Born Samnang (L) and Sok Sam Oeun (R)August 21, 2009
ABC Radio Australia
The United Nations has called for charges to be dropped against two Cambodian men accused of killing trade union leader Chea Vichea in 2004. The men spent years in jail, but campaigning by Cambodian and international human rights groups who believe they are scapegoats, led to them being released on bail in January. Now, the Appeal Court has ordered that the case be re-investigated.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Brad Cox, director the documentary, 'Who Killed Chea Vichea?'
COX: I agree 100 per cent [that charges should be dropped against Born Samnang and Sok Sam Ouen]. For the last five years they've tried to build the case; they've never produced any credible evidence and so its a long time coming. These guys should have been never even arrested in the first place.
COCHRANE: And why were they arrested?
COX: Ah, well there're a lot of theories of why they were arrested. There was a lot of international pressure on the government and the police to make an arrest on the case, it was very high profile. Chea Vichea was known internationally as well as nationally and it appears they needed a couple of scapegoats and these two guys fell in their laps and that's who they decided to go with. One of them wasn't even in Phnom Penh, he was 40 miles away on the day of the killing but from the police perspective that didn't seem to matter. They were used as scapegoats anyway.
COCHRANE: Now you talk of "they" needing scapegoats... Outside the court this week Chea Vichea's brother, Chea Mony, repeated allegations he's made before that the government was involved in his brother's murder. And Khieu Sopheak, the Ministry of Interior spokesman threatened to take him to court over those kind of statements. Has your investigation uncovered any evidence of the authorities being involved in Chea Vichea's death?
COX: Well, I'm not sure what evidence when Chea Mony said that he said that the government killed his brother. What I do know is that the police, led by Hok Lundy and Heng Pov, did deliberately frame the two men in the case - I prove that in the movie that is being released next month. The question is, 'Who told the police to frame these guys and why?' My guess is that Chea Mony assumes that the government had to tell the police how to do this because, who else is there to tell the police? I assume that's his reasoning, but you'd have to ask him, I'm not really sure.
COCHRANE: Now Chea Vichea wasn't the only prominent figure killed around that time. Can you tell us briefly about some others and what's happened with those cases?
COX: Well in the year before he was killed, there was a slew of murders, mostly politically-related. In the beginning of 2003, there was monk, Sam Bun Thoeun, who was urging monks to vote, who strongly supported the opposition. There was Om Radsady, who was a very close adviser to Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who was the president of the FUNCINPEC party.
COCHRANE: And what's happened as a result of these kinds of cases? Have there been investigations? Have there been convictions?
COX: Well all these cases are similar in many ways. Number one, almost all of them were killed by two men on a motorbike. All these cases were investigated by Heng Pov, of the Phnom Penh police. All of these have had very unsatisfactory conclusions - either no-one was arrested or the people who were arrested, like in the Chea Vichea case, were obviously innocent of the case.
COCHRANE: Now we've heard earlier about the Khmer Rouge tribunal as an important step in establishing some kind of bottom line of justice in Cambodia. How important is this case in terms of establishing a strong position on impunity?
COX: Well, I think this case is a good example of the impunity that continues to exist there and this case is very similar to a lot of other murder cases, some of which I just mentioned to you now and there are others even from that same time period. I think if the government was serious about finding justice for these people, then you would see some of these cases being satisfactorily concluded. But that isn't the case and there's wide speculation that the courts are controlled by the government; they're told how to handle cases, anything that is political has to go through them and so they end up what is best for them and justice has very little to so with it.
Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Brad Cox, director the documentary, 'Who Killed Chea Vichea?'
COX: I agree 100 per cent [that charges should be dropped against Born Samnang and Sok Sam Ouen]. For the last five years they've tried to build the case; they've never produced any credible evidence and so its a long time coming. These guys should have been never even arrested in the first place.
COCHRANE: And why were they arrested?
COX: Ah, well there're a lot of theories of why they were arrested. There was a lot of international pressure on the government and the police to make an arrest on the case, it was very high profile. Chea Vichea was known internationally as well as nationally and it appears they needed a couple of scapegoats and these two guys fell in their laps and that's who they decided to go with. One of them wasn't even in Phnom Penh, he was 40 miles away on the day of the killing but from the police perspective that didn't seem to matter. They were used as scapegoats anyway.
