Vietnam reviews the murder case of 2 Khmer Krom youths

Chau Net, one of the two Khmer Krom victims killed by a Viet mob in Raung Damrey (Tay Ninh) province

19 Sept 2010
Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Viet cops in Svay Tong district, Motr Chrouk province (dubbed An Giang in Vietnamese), Kampuchea Krom territories currently under Viet occupation, have summoned the father of Chau Net, a Khmer Krom youth who died during a dispute with a Viet mob, to come and provide clarification in order to produce a report and prepare a lawsuit to resolve this murder case which took place at the beginning of September.

Family members of the victim indicated that about 5 Viet cops came to their house on 18 September and handed them a summon letter to go meet the Svay Tong district authority on 20 September.

Chau Net’s father who declined to provide his name, told RFA over the phone on 19 September that the Viet cops told him that he must provide clarification in order to bring up a complain.

He indicated that he plans to ask for 50 to 60 million dongs in compensation (~US$3,000), and he will demand that the Viet authority arrest the suspects and bring them to face justice: “I went to complain at the Svay Tong district. They killed [one of] us, I want them to know about our issue so that later, they will pay compensation for us.”

Neighboring Khmer Krom families indicated that Khmer Krom families need justice: “We want to see the arrest of the culprits. As for those who died, it’s up to the authority to help resolve in order to provide a reasonable resolution.”

On 02 September, two Khmer Krom youths were killed by a Viet mob armed with knives and batons in a rubber plantation located in Raung Damrey province (dubbed Tay Ninh in Vietnamese), Kampuchea Krom territories. Eleven other Khmer Krom youths were injured in the violence. The attack was blamed by Khmer Krom families on verbal dispute and racial discrimination [against the Khmer Krom workers in the rubber plantation].

22-year-old Chau Net was one of the Khmer Krom youths who was killed, he was born in Rolaing village, Rolaing commune, Svay Tong district, Motr Chrouk province. Chau Phat was the other Khmer Krom youth who was killed. He was native of Banteay Svay commune, Svay Tong district, Motr Chrouk province.

As of now, it is not known yet how the Viet cops plan to resolve this request made by the families of the victims.

SRP MP Yont Tharo, who is also a Khmer Krom native, sent a letter to Son Song Son, a member of the Viet communist party central committee and deputy-leader of the southwest region of Vietnam, asking him to help intervene and open an investigation in order to arrest the culprits and bring them to justice.

Yont Tharo’s letter was sent through the Viet embassy in Phnom Penh, but Viet embassy officials refused to accept the letter and they decline to explain why.

Opposition MP demands justice for Khmer Krom men killed by Viet mob

Chau Net, one of the two Khmer Krom victims killed by a Viet mob in Raung Damrey (Tay Ninh) province

16 Sept 2010
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click here to read the article in Khmer

The death of two Khmer Krom men at the beginning of September 2010 has not been legally resolved by the Viet authority yet.

On 16 September, A SRP MP asked high-ranking Viet officials to intervene in order to arrest the suspects or the murderers who led a mob beating and killing on 2 Khmer Krom men, and injuring 11 others at the beginning of September. The beating and killing was done by a mob of Viet villagers in Raung Damrey province (renamed Tay Ninh in Vietnamese) on Kampuchea Krom land (South Vietnam).

SRP MP Yont Tharo sent a letter to Son Son Song, a member of the Vietnamese Communist party central committee and deputy chairman of the southwest region of Vietnam, through the intermediary of the Viet embassy in Phnom Penh. However, no Viet diplomat dare came out to accept this letter.

Yont Tharo told RFA on 16 September: “I am asking him to help intervene for the family of the victims in order to provide justice for them, because, up to now, the Khmer Krom men were victimized for more than two weeks already. The cops still have not arrested the culprits, nor charge them according to the law yet.”

The killing took place on 02 September 2010 at a Viet rubber plantation in Raung Damrey province. The family of the victims claimed that the killing was due to a racial discrimination dispute. A mob of several dozen Viets used batons and knives in the killing.

