Cambodian court upholds convictions for murder of British mine-clearer

Victim of the Khmer Rouge: Christopher Howes, who was abducted and killed in Cambodia in 1996

A Cambodian appeals court has upheld the convictions of four men for the kidnap and murder of a British expat 15 years ago.

02 Mar 2011

By Leah Hyslop

The Telegraph (UK)

Christopher Howes, a 37-year-old British mine-clearing expert, was kidnapped and killed by former Khmer Rouge rebels in March 1996 when he was working to clear mines in north western Cambodia.

Last week, an appeals court in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh upheld 20-year prison sentences for three men accused of committing the murder, as well as a 10-year prison sentence for a fourth man who was involved in the kidnapping.

Mr Howes, who worked for the international mine-clearing charity the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), was abducted along with around 30 Cambodian colleagues near Angkor Wat, the historic temple complex, and taken to a Khmer Rouge base in Anlong Veng. Mr Howes was told he could leave to fetch a ransom, but refused to leave his co-workers behind. The Cambodian workers were eventually released, but Mr Howes and his translator, Houn Hourth, were killed.

Four Guilty, One Released in Deminer Killing

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 October 2008

Click here to listen to the Khmer audio program

Four former Khmer Rouge soldiers were sentenced up to 20 years in prison and one man was released Tuesday, following a murder trial for the death of a British deminer and his interpreter in 1996.

Christopher Howes and Hun Huoth were shot and killed in Anlong Veng following their abduction with other deminers from a site near Angkor Wat in March 1996.

Chiep Cheth, 33, was released Tuesday, when Phnom Penh Municipal Court announced a non-guilty verdict for his role in the killings. Chiep Cheth had said in his defense he had led a group of Khmer Rouge soldiers to the site where Howes and others were demining. Had he disobeyed, he said, he would have been killed.

The soldiers, who were under the command of notorious Khmer Rouge guerrilla Ta Mok, were found guilty Tuesday, following their one-day trial Oct. 3.

Khem Nguon, 58, a former commander in Anlong Veng, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, along with his subordinate, Loch Mao, 56, and his driver, Puth Lim, 57. Subordinate Sin Dorn, 52, was given 10 years in prison.

Put Lim, a former KR soldier sentenced to 20 years in prison for the killing of Christopher Howes and his translator

Put Lim, right, a former Khmer Rouge soldier, sits next to an unidentified woman outside the court room of Phnom Penh Municipal Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008. Four former Khmer Rouge rebels, including Put Lim, were sentenced up to 20 years in prison Tuesday for their involvement in the murder of a British mine-clearing expert 12 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Put Lim, right, a former Khmer Rouge soldier, gets to his feet outside the court room of Phnom Penh Municipal Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008. Four former Khmer Rouge rebels, including Put Lim, were sentenced up to 20 years in prison Tuesday for their involvement in the murder of a British mine-clearing expert 12 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Khmer Rouge trio get 20 years for killing Briton

Tue Oct 14, 2008

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A Cambodian court sentenced three former Khmer Rouge soldiers to 20 years in jail on Tuesday for the murder of British de-miner Christopher Howes and his translator in 1996.

The trio told the court last week they had received orders directly from Khmer Rouge "Brother Number One" Pol Pot to kill Howes due to Britain's support for the Phnom Penh government that came to power after U.N.-backed elections in 1993.

Howes was working for Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a British-based charity, when he and his Cambodian interpreter were captured near the northwestern town of Siem Reap before being taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng along the Thai border.

He was shot in the head in March 1996 after receiving a final meal of fruit, which he ate on the floor by the light of car headlights, the court heard last week.

Another former Khmer Rouge soldier, Chheam Chit, 38, was released by the court after trial judge Iv Kimsry accepted that he had been forced at gunpoint to lead the rebels to the place where they could ambush Howes.

"If I had not led them, they would have killed me," Cheam Chit told the courtroom, which was packed with British diplomats and representatives of MAG.

The murder of Howes, who was working to clear up the millions of landmines and unexploded bombs left by decades of civil war, outraged many ordinary Cambodians. A road was named after him in the heart of Phnom Penh.

(Reporting by Ek Madra; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Alex Richardson)

KRouge fighters jailed for British mine clearer's murder

Former Cambodian Khmer Rouge rebel Khem Ngun covers his face as a policeman escorts him into court

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — A Cambodian court Tuesday sentenced four former Khmer Rouge guerrillas to up to 20 years in prison over the kidnapping and murder of a British mine clearer and his translator in 1996.

