Thailand 'lying' over boy's death, says Cambodia

September 18, 2009
The Nation

Cambodia yesterday accused Thailand of lying when it denied involvement in the death of a Cambodian teenager near the border of Thailand's northeastern Surin province.

The young Cambodian was reportedly shot and burned alive as he and other Cambodian loggers tried to escape from the Thai military into Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province.

The Second Army Region Commander Lt. General Wiboonsak Neeparn said he had checked records of all agencies under his command and found no evidence of any shooting.

"There was no such incident in the area. I wonder why Cambodia made such a report?" the commander said.

The Thai Foreign Ministry has maintained the same stance, saying the brutal incident never happened.

Ministry spokesperson Wimon Kidchob said earlier Thai soldiers fired bullets into the air after finding eight Cambodians sneaking into Thailand to cut down trees.

The denial has angered authorities in Cambodia, both in Oddar Meanchey and in Phnom Penh.

Oddar Meanchey Governor Pich Sokhin called the Thai assertion a lie. "How could our people have been injured and killed if their soldiers shot into the air?" the governor was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post.

"Their interpretation is a lie to avoid responsibility and to hide their cruelty from the public. Our people are injured and dead. How can they say they are not responsible?"

The Cambodian Foreign Ministry has sent a diplomatic note to Bangkok asking for an explanation and is still awaiting an official reply.

Phnom Penh has urged Thailand to conduct an investigation into the case and find and punish those responsible.

Army denies Cambodian teenager killed by Thai military

BANGKOK, Sept 17 (TNA) - A senior Thai Army officer denied a report in a Cambodian newspaper that Thai soldiers shot a Cambodian teenager and burned him alive, saying that the military units along the Thai-Cambodian border denied that such an incident happened.

Lt-Gen Wiboonsak Neephan, commander of the Second Army Region responsible for security affairs along the northeastern border told Thai News Agency that he had inquired every units along Thai-Cambodian border and the officials confirmed that nothing similar to the news report ever occurred and that he did not know why there was such a report in the media.

He affirmed that Thai soldiers would not do such a barbaric act as reported in the Cambodian newspaper and stated he thought that the information could be incorrect.

Gen Wiboonsak affirmed that the Thai-Cambodian Border Peacekeeping Committee is working closely to avoid border disputes and to offer certainty that actions are within the legal framework and agreements.

He added that Thailand and Cambodia had agreement to solve border disputes and the incident should not have happened.

The English-language Phnom Penh Post on Monday quoted Thon Nol, governor of Samrong district in Oddar Meanchey province as saying that a Cambodian teenager named Yon Rith, 16, was arrested and burned alive after Thai armed forces accused him of illegally felling trees.

Another teenager from the same village in Kon Kreal commune, 18-year-old Mao Kleung, was also shot and seriously wounded, he said, but villagers managed to carry him to Cambodian territory, and he is now in an Oddar Meanchey hospital.

Meanwhile, foreign media quoted Cambodian Deputy Foreign Minister Ouch Borith as saying that he had seen evidence proving the incident took place and urged Thailand to investigate what he said was a "brutal and inhumane" act.

Mr Borith said he had seen photographs of the charred body of a boy. He did not provide any evidence Thai soldiers were responsible.

As for the planned rally of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) near the Preah Vihear temple, Gen Wiboonsak said the contested area was dangerous zone and had few accommodations to facilitate the demonstrators.

The PAD “Yellow Shirts” plan to rally at the border province of Si Sa Ket on Saturday to protest against the Cambodian government, urging the Cambodians to withdraw their military and civilians from occupying the 4.6 square kilometre contested zone surrounding the 11th-century temple.

He said the Thai military had provided an area for the protesters to gather and urged the people who joined the rally to demonstrate under the legal framework and to bear in mind safety concerns.