Chau Net, a 22-year-old Khmer Krom man who was born in Rolaing commune, Svay Tong district, Motr Chrouk province (renamed An Giang in Viet) was killed on the spot, and another Khmer Krom man, Chau Phat, who was born in Banteay Svay commune, Svay Tong district, Motr Chrouk province, later died at the hospital.

A Viet embassy official in Cambodia who can speak Cambodian, said briefly that he heard the information about Yont Tharo’s protest also: “We cannot accept it. The information heard was as such, but the truth about it, the embassy did not receive it.”

Chau Net’s father said that he demanded a compensation amounting to 60 million dongs (about $3,000) and he also demanded that the authority arrest and bring to justice the suspects in this case: “Now, they told us to bring a complain, they told us to complain like that. We also complained to the lower level so that the group of killers pays for the compensation.”

Chau Net’s father was summoned by the Viet authority to clarify this case in the upcoming few days in order to provide his report and his complaint about his son’s murder.

Kon Chhoeu Nas Me - "Mother, I am so hurt": A Poem in Khmer dedicated to Chau Net, a Khmer Krom youth killed by Viet mob

Click on the poem to zoom in the poem in Khmer by Thach Ngoc Thach, KKF President

Click here to listen to the audio (WMA) reading of the peom by Ms. Thach Socheata

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Yuon Mob

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

On 02 September 2010, a hacking incident of Khmer Krom men took place in a Vietnamese rubber plantation located in Raung Damrey (Tay Ninh in Vietnamese) province. The incident led to the following deaths and injuries sustained by the victims among the 22 Khmer Krom people who work as laborers in this plantation:

1. 22-year-old Chau Net was hacked to death by a Vietnamese mob in Rolaing village, Rolaing commune, Svay Tong disttict, Motr Chrouk province.
2. Chau Phat, a resident of Banteay Svay commune, Svay Tong district, Motr Chrouk province, was seriously injured and he succumbed to his wounds on 07 September 2010.
3. Chau Keo, a resident of Banteay Svay commune, Svay Tong district, Motr Chrouk province, was seriously injured and he is still hospitalized.
4. Another Khmer Krom youth saw his shoulder hacked by the same Vietnamese mob, and 5 others were slightly injured.

Website: http://www.khmerkrom.net

KKF Appeal on the Tragedy Suffered by Khmer Krom

Chau Net was hacked to death by a Viet mob on 02 September 2010
Click on the appeal letter in Khmer to zoom in

Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation Appeal
On the Tragedy Suffered by Khmer Krom

The Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF) would like to inform all our compatriots living on our lands, in Cambodia and throughout the world, on the tragedy, the suffering and the murder perpetrated on Khmer Krom people by a number of racist Yuon leaders and mob.

On 02 September 2010, a hacking incident of Khmer Krom men took place in a Vietnamese rubber plantation located in Raung Damrey (Tay Ninh in Vietnamese) province. The incident led to the following deaths and injuries sustained by the victims among the 22 Khmer Krom people who work as laborers in this plantation:

1. 22-year-old Chau Net was hacked to death by a Vietnamese mob in Rolaing village, Rolaing commune, Svay Tong disttict, Motr Chrouk province.
2. Chau Phat, a resident of Banteay Svay commune, Svay Tong district, Motr Chrouk province, was seriously injured and he succumbed to his wounds on 07 September 2010.
3. Chau Keo, a resident of Banteay Svay commune, Svay Tong district, Motr Chrouk province, was seriously injured and he is still hospitalized.
4. Another Khmer Krom youth saw his shoulder hacked by the same Vietnamese mob, and 5 others were slightly injured.

As indicated above, the KKF is issuing our appeal to all Khmer people, those living on our lands, in Cambodia and overseas, to please help provide for and grieve with the families of the victims, both in terms of moral and financial support, in order to encourage our Khmer Krom people who are now living in Motr Chrouk province in particular, and in Kampuchea Krom in general. Please contact the KKF branches or KKF representatives in your area, or contact our main office directly.

