Rights group: Cambodian police beat protestors seeking UN chief

Oct 28, 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - A prominent Cambodian human rights group said police used electrical shock batons and walkie-talkies Thursday to beat back several dozen Phnom Penh residents trying to meet with visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

One man was beaten unconscious and dragged away by police, Licadho said, adding that the incident revealed the 'cracking facade of democracy in Cambodia.'

The protestors, who are to soon be evicted from their homes in central Phnom Penh to make way for a large development by a well-connected company, had petitioned Ban to meet them to discuss their plight.

Licadho condemned the violence and called on Ban to 'publicly condemn this use of force against peaceful protestors who were attempting to gain his attention.'

Ban's office had yet to issue a statement about the violence.

Licadho director Naly Pilorge said the beatings, which took place close to a hospital that Ban was visiting, was indicative of the government's approach to human rights and its international reputation.

'Either they don't understand the harm that this sort of incident causes to Cambodia's reputation, or they don't care, or perhaps they just think they can get away with it,' she said.

Earlier Thursday, Ban visited Phnom Penh's S-21 prison, where more than 14,000 people were tortured and marked for execution during the Khmer Rouge's rule of the country in the late 1970s.

Ban referred to the Khmer Rouge rule as a 'terrible chapter' in the country's history.

'But I want you to know that your courage has sent a strong and powerful message to the world that there can be no impunity, that crimes against humanity shall not go unpunished,' he said.

It has been an eventful trip for Ban.

On Wednesday, Cambodia's foreign minister said Prime Minister Hun Sen told Ban he would not permit any further prosecutions of former Khmer Rouge cadres, a statement that set off a storm of criticism about political interference in the judicial process.

But the government later appeared to moderate its tone when Minister for Information Khieu Kanharith said Hun Sen had merely expressed his desire to see no further prosecutions.

'We don't say forbidden because you cannot dictate, you cannot impose your will on the court,' Khieu Kanharith said.

Hun Sen also told Ban to close the UN human rights office because he deemed it was acting as a mouthpiece for the opposition and told him to sack the UN's country head for human rights, Christophe Peschoux.

Khieu Kanharith reiterated that position.

'It is time to close down the office,' he said. 'Both [the office and Peschoux] have to go.'

Ban left Cambodia Thursday after a three-day visit for Vietnam, where he is to attend a summit between the United Nations and the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations. He is to conclude his Asian tour in China.