The 30 March 1997 Grenade Attack

Victims of the 30 March 1997 Grenade Attack:


http://www.box.com/s/5f7d38abd85d332bcfd1

FBI Report on the 30 March 1997 Grenade Attack:


http://www.box.com/s/5817f98737e582abcd75

Discussion with Chhay Vee and Chum Bun Thoeun on the 30 March 1997 grenade attack:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtPeTJCL1mM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eVD51T1Hk4

Transcript of the video above:


http://www.box.com/s/f6f5dcc0e2ac01444f59

Report: No Justice for Victims of Cambodia Grenade Attack, 15 Years Later

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy injured following the grenade attack on 30 March 1997

Thursday, March 29th, 2012
Voice of America

Human Rights Watch says the Cambodian government has made “no effort” to bring justice to those responsible for a deadly grenade attack on an opposition rally 15 years ago.

In a report issued Thursday, the U.S.-based group says there is “substantial evidence of government involvement” in the 1997 attack, which killed 16 people and left more than 150 injured.

The attack apparently targeted opposition leader Sam Rainsy, but instead killed protesters and bystanders, including children and street vendors.

It called for the the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to re-open its probe into the incident, which was cut short when the U.S. ambassador ordered its lead investigator out of the country. The FBI was investigating because a U.S. citizen was injured in the attack.

A Peaceful Way to Put An End to The Despised Hun Sen Regime

26 May 2011

A PEACEFUL WAY TO PUT AN END TO THE DESPISED HUN SEN REGIME

Following my recent judicial victory over former Khmer Rouge prison director and current foreign minister Hor Nam Hong before the French court, I decide to initiate, reactivate or accelerate new and ongoing criminal lawsuits in democratic countries with independent courts against Cambodia’s current prime minister Hun Sen.

Hun Sen (real name Hun Nal) was a former Khmer Rouge army commander in the Eastern region who served the Pol Pot regime from April 1975 to July 1977 before fleeing to Vietnam. Moreover, as a top-ranking official of the Vietnamese-installed communist regime since 1979 and prime minister since 1985, he is responsible for many most serious crimes including war crimes and crimes against humanity. Hun Sen’s hands are covered with blood following

• The implementation of the deadly K 5 Plan from 1982 to 1988
• The 30 March 1997 grenade attack in Phnom Penh
• The massacre of over a hundred of Funcinpec army officers taken prisoners in the wake of the 5-6 July 1997 military coup
• The murder of dozens of innocent citizens including Buddhist monks peacefully protesting against election irregularities in Phnom Penh in August-September 1998
• The assassination, with his complicity, of his mistress Piseth Pilika by his wife Bun Rany (real name Sam Bun Heang) in 1999.

The above crimes have been documented by independent historians and researchers and respectable institutions such as the United Nations Human Rights Office in Cambodia.

From France and other democratic countries, on several occasions, in public speeches and in numerous writings, I have accused both Hun Sen and Hor Nam Hong of their well-known crimes. Only Hor Nam Hong dared to file a defamation lawsuit against me and he finally and definitively lost. Hun Sen is much more cowardly than Hor Nam Hong because his crimes are more serious and more easily exposed.

This explains why Hun Sen is so apprehensive of any progress in the work of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Phnom Penh, which he wants to block at Case 02. Beyond that, his crimes and those of his most prominent colleagues in the ruling CPP would likely be fully exposed.

I sincerely believe that suing Hun Sen with the assistance of competent lawyers in independent courts, including the ICC, for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other most heinous crimes he has committed, would decisively help put an end to a despised regime which, like Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s, is killing its own people with systemic corruption, land grabbing and ever increasing human rights abuses.

Sam Rainsy

Elected Member of Parliament

1997 Investigation Hampered by Authorities: FBI

A Cambodian man, left, views photos the scene of victims of the March 30, 1997 deadly grenade attack, dispaying during a Buddhist ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Buddhist monks and the main opposition party members in Cambodia on Wednesday chant prayers at a memorial for victims of a grenade attack that killed 16 anti-government protesters in Phnom Penh fourteen years ago. (Photo: AP)

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington Friday, 08 April 2011

“If the FBI wished to interview anyone, the government would allow the person to come and answer. I was there. I didn’t see any intentions of hiding anything.” (sic!)

When the FBI conducted an investigation into the 1997 grenade attack on an opposition rally, the agency found improper conduct by Cambodian authorities, according to a report obtained by VOA Khmer.