Done in the USA, 06 September 2010

(Signed) Thach Ngoc Thach
KKF Executive Director

Contact:
Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation
P.O. Box 0193
Pennsauken, New Jersey 08110-0193
USA
Tel: (856) 655-3838
Fax: (856) 583-1503
Website: http://www.khmerkrom.net
Email: Thach.thach@KhmerKrom.org

Second Khmer Krom victim succumbed to Viet mob attack

Click on the appeal letter in Khmer to zoom in

Translated from French by Khmer Krok Chhor
La version originale en français se trouve en fin de la version anglaise

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Dear Friends and Compatriots,

I have a sad news to share with you all, following the killing of 22-year-old Chau Net during a savage attack by a Viet mob in Raung Damrey (Tay Ninh province in Vietnamese) on 02 September, Chau Phat, one of the victims of the same attack who was injured, succumbed due to his wounds at his hospital bed on 07 September.

We are expressing our indignation against this savage act perpetrated by the Viets living in Tay Ninh and we are asking the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to please charge these despicable killers.

In the name of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation Europe (KKFE), I would like to present our sad condolences to the loved ones of the victim.

In solidarity with our Khmer Krom compatriots, I am appealing to your generosity to help provide for the needy family of the victim. To send in your donation, please see the appeal letter in Khmer above (as well the contact information in English at the bottom of the appeal). Thank you!

With our deepest sorrow,

Mr. Vien Thach
KKFE President
-----------
Chers Amis et Compatriotes,

J’ai la triste nouvelle de vous annoncer que après le décès du jeune Chau Net, 22 ans, durant le massacre des sauvages viets de Raung Damrey (Tay Ninh) du 2 septembre, M. Chau Phat, gravement blessé du même massacre, a été succombé de ses blessures à l’hôpital le 7 septembre.

Nous manifestons notre indignation contre cette acte de sauvagerie des viets de Tay Ninh et demande au Gouvernement de la République Socialiste du Vietnam de bien vouloir inculper ces ignobles assassins.

Au nom de la FKKE et de la Communauté khmer krom en Europe, je présente à la Famille du Défunt nos condoléances très attristées.

Et au nom de la solidarité, je fais appel à la générosité de tous nos compatriotes de bien vouloir aider la famille du défunt qui est vraiment dans le besoin absolu. Pour faire une donation, veuillez lire les modalités en khmer en pièce jointe. D’avance, merci.

LISTE DES DONATEURS :

1. M. Heng Tekly ….. 20€00
2.

Avec nos profonds regrets,

M. Vien Thach
Pdt de la FKKE

An Appeal for Justice as Racial Attacks Kills One Khmer-Krom, Two hospitalized and Half a Dozen Injured

An Appeal for Justice as Racial Attacks Kills One Khmer-Krom, Two hospitalized and Half a Dozen Injured

09/05/2010

To: International Labour Organization (ILO), International Human Rights Organizations, UN Human Rights Council, Democratic Governments and International Media.

BACKGROUND

On September 2, 2010, 22 Khmer-Krom workers from a Vietnamese rubber plantation company in Tay Ninh province, southern Vietnam were off work on the Vietnam’s National Day holiday and decided to explore a local market in the Vietnamese-populated town.

Upon their arrival to the town, one Vietnamese individual approached a member of the group, namely Chau Net, and asked if they were Khmer-Krom people or not. Mr. Chau Net, aged 22, answered that they were Khmer-Krom. The Vietnamese individual immediately called out to his group of 200 men who came equipped themselves with weapons consisting of knives, axes and swords. They started to attack the members of the Khmer-Krom group with their weapons. Mr. Chau Net’s skull was sliced in half by an axe and then horrifically beheaded by a Samurai sword.

Two Khmer-Krom victims, Mr. Chau Phat and Mr. Chau Keo who were also attacked and remains critically injured at a hospital in Long Xuyen city, An Giang province. Another victim was axed on his shoulder while some others with minor injuries have headed home to take care of their injuries. Nine Khmer-Krom workers who fled the scene was unscathed and returned home fearing for their safety.

