Khmer Journalist, Son, Shot Dead

2008-07-12
Radio Free Asia

As Cambodia's election campaign heats up, a journalist linked to the opposition is killed along with his son.

PHNOM PENH—Veteran Cambodian journalist and government critic Khim Sambo and his son were shot and killed by unknown gunmen in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh's police chief Touch Naruth said.

“Witnesses said it was over some sort of dispute, but we are still looking for the murderers,” Touch Naruth told the AFP news agency.

Khim Sambo, 47, was shot five times while driving near the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, apparently by a single gunman who fled the scene. Khim Sambo’s son, Khatsarin Sopheathea, 21 and a university student, was also shot through the heart in the attack and died in hospital, they said.

Both father and son had just left the Olympic Stadium gym. Khim Sambo and Khatsarin Sopheathea’s remains were taken to Svay Dangkum monastery and were to be cremated Sunday.

Khim Sambo was known as a vocal critic of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and particularly of his July 5, 1997 coup, during which Khim Sambo was forced into hiding.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy suggested that Khim Sambo was killed because of his opposition to Prime Minister Hun Sen's government. “This is very painful to me...Violence has reared its head again,” he said.

“Those who have committed evil acts are always afraid of the truth. And if they have committed evil acts they do not want the truth exposed. So they kill the journalists.”

“I urge the Cambodian people to pass judgment July 27 since the highest court in Cambodia is the Cambodian people’s court,” he said, referring to national elections set for July 27.

Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith scrapped a campaign visit to Kg Cham. He returned to Phnom Penh and condemned the shooting.

“I will return [to Phnom Penh]...to inquire about the incident so that I can report to the Prime Minister, to see what it was all about,” he said.

“He only quotes what people told him. It doesn't mean he is wrong. Therefore, I am going back and I am scrapping the campaign program for tomorrow....I will inform the Prime Minister and seek the truth about what really happened.”

Khim Sambo had been working for the daily Khmer-language Moneakseka Khmer (Khmer Conscience), a newspaper allied to Sam Rainsy, since 1997. He covered social affairs rather than politics, the newspaper's publisher Dam Sith said.

Dam Sith was recently charged for printing allegations that Cambodia's foreign minister had ties to the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime. The charge was later dropped.

Original reporting by RFA's Khmer service. Edited by Sam Borin. Khmer service director: Sos Kem. Executive producer: Susan Lavery. Edited in English by Sarah Jackson-Han.

CCHR: Smaller parties are targets of threat and intimidation by the "800-lb-Gorilla People Party"

The authority controlled by the CPP used police officers to tear down a SRP party sign in Phnom Penh City (Photo: SRP)
(Photo: SRP)

Small Parties a Target: Group

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
15 April 2008

With general elections fast approaching, smaller competing parties are likely to be targets of threat and intimidation, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said Tuesday.

In a monthly bulletin, the rights group warns that intimidation can include murder, but may be as seemingly small as the knocking down of party signs.

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the rights group was wrong in its accusations, adding that smaller parties sometimes do not respect National Election Committee regulations.

Opposition members still face intimidation from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said.

Meanwhile, competing parties such as the Sam Rainsy Party, Human Rights Party and Norodom Ranariddh Party, are still not properly allowed to express themselves, said Hang Puthea, executive director of the Neutral & Impartial Committee for Free & Fair Elections in Cambodia.

Destruction of parties signs is now more frequent in Phnom Penh than the provinces, he said.

On Deathbed, Suharto Avoids Answering for Crimes

A man looks at a painting of Indonesia's ailing former dictator Suharto in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008. Suharto, in critical condition due to multi-organ failure, was being taken off a respirator Wednesday after his breathing improved, his medical team said. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

January 18, 2008
By SETH MYDANS
The New York Times (USA)

SOLO, Indonesia -- Gilang was one of the last victims of former President Suharto’s harsh 32-year rule, a young activist who disappeared here on the day the former president was forced from power 10 years ago and whose body was found six days later, shot, stabbed and disemboweled.

As with many of Mr. Suharto’s victims, his killers have never been identified or brought to justice, escaping prosecution much as Mr. Suharto himself has done over the past decade.

Now, on what appears to be his deathbed, it seems Mr. Suharto will end his life — like Pol Pot in Cambodia — without having to answer for crimes on a monumental scale that include severe human rights abuses and prodigious corruption.

For the past two weeks Mr. Suharto, 86, has struggled for life in a Jakarta hospital with what doctors say is multiple organ failure. Along with a stream of medical reports about his condition, a debate has emerged over whether to honor him as a statesman or to pursue him as a criminal even after his death.