Gen Wiboonsak said he believed the public know about the Thai-Cambodian border disputes and it would depend on cooperation from the public to ease the problems. He added that the public should realise (the importance) oft bilateral relations between Thailand and Cambodia and admitted that the protest may cause difficulty for the border talks.

Meanwhile, a reporter in Si Sa Ket reported that police had set up barricades at Phoomsarol temple in Kantharalak district to block the road to Khao Phra Wihan National Park to inspect vehicles and people who pass the entrance to the park.

The reporter said paramilitary rangers and military personnel from the Suranaree Task Force had also set up barricades with barbed-wire and other obstacles at the Forest Fire Control Unit Office about100 metres from the national park checkpoint and did not allow anyone to enter the park, including media.

Khao Phra Viharn National Park is the Thai gateway to the ancient Preah Vihear Temple.

Twenty PAD members reportedly occupied the border cooperation office near the park checkpoint and security personnel detained them at the office.

In related developments, French news agency Agence France Presse quoted the Cambodian Defence Ministry as saying that Cambodia deployed riot police Thursday at an ancient temple on the disputed border with Thailand where Thai protesters are due to hold a protest at the weekend.

Cambodian defence ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat was quoted saying that 50 police with dogs, batons, and tear gas were deployed at Preah Vihear temple in case the Thai protesters illegally crossed the border to cause problems.

Sacrava Political Cartoon: The Compliments

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

Cambodia accuses Thai troops of burning boy alive

Wed Sep 16, 2009
By Ek Madra

PHNOM PEHN (Reuters) - Cambodia accused soldiers from neighbouring Thailand on Wednesday of burning a boy alive after shooting at villagers in a disputed border region, a claim Bangkok said was baseless.

The accusation comes amid simmering tensions between the historic foes over jurisdiction of the land around the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which straddles their common border. Seven soldiers have been killed in the last year in skirmishes near the site.

Cambodian Deputy Foreign Minister Ouch Borith said he had seen evidence proving the incident took place and urged Thailand to investigate what he said was a "brutal and inhumane" act.

Borith said he had seen photographs of the charred body of a boy. He did not provide any evidence Thai soldiers were responsible.

"This is true. We have pictures of the late boy whose hands were tied, along with his remains and ashes," he told reporters.

Cambodian authorities said a 16-year-old boy was arrested by troops on Sept. 11 for cutting down trees on Thai territory. Soldiers shot and seriously wounded another boy as he fled, the reports said.

Cambodia's Foreign Ministry sent a statement to its Thai counterpart complaining that the boy's death was a "serious breach of internationally accepted humanitarian principals".

The Thai ministry responded on Wednesday, saying it had been informed by the army that the teenagers had trespassed on Thai territory and were given a warning by border troops.

"There was no arrest. They just warned them and pushed back into Cambodia without detention or any clashes," spokeswoman Wimon Kidchob told reporters. "This matter, I am certain, will not harm our good relations."

Thailand's extra-parliamentary People's Alliance for Democracy movement used the simmering temple dispute to attack the previous government. It plans to protest near the ruins this weekend to demand Preah Vihear is "returned" to Thailand.

Both sides have repeatedly pledged to exercise military restraint and work to resolve the issue, which critics say has been used by governments on both sides to stoke nationalist fervour.

(Additional reporting by Kittipong Soonprasert)

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy condemns Thai soldiers’ cruelty

Mao Kleung, an 18-year-old Cambodian teenage who was shot in the hip by Thai soldiers (Photo: Kampuchea Thmei)

Wednesday 16 September 2009
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The opposition and the civil society issued strong reaction condemning the inhumane action perpetrated by Thai black-clad soldiers who arrested a Cambodian citizen and burnt him alive. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy told reporters on 15 September 2009, at the National Assembly, that, as a Cambodian citizen, he strongly condemns the barbaric and inhumane act perpetrated by these foreign troops on a Cambodian citizen. At the same time, Sam Rainsy also called for a condemnation of all those who are responsible in this case.