• Mr. Chau Net, 22, a son of Mr. Chau Ket and Mrs. Ni Vot, resided in Ro-Lang hamlet, RoLang commune, Tri Ton district, An Giang province.
• Mr. Chau Phat and Mr. Chau Keo reside in Banh-Tel Svay hamlet, Banh-Tel Svay commune, Tinh Bien district, An Giang province.
• One victim with shoulder injuries resides in Kong Onn Pey commune, Tri Ton district, An Giang province.
• Other victims were from Tri Ton district, Tinh Bien district, and Chak-Kradao village nears Long Xuyen city of An Giang province.

REASON OF THE ATROCITIES

Based on the information received from the surviving victims, the incidence took place on two alleged reasons:

1. There were growing animosities between the Khmer-Krom workers and the Vietnamese workers at the Vietnamese Rubber Plantation because the Khmer-Krom group refused to join a protest for a pay-raise against the company owner. The Khmer-Krom workers feared that they might lose their employment if they participated.
2. There is a mythical belief, known as “Ong Bo” in Tay Ninh province where the spirit of “Ong Bo” is awakened once a year and has ordered the killings of Khmer-Krom people as sacrifices. The belief of “Ong Bo” by the Vietnamese locals has incited major hatred and racist acts against the Khmer-Krom people.

THE STATE DENIES JUSTICE WHILE ENCOURAGING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

The owner of the Rubber Plantations Company has compensated the Khmer-Krom victims for only 30 million dong (Vietnamese currency) or approximately $1,500 in US. The amount barely covered the cost of a coffin for the funeral or travelling expenses for the injured. The victims who have been hospitalized at Long Xuyen’s hospital claimed their hospital cost is already 20 million dong.

In the rule of law, the Vietnamese authorities have taken no legal action against the Vietnamese murderers who attacked, injured, and killed the Khmer-Krom migrant workers. The lack of legal action by the Vietnamese authorities toward this racially inspired attacked against the indigenous peoples of the Mekong Delta has sent a clear and loud message to the world that the Khmer-Krom people remain second-class citizens on their own land. The double-standard behavior of the Vietnamese authorities encourages Vietnamese racial discrimination against the Khmer-Krom locals.

On behalf of the Khmer-Krom victims and their voiceless families in An Giang province, we seek the urgent attention of the international community to:

• Urge Vietnamese authorities to immediately investigate, apprehend and punish those that were involved in the attack as part of their commitment to combat racial discrimination.
• Urge that the government of Vietnam to generously compensate for the loss and the pains suffered by the victims and their families.
• Urge that the government of Vietnam adopts a bill to penalize Hate Crimes, and discrimination against the Khmer-Krom people in order to prevent the above incident from happening again.
• Urge Vietnam to set up social programs/agencies in urban centers to assist Khmer-Krom migrant workers in time of needs.
• Ask Vietnam to strictly enforce Labor Law against the abuses committed by the employers and among co-workers themselves (i.e. to prevent the above case whereby Vietnamese workers killed Khmer-Krom workers).

Thach Ngoc Thach
KKF President

A Khmer-Krom Youth Killed in Kampuchea-Krom Because He is Khmer

Sunday, September 05, 2010
Source: The Khmer Krom Network

In Kampuchea-Krom, most of the Khmer-Krom youths drop out of school after finishing their middle school or even earlier because they have to find works to support their family. The Khmer-Krom youths cannot find works in their villages. They have to leave their beloved villages to look for works in the factories near Prey Nokor (Sai Gon) City, rubber plantations, or even working as servants for the Vietnamese families. Whatever job they can find, they are willing to take even it is under paid, so they can earn some money to support their family.

On September 2, 2010, twenty two Khmer-Krom youths from Moth-Chrouk (An Giang) province who were working for a rubber plantation in Raung Domrei (Tay Ninh) province received day off because it was the Vietnamese National Holiday (Vietnamese Independence Day). They left their rubber plantation to enjoy the holiday break at night. Unfortunate, they were attacked by the Vietnamese local people. One Khmer-Krom Youth was killed. Eleven others are injured, but two of them are severely injured.