Three of the five accused were jailed for 20 years, a fourth for 10 years, while the fifth man was acquitted and released.

The international charity Mines Advisory Group, for which the two dead men worked, welcomed the verdict, saying their families were "extremely satisfied with today's outcome."

All five -- Khem Ngun, Puth Lim, Loch Mao, Sin Dorn and Cheap Chet -- were arrested over the past year, nearly a decade after a joint investigation into the incident by British and Cambodian police.

They proclaimed their innocence when they went on trial two weeks ago over the abduction and murder of Christopher Howes and translator Huon Huot.

But the judge convicted Khem Ngun, 58, Puth Lim, 57, and Loch Mao, 56, and sentenced each of them to 20 years in prison, while Sin Dorn, 52, was jailed for 10 years.

Judge Iv Kim Sri, reading out the verdict at the Phnom Penh court, ordered the men jointly to pay 10,000 dollars to the families of the victims.

Puth Lim again denied involvement. "The verdict is unjust for me. I did not kill them," he told reporters.

The fifth man, Cheap Chet, 33, was freed.

Howes and Huon Huot were shot a few days after they and the mine clearance team were seized near the famed Angkor Wat temples in northwest Cambodia.

At the time, the communist Khmer Rouge were battling government troops in the final years of Cambodia's drawn-out civil war.

Howes, 37, refused a chance to leave his kidnapped team of 20 mine clearers to retrieve a ransom.

While the rest were eventually released he and Huon Huot were taken deeper into rebel-held territory and killed.

Their remains were found in 1998, the same year Cambodia's civil war ended when the Khmer Rouge movement disintegrated.

"Today, we feel that justice has been done for our two colleagues who were brutally murdered whilst carrying out life-saving work," Mines Adivsory Group executive Lou McGrath said in a statement issued at the court.

Pol Pot ordered murder of British mine-clearer, court told

Trial hears Khmer Rouge leader had blanket policy to murder foreigners on grounds they supported the government

Friday October 03 2008
Ian MacKinnon in Phnom Penh
The Guardian (UK)

A British mine-clearing expert who was murdered in Cambodia and his remains burned to hide the evidence was killed on the orders of the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, a court heard today.

The trial of five former Khmer Rouge cadres accused of the kidnap and murder of Christopher Howes, 37, more than 12 years ago, heard that the communist leader had a blanket policy to murder foreigners on the grounds that they supported the Cambodian government.

Howes was shot within days of his capture while leading a mine-clearance team north of Siem Reap - home to the Angkor Wat temple complex - after his abductors lulled him into a false sense of security by laying out a sleeping mattress for the night and giving him fruit.

His interpreter, Huon Houth, who was among the 30-strong team from British-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG), was murdered a day earlier when his captors deemed him "no longer necessary" because one of the alleged killers spoke English.

The disappearance of the former British army engineer from Backwell, near Bristol, and Hourth remained a mystery for more than two years as Cambodia's civil war ground on in its death throes.

Investigations by a Scotland Yard team working with the Cambodian police eventually unravelled Howes' fate, declaring he was murdered after forensic tests on bone fragments found in a fire.

The evidence collected from witness statements in the two years after Howes' disappearance was presented at the Phnom Penh court today by former Metropolitan police anti-terrorism officer, Mike Dickson, now an advisor to the UN-backed Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal.

The men in the dock had lived freely in the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng until their arrest a year ago despite suspicions of their involvement in the killings. A deal to end the civil war in 1998 pardoned many Khmer Rouge cadres.

One of the accused, Khem Ngoun, 59, the former chief-of-staff of the one-legged Khmer Rouge army commander, Ta Mok, was a brigadier-general in the Cambodian army until his arrest.

Along with the others, Loch Mao, 54, a Khmer Rouge officer who became a civil servant, Cheath Chet, 34, Puth Lim, 58, and Sin Dorn, 52, the frail Ngoun faces life imprisonment for murder and illegal detention when the investigating judge, Iv Kimsry, delivers his verdict in 10 days' time.

In a marathon session the court heard today of the chilling last days of Howes and Hourth after their abduction on March 26 1996. Some of the de-mining team escaped almost immediately while all the others were released after Howes declined to abandon his staff to fetch ransom money.

Howes and Hourth were taken towards Anlong Veng. But in an interview with the British detectives, Khieu Sampan, the Khmer Rouge's nominal head of state, said that Hourth was killed in Kul village after Ngoun said the interpreter was unnecessary.

Howes was held in a school where Ngoun interrogated him, before he was taken out into the countryside to a road near the house of Mok, who passed the order to "solve the problem" and kill him.

