HUMAN RIGHTS workers in Sihanoukville are concerned about the involvement of the
relatives of high-ranking military officials in recent cases which have seen one
man beaten to death and a school terrorized by armed men.
In the first
case an accountant for the municipality was beaten to death by a group of armed
men that locals said included the nephew of co-defence minister Tea
Banh.
In the second case a minor schoolyard altercation ended with the
beating of two students by the bodyguard of the region's deputy commander and
threats to other students by men armed with an M-16, AK-47 and a M-79 grenade
launcher.
Som Sarin, the head of the local office of human rights group
Adhoc, said the accountant, Bun Theang, 46, was killed after running up a $195
drinks bill at a local bar. When he offered to pay over time, the owner's
daughter berated him. He then slapped her. A short time later a group of armed
men arrived and beat him with rifle butts. He died later in
hospital
Sarin said that he could not file a complaint to the court
because no-one present, even his friends, were prepared to give evidence.
He
said one witness said to him: "If I talk they will shoot me."
Sarin has
asked Adhoc in Phnom Penh to investigate the case because he is now concerned
for his own safety because of the people involved and their
relatives.
Meanwhile there is little being done by the authorities. The
Gendarmerie commander for Sihanoukville, Heang Nin, said they discovered the
killing too late to do anything.
Meanwhile in the second case staff and
students at Sihanoukville High School are angry that the deputy military
commander for the region, Mom Sokha, provided guns, a grenade launcher and a
bodyguard to help his 15-year-old son Virak take revenge on two fellow
students.
Sihanoukville High School vice-director Khor Vutthy said that
the problem began on Oct 21 when Sokha's son Mom Virak, a student at the school
was abused and threatend by two of his class mates - Darith and Tha.
The
next day Virak arrived at school with his brother and a soldier in army uniform.
One of them was carrying a rifle; two other men waited in the car they arrived
in.
Vutthy said that the two men then went into the school canteen where
they found Darith and Tha. They then beat both the students round the neck and
head before marching them through the school and driving off with
them.
They were returned a short time later, about 8am the same morning,
but did not say what happened to them.
Vutthy said the men then returned
to the school about 15 minutes later and threatened a student when he told them
guns were banned at the school.
He said the school director asked her
staff to invite the armed men to come to her office to resolve the problem but
they refused and one of the men, who was dressed in military uniform, told her
"not to get tough with a soldier".
The Gendarmerie were called and
arrested the men and those in the car, but released them 48 hours
later
Heang Nin said he freed the men without charging them because he
had been ordered not to by his boss.
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