COCHRANE: Now you talk of "they" needing scapegoats... Outside the court this week Chea Vichea's brother, Chea Mony, repeated allegations he's made before that the government was involved in his brother's murder. And Khieu Sopheak, the Ministry of Interior spokesman threatened to take him to court over those kind of statements. Has your investigation uncovered any evidence of the authorities being involved in Chea Vichea's death?
COX: Well, I'm not sure what evidence when Chea Mony said that he said that the government killed his brother. What I do know is that the police, led by Hok Lundy and Heng Pov, did deliberately frame the two men in the case - I prove that in the movie that is being released next month. The question is, 'Who told the police to frame these guys and why?' My guess is that Chea Mony assumes that the government had to tell the police how to do this because, who else is there to tell the police? I assume that's his reasoning, but you'd have to ask him, I'm not really sure.
COCHRANE: Now Chea Vichea wasn't the only prominent figure killed around that time. Can you tell us briefly about some others and what's happened with those cases?
COX: Well in the year before he was killed, there was a slew of murders, mostly politically-related. In the beginning of 2003, there was monk, Sam Bun Thoeun, who was urging monks to vote, who strongly supported the opposition. There was Om Radsady, who was a very close adviser to Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who was the president of the FUNCINPEC party.
COCHRANE: And what's happened as a result of these kinds of cases? Have there been investigations? Have there been convictions?
COX: Well all these cases are similar in many ways. Number one, almost all of them were killed by two men on a motorbike. All these cases were investigated by Heng Pov, of the Phnom Penh police. All of these have had very unsatisfactory conclusions - either no-one was arrested or the people who were arrested, like in the Chea Vichea case, were obviously innocent of the case.
COCHRANE: Now we've heard earlier about the Khmer Rouge tribunal as an important step in establishing some kind of bottom line of justice in Cambodia. How important is this case in terms of establishing a strong position on impunity?
COX: Well, I think this case is a good example of the impunity that continues to exist there and this case is very similar to a lot of other murder cases, some of which I just mentioned to you now and there are others even from that same time period. I think if the government was serious about finding justice for these people, then you would see some of these cases being satisfactorily concluded. But that isn't the case and there's wide speculation that the courts are controlled by the government; they're told how to handle cases, anything that is political has to go through them and so they end up what is best for them and justice has very little to so with it.
10 comments:
Democratic Kampuchea Pol Pot Khmer Rouge Regime had committed:
Tortures
Executions
Massacres
Atrocities
Crimes Against Humanity
Starvations
Overwork to Death
Slavery
Rapes
Human Abuses
Assault and Battery
Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime had committed:
Assassinations
Assassinated Journalists
Assassinated Political Opponents
Assassinated Leader of the Free Trade Union
Attempted Assassinations on Chea Vichea and Sam Rainsy
Attempted Murders on Chea Vichea and Sam Rainsy
Executed members of FUNCINPEC Party
Murders members and activists of Sam Rainsy Party
Killings
Extrajudicial Execution
Grenade Attack
Terrorism
Drive by Shooting
Tortures
Intimidations
Death Threats
Threatening
Human Abductions
Human Rights Abuses
Human Trafficking
Drugs Trafficking
Under Age Child Sex
Corruptions
Bribery
Illegal Mass Evictions
Illegal Land Grabbing
Illegal Firearms
Illegal Logging
Illegal Deforestation
Illegally use of remote detonation on Sokha Helicopter, while Hok Lundy and others military official on board.
Illegally Sold State Properties
Illegally Remove Parliamentary Immunity of Parliament Members
Plunder National Resources
Acid Attacks
Turn Cambodia into a Lawless Country
Oppression
Injustice
Steal Votes
Bring Foreigners from Veitnam to vote in Cambodia for Cambodian People's Party.
Abuse the Court as a tools for CPP to send political opponents and journalists to jail.
Abuse of Power
Abuse the Laws
Abuse the National Election Committee
Abuse the National Assembly
Violate the Laws
Violate the Constitution
Violate the Paris Accords
Impunity
Under Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime, no criminals that has been committed all of these crimes above within Hun Sen Khmer Rouge government have ever been brought to justice.
UNDER AGE CHILD SEX
Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime had committed under age child sex.
Svay Sitha is a senior government official from Cambodian People's Party.