Howes was taken in a white Toyota pickup truck driven by Lim, accompanied by four guards including Ngoun, Mao, and two others, Khem Tem and Soeun Rim, who subsequently died. In a statement to police before his death, Rim said Mao killed Howes with two bullets from an AK-59 rifle provided by Ngoun.

Both Ngoun and Mao changed earlier statements they made and maintained only Rim, who died in 2004, fired the fatal shots. Mao is adamant his weapon jammed and he could not fire.

All the accused argued they acted on orders of the Khmer Rouge's brutal "brother number one" and that failure to do so would have meant certain death.

But Lou McGrath, MAG chief executive who was present at the hearing, dismissed the defence.

"It's good to see this trial," he said. "But I think the defence that if you don't kill others you will be killed yourself is what leads to genocide. It's no excuse and I hope the judge decides that they will feel the full weight of the law."

Five former KRouge claim innocence in trial for killing Briton

Friday, October 03, 2008

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Five former Khmer Rouge fighters told a Cambodian court Friday they were innocent of the 1996 kidnapping and killing of a British mine clearer and his translator.

The former guerrillas appeared in blue prison uniforms at Phnom Penh Municipal Court to answer charges of premeditated murder and illegal confinement, and could face life in prison if convicted.

They stand accused of shooting Christopher Howes and translator Huon Huot a few days after seizing the pair and other members of their mine clearance team near the famed Angkor Wat temples in northwest Cambodia.

All five suspects -- Khem Ngun, Puth Lim, Sin Dorn, Loch Mao, and Cheap Chet -- were arrested over the past year, nearly a decade after a joint investigation into the incident by British and Cambodian police.

Khem Ngun, who served under notorious Khmer Rouge commander Ta Mok, was allegedly the one who ordered the fighters under his control to shoot Howes and Huon Huot.

But Khem Ngun claimed the order to kill the prisoners came from deceased Khmer Rouge commander Khem Tem and was carried out by a soldier named Rin.

"Another Khmer Rouge soldier close to Ta Mok ordered the shooting of Howes in the head, and then I turned my face away and felt shock," Khem Ngun told the court.

Khem Ngun was serving as a major general in the Cambodian military when he was arrested in November last year. The other suspects had become civil servants.

At the time of the killings, the communist Khmer Rouge were battling government troops in the final years of Cambodia's drawn-out civil war.

Howes, 37, refused a chance to leave his kidnapped team of 20 mine clearers from the Britain-based Mines Advisory Group to retrieve a ransom.

While the rest of the team was eventually released, Howes and Huon Huot were taken deeper into rebel-held territory and killed.

Their remains were found in 1998, the same year Cambodia's civil war ended when the Khmer Rouge movement disintegrated.

The verdict would be announced October 14, said presiding judge Iu Kim Sri.

Cambodia is littered with millions of land mines and other unexploded ordnance from nearly three decades of conflict.

Ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers tried for murder of Briton

Khem Ngun, center, a former Khmer Rouge soldier, is escorted by police out of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Oct. 3, 2008. Five former Khmer Rouge soldiers went on trial Friday for their alleged involvement in the killing of a British mine-clearing expert and his Cambodian colleague 12 years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Friday, October 3, 2008
By KER MUNTHIT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Five former Khmer Rouge soldiers accused of killing a British mine-clearing expert and his Cambodian colleague 12 years ago testified Friday that two other soldiers — now believed dead — were instead responsible for the murders.

Their testimony came on the opening day of the trial for the murder of Christopher Howes, who was abducted in March 1996 by the Khmer Rouge along with Cambodian co-workers while clearing mines near Angkor Wat, the famed 12th century temple complex in the country's northwest.

The defendants gave vivid accounts of the execution of Howes, which prosecutor Hing Bun Chea told the court came after his killers offered him a final meal of apples and durian, a tropical fruit known for its pungent aroma.

They said a Khmer Rouge commander named Khem Tem ordered a guerrilla soldier named Rim to shoot Howes in the head.

"Howes fell backward. It was one single shot," said defendant Loch Mao. "Khem Tem then ordered me to fire more shots. I walked up with the intention of firing a shot into his chest, but Khem Ngun (another commander) yelled 'that's enough, he is already dead.'"

Rim and Khem Tem are not defendants. Rim was killed by a land mine in 2004, according to his wife, and Cambodian press accounts have said that Khem Tem died in a road accident in neighboring Thailand.