The March 1997 attack killed 16 people and wounded at least 150 more, after unknown assailants tossed four grenades into a rally led by Sam Rainsy. An American was wounded in the attack, prompting an FBI investigation.

The opposition leader and groups like Human Rights Watch have long blamed security forces loyal to Hun Sen, the co-prime minister, for the attack, a claim Hun Sen and his representatives deny.

In a report written after the investigation, the FBI said witnesses had been intimidated and were reluctant to talk with Cambodian authorities. One interview subject, codenamed Fingerprint Number One, was photographed by a Cambodian intelligence agent without permission, the FBI reported.

This angered at least one FBI agent, who threatened to end the investigation altogether, according to the report, obtained by VOA Khmer through a Freedom of Information request. More than 1,200 pages of the report were released to VOA Khmer under the request.

Sinatoons (from 1997): 1997 Grenade Attack

Cartoon by V. Sina

The March 30, 1997 Tragedy

The 30 March 1997 Tragedy

http://www.scribd.com/full/51365148?access_key=key-28pvh0xkgpsx5z15d2bl

Security Concerns Hampered FBI in 1997 Investigation

Police look for survivors of the grenade attack.
Sketches of three suspects identified by FBI.
Then second prime minister Hun Sen.
Sam Rainsy, right, opposition party leader, prays in front of some displaying portrait photos of Cambodian victims of a deadly grenade attack of March 30, 1997, at a memorial stupa in the capital Phnom Penh.

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
14 January 2010

“The US doesn’t need Cambodia, Cambodia needs the US, and I think the US should remember that. China is an increasing power, but not a superpower, and the US can work with other countries to put pressure on Cambodia to improve its human rights situation, to try to improve governance and dealing with things like corruption and the rule of law” - Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch

“The FBI agent was very stupid” Mok Chito, head of the Cambodian criminal police division

A security threat to an FBI agent in 1997 and concerns over US cooperation with Cambodia put a grenade attack investigation on hold, according to recent media reports.

The agent, Tom Nicoletti, was sent to Cambodia to look into the attack, on an opposition rally, which killed sixteen people and wounded more than 100 others, including an American citizen.

Nicoletti, who is now retired, told the English-language Cambodia Daily that by the time he left Cambodia, the evidence he had collected was not up to US standards for prosecution. He had planned to return, he said in e-mails to the newspaper, but an unfavorable situation in the country prevented it.

Nicoletti said he had been pulled out of Cambodia for fear he may be the target of attacks for his investigation, which pointed toward possible collusion in the attack on opposition leader Sam Rainsy by members of then-second prime minister Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit.

The FBI produced nine sketches of three suspects, including Kong Samrith, also known as Brazil. In a report released to the Cambodian Daily following a Freedom of Information request, the FBI said its investigation had been hampered and that agents had difficulty discerning which witnesses were telling the truth.

One witness told FBI investigators he saw a line of Hun Sen bodyguards allow two grenade-throwers to pass as they fled the carnage of the scene in front of Wat Botum, near what was then the National Assembly building.

The witness “pursued but was prevented from heading towards the wat and nearby CPP headquarters,” according to the report. “As he turned, he was kicked by the soldiers and knocked to the ground.”

However, in another interview, one of Hun Sen’s bodyguards gave a different account, according to recordings posted on www.cambodiagrenade.info. In an interview with another investigator in the case, Peter Hoffman, the bodyguard denied such an incident took place.

“When the grenade throwers were running toward your position, how many people were chasing them?” Hoffman asked the unnamed witness, who answered through a translator.

“I have no intention to count how many people [were] chasing the throwers, and I have no knowledge that those people were the grenade throwers,” the witness replied.

“Do you have good eyesight?” Hoffman asked.

“No, no problem with the eyes. The reason is that there are a lot of demonstrators.”

“So three or four people throw grenades into a crowd,” Hoffman asked, “and you didn’t see anything?”

“I see nothing.”

Ultimately, the FBI investigation became inactive and failed to identify the perpetrators.

“The Cambodian police could finish the investigation any time they want,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. “They would have sufficient information in their files. They just choose not to do it. Maybe because they don’t want to do it, and maybe because they are afraid of Hun Sen.”

Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, denied police were unwilling to pick up the case.

“We lost track when we lost Brazil,” he said, referring to one of the suspects. “At the time, it was chaotic, and Brazil died for no reason in a camp of a political party that I prefer not to name.”