Svay Sitha had a sexual relationship with Tat Marina, she was only 16 years old.
Source: Human Rights Watch
ACID ATTACK ON TAT MARINA
Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime had committed acid attack.
"On December 5, 1999, Tat Marina, age 16, was severely disfigured in an acid attack in Phnom Penh. The attack was allegedly committed by Khun Sophal, the wife of a senior government official, Svay Sitha, because she was angry her husband had a sexual relationship with Tat Marina. Neither Khun Sophal nor those suspected of being her accomplices in the attack were brought to justice. Intense media publicity compelled the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Khun Sophal for attempted murder, but the police claimed that they could not locate her, although journalists reported that she was living at home as usual."
Source: Human Rights Watch
TORTURE AND MURDER ON PRAK SITHA WHILE IN CUSTODY BY MISNISTRY OF INTERIOR OFFICIAL
Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime had committed torture and murder.
"On the night of January 16, 2003, a street youth named Prak Sitha was beaten to death at the Ministry of Interior (MOI) headquarters after he was arrested and detained by off-duty MOI officers on suspicion of theft. His body - bearing numerous injuries to the head, torso, arms, and legs - was dumped at a Phnom Penh pagoda the following morning by ministry officers, in violation of police regulations regarding deaths in custody. No criminal charges were filed in connection with this death. In December 2004, the case was cited by the UN secretary-general's special representative for human rights in Cambodia - who stated that Prak Sitha died at the ministry "following beatings by a known police officer" - as an example of a "consistent and continuing pattern of impunity" in Cambodia."
Source: Human Rights Watch
PUT SAMPHORS WAS SHOT DEAD BY MEAN SOKCHEA, A RCAF MAJOR WORKING IN BRIGADE 70.
Hun Sen's personal Bodyguards Unit (Brigade 70) is a terrorist organization.
Hing Bunheang is a March 30, 1997 Grenade Attack suspect identified by the FBI.
Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime had committed murder, again.
"On September 4, 2008, Mean Sokchea, a RCAF major working in Brigade 70, shot dead 21-year-old waitress Put Samphors at a restaurant in Kandal province. Mean Sokchea, in a drunken stupor, fired his gun and apparently mistakenly hit Put Samphors in the stomach. She was taken to a hospital but later died of her wounds. Mean Sokchea was detained by the police overnight but was then released, allegedly after intervention by Hing Bun Heang. Put Samphor's family received US$2,700 from Mean Sokchea, and the police told them that their daughter was shot while authorities were chasing robbers."
Source: Human Rights Watch
BUTCHERS ON A SMALLER SCALE:
HUN SEN AND THE CAMBODIAN PEOPLE'S PARTY
by Bruce Sharp
On July 7, 1997, Hun Sen, the leader of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), overthrew Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh in a brutal, bloody coup. Two days of fighting left at least 58 people dead and hundreds wounded. Ranariddh's forces were overwhelmed.
The atmosphere in the weeks prior to the coup was one of optimism. Rumors surfaced that Pol Pot, the head of the hated Khmer Rouge, had been captured, and would be turned over to the government to stand trial. The Khmer Rouge were defeated, consumed in the end by their own violence and infighting. But in a bitter twist of fate, killers have become a sought-after commodity in Cambodia. The remaining Khmer Rouge were a prize. Ranariddh, whose soldiers had been battlefield allies of the Khmer Rouge throughout most of the Eighties, seemed poised to absorb them into his ranks. Hun Sen, fearing the effect that this might have on his attempts to consolidate his power, moved to crush Ranarridh before the Khmer Rouge could join him.
In the days leading up to the coup, Hun Sen protested loudly that the Khmer Rouge were murderers, and that they should have no place in Cambodian politics. This is a admirable sentiment. But it is rather odd to hear it from Hun Sen, who is himself a former Khmer Rouge soldier. His defection from the Khmer Rouge came only when one of the many purges conducted by the Khmer Rouge came to focus on his own ranks. One can only assume that he had no particular objection to genocide, so long as it was not directed at him personally.