Teenager burnt alive: the Cambodian government is angry

Tuesday 15 September 2009
By P.M.
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French

Phnom Penh asked the Thai government to clarify the events and to bring the culprits to justice in a case where a 16-year-old Cambodian teenager was burnt alive by Thai soldiers last week in Oddar Meanchey province.

The Cambodian government asks Bangkok to launch an investigation to shed light on the murder of Yon Rith, a 16-year-old teenager, who was arrested and burnt live by Thai soldiers last week in Oddar Meanchey province, along the Thai border. In a diplomatic note, the Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs asked that “those who committed these cruelty acts be brought to justice.”

“The acts constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law,” the ministry insisted while recalling its inadequateness towards the bilateral cooperation agreements concluded last 4-5 August in Bangkok.

On Friday 11 September, Cambodian villagers were shot at by Thai soldiers near the Thai border while they were “allegedly” logging wood in an illegal zone, the Oddar Meanchey provincial authorities indicated. Two teenagers were shot: Mao Kleung was able to escape, but Yon Rith was not so lucky.

Thailand denies shooting on Cambodian loggers -sic!-

Thai troops accused of killing Khmer

16/09/2009
BANGKOK POST AND AFP

The Foreign Ministry denies Thai soldiers shot and burned alive a Cambodian teenager for cutting down trees illegally on the border.

Ministry spokeswoman Vimon Kidchob yesterday said the ministry had checked the report with the Border Affairs Department under the Supreme Command and found it baseless.

Thai soldiers fired bullets into the sky near the border in Surin on Friday after finding about eight Cambodian teenagers were sneaking into Thai territory to cut down trees, Miss Vimon said.

But the Cambodian foreign ministry claimed in a letter sent to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh yesterday Yon Rith, 16, was one of two Cambodian teenagers shot and wounded by Thai soldiers after they and others felled trees illegally on the frontier.

''One of them named Mao Kleung managed to escape the scene, while the other injured boy named Yon Rith ... was arrested and burned alive by the Thai forces,'' the letter said.

The Cambodian foreign ministry called the alleged incident an ''inhuman act'' and urged Thai authorities to investigate.

But Miss Vimon said the report was a misunderstanding. ''Thai soldiers did not use force in the incident,'' she said.

She said a Thai diplomat was summoned to the Cambodian foreign ministry yesterday to clarify the issue.

The accusation comes just days before a planned rally at the border near Preah Vihear by the People's Alliance for Democracy.

On Saturday, PAD members plan to voice their opposition to new buildings being constructed in the disputed area, claiming there are plans for Thailand to abandon the overlapping area. They say those two issues could lead to Cambodia taking firm control of the 4.6-square-kilometre zone which has not been unsettled.

Supreme Administrative Court president Ackaratorn Chularat said if the Thai government turned a blind eye to the settlement, it could eventually be seen as accepting Cambodian possession on the land.

Burned villager’s dad vows revenge

Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Thet Sambath
The Phnom Penh Post

THE father of a young man said to have been killed Friday by Thai troops near the border at Oddar Meanchey province said he has no doubts his son was deliberately burned to death and wishes for revenge against those responsible for the murder.

In a conversation with the Post on Monday, Saing Yon said he had visited the scene of the killing and was devastated by what he saw there.

“It is difficult for me to tell you in detail about my son’s suffering before he died because I saw my son’s body and it is very tragic,” said the father of 16-year-old Yon Rith, who was found dead after reportedly being arrested by Thai forces on Friday.

“They burned my son to death. I will remember this, and I want revenge on the Thai soldiers, but I won’t tell anyone what I will do to them.”

Saing Yon said that, judging from his son’s remains, he was lashed to an ox cart with ropes before being set alight by the soldiers. “I saw ropes holding his arm bones and the many footsteps he made at the site as he tried to escape from the flames,” he said.

