By Nhim Sophal
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French
24-year-old Heng Touch died Friday evening at the Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh. According to Am Sam Ath, an investigator for Licadho, his family is asking questions about the condition of his death which could be attributed to torture.
Arrested in September 2008, Heng Touch was accused of perpetrating an armed robbery. On 13 November, his family was informed by a Prey Sar jail guard, where he was incarcerated, his whereabout, and that he was “ill.” His relatives were able to see him. They reported that he had “an injury on the head, his face was swollen and he threw up blood.”
When contacted by the investigator, a prison official explained that the victim knocked his head against the walls and that he cut his own tongue. Without any autopsy performed, police experts concluded that it is impossible to indicate that the death was effectively caused by torture inside the jail.
“The family of the deceased remains skeptical. After the funeral, it will decide whether to bring up a complaint against the prison,” Am Sam Ath reported.
The Licadho investigator wishes that an independent expert committee be set up and that another committee should pursue the investigation into this case, in order to provide justice to the victim and condemn the perpetrator(s), if indeed it was a criminal case. The investigator also blamed the prison director for neglecting to provide medical care to the agonizing prisoner.
Arrested in September 2008, Heng Touch was accused of perpetrating an armed robbery. On 13 November, his family was informed by a Prey Sar jail guard, where he was incarcerated, his whereabout, and that he was “ill.” His relatives were able to see him. They reported that he had “an injury on the head, his face was swollen and he threw up blood.”
When contacted by the investigator, a prison official explained that the victim knocked his head against the walls and that he cut his own tongue. Without any autopsy performed, police experts concluded that it is impossible to indicate that the death was effectively caused by torture inside the jail.
“The family of the deceased remains skeptical. After the funeral, it will decide whether to bring up a complaint against the prison,” Am Sam Ath reported.
The Licadho investigator wishes that an independent expert committee be set up and that another committee should pursue the investigation into this case, in order to provide justice to the victim and condemn the perpetrator(s), if indeed it was a criminal case. The investigator also blamed the prison director for neglecting to provide medical care to the agonizing prisoner.
8 comments:
It's great to see Prey Sor ready for Ah Savage Killer (Scam Rainxy)!
a lot of injustice things in Cambodia (www.cambohistory.blogspot.com)
Like what?
The regime has been reformed to anywhere near pol pot regime? Or Myanma where authoritorians rule?
And aren't these the direction of the ruling gov.t?
This is nothing new here; abuses have been going on since the inception of this notorious prison (Prey Sor).
That is what I called "Justice" for Ah Pleu-Oversea! Muahahahaha!!!
Ah Scam Hun Sen should ordered the Calmette Hospital to change the name back to the Execution Center for political dissidents! 3:10PM, YOU ARE A FLUKE, A SPINELESS IDIOT, AN AMOEBA PROTOZOA.
3:10pm, SORRY. YOU LACKED A DEVELOP UPSTAIR.
How many of you have visited our correctional facilities? Have you ever spared a god damn thought about those correctional officers? They work so hard in potentially dangerous and deadly conditions for minimum pays. This remote case was unfortunate. The guy was an addict so he became a robber and you know what happens to addicts when the crave kicks in? They'll try to put themselves out of misery, if there's no drug on hand. The guy obviously banged his head against the wall because he couldn't bear the craving. All those useless NGOs have nothing better to do except blaming the government first. What a joke!
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