He was referring to bloody street fighting between the Cambodian People’s Party, led by Hun Sen, and Funcinpec, led by Prince Norodom Ranariddh, in a coup that took place months after the grenade attack, July 5 and July 6.

Khieu Sopheak also blamed FBI agent Nicoletti for failing in the case.

“What Tom Nicoletti did was not professional,” Khieu Sopheak said. “He was assigned to conduct the investigation, but could not solve it. Once he concluded a case, he just kept it.”

“The FBI agent was very stupid,” said Mok Chito, who is now head of the criminal police division and was head of Phnom Penh penal police when the attack took place. “He does not know how to investigate. He sometimes listened to other people without knowing [who the subject was]. I remember that in one of its reports, the FBI said I was Hun Sen’s nephew and was chief of municipal police.”

Rights group and families of the victims have insisted that the FBI come back and conclude their investigation to bring those responsible to court.

“I cannot speculate on what the FBI may or may not do in the future regarding this case,” John Johnson, a spokesman for the US Embassy, said in an e-mail. “I can only say that their original investigation was inconclusive and the US Prosecutor’s Office declined to pursue the case.”

He referred further questions to the FBI in Washington, who have not responded to written questions.

The FBI said in its 1997 report a continued investigation could threaten cooperation with Cambodia, but Adams, of Human Rights Watch, said the investigation should be concluded.

“The US doesn’t need Cambodia,” he said. “Cambodia needs the US, and I think the US should remember that. China is an increasing power, but not a superpower, and the US can work with other countries to put pressure on Cambodia to improve its human rights situation, to try to improve governance and dealing with things like corruption and the rule of law.”

Sam Rainsy Party honors the victims of the 1997 grenade attack at the 12th Anniversary Commemoration

March 30, 2009: Sam Rainsy Party honors the victims of the 1997 grenade attack at the 12th Anniversary Commemoration.

Sorng Bamnol Chheam, Ven Hun Sen? - "Blood debt payment, Hun Sen's turn?": A Poem in Khmer by Srey Sra'em

Click on the poem in Khmer to zoom in

Poem in Khmer by Srey Sra'em

Sam Rainsy: OK to the demolition of monument for the victims of the grenade attack if the monument commemorating dead VN soldiers is also demolished

Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Opposition to the demolition of monument for victims of grenade attack

Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy declared in Tuesday that his party will strongly oppose any plan to demolish a monument commemorating the victims of the 30 March 1997 grenade attack, located in a public park in front of the National Assembly. Sam Rainsy’s warning was made following a rumor indicating that the municipality of Phnom Penh plans to demolish the monument to make way for the construction of a new park, in order to improve the view in front of the National Assembly. Sam Rainsy told a group of reporters in front of the National Assembly that he will be willing to the demolition of this monument, if [the city] is willing to demolish the monument built to thank to the Vietnamese soldiers who died in Cambodia [during Vietnam’s invasion in the 80s], which is located nearby the monument for the victims of the grenade attack also. Kep Chuktema, the governor of Phnom Penh, could not be contacted regarding this issue.

US Victim of Phnom Penh Grenade Attack Threatens To Revive Suit Against Hun Sen

13 Apr 07 - 18 Apr 07
Moneakseka Khmer
Translated from Khmer and posted online

Ron Abney, an American who was injured in the grenade attack in front of the National Assembly on 30 March 1997, has been regarded by most situation monitors as a big contributor to maintaining peace and upholding the good names and honor of the Cambodian leaders, helping them to avoid leaving their reputation in the US federal court system.

In reality, regarding the case about the four-grenade attack in front of the National Assembly to disperse the democrats led by leader of Cambodia's opposition party Sam Rainsy in demanding a reform to the justice system, the culprits and mastermind have not yet been identified for prosecution.

No longer trusting the search for justice to the dead and wounded in the 30 March 1997 grenade attack incident, in October 2005 Ron Abney and Sam Rainsy together with two other Cambodian plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Hun Sen in the US federal court of New York City.

Concerning the process of suing strongman Hun Sen at the US federal court in 2005, Ron Abney explained in detail, "This case was based on a law called the Alien Tort Law, with myself as the plaintiff in my capacity as a US citizen attacked overseas who is allowed by this law to bring the case to a US court."

Ron Abney went on to explain to the media, "Sam Rainsy also joined with me at that time of the lawsuit together with a couple of other Khmer citizens. But this certainly was my idea. Therefore, I would like to inform you that this matter has not yet ended, the case has not yet been closed."