In the days following Ranariddh's overthrow, Hun Sen's soldiers hunted down supporters of Ranariddh's FUNCINPEC party. Several of the victims were apparently tortured before being murdered; four of the bodyguards of Nhiek Bun Chhay, Ranariddh's top military commander, were found with their eyes gouged out. (Nhiek Bun Chhay narrowly escaped.) Former Interior Minister Ho Sok was shot in the head while in the custody of Hun Sen's military. Chau Sambath, an intelligence expert for Ranariddh, was "shot while trying to escape" according to one CPP account, and "committed suicide" according to another. The United Nations, meanwhile, reported that several persons imprisoned in the wake of the coup had been tortured; they were beaten, forced to drink sewer water, and some had their fingers crushed in metal clamps. Thirty detainees were held in an unlit, unventilated cell roughly six feet wide by twenty feet long. In a haunting echo of the Khmer Rouge years, the CPP denied that FUNCINPEC supporters had been killed. They had, according to the CPP, been sent for "re-education." In the aftermath of these incidents, Amnesty International has issued an appeal to embassies in Cambodia to provide shelter to Royalist party members. Hun Sen's soldiers, meanwhile, celebrated their victory with a looting spree throughout much of Phnom Penh. Even hospitals were not spared. Soldiers stole medicine, beds, and blankets, leaving nothing behind for the care of the wounded. When the UN Human Rights office publicized the killings and torture, Hun Sen called for the replacement of the UN staff and demanded an apology from the UN.
Some scholars have promoted the idea that the core of the Cambodian People's Party was formed from the ranks of "good Khmer Rouge" -- a noble, caring group of kind-hearted revolutionaries who were oppressed by the evil "Pol Pot - Ieng Sary clique."
Anyone who believes that this is so should be reminded that Hun Sen initially acquired the role of "co-Prime Minister" only because he threatened renewed civil war when he lost the UN-sponsored elections in 1993. (For details, see Alan Knight's essay on Hun Sen and Democracy.) Those who still harbor lingering doubts should recall the Easter Sunday grenade attack on pro-democracy protesters in Phnom Penh, an assault that killed at least 18 people and wounded as many as 100 more. After the incident, Hun Sen suggested that opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who arranged the demonstration (and whose bodyguard was killed in the attack), should be arrested. When he finished blaming the victims, he suggested that the Khmer Rouge were responsible. In a sense, he is probably correct: When Hun Sen looks in the mirror, a Khmer Rouge stares back.
The 1998 elections were intended to bestow the mantle of legitimacy on Hun Sen. But the elections were a farce. (See the 1998 Human Rights Watch Report on Cambodia for a detailed description of the conditions in Cambodia leading up to the supposedly "fair" election.) The international community seemed to have exhausted its patience with Cambodia, and clearly intended to wash their hands of the entire matter. Observers rushed to declare the elections "legitimate" even before the votes were counted. After the failure of the UN to enforce the results of the previous election, and the muted reaction to the 1997 coup, one suspects the rest of the world simply decided to declare victory and go home.
After decades of war and violence, the Khmer Rouge are gone. The Khmer Rouge were brutal, stupid despots. Hun Sen is a brutal, intelligent one. In an article in the Salt Lake Tribune, noted Cambodia scholar Stephen Heder described Hun Sen in a single sentence: "He is both a competent political administrator and a ruthless political criminal."
Surely, the people of Cambodia deserve better.
Author: Bruce Sharp
The two innocent Khmer men are plastic killer.
Ah Hun Sen is the killer.
YES, THE KANGAROO COURT WILL CONVICT ANYONE'S WITH A LACK OF EVIDENCE.
NOT TO MENTIONED, A 40 MILE ALIBI?
NOT EVEN A MERE SUSPICION?
How rediculious is that? Lol
What's about compensation for being used as scapegoats?. They are human being whose their time outside could be productive, and for the trauma they both had gone through.
Is the police force incompetent ?
Unsuccessful removal Heng Pov has led to lots of complications, though Hok long dy was eliminated.
Is there any cover up from RGC and CPP's associates? Many presumed that quite likely due to the killers have never been found.
This is the challenge that CPP has to face, with the scrutiny and pressure from all sources and losing trust from grassroot.
What goes around will come around, and cambodian elders say: Blood is crying,and skin is calling( chheam sraek, sbaek hao). Time is drawing near.
Neang SA
CPP (Cover-up Plot and Planted)
You can tell by looking at this guy face! he is a real killer of Chea Vichea...
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