By Prak Chan Thul and James Welsh
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Prey Sar prison's director denied reported allegations by jailed New Zealand national Graham Cleghorn that he was subjected to steep deprivation and his fellow prisoner's were flogged en masse and chained up in darkened rooms
Mong Kim Heng, director of Prey Sar’s Correction Center I, said that Cleghorn's allegations, published in New Zealand newspaper The Dominion Post on Monday, are completely false.
'Talking like that is out of date, there is no torture," Mong Kim Heng said by telephone. "We look after [Cleghorn] regardless of whether he is Khmer or a foreigner."
The Dominion Post reported that Cleghorn had written to his New Zealand lawyer Greg King through the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok pleading for the help of the country's former Govemor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright.
Since leaving her position, Cartwright has been appointed as a trial chamber judge in the Khmer Rouge tribunal.
"More than 1,200 inmates have had their bare backs whipped with canes [in November] after the jail's new director, Mong Kim Heng, ordered that everyone with a tattoo be flogged," The Dominion Post reported, sourcing the information to Cleghom's letter.
"Other prisoners were chained in leg shackles in darkened 'punishment rooms, '" the report added.
Cleghorn, who in 2004 was sentenced to 20 years for raping five women in Siem Reap province, said no foreigners were beaten, but that he was subjected to steep deprivation, according to the report.
"From Nov 3 to 19 [Mong Kim Heng] kept the lights off from 6 pm to 10 pm … then all the lights came on at midnight so we couldn’t sleep," the report quoted Cleghorn as saying.
Mong Kim Heng said Cleghorn is probably fabricating the allegations to try and ensure his release.
"The way that Cleghom talks is to get people to pity him," he said.
Cleghorn's Cambodian lawyer Nou Tepirith said he found his client’s allegations difficult to believe, as Cleghom has mentioned nothing to him about torture.
Naly Pilorge, director of local rights group Licadho, said her organization does receive reports of torture at some prisons, but she had heard no reports of mass flogging.
"We have received information from other prisons about dark cells and shackling, but not [at] CC1," she added.
(Additional reporting by Kay Kimsong)
Mong Kim Heng, director of Prey Sar’s Correction Center I, said that Cleghorn's allegations, published in New Zealand newspaper The Dominion Post on Monday, are completely false.
'Talking like that is out of date, there is no torture," Mong Kim Heng said by telephone. "We look after [Cleghorn] regardless of whether he is Khmer or a foreigner."
The Dominion Post reported that Cleghorn had written to his New Zealand lawyer Greg King through the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok pleading for the help of the country's former Govemor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright.
Since leaving her position, Cartwright has been appointed as a trial chamber judge in the Khmer Rouge tribunal.
"More than 1,200 inmates have had their bare backs whipped with canes [in November] after the jail's new director, Mong Kim Heng, ordered that everyone with a tattoo be flogged," The Dominion Post reported, sourcing the information to Cleghom's letter.
"Other prisoners were chained in leg shackles in darkened 'punishment rooms, '" the report added.
Cleghorn, who in 2004 was sentenced to 20 years for raping five women in Siem Reap province, said no foreigners were beaten, but that he was subjected to steep deprivation, according to the report.
"From Nov 3 to 19 [Mong Kim Heng] kept the lights off from 6 pm to 10 pm … then all the lights came on at midnight so we couldn’t sleep," the report quoted Cleghorn as saying.
Mong Kim Heng said Cleghorn is probably fabricating the allegations to try and ensure his release.
"The way that Cleghom talks is to get people to pity him," he said.
Cleghorn's Cambodian lawyer Nou Tepirith said he found his client’s allegations difficult to believe, as Cleghom has mentioned nothing to him about torture.
Naly Pilorge, director of local rights group Licadho, said her organization does receive reports of torture at some prisons, but she had heard no reports of mass flogging.
"We have received information from other prisons about dark cells and shackling, but not [at] CC1," she added.
(Additional reporting by Kay Kimsong)
No comments:
Post a Comment