A SURGE of violence and intimidation against Funcinpec and the Khmer Nation Party
(KNP) is being reported in Cambodia's provinces.
Politically-motivated human rights abuses are worse now than at any time since the
1993 elections, according to an investigator with nearly four years experience in
Cambodia.
On May 15, according to human rights workers, a Funcinpec office in Andong Meas district,
Ratanakiri, was ransacked by a 180-strong mob. A party sign was pulled down and destroyed
and property stolen.
On May 17, three KNP members were arrested by local militia at Ang Snoul in Kandal
province and detained for two days. Family members were reportedly asked for $300
to avoid the trio being sent to a Phnom Penh prison.
The situation is particularly bad in Siem Reap, where one KNP worker was killed and
Cambodian People's Party (CPP) officials confiscated guns from Funcinpec staff.
KNP National Council member Phing Phinn died May 18 after being severely beaten eight
days earlier near his home of Srey Snom in Siem Reap. Some 2,020 completed party
membership applications, with photos, were stolen from him.
In two other Siem Reap districts, some Funcinpec members are going into hiding each
night, for fear of attack.
On May 18, police visited at least four houses of Funcinpec leaders in Sotr Nikum
and Svay Leu districts and took away a total of 10 guns, mostly AK47s.
"Before they came to see me, they let me know through friends and neighbors
that if I had any reaction, they would kill me," said Yo So Phany, Funcinpec's
Svay Leu chief.
He gave up his weapons without resistance and, the same day, moved to another house.
In neighboring Sotr Nikum district, police visited the home of Funcinpec chief Prak
Prorn and other party officials.
"They...asked to see the weapons and my ID card," said Prorn.
He said six police took the guns and asked him to fingerprint a statement saying
he could never have weapons again.
The Funcinpec officials say the guns were solely for their self-defense, and they
had kept them in their houses for years.
The police chief in Sotr Nikum, Seng Saning, said police were merely enforcing "a
provincial and national decree on illegal possession of weapons."
"Look, here is the decree that gives authorization to withdraw illegal weapons.
It is signed by Hun Sen and Heng Samrin [CPP's honorary president and a former Cambodian
head of state], " he said.
Realizing his mistake, he smiled and corrected it: "Hun Sen and Ranariddh."
Funcinpec officials contested the legality of the firearm confiscations, complaining
that only their party was targeted and that the weapons were correctly registered.
They pointed to a May 13 sub-decree signed by Siem Reap's governor, Toan Chay (Funcinpec),
which set up a mixed 12-member committee to control firearms in the province.
Tes Chan Kiry, Funcinpec's deputy leader in the province, said one CPP district chief
had threatened Funcinpec members to join the CPP or be killed.
He compared the situation to the run-up to the 1993 election, when 44 Funcinpec members
were killed.
"I remember when the police came at my house [in 1993]. Today I worry that those
things could happen again."
Funcinpec officials say the latest problems began after their return from a national
congress in Phnom Penh in March, when party leader Prince Norodom Ranariddh threatened
to pull out of the government if CPP did not agree to greater power-sharing.
"When we came back, CPP members said that the First Prime Minister was a traitor
and he wanted to break the Constitution," said Prak Prorn.
A human rights group said CPP officials, military police and soldiers attended a
demonstration in one district - the same day as the guns were seized - accusing Ranariddh
of "betraying the Constitution and creating fears among the population."
Chan Kiry said he had told concerned party members to avoid sleeping in their houses
at night, "to save their lives."
In Sotr Nikum and Svay Leu, some members are following that advice, leaving their
villages to go and sleep in the forest.
"We are afraid of CPP members who could come like robbers at night," said
Prorn.
"I think in few days I will move to Siem Reap. It is safer," said So Phany.
He added: "When you come back to Phnom Penh, tell Prince Ranariddh that if the
trouble keeps on, we will resign from the party."
Chan Kiry said CPP members were afraid that Funcinpec will renew their links with
Khmer Rouge defectors in the province.
Hem Bun Heng, Siem Reap's second deputy governor (Funcinpec), said: "You know,
in some places CPP think we are their enemy and they still point the guns at us."
Funcinpec General Khan Savoeun, chief of the 4th military region, said: "Most
people like to live in peace but there are some people who want to get the power.
"This is simple: if I know you are weaker than me, I dare to hit out....If I
was them [CPP] I would not dare..."
But he compared the problems to a husband being angry at his wife, and "she
has to accept her husband's anger."
Meanwhile, the NGO Licadho said that as well as politically-motivated incidents around
Cambodia, there has been a general increase in crime and human rights abuses.
Licadho, which investigates abuses by military and police, said last month was its
busiest since it began in July 1992.
Eva Galabru of Licadho said 21 investigations were being conducted, compared with
four in March. They included murders, illegal detentions, the unlawful seizure of
land and four cases of rape of young children.
One case involved the murder by soldiers of a villager accused of spying for the
Khmer Rouge at Moung Russei, between Battambang and Pursat. The case was taken to
court but, according to investigators, the court was intimidated by the local military
commander who threatened violence if the matter was pursued.
Another involved the imprisonment of the families of two villagers accused of complicity
in the recent kidnapping of Thai workers in Kompong Speu.
Galabru said the dry season was usually bad for human rights violations because of
increased military activity.
"Because people know the Khmer Rouge will be accused of anything and everything,
that's when there is an increase in violations...
" It is becoming very difficult. [Licadho} staff have never been so busy and
we are getting very little cooperation [from authorities].
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