Thai authorities would never shoot unarmed civilians -sic!-: You wanna bet Mr. Chaturont Chaiyakam?

Thai Answers Sought in Border Shootings

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
04 July 2008

A Ministry of Interior provincial border official asked Thai authorities on Friday to begin an investigation into the shooting deaths of two Cambodians, including one child, Thursday afternoon.

Tim Sareth, deputy director of the Ministry of Interior's Cambodia-Thai coordination office, told VOA Khmer by phone he was traveling to Thailand late Friday and had already requested an investigation into an alleged shooting near a border crossing in Bantey Meanchey province's O'Chhouv district.

Cambodians It On, 25, and Chea Phal, 6, were allegedly shot Thursday afternoon on the Thai side of the border, Tim Sereth said, but he would not speculate on who committed the shooting.

Thai Embassy First Secretary Chaturont Chaiyakam said Friday he did not have the details of the case, but he did not believe the Thai authorities would shoot unarmed civilians.

The shooting deaths were confirmed by O'Chhouv District Governor Keo Sen, who said Friday he was taking reports from witnesses to file a complaint with Thai border authorities.

The witnesses identified the shooter as a Thai border patrolman, he said.

Witnesses It En, sister of It On; Meas Thourn; and Muon An said they crossed the border Thursday afternoon, where they encountered an armed official who wore the black uniform of Thailand's border patrol and spoke Khmer Surin with a Thai accent.

They were part of a group of 12 people who regularly travel across the border to farm, the witnesses told VOA Khmer by phone Friday.

The witnesses said they were ordered to return to Cambodia and had walked 50 meters toward Cambodia, before the armed man opened fire.

It On was hit in the arm and back and died almost immediately, and Chea Phal was hit in the head, but did not die, the witnesses said.

Chea Phal was taken to O'Chhouv referral hospital, where he died, witnesses said.

Suth Kimsan, acting director of the O'Chhouv hospital, confirmed Chea Phal died at the hospital from a gunshot wound to the head. Hospital staff treated him for one hour before he died, Suth Kimsan.

Tim Sareth said Friday he will coordinate with the Cambodian ambassador to Thailand and with Thai border authorities to conduct an investigation.

Another cheap Khmer life; Thai embassy denying the Thai soldiers' savage killing of a Khmer citizen?

Family of a Cambodian victim of Thai soldiers shooting demands compensation

15 December 2007
By Sav Yuth
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media

Relatives of a victim who were shot and killed by Thai black-clad soldiers recently, along the Dangrek Mountain chain, Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province, called on Cambodian government officials to help them demand monetary compensations amounting to several tens of thousands of baths for the lost of the life of their loved one and demand that Thailand guarantees the livelihood of 7 orphans who lost their father.

On Saturday 15 December, 38-year-old Ya Hoeun said that her husband was shot and killed by Thai black-clad soldiers, and that she is currently asking Cambodian officials at the border relation working group to prepare documents to negotiate and demand monetary compensations. The amount of compensation demanded has not been determined as of yet, however, Mrs. Ya Hoeun indicated that this amount could be 100,000 Thai baths, or about 10 million riels (~$2,500). “I want them (Thailand) to pay compensation regarding my husband, this could be 100,000 baths because this is so unfair,” Ya Hoeun said.

Nevertheless, the demand for compensation from the Thai soldiers remains hopeless as the Cambodian authority did not even take any measure at all in this affair.

Pech Sokhin, the Oddar Meanchye provincial governor, said on Saturday morning that provincial officials received the report of the shooting and killing already, but the provincial administration did not take any measure yet: “Not yet, we don’t know, we are researching for the cause.”

Khoeung Phea, the commander of the 403 unit protecting the border at the location of the incident, said that, up to now, he did not call the Thai side to come and negotiate about this issue yet, he only reported the incident to the regional commander and he is still awaiting a decision from this commander on what to do: “My chief went to Phnom Penh, when he will return back, he will have a plan to meet with the Thai side to resolve this incident.”

Surasak Supharat, an advisor of the Thai embassy in Cambodia, said that regarding this demand for compensation, according to the law, there must be an investigation first to see whether the Thai soldier really shot and killed a Cambodian citizen or not.

Cambodian border police officials and Khet Khen, an injured witness, claimed in the afternoon of 12 December 2007 that Thai black-clad soldiers based in Husing district, Sisaket province, Thailand, opened fire on 6 Cambodian citizens who went into a forest near the border to collect liana vines and rattan near O’Da river, about 15 kilometers to the north of the Choam Sro-ngam international border gate. The shooting led to the death of Yim Phat who was killed on the spot and Khet Khen was injured. A tractor was also burnt down by the Thai soldiers.

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.