By Sav Yuth
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
A group of human rights organizations and the UN human rights office in Cambodia are currently conducting an investigation on the attack with explosive by unknown persons on the house of the community forest protection leader in Run village, Thlat commune, Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province, on Monday 23 July.
The investigation took place one day after unknown persons used explosive to try to kill a family of 6.
Chan Soveth, an investigator for the Cambodia Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), who is conducting the investigation and talking to several witnesses at the location of the incident, concludes that the use of explosive to attack the house of Sat Savuth, the community forest protection leader, is related to his community activities to protect forests, lands and to defend human rights.
Chan Soveth said: “On the authority side, they think that because the victim knew the fact in advance, he could be creating the explosion by himself. We do not come up to this conclusion, but during the incident, 4 persons were seen by the activist: two of them were standing behind and two walked into the house.”
Kong Kheng, the 35-year-old wife of Sat Savuth, claimed that people actually wanted to kill her husband because of his community work to prevent illegal land-grabbing, and illegal logging in the area.
Kong Kheng said: “I am very concerned, I couldn’t sleep and I am restless. During his work, people threatened him, they want to persecute him also.”
On Monday, the group of human rights organizations in the country had expressed their concerns about the successive killings perpetrated on human rights activists and the group demanded that the authority arrest the culprits as well as their backers and bring them to justice.
Tes Soeum, the Anglong Veng police chief, said that on Monday, the authority had identified the culprits and they will be arrested soon.
Nevertheless, Tes Soeum claimed that the explosive attack was not related to the community forest protection activities: “This is a dumb thing (perpetrated) for some (unknown) reason.”
Human rights group claimed that Sat Savuth, the 42-year-old victim of the attack to kill him, used to be a community forest protection leader in Sandan district, Kompong Thom province. Those involved in illegal logging wanted to kill him once in 2005, and when he fled to live in Anlong Veng, he continued working for the community forest and land protection for the people again.
On Monday, the human rights group decided to take Sat Savuth, his wife, and his four children out to live in a safer place.
The investigation took place one day after unknown persons used explosive to try to kill a family of 6.
Chan Soveth, an investigator for the Cambodia Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), who is conducting the investigation and talking to several witnesses at the location of the incident, concludes that the use of explosive to attack the house of Sat Savuth, the community forest protection leader, is related to his community activities to protect forests, lands and to defend human rights.
Chan Soveth said: “On the authority side, they think that because the victim knew the fact in advance, he could be creating the explosion by himself. We do not come up to this conclusion, but during the incident, 4 persons were seen by the activist: two of them were standing behind and two walked into the house.”
Kong Kheng, the 35-year-old wife of Sat Savuth, claimed that people actually wanted to kill her husband because of his community work to prevent illegal land-grabbing, and illegal logging in the area.
Kong Kheng said: “I am very concerned, I couldn’t sleep and I am restless. During his work, people threatened him, they want to persecute him also.”
On Monday, the group of human rights organizations in the country had expressed their concerns about the successive killings perpetrated on human rights activists and the group demanded that the authority arrest the culprits as well as their backers and bring them to justice.
Tes Soeum, the Anglong Veng police chief, said that on Monday, the authority had identified the culprits and they will be arrested soon.
Nevertheless, Tes Soeum claimed that the explosive attack was not related to the community forest protection activities: “This is a dumb thing (perpetrated) for some (unknown) reason.”
Human rights group claimed that Sat Savuth, the 42-year-old victim of the attack to kill him, used to be a community forest protection leader in Sandan district, Kompong Thom province. Those involved in illegal logging wanted to kill him once in 2005, and when he fled to live in Anlong Veng, he continued working for the community forest and land protection for the people again.
On Monday, the human rights group decided to take Sat Savuth, his wife, and his four children out to live in a safer place.
2 comments:
Yep. That's Cambodia for ya. It's a dog eat dog world out there. Human lives are cheap, and can be easily bought. Corruptions are rampant, and only the most brutal survive. This is a result of war, where "intellectuals" are killed, only to be replaced by idiots.
You are right.
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