This American national said with emphasis: "I decided to withdraw the lawsuit against Hun Sen because I believed and trusted someone I knew very well who told me that Sam Rainsy would be killed if I did not drop the charges."

Ron Abney frankly said that since Sam Rainsy also filed the lawsuit against strongman Hun Sen "I believed that Sam Rainsy would never be permitted or allowed to return to Cambodia if he did not withdraw that lawsuit. I was also told that Koem Sokha's life, too, could be in danger."

It was because of all these reasons that the case has become what it is now. So that the opposition in Cambodia, no matter which group, could exist we had to withdraw the lawsuit.

This means that in order to have an opposition voice in Cambodia and also to conform to the democratic principles, Hun Sen has had to change his attitude for a while. However, because lately Hun Sen has arbitrarily been barking at the opposition party again, Ron Abney showed his personal views as follows: "If Hun Sen said so, by law I have not yet dropped my complaint; I can review and resume the lawsuit.'

Ron Abney said, "This is just a deferment of the lawsuit with no loss to any demand therein. This means that any day if I make a phone call to my lawyer he can immediately re-submit my lawsuit to the US federal court, which will issue a summons to Hun Sen. Therefore, this lawsuit is still alive."

At the same time, Ron Abney's defense attorney said that [the decision to drop the charges] was most surprising and stunning to him because no one gave him any hint about it beforehand. It was less than 24 hours after that that Sam Rainsy had returned to Cambodia.

Ron Abney claimed, "I still can sue Hun Sen and within 10 minutes this case will become a new story if I so desire. I can do it, if I want."

It should be noted that strongman Hun Sen used his oratory on 9 April to bitterly attack the opposition party, charging it of never helping to find any solution to the livelihood problems of the people and of caring only about finding a way to topple him and his Cambodian People's Party [CPP].

But, maybe Hun Sen forgot everything, for he said in January 2006 that Cambodia must have an opposition group to help the government. Not much time had passed since, and Hun Sen already revealed his dark scheme to do away with the opposition party when this power-crazy man became well aware that Sam Rainsy would become the leader of the great movement uniting all the democrats.

While Hun Sen was worried about the democrats united into a single body and following Sam Rainsy's correct path, a force which could bring great danger to his CPP, Hun Sen made this menace: "It is time for the CPP to also prepare strategy, that is, to fight back."

Realizing that this is a pressure situation for the opposition party, US citizen Ron Abney pre-warned that he "might resume the lawsuit against Hun Sen at the US federal court although he has already withdrawn it."

In reality, to render justice to the [ 16] dead and hundreds of wounded in the 30 March 1997 grenade attack incident in front of the National Assembly, getting the culprits is the most important endeavor because no power in the world should cover up this great tragedy.

However, Ron Abney agreed to withdraw the lawsuit from the US federal court because he was told that "if he did not drop the charges about what happened in Cambodia Sam Rainsy would surely get killed."

Letter a ‘Message Of Regret,’ Not An Apology

The following is a letter sent by opposition leader Sam Rainsy in response to the Cambodia Daily's article which stated that Sam Rainsy sent a "formal letter of apology" to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

I write to clarify a point in the article "Decade Yields Few Clues in 1997 Grenade Attack". The letter that I sent to Prime Minister Hun Sen in February 2006 was not a "formal letter of apology" as the article states, but rather a message expressing regret for being forced into a situation where harsh comments were necessary.

I agreed to refrain from making personal attacks and accusations, and committed instead to focus on issues of national importance. One priority, for instance, is to reform the judiciary in order to render justice to the victims of human rights abuses and political violence.

Sam Rainsy,
SRP President,
Phnom Penh

Cambodia opposition demands end to culture of impunity

Opposition party leader Sam Rainsy pays respect in front of a memorial for victims of a deadly grenade attack, in Phnom Penh March 30, 2007. Friday marks the 10th year anniversary of a grenade attack which took place in front of the national assembly killing 16 people and injuring 150. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Saturday, March 31, 2007
AFP

“These cowards were sent by government thugs and their agents to try and kill those threatening Hun Sen’s hold on the people” - Ron Abney of the perpetrators of the 30 March 1997 grenade attack

Like militants and anti­government civil libertarians in the Philippines, Cambodia’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy demanded Friday an end to the country’s culture of impunity, at a ceremony in Phnom Penh, the capital, marking a grenade attack that killed at least 16 protesters 10 years ago.