Howes, who was 37 at the time and a former soldier, won praise while a prisoner for persuading the band of guerrillas to free his colleagues while he and his Cambodian interpreter, Houn Hourth, remained for ransom.

Their fate was a mystery for more than two years, until a team of detectives from Scotland Yard said in May 1998 they had firm evidence the two were taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon afterward.

All five defendants appeared in a Phnom Penh court in blue prison uniforms. Among them was Khem Ngun, who other witnesses claim gave the order to kill the two men.

The suspects have been charged with premeditated murder and illegal confinement of persons, crimes punishable by life imprisonment.

Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army. At the time, the Cambodian government was unwilling to arrest him, apparently for fear of losing the trust of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were then in the process of defecting.

Khem Ngun and two other suspects were arrested last November, while the last two suspects, including his former driver, were arrested in May.

At the time of the first arrests, Howes' father, Roy, who lives in Backwell in southwestern England, said his family would never recover from Christopher's murder.

"These people have wrecked my family," his father said. "The pain is permanently with us."

Ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers tried for murder of Briton

Friday, October 3, 2008
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Five former Khmer Rouge soldiers went on trial Friday for their alleged involvement in the killing of a British mine-clearing expert and his Cambodian colleague 12 years ago.

Christopher Howes was abducted in March 1996 by the Khmer Rouge along with a group of his Cambodian co-workers while clearing mines near Angkor Wat, the famed 12th century temple complex in the country's northwest.

Howes, who was 37 at the time and a former soldier, persuaded the band of guerrillas to free his colleagues while he and his Cambodian interpreter, Houn Hourth, remained for ransom.

Their fate was a mystery for more than two years, until a team of detectives at Britain's Scotland Yard said in May 1998 they had firm evidence the two were taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon after the abduction.

All five defendants appeared in a Phnom Penh court in blue prison uniforms. Among them was Khem Ngun, a former guerrilla commander who witnesses claim gave the order to kill the two men.

The suspects have been charged with premeditated murder and illegal confinement of persons, crimes punishable by life imprisonment.

Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army. At the time, the Cambodian government was unwilling to arrest him, apparently for fear of losing the trust of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were then in the process of defecting.

Khem Ngun and two other suspects were arrested last November, while the last two suspects, including his former driver, were arrested in May.

At the time of the first arrests, Howes' father, Roy, who lives in Backwell in southwest England, said his family would never recover from Christopher's murder.

"These people have wrecked my family," his father said. "The pain is permanently with us."

Cambodia arrests 5th Khmer Rouge suspect in kidnap murder of British de-mining expert

Saturday, May 17, 2008
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A fifth suspect has been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and killing of a British mine clearance specialist and his Cambodian colleague by former Khmer Rouge fighters more than a decade ago, a judge said Saturday.

Puth Lim, a 52-year-old ex-Khmer Rouge soldier, was detained Friday on charges of premeditated murder and illegal confinement, said Ke Sakhan, a Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge.

He said Puth Lim is accused of involvement in the 1996 abduction and death of Christopher Howes and his interpreter Huon Huot.

Puth Lim was allegedly the driver of Khem Ngun, a former Khmer Rouge commander who has also been detained and who witnesses allege gave the order to kill the two abducted men.

The Khmer Rouge seized Howes, of Bristol, England, and a group of Cambodian co-workers in March 1996 while the team was clearing mines in an isolated area about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Angkor Wat, the country's most popular tourist destination.

Howes, 37 at the time, managed to talk the abductors into freeing his other colleagues while he and the interpreter stayed behind as hostages for ransom.

Nothing more was heard of the two men for two years until a team of detectives from Scotland Yard said they had firm evidence Howes and Huon Huot had been taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon after their abduction.

The judge said police arrested Puth Lim at his home in Kampot province, 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.

Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army. The Cambodian government did not arrest him at the time for fear of losing the trust of other Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were defecting.

The charges against Puth Lim and the other suspects carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Cambodia arrests man for British deminer murder

Wed May 7, 2008

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia has arrested and charged a former Khmer Rouge soldier in connection with the murder of a British de-miner more than a decade ago, a judge said on Wednesday.

Sin Dorn, 52, was formally charged on Tuesday with the abduction and premeditated murder of Christopher Howes of UK-based charity Mines Advisory Group in the northern province of Siem Reap in 1996. His Cambodian translator was also killed.

"The authorities were searching for him for several years, but couldn't find him. We finally arrested him and have thrown him in jail," investigating Judge Ke Sakhan told Reuters.

Sin Dorn is the fourth Khmer Rouge soldier to be arrested in connection with the murder. He was found in the north of the country near the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Along Veng where Pol Pot died.