He added that he planned to build a small Buddhist stupa at the site to commemorate his son and to mark what he termed the “cruel” deeds of those responsible.

“Please, other people, tell your children and relatives not to do anything along the border to avoid my son’s fate.”

Meanwhile, officials have vowed to get to the bottom of the incident, comparing the reported killing to the cruelties of Cambodia’s recent past.

“The Thais’ action was similar to the Khmer Rouge,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong. “Their actions make them seem like wild and inhuman people.”

Koy Kuong said that government officials received a report of the incident from provincial authorities on Monday and would make a formal request for an explanation from the Thai government.

“We will send a diplomatic note to the Thais to get their explanation for burning the Cambodian man alive,” he said. “The ministry was very disturbed to get this report.”

Officials at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Officials say 16-year-old burned alive

Monday, 14 September 2009
Thet Sambath
The Phnom Penh Post

Soldiers kill boy caught logging in Thailand, district governor says.

Oddar Meanchey officials Sunday accused Thai soldiers of shooting a Cambodian teenager and burning him alive.

Yon Rith, 16, was killed after Thai armed forces accused him of illegally felling trees, said Thon Nol, governor of Samrong district in Oddar Meanchey province.

Thon Nol said Yon Rith was first arrested and then burned. Another teenager from the same village in Kon Kreal commune, 18-year-old Mao Kleung, was also shot and seriously wounded, he said, but villagers managed to carry him to Cambodian territory, and he is is now in an Oddar Meanchey hospital.

Officials on Sunday denounced the violence as "cruel" acts carried out on unarmed villagers.

"Why did they burn a person alive? [The armed forces] should have arrested them if they did anything wrong in Thailand," said Pich Ratana, a Cabinet official in Oddar Meanchey.

"Our armed forces did not shoot Thai citizens when they were hunting animals in the Cambodian forest. They just arrested them and sent them back, but Thai soldiers do cruel things to innocent Cambodians," Pich Ratana said.

Thon Nol said officials would discuss the incident today.

"We are looking for all measures to assist the victims as well as actions on the Thai authority," Thon Nol said.

Thai Embassy officials could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Nanh Sovann, a Cambodian military officer who has worked with the Thai military, said Sunday he had heard of the incident but was waiting to see an official report before intervening.

The victim's family recovered his charred body and took it to their village for a funeral the day he was shot, Thon Nol said.

Thai officials have previously taken a heavy hand against Cambodians accused of illegal logging on Thai territory, particularly along the Oddar Meanchey border.

In August, 12 Cambodians were arrested along the border on suspicion of illegally logging.

Their disappearance initially prompted fears they had been killed, but the Thais have since revealed the men are in detention.

Two other men, however, were discovered dead last month. The Thai military said soldiers fired on the group in self-defence.

Thai soldiers accused of burning alive teenage logger

Mon, 14 Sep 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - A senior provincial official in Cambodia accused Thai soldiers of shooting a teenager engaged in illegal logging and then burning him, local media reported Monday. The district governor of Samrong district in Oddar Meanchey province in western Cambodia said 16-year-old Yon Rith was arrested by Thai soldiers for illegally felling trees in Thai territory.

Governor Thon Nol said another teenager was also shot and seriously injured by Thai soldiers, but was carried back to Cambodia by villagers and taken to a provincial hospital.

"We are looking for all measures to assist the victims as well as the actions of the Thai authorities," Thon Nol told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper.

He said Yon Rith's family had recovered the teenager's body and taken it back to their village for the funeral.

Another official in the provincial government condemned the killing.

"Why did they burn a person alive?" asked Pich Ratana. "[The armed forces] should have arrested them if they did anything wrong in Thailand."

The newspaper said the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh was not available to comment on the allegation.

There have been other incidents in recent weeks of Cambodians being arrested by the Thai military for logging illegally across the common border. Two Cambodian men were shot dead by Thai soldiers last month in an act the Thai military described as self-defence.