No one has been arrested for the bombing of the anti­government protest, which also wounded more than 120 people, including an American, despite government claims that the case is still open.

“All compatriots, unite together to end this culture of impunity in order to stop powerful people from killing others at will and not face conviction,” a tearful Sam Rainsy said.

“Ten years have passed but our hurt and misery remain the same,” he added, standing at the site outside Cambodia’s parliament where four grenades were hurled into the crowd on March 30, 1997.

Sam Rainsy called on the governments of France and the United States to look into the grenade attack.

The New York-based rights group, Human Rights Watch, on Thursday also urged the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to reinvestigate the attack.

The FBI opened a probe into the attack after US citizen Ron Abney, who was country director of the US-funded democracy group International Republican Institute, was seriously wounded by shrapnel.

But the investigation was hampered by uncooperative Cambodian government officials and quickly bogged down.

In a statement read out at Friday’s gathering, Abney said “that one tragic event that day showed the world what happens when [Prime Minister] Hun Sen’s power is questioned.”

“These cowards were sent by government thugs and their agents to try and kill those threatening Hun Sen’s hold on the people,” he said.

Bodyguards of Hun Sen have been accused by rights groups of throwing the grenades—a charge repeatedly denied by the premier.

Sam Rainsy had earlier accused Hun Sen of masterminding of the attack, but later recanted after returning last year from self-imposed exile in France, where he had fled to avoid being imprisoned for defaming the premier.

30 March 1997: The victims remember

Chet Chin (R) and Ly Neary (L) in front of the portrait of their son who was killed during the grenade attack on March 30, 1997 (Photo: Pring Samrang, Cambodge Soir)

Friday, March 30, 2007
By Samuel Bartholin and Kong Sothanarith
Cambodge Soir
Unofficial Translation from French by Tola Ek

Click here to read Cambodge Soir’s original article in French

At Chet Chin and Ly Neary’s home, several portraits still bring back memories of a beloved son, Chet Duong Daravuth, a doctor turned journalist who stood alongside Sam Rainsy before being torn apart by a grenade explosion on March 30, 1997. “That Sunday, we left to my village, along with my wife. I didn’t know there was a large demonstration that was being held. In the morning, my second son came to join us, he told me that grenades was thrown on the [demonstration] procession. I was dismayed,” Chet Duong Daravuth’s explains. “We went to the incident location. Armed soldiers prevented access to those injured, among whom was my son. He thus agonized for half an hour,” Ly Neary sobbed. “We never received any explanations from the government as to what happened during that day,” the grieving couple concluded. “We hope that those involved will be brought up face justice, national or international.” Since the death of their son, the parents took up where their son left off to work for the SRP, Ly Neary is now a SRP commune councilor.

Vong Sopheak collaborates as a reporter with several publications. At that time, he was covering for Moneakseka Khmer, an opposition newspaper, the 30 March demonstration. A survivor, he shows the scar which runs over 30 centimeters (one foot) across his belly which was literally opened from the grenade explosion. “The scars are healed physically but never in my mind.” “I was interviewing workers when the first grenade was thrown over,” he recalled. “I dragged myself on the ground towards the National Assembly where the anti-riot police blocked the access. I tried to go to the other side where Khem Sovannara, a photograph, helped me. I later followed the case but without much faith in the government’s investigation. Justice? Maybe in a very long time, there must be political reasons which prevent it from happening. In the absence of any [investigation] result, the Minister of Interior should have resigned. I also regret that Sam Rainsy changed his position in 2006.

“Yong Soknov and Yong Srei told me: ‘it’s a large demonstration, we must go.’ I told them to be careful. They told me again: ‘We must go, it is for justice and factory workers’ salary.’” Ten years ago, Pov Heng lost her daughter and her niece, both in their twenties and factory workers like her. The pair was mortally wounded on the legs and chest. “Besides Sam Rainsy, I find that the government remains quiet on this issue. I regret that no one cares about the death of my children, and also all of those who still continue to die now: activists, union workers. I think the NGOs and the UN should apply more pressure on the government.”