The day of Gilang’s disappearance, May 21, 1998, marked the end of a regime in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed in purges, massacres, assassinations, kidnappings and civil wars.

It was a regime that has been compared with a Mafia empire in which Mr. Suharto, as president, enriched himself, his family and his friends and is accused of stealing at least $15 billion in state funds.

It ended when Mr. Suharto’s power was undermined by a devastating economic collapse, widespread rioting, student demonstrations and finally rejection by his own military and cabinet ministers.

Now in the capital, Jakarta, the mood seems to be one of forgiveness and amnesia. A parade of politicians, religious figures, pop stars and three foreign leaders has paid hushed visits to his bedside as if he were already lying in state.

A number of public figures have joined a call for an end to investigations and prosecutions against him, describing them as unseemly.

Criminal corruption cases against him were shelved years ago but could be revived. The government recently discussed with Mr. Suharto’s family the settlement of a civil case seeking $1.4 billion for money allegedly stolen from charitable foundations.

“There is nothing wrong if we pardon the mistakes made by our former leader, who has made significant contributions to the nation,” said Suryadharma Ali, the minister for small and medium enterprises, in a commonly heard comment.

The philosophy behind this view was articulated the other day by a trader named Japendi Hendry Christianto, 33, as he sat on a stool on the sidewalk here in Solo, in central Java.

“Many people see Suharto as the tiger that eats the deer,” he said. “It is not cruel. It is natural. This is what tigers do.” Every animal has its own nature, he said, and must accept its place in the natural order.

“Suharto cannot be tried, because he is the tiger,” Mr. Japendi said. “He is the king of the jungle. He will die a natural death, and the worms will eat him. It is the cycle of life.”

But as the days have passed, other voices have emerged, taking the view that Mr. Suharto’s crimes are too enormous to shunt aside and that no one is above the law.

“We cannot excuse him,” said Hendardi, who heads the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association. “Forgiveness is in the private domain, but law enforcement is in the public domain. We cannot set a precedent that discriminates in favor of the powerful.”

One of Suharto’s successors as president, Abdurrahman Wahid, also said the law must take its course.

“It is all right to forgive someone’s mistakes,” said Mr. Wahid, who was president from 1999 to 2001. “For Suharto the charges must be continued and examined by the courts. After the trial it is up to people whether he should be forgiven or not.”

Among those challenging the public mood of forgiveness are victims of the abuses of his rule, who have staged small demonstrations in Jakarta and here in central Java.

“Suharto must be put on trial to prove whether he is guilty or not guilty,” said Budiardi, the mother of Gilang, who still weeps when she talks about her loss. “I cannot forgive him before he is put on trial.”

Gilang, whose full name was Leonardus Nugroho Iskandar, was a 20-year-old street singer who joined the student movement calling for Mr. Suharto’s ouster and who had been beaten and arrested several times before his disappearance.

His parents have petitioned the government to investigate the case but have received no response, his mother said. That lack of response has played out also on a national scale.

Four presidents have succeeded Mr. Suharto over the past decade but, facing the power of his money and his influential friends, none has pushed through a case against him.

Some people who say they are realists assert that no matter what the furor, this will never happen.

“The idea of putting former President Suharto on trial, which has been heard often lately, is now as unlikely as draining the oceans,” said the weekly newsmagazine Tempo in an editorial this week. “What is the point of discussing things that are unlikely to happen?”

Government leaders and high-ranking officials are expected to attend Mr. Suharto’s funeral at his mausoleum on a hilltop not far from here, where he will be buried with solemn Javanese ritual.

Those who suffered under his regime may be left with only their tears and their anger.

Winarsa, 69, was one of the first victims of Mr. Suharto’s rule, a schoolteacher who was imprisoned for 15 years in a series of camps. He was arrested in 1965, when Suharto seized power, at the start of an anti-communist purge that took at least 500,000 lives.

“All these people who are saying good things about Suharto don’t know what they’re talking about,” he said. “What I remember is that whoever had a different opinion on politics from Suharto would be killed or kidnapped.”

Three brothers and a cousin were killed in the purges, he said. He still carries the scars of beatings he received.

“As a human, no, I’m not angry,” he said, although he sounded angry. “But if you ask me to say a good word about Suharto, no, I won’t. For me he is not a good man.”

NRP Activist Murdered, as Campaigners Count Down and Women Speak Out

VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
27/03/2007

Sihanoukville police were investigating a murder that activists said could be linked to the commune elections, and women candidates discussed their individual positions Tuesday, with five days remaining before Cambodians select commune leaders.

