc investigator, however, reported that black-uniformed Interior Ministry officers were flown by helicopter to the prison on Sunday afternoon. They were seen climbing me prison gate and firing two sniper shots. That was followed by two minutes of sustained shooting at the inmates, which tear gas was fired, followed by the sound of a detonating grenade, the investigator said.
Kong Sakhon, Battambang provincial police chief, said that his investigations were confidential.
Following a March 2005 jailbreak at Kompong Cham province's CC3 prison, 17 slain inmates were hastily buried inside the prison compound.
The prison decided that the bodies of the slain inmates, who died following an hours-long siege that ensued after an armed inmate took a guard hostage, should not be returned to their relatives, Chay Sovann said.
"We did not permit any of the dead bodies to be sent to their families, because [the prisoners] have been sentenced to up to 30 years, so we keep their bodies until they finish their punishment," he said.
Those killed were buried on the afternoon of the incident he added.
Yin Mengly, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, said the bodies should have been returned to their next of kin.
"If the dead bodies of prisoners are not given to their families to have a funeral, it is against Buddhist religion and Khmer tradition," he said.
Henrik Stenman, deputy director of the UN center for human rights in Phnom Penh, said that his organization was seeking information from authorities about what had been done with the bodies, but declined further comment.
Police have said that the inmates detonated the grenade to kill themselves when they realized their escape attempt had failed.
An Adhoc investigator, however, reported that black-uniformed Interior Ministry officers were flown by helicopter to the prison on Sunday afternoon. They were seen climbing me prison gate and firing two sniper shots. That was followed by two minutes of sustained shooting at the inmates, which tear gas was fired, followed by the sound of a detonating grenade, the investigator said.
Kong Sakhon, Battambang provincial police chief, said that his investigations were confidential.
Following a March 2005 jailbreak at Kompong Cham province's CC3 prison, 17 slain inmates were hastily buried inside the prison compound.
2 comments:
I never thought in my life that AH HUN SEN is so serious about finding justice for Cambodian people! What about AH HUN SEN's nephew who is a killer? What about AH HUN SEN officials who are a killer?
Hey we have licent to kill.
HUNG XEN
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