Cambodia remembers victims of deadly grenade attack a decade ago

A Cambodian woman places a flower in front of portraits of victims of a deadly grenade attack, in Phnom Penh March 30, 2007. Friday marks the 10th year anniversary of a grenade attack which took place in front of the national assembly killing 16 people and injuring 150. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Cambodian Buddhist monks pay respect in front of a memorial for victims of a deadly grenade attack, in Phnom Penh March 30, 2007. Friday marks the 10th year anniversary of a grenade attack which took place in front of the national assembly killing 16 people and injuring 150. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Friday, March 30, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Dozens of Buddhist monks chanted prayers Friday to mark the anniversary of a deadly grenade attack at a peaceful anti-government demonstration 10 years ago.

Sam Rainsy, Cambodia's main opposition leader, led about 300 of his supporters to a concrete memorial erected outside the Cambodian National Assembly that honors those killed on the same spot when four grenades were lobbed into a crowd of anti-government demonstrators on March 30, 1997.

At least 16 people were killed and 114 others wounded, including an American. No one has been arrested and no official death toll was released.

Sam Rainsy, who led the demonstration and escaped unharmed during the attack, on Friday renewed his call for justice.

"Although 10 years have passed, our sufferings still remain with us — so does our determination to see justice done for the victims," he said Friday at the ceremony.

U.S. citizen Ron Abney was among the wounded, prompting an FBI probe that has never been made public.

Abney did not attend the commemoration Friday. But he issued a statement handed out at the ceremony that called the attackers "thugs and agents" sent by the government "to try and kill those threatening (Prime Minister) Hun Sen's hold on the people."

"We can't let the killers of these brave men and women who were slaughtered go unpunished," he said.

Sam Rainsy had previously accused Hun Sen of being behind the attack. But he later retracted the allegation.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch, in a statement Thursday, accused authorities of involvement in the attack.

"The Cambodian authorities have never conducted a serious investigation into this attack, either despite or because of substantial evidence of government involvement," Brad Adams, the group's Asia director, said in the statement.

The statement noted that on the day of the attack the Cambodian police force — which had routinely kept a high profile at opposition demonstrations to discourage public participation — had been unusually absent.

However, Hun Sen's personal bodyguards had been "for the first time" deployed at a demonstration, implying they were there to help the attackers escape. Human Rights Watch urged the FBI to reopen an investigation into the attack.

Hun Sen has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack.

Khieu Sopheak, a police lieutenant general and spokesman of Cambodia's Interior Ministry, on Friday dismissed allegations of government involvement as "groundless."

He said the investigation into the case remains open but that the government had no new leads to pursue.

SRP commemorates the 10th anniversary of the grenade attack in front of the Nat'l Assembly

Sam Rainsy, left, opposition party leader, prays with incense sticks in front of a memorial of Cambodian victims of a deadly grenade attack of March 30, 1997, in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, March 30, 2007. Cambodian opposition party supporters and Buddhist monks chanted prayer at a ceremony remembering Friday the victims of a deadly grenade attack on peaceful demonstration 10 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian Buddhist monks chant as they pray in front of some displaying portrait photos of Cambodian victims of a deadly grenade attack of March 30, 1997, at a memorial stupa in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, March 30, 2007. Cambodian opposition party supporters and Buddhist monks chanted prayer at a ceremony remembering Friday the victims of a deadly grenade attack on peaceful demonstration 10 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Sam Rainsy, right, opposition party leader, prays in front of some displaying portrait photos of Cambodian victims of a deadly grenade attack of March 30, 1997, at a memorial stupa in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, March 30, 2007. Cambodian opposition party supporters and Buddhist monks chanted prayer at a ceremony remembering Friday the victims of a deadly grenade attack on peaceful demonstration 10 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Decade Later, Rights Group Calls for Justice for Grenade Attack

Mourners cry out at a funeral for people killed March 30, 1997, when four grenades were hurled into a crowd of opposition demonstrators. Thirteen people died in the attack, but no suspect has ever been tried.

Reaksmey Heng
VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
29/03/2007

The New York-based Human Rights Watch Thursday criticized the Cambodian government for its lack of progress into the investigation of a 1997 grenade attack.

The statement came on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the grenade attack, March 30, and as preparations were underway for a peaceful demonstration by opposition leader Sam Rainsy.

Last week, the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights called on the government to release information on investigations of several unresolved cases, including the grenade.

Grenades tossed into the a crowd of Sam Rainsy Party demonstrators in front of the National Assembly in Phnom Penh killed at least 13 people and wounded 30 others.

Ministry of Interior Spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Thursday the government had arrested a suspect, named Verea, who later died in a traffic accident.