According to the World Khmer Radio, the Khmer-Krom Youth who was killed was Chau Net. The other two youths who are currently severely injured are Chau Phat and Chau Keo. The reason that Chau Net was killed because he was asked by the Vietnamese people who was he? He answered, "I am Khmer" in Vietnamese. After hearing that Mr. Chau Net is Khmer, without any reasons, the Vietnamese local people in that town started attacking him and his friends with swords and axes.

It was a violent attack and also a murder case, but the Vietnamese police did not come to protect the Khmer-Krom youths because Vietnamese authorities always treat the Khmer-Krom as second-class in their society. Thus, the Vietnamese authorities do not take any action to protect Khmer-Krom youths and bring the killers to face justice.

Please click on this link to listen to the Interview of the World Khmer Radio between Mr. Sam Borin and his staff, Mr. Song San, from Kampuchea-Krom.

3 Vietnamese arrested for killing a Cambodian boy

The body of 14-year-old Ry Roth Chea Virak who was savagely beaten up and killed by the Yuons (Photo: Thoeun, Koh Santepheap newspaper)

11 October 2007
By Moeung Tum
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

3 Vietnamese men suspected of killing a Cambodian boy, and severely injuring a Cambodian man, were arrested by the Vietnamese authority recently.

A report from the Vietnamese border troop delegation and the local Vietnamese commune and district authorities indicated that Vietnamese suspects could face death sentence if they are found guilty.

Heng Vichhun, a 14-year-old Cambodian teenager who escaped the murder attempt from the 3 Vietnamese, told RFA about the incident which occurred on 07 October 2007.

Heng Vicchun recounted with fear on how the 3 Vietnamese men chased after him and a group of Cambodian men with a stick and an ax. The Cambodian men went to catch fish in An Giang province, Vietnam.

During the incident, 14-year-old Roth Chea Virak was beaten up the Vietnamese men who caught him, pushed and held him under water until he drowned and died. 39-year-old So Sopheap, another victim, was stopped by the same Vietnamese men also, he was beaten up and axed. He is now under serious condition at the Russian hospital in Phnom Penh. Doctors said that So Sopheap is still in a semi-coma state and he is not conscious yet.

Khmer fishermen are maimed and killed when they trespass into VN ... but when the Yuons trespass into Cambodia, the border is wide open for them

Scene at the village when the body of 14-yearold Ry Roth Chea Virak was brought back to Cambodia. The boy was savagely killed by the Yuons. (Photo: Thoeun, Koh Santepheap newspaper)

So Sopheap skull was axed and he was also beaten up by 3 Yuons (Photo: Thoeun, Koh Santepheap newspaper)

The body of 14-year-old Ry Roth Chea Virak who was savagely beaten up and killed by the Yuons (Photo: Thoeun, Koh Santepheap newspaper)

One boy killed, 1 injured, 2 disappeared, and 3 escaped among the 7 who went to set their fishing nets inside Vietnam

Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Koh Santepheap newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy and Socheata

Svay Rieng province – A report indicated that a young boy was hacked an killed, one man was seriously injured, 2 men disappeared, and 3 were able to escape, when a group of 7 men met with violence from 3 yuon men who were angry that the Cambodian group set their fishnet inside yuon territories. The young boy who was killed is 14-year-old Ry Roth Chea Virak. The seriously injured man is 39-year-old So Sopheap, he was beaten on his right rib cage, and he was hacked once with an ax on his skull. The victim fled by swimming on the river to reach the Cambodian shore. During the incident, 2 men disappeared, and 3 escaped back to Cambodia without injuries. The 7 men are living in Chies Russey village, Chamlong commune, Svay Chrum district, Svay Rieng province.