Howes's death at the hand's of Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist guerrillas shocked most people in the war-scarred southeast Asian nation, where a street in the capital has since been named in his honour.

(Reporting by Ek Madra: Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Third Khmer Rouge suspect charged in the killing of British mine clearer

Thursday, November 15, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Authorities have arrested a third former Khmer Rouge soldier for his alleged role in the killing of a British mine clearance expert and his Cambodian interpreter 11 years ago, officials said Thursday.

The arrest of Cheap Chet, 33, came after two other ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers were detained Tuesday in connection with the 1996 killing of Briton Christopher Howes and his interpreter Huon Huot.

All three were charged with premeditated murder, said Ke Sakhan, a Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The two other soldiers — Khem Ngun and Loch Mao — were also charged with illegal confinement, which carries a 10-year sentence.

Khem Ngun defected to the government in 1998 and was awarded the rank of major general in the Cambodian army. Loch Mao became a local government official after leaving the Khmer Rouge, which collapsed in 1998.

Howes, of Bristol, England, and a group of his Cambodian co-workers were abducted in March 1996 by Khmer Rouge guerrillas while clearing mines in an isolated area about 17 kilometers (10 miles) north of the Angkor Wat temple, the country's most popular tourist destination.

Howes, who was 37 at the time, persuaded the guerrillas to free his colleagues while he and Huon Huot remained hostages for ransom.

Their fate was unknown until a team of detectives from Scotland Yard said about two years later that they had firm evidence the two had been taken to the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Anlong Veng and killed soon after their abduction.

Witnesses said Khem Ngun had given the order to kill Howes.

However, the Cambodian government was unwilling to arrest him, apparently for fear of losing the trust of Khmer Rouge guerrillas who were then in the process of defecting.

Reacting to the news of the arrests Wednesday, Howes' 80-year-old father, Roy Howes, said he was pleased, not only for himself and the interpreter's family, but also "for the people of Cambodia."

"These people have wrecked my family," he told The Associated Press from his home in Backwell, England. "We have never, ever recovered from this. The pain is permanently with us."

Former Khmer Rouge Detained Over Unsolved 1996 Murder

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 November 2007

Phnom Penh Municipal Court Wednesday detained former Khmer Rouge general Khem Ngun and his subordinate, Loch Mao, for the execution of a British deminer and his Cambodian translator more than 10 years ago.

Christopher Howes and Huon Huot were killed in a kidnapping and ransom scam in Anlong Veng in 1996.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court Deputy Director Ke Sakhan said the courts had been unable to prosecute the case earlier because of civil strife.

"Loch Mao and Khem Ngun escaped into the jungle," he said. "We were not able to arrest them. They did not integrate with the government until 1998. They committed the killing in 1996."

"I arrested them with the court's warrant, which involved the killing of an English deminer and his Khmer translator in 1996," said Lt. Gen. Sao Sokha, a police spokesman.

Three Khmer Rouge charged with UK deminer murder

Wed Nov 14, 2007

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia has charged three former Khmer Rouge guerrillas, including one who is now an army major-general, with the death of a British deminer more than a decade ago, court officials said on Wednesday.

Khim Ngun, 58, a deputy of late Khmer Rouge military chief Ta Mok, and two subordinates had been charged with the premeditated murder of Christopher Howes, who was working for the UK-based Mines Advisory Group, presiding judge Ke Sakhan told Reuters.

If found guilty, the three face life in jail.

Howes, his translator and a demining team were seized in March 1996 in the northern province of Siem Reap by gunmen believed to be hardline remnants of the Khmer Rouge, who were still active in the area.

Efforts to negotiate ransom demands from the kidnappers failed and Howes and his translator, Houn Hourth, were killed soon afterwards in the final Khmer Rouge redoubt of Anlong Veng, a jungle-clad mountain on the Thai border.

However, it was two years before their deaths were confirmed by defectors from Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist guerrilla movement, which crumbled after his death in April 1998.

Khim Ngun is the first former Khmer Rouge to be charged in connection with the murders, despite diplomatic pressure on Phnom Penh to bring those responsible to justice.

Although one of many foreigners to die at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, Howes' death shocked Cambodians as he had been involved in efforts to rid the southeast Asian nation of the legacy of decades of civil war.

A street in Phnom Penh was named in his honor in 1999. The British embassy said it welcomed the progress made in the case.

(Reporting by Ek Madra, writing by Ed Cropley, editing by Michael Battye and Roger Crabb)