“If I am not mistaken, we already found the person behind the attack”, Khieu Sopheak said.

“If the government wants to show its good will, or wants to give justice to the people, they should release information on the investigation,” Kem Sokha, director of the Cambodia Center for Human Rights said. “Don't say that they are still probing; it has been 10 years.”

Meanwhile, Sam Rainsy, who expressed skepticism to the Cambodian government along with its justice system, said he would arranged for a grand Buddhist memorial scheduled for this coming Friday.

Human Rights Watch Calls For New Probe Of 1997 Grenade Attack

March 29th 2007
DPA

Human Rights Watch called Thursday for the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to reopen its probe of a 1997 grenade attack on a political rally in Cambodia. The New York-based non-governmental organization accused the Cambodian government of making no progress in pursuing justice in the March 30, 1997 grenade attack on a rally by supporters of opposition leader Sam Rainsy.

The blast in a park next to the National Assembly in Phnom Penh killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 150 others.

Four grenades were lobbed into the crowd, and both demonstrators and bystanders were among the casualties. Rainsy was wounded in the leg, shielded by a bodyguard who threw himself on the former finance minister after the first detonation. The bodyguard was among the dead.

"The Cambodian authorities have never conducted a serious investigation into this attack, either despite or because of substantial evidence of government involvement," said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. "This attack was intended to destroy serious political pluralism in Cambodia, and it partially succeeded."

Cambodia: After 10 Years, No Justice for Grenade Attack on Opposition

Park worker Chan Dara, 39, clears grass near a memorial of Cambodian victims of a deadly grenade attack of March 30, 1997, in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 29, 2007. The New York-based Human Rights Watch urged the FBI to reopen a probe into the grenade attack that killed more than a dozen Cambodians and wounded an American. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

28 Mar 2007
Human Rights Watch

(New York, March 29, 2007)- Ten years after a grisly grenade attack on an opposition party rally in Phnom Penh left at least 16 dead and more than 150 injured, the Cambodian government has made no progress in bringing the perpetrators to justice, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to reopen its investigation of the attack, which the US government deemed an "act of terrorism."

On March 30, 1997, a crowd of approximately 200 supporters of the opposition Khmer Nation Party (KNP), led by former Finance Minister Sam Rainsy, gathered in a park across the street from the National Assembly to denounce the judiciary's lack of independence and judicial corruption. In a well-planned attack, four grenades were thrown into the crowd, killing protestors and bystanders, including children, and blowing limbs off street vendors.

After the first grenade exploded, Rainsy's bodyguard, Han Muny, threw himself on top of his leader. He took the full force of a subsequent grenade and died at the scene. Rainsy escaped with a minor leg injury.

"The Cambodian authorities have never conducted a serious investigation into this attack, either despite or because of substantial evidence of government involvement," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "This attack was intended to destroy serious political pluralism in Cambodia, and it partially succeeded. Politics in Cambodia has never fully recovered."

On the day of the attack, for the first time co-Prime Minister Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit was deployed at a demonstration. Photographs show them there in full riot gear. The police force, which had previously maintained a high-profile presence at opposition demonstrations in an effort to discourage public participation, had an unusually low profile on this day, grouped around the corner from the park. Other police units, however, were in a nearby police station in full riot gear on high alert.

Also for the first time, the KNP had received official permission from both the Ministry of the Interior and the Phnom Penh municipality to hold a demonstration, fuelling speculation that the demonstration was authorized so it could be attacked.

Numerous witnesses reported that the people who had thrown the grenades subsequently ran toward Hun Sen's bodyguards, who were deployed in a line at the west end of the park in front of a closed and guarded residential compound containing the homes of many senior Cambodian People's Party (CPP) leaders. Witnesses told investigators from the United Nations and the FBI that the bodyguards opened the line to allow the grenade-throwers to pass into the compound, and that members of the crowd pursuing the grenade-throwers were stopped at gunpoint and threatened with being shot if they did not retreat.

In a June 1997 interview with the Phnom Penh Post, Hing Bun Heang, deputy commander of Hun Sen's bodyguard unit, threatened to kill journalists who alleged that Hun Sen's bodyguards were involved.

"The authorities have never offered a credible explanation for the deployment or behavior of Hun Sen's bodyguards," said Adams. "The actions speak for themselves, and may reach the highest levels of the Cambodian government."