The incident took place at around 3:00 PM on 07 October, near O’Lech Chhuk or Trapeang Trav rice fields, located in village No. 3, Hung Dien A commune, Vinh Hung district, Long An province in Vietnam. According to one of the boy who was a victim in the incident, he said that before the incident took place, a group of 7 children and adults took a small boat to set fishing nets at the area above, from about 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. After setting the net, Heng Pichhun, a 14-year-old boy, was standing guard with Ry Roth Chea Virak, another 14-year-old boy, when they saw three yuons chasing and axing 39-year-old So Sopheap. When they saw that, they started to flee, one of the yuons hit Ry Roth who fell into the water, at that time, Heng Pichhun kept on fleeing until he reached a small stream along the border, he then jumped into the stream and swam back to Cambodia. However, Ry Roth was hit three times by the yuons, once on his neck and twice on his torso, he fell down and died next to the fishing nets.

So Sopheap, the injured man, said that after setting up the nets, he went to stand on the border of a rice field, when 3 yuons with their faces masked, walked towards him. At first, he had a normal conversation with them, but the three yuons were holding in their hands a knife, an ax, and a stick, respectively. So Sopheap said that he thought the 3 yuons were also setting up fishnets also, but after exchanging a few words with them, one of the yuons hit him with the stick on his right rib cage, and another one came to block him and axed him on the head, and broke his skull. He then started to flee while shouting for help, but to no avail because he was out in the middle of nowhere, and he was about 1-1/2 kilometers from the border between Cambodia and Vietnam. At that time, the yuons were still charging behind him, and he kept on running until he reached the Chies Russey stream, jumped into it, and swam back into Cambodia. When he reached Cambodia’s shore, he started to vomit blood, and became dizzy, before passing out. According to So Sopheap’s family, Cambodian border guards saw him and they fetched his family to come and take him to the Svay Rieng hospital for emergency care. So Sopheap believed that he was very lucky. As for the young boy who was killed, Cambodian border guards at Chies Russey contacted their Vietnamese counterpart to bring his body back, but the yuon side did not allow them to enter their country.

39-year-old Sok Saron, the father of the boy killed, is the deputy-chairman of the Ang Ta So commune administration, located in Svay Chrum district, said that the boy killed is his second son who is in 7th grade in Ta Chey middle school. He also said that the 2 men who disappeared are: 20-year-old Teuk Khnay, he is single, and 27-year-old Nhoung Phearun. He said that Mok Sokhom, Nhoung Phearun’s wife, cried all day long because she couldn’t find her husband, and as of 08 October, 12:00 AM, there is still no sign of the disappearing men. Group of villagers can be heard crying along the borders, they begged the authority to help find their husbands, children, grandchildren, uncles, nephews, the spectacle is really pitiful. The mother of the boy killed cried until she passed out. Among the 3 who escaped back unharmed are: (1) 14-year-old Heng Pichhun, (2) 40-year-old In Bun Thoeun, (3) 20-year-old Uth Pisey.

An official working at the Chies Russey border post said that at 4:00 PM on 07 October, 5 villagers and the father of the boy killed, along with border police officers, took a boat to try to retrieve the body of the boy, and later on, another group of 20 other villagers also took out their boats to search the boy, but all of them were prevented by the yuons. After negotiations with the yuon soldiers, the father of boy killed and 5 of his relatives were allowed to go see the boy’s body, but the other villagers were prevented from going near his body. It was not until 7:00 AM on 08 October that Major Ros Viravuth, the director of the provincial criminal department, asked for the cooperation from the yuon side to see the body of the boy in Vietnam, and it was not until 10:00 AM that the yuons allowed his body to be brought back to Cambodia.

Cambodian police officers said that the report for this case will be set up by the yuons, and it will be handed over to the Cambodian authority at a later date. However, there is no indication as to whether the yuon authority will search and arrest the killers. Cambodian officials also indicated that at the end of this semester, the yuon side beat up a young boy in Daung village, and injured him on 16 September. Later, on 20 September, the yuons also beat up an old woman causing her serious injuries on her head, the old woman was simply herding her buffaloes along the border in Daung commune. Now, during the present incident, the yuons escalated into a killing. The authority said that in the case of the 2 men who disappeared, there is no certain information yet, because in the past, when these men went to catch fish, they could sleep on the roads for 1 to 2 nights before returning back home, therefore the authority is still looking for them.