Clash between monks and cops

17-12-2007
By Ung Chamroeun
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

"Even if the monks committed mistakes, the police forces should not use violence against them because we are all Buddhists" - Chan Saveth, Adhoc investigator

Buddhist monks who came to deliver a petition to the Vietnamese ambassador to ask for the release of several Khmer Krom monks jailed in Vietnam, were violently broken up by the police force on Monday 17 December. Human rights NGOs immediately denounced the violence perpetrated against the monks. The cops assured that they were simply responding to provocations.

Clashes took place in the morning of Monday 17 December between 40 monks and about 100 cops in front of the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh. The Buddhist monks, native from Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam), came from various pagodas in the capital to deliver their petition demanding that the Hanoi regime releases one of their compatriots, Venerable Tim Sakhorn, who was arrested in the province of Takeo – some claim that he was in fact “kidnapped” – disrobed, and transferred to be jailed in Vietnam since last June. An activist who defended the rights of his community, Venerable Tim Sakhorn was accused of political crimes and of undermining the good relationship between the two nations, he was subsequently sentenced in November to one year of jail. Five other Khmer Krom monks were also jailed since 22 February by the Vietnamese authorities under similar charges.

Since 08:00 AM, armed cops, bearing shields and batons, prevented the monks to approach the embassy. At 09:30 AM, the monks were dispersed. According to Venerable Chan Dara, about 20 monks were kicked and hit with batons. Three of the monks were sent to the hospital. “It was not a demonstration. We only wanted to deliver the letter directly to the ambassador,” Venerable Chan Dara said.

Touch Naroth, the Phnom Penh police commissioner, said that the monks overstepped the law. “The cops were attacked first, they had to defend themselves. The demonstrators knocked one of them down,” Touch Naroth explained, adding that the monks used (plastic water) bottles. A cop said that he didn’t want to threaten the monks because as a Buddhist, he must respect them, but he said it was due to the “violence from the monks.”

Venerable Thach Kun Yoeun disagrees with this version of the event. “We are religious men, we never created any problem, but the cops didn’t respect us and they used their weapons.” Venerable Thach Kun Yoeun added that the petition will be delivered to the ambassador in another future attempt.

Am Sam Ath, an investigator for the Licadho human rights defense NGO, sharply denounced the attitude adopted by the cops. To Am Sam Ath, it is very deplorable that the government, which earlier denounced the Burmese repression against Buddhist monks last October, is acting similarly to the Burmese military Junta. The Adhoc NGO also issued a communiqué to condemn the clash. “I regret that the monks and the cops fought each others. Even if the monks committed mistakes, the police forces should not use violence against them because we are all Buddhists,” wrote Chan Saveth, an investigator for Adhoc. He also accused the Cambodian authorities and the Vietnamese embassy for being responsible of this conflict, and that they didn’t try to find a solution to this issue.

The NRP also reacted by issuing a communiqué condemning this violence against the monks, stating that it is “not too far off from the Khmer Rouge era and from the action taken by the Burmese military Junta.”