Debates continued, as voters weighed heavily the benefits of their promises, and the National Election Committee said it would dispatch thousands of observers for Election Day, Sunday.

The campaigns had seen some violence—mainly shouting and poster destruction—but party leaders said the killing of a reported activist for the Norodom Ranariddh Party was the clearest link yet to violence and politics, which sometimes go hand in hand in Cambodia.

NRP activist Hak Sok, 50, was stabbed to death in Sihanoukville as his daughter looked on, according to a party statement. The party called on authorities to investigate political motives, but Sihanoukville police said they had not ruled out a "grudge" killing.

The party said Hak Sok's murder was the latest in a string of violent incidents, including an arson attack in Pailin.

To listen to Chun Sakada report in Khmer, click here.

Women candidates, meanwhile, told VOA they would be working not only on civic projects that all Cambodians need—sewage, road improvement, an end to corruption—but they would also seek to protect women against domestic violence and disrespect.

"If I win, I will improve the roads, stop corruption, and curb domestic violence," Tum Hoeun, a Sam Rainsy Party candidate in Kampong Cham province told VOA. "If some unusual things happen to women, I will defend them from the condescending attitudes of men."

To listen to Suon Kanika report in Khmer, click here.

Voters in Siem Reap, some of whom attended an open political debate this week, said they were losing faith in candidates to deliver on campaign promises—echoing sentiments from other voters across the country.

To listen to Kong Soth report in Khmer, click here.

The National Election Committee said Tuesday it was set to dispatch about 13,000 observers for the impending commune elections.

Twenty-three NGOs have submitted requests to participate, along with officials from 160 embassies and international organizations, Tep Nith, secretary-general of the NEC said.

To listen to Seng Ratana report in Khmer, click here.

Meanwhile, VOA Khmer continued its Q&A sessions with political parties, interviewing Tith Tha of the Khmer Socialist party.

The party's platform included democracy, development, defense, national pride and progress, Tith Tha said.

Twelve parties are fielding candidates for the election, although some of them only have candidates in a few communes.

The party was not focused on winning so much as competing, Tith Tha said.

To listen to Suon Kanika report in Khmer, click here.

Also Tuesday, King Norodom Sihamoni called for peaceful elections. His father, the former King Norodom Sihanouk, has said he himself will no longer be involved in politics.

To listen to Thida Win report in Khmer, click here.

Nearly 8 million Cambodians are expected to go to the polls Sunday for local elections meant to decentralize government power. These are only the second such elections since the Paris Accords in 1991, in which leaders for 1,621 administrative zones, called communes, are chosen.

Pursat Girl Killed in Explosion

Heng Reaksmey
VOA Khmer
Washington
05/03/2007

A young Pursat province girl was killed over the weekend when a device, allegedly a booby trap for her politically involved father, blew up.

Nhorn Ritha, 15, was killed instantly in the blast, which occurred at mid-day while the girl was sleeping in her father's bed.

Nhorn Nhanh, the girl's father, is a member of the Norodom Ranariddh Party and is a candidate for the upcoming commune council election.

The explosive was laid for the father and was no accident, party representative Yeap Eng said.

Provincial police chief Hen Vuthea, however, said the blast came from an explosive that already belonged to the father. Police were investigating, he said.

NRP's top advisor, Ok Socheat, condemned the blast as political intimidation.

Twelve political parties are expected to field candidates in the April 1 elections, which will decide leaders for each of Cambodia's more than 1,600 communes.

SRP deplores the murder of one party member’s wife

Friday, February 16, 2007

By K.Y.
Cambodge Soir
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

The wife of a SRP party member from Battambang province was killed between Wednesday and Thursday night, and her son was seriously injured during the attack on their home by three armed men. According to an investigator of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), the 47-year-old woman was eating dinner with her three children when the criminals, two of whom were wearing military uniform, opened fire on them. Before leaving, the 3 men stole a motorcycle and one damloeung of gold.

Pinn Sareth, the victim’s husband, was traveling to Pursat during the attack. “I never have any problem with anybody. I don’t know if it is a political crime or a robbery,” he said. However, the CCHR investigator leans on the political killing motive. “Pinn Sareth is the deputy chief of the Prey Tralach commune and he is a candidate to the commune election. He is very popular in his commune and he is expected to be elected,” the investigator explained. Kith Heang, the police inspector of Mong Russey district, leans instead on the robbery motive. “There is nothing to prove that it is a political affair,” he said.

Mu Sochua, SRP Secretary-General, wrote a letter to the Minister of Interior asking him to take urgent measures to arrest the killers, and to ensure that the commune election will take place in safety.