Instead of launching a serious investigation, Hun Sen immediately called for the arrest of the demonstration's organizers and instructed police not to allow them to leave the country. (To read an Agence France Presse account published at the time, please see
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/03/28/cambod13086.htm.)

The attack took place at a time of extreme political tension. The coalition government between the royalist FUNCINPEC and Hun Sen's CPP was unraveling after armed clashes in Battambang province the previous month. Rainsy's KNP was seen as a threat in national elections scheduled for the following year. For more than a year, he and his party members had been the subject of attacks and threats from CPP officials and agents. A bloody coup by Hun Sen's forces followed in July 1997, killing more than 100 and sending politicians and activists into exile in fear for their lives.

"This brazen attack carried out in broad daylight ingrained impunity in Cambodia more than any other single act in the country's recent history," said Adams. "A few months later, Hun Sen's coup cemented his hold on power."

At the time, the grenade attack made headlines and provoked outrage around the world. The Washington Post dispatched one of its senior investigative reporters to Phnom Penh. On June 29, 1997, R. Jeffrey Smith wrote:

In a classified report that could pose some awkward problems for US policymakers, the FBI tentatively has pinned responsibility for the blasts, and the subsequent interference, on personal bodyguard forces employed by Hun Sen, one of Cambodia's two prime ministers, according to four US government sources familiar with its contents. The preliminary report was based on a two-month investigation by FBI agents sent here under a federal law giving the bureau jurisdiction whenever a US citizen is injured by terrorism ... The bureau says its investigation is continuing, but the agents involved reportedly have complained that additional informants here are too frightened to come forward.

The FBI investigated the attack because Ron Abney, a US citizen, was seriously injured in the blast. Abney had to be evacuated to Singapore to treat shrapnel wounds in his hip.

While the investigation made a promising start, the Cambodian authorities failed to cooperate sufficiently and it soon wound down. Although on January 9, 2000, CIA director George Tenet said the United States would never forget an act of terrorism against its citizens and would bring those responsible to justice "no matter how long it takes," this investigation has effectively been abandoned.

"The FBI launched the only investigation into the attack, but the US has inexplicably dropped it," said Adams. "Intentional amnesia has since set in, and no government or donor now says a word about the attack."

In March 2006, the FBI awarded a medal to the Cambodian Chief of National Police, Hok Lundy, for his support of the US global campaign against terrorism. Hok Lundy was chief of the national police at the time of the grenade attack and has long been linked to political violence.

"Instead of awarding medals to known human rights abusers, the US government should insist that the FBI return to complete its investigation," said Adams. "Family members of the victims are still waiting for justice."

Human rights group urges FBI to re-investigate Cambodia grenade attack

Carnage scene after the grenade attack on 30 March 1997 (Photo: Asiaweek Magazine)

Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A New York-based human rights group urged the FBI to reopen a probe into a grenade attack that killed more than a dozen Cambodians and wounded an American a decade ago.

Human Rights Watch made the appeal Thursday, a day ahead of the 10th anniversary of the grenade attack on a peaceful demonstration led by opposition leader Sam Rainsy on March 30, 1997.

"This brazen attack carried out in broad daylight ingrained impunity in Cambodia more than any other single act in the country's recent history," Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch's Asia director, said in a statement.

The statement also "urged the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to reopen its investigation of the attack."

No one has been arrested over the assault that killed at least 16 people and wounded 114 others, when four grenades were tossed into a crowd of anti-government demonstrators outside the Cambodian National Assembly in the capital, Phnom Penh.

No official death toll was ever released.

Sam Rainsy, who led the demonstration, escaped unharmed.

U.S. citizen Ron Abney was among the wounded, prompting an FBI probe. However, the FBI has never released the final version of its report on the case.

In the Human Rights Watch statement, Adams said "the FBI launched the only investigation into the attack, but the U.S. has inexplicably dropped it."

"The U.S. government should insist that the FBI return to complete its investigation. Family members of the victims are still waiting for justice," he said.

Sam Rainsy had previously accused Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen of being behind the attack, but later recanted the allegation.

The Human Rights Watch statement said that on the day of the attack the Cambodian police force — which had routinely kept a high profile at opposition demonstrations to discourage public participation — had been unusually absent, and that officers had grouped around the corner from the park where the rally was held.

However, Hun Sen's personal bodyguards had been "for the first time" deployed at a demonstration, the statement said, implying they were there to help the attackers escape.

Hun Sen has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack.