Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned from reliable sources that four police officers tortured and robbed a keeper of a Buddhist Centre, Muon Ham (42), on 8 December 2007 in Sre Ampil village, Chhoeu Teal commune, Kien Svay district. The policemen, armed with assault rifles and electric batons, stripped him of his underwear, beat his neck and collarbone, and kicked his chest and groin. They also took his phone and money. Muon has been very sick since.
CASE DETAILS: (According to a source from a Buddhist Centre in Dey Eth commune, Kien Say district, Kandal province)
Muon Ham, 42, is employed as keeper or caretaker of the Buddhist Centre located in Dey Eth commune, Kien Svay district, Kandal province. The centre has given him one hectare of land so that he can farm rice for a living. On December 8 at around 6:00p.m., he went to see a man named Yan Boreap (a.k.a. Mao), 25, at the house of the latter’s brother-in-law in Chum Rum village, Chhoeu Teal commune. Muon’s rice field was next to Yan’s rice field which was close to the irrigation canal. Muon was seeking permission to pump water from Yan’s rice field to his farm.
While he was at the house a group of people were busy gambling. His phone rang, but when he took out his phone from his pocket, over 100,000 riels (USD25) fell from it to the ground. The gamblers picked it up and tossed it between themselves, and before long it was gone from sight. Muons loud requests to get his money back were ignored.
Half an hour or so later a police car arrived at the house. With it were Chuop Sophy, chief of the Chhoeu Teal commune police post, accompanied by three other police officers. All were armed with rifles and electric batons. The officers asked that Muon get inside their car and come with them in order to settle the matter. Then they took him away.
When they arrived at the Sre Ampil village in Chhoeu Teal commune about one kilometer away from the house, the policemen pulled Muon from the car. They accused him of making trouble and then stripped off his underwear. Led by Chuop Sophy, they beat the area around his neck and kicked his chest and groin. They took away his clothes, his phone and his remaining money worth over 80,000 riels (USD20). They then let him go.
After the torture, the police went to inform Muon’s wife that they had sent her husband to his native village in Prey Veng province.
Muon struggled to walk home and repeatedly fell to the ground along the way. A concerned search party finally found him halfway between the house he was taken from and the place where the police had left him. He had bruises and severe internal pain where he had been severely beaten. He rested at home, hoping to recover by himself since he could not afford to pay for medical treatment. But due to the severity of his injuries he is still not been able to sit and walk properly by himself. The Buddhist Centre has helped to send him for medical treatment, and it is feared that one or two of his ribs and a thigh bone are fractured.
According to Chuop Sophy, he and his men had received a complaint from the owner of the house where Muon was supposed to meet Yan. They went there supposedly to take Muon for questioning, thinking that he had stolen money from the owner. Chuop Sophy has excused himself for any wrongdoing, though Muon has filed a complaint against them at the commune office and the police station in Dey Eth commune respectively.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send your letters to the authorities listed below to call for action against Chhoeu Teal commune chief Chuop Sophy and his men for their torture of Muon Ham, and for a speedy enactment of the penal code to criminalise torture. Please also ask them to ensure that adequate remedies are afforded to the victim.
The AHRC is also writing to the concerned UN offices requesting for their appropriate intervention in this case.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear__________
CAMBODIA: Man seriously ill after he was severely beaten and robbed by policemen in Kandal province
Name of the victim: Muon Ham, 42, keeper of the Buddhist Centre located in Dey Eth commune, Kien Svay district, Kandal province
Alleged perpetrators: Chuop Sophy, chief of the Chhoeu Teal commune police post and three other police officers
Place of incident: Sre Ampil village, Chhoeu Teal commune, Kien Svay district, Kandal province.
Date of incident: 8 December, 2007
I am shocked to learn that the police chief of Chhoeu Teal commune, Chuop Sophy and three colleagues tortured a man named Muon Ham, 42, on 8 December 2007 in Sre Ampil village, Chhoeu Teal commune, Kien Svay district.
Muon went to a house in Chum Rum village, Chhoeu Teal commune, to talk with another villager about improving the irrigation water going to his farm. While he was there, money of his, worth over 100,000 riels, fell to the ground accidentally. At the time, a group of gamblers in the house picked up the money and tossed it between themselves, and would not give it back. Muons requests for the return of his money were ignored.
Chuop Sophy and three of his men then arrived and took Muon Ham in their car from the said house. When they arrived at Sre Ampil village in Chhoeu Teal commune, about one kilometer away, they pulled Muon out from their car and started accusing him of making trouble. They then stripped him of his underwear, and led by Chuop Sophy, hit his neck and kicked him to his chest and groin. They took away his clothes, his phone and the remaining money in his pocket, worth 80,000 riels (USD 20), before leaving him alone.
After the incident the police informed Muon’s wife that they had sent her husband to his native village in Prey Veng province.
Muon struggled to walk home, falling down repeatedly. Persons looking for him after his arrest found him halfway between the house that he was taken from and the place where the police had left him. He had bruises and severe internal pain where he had been severely beaten. He rested at home, hoping to recover by himself since he could not afford to pay for medical treatment. But due to the severity of his injuries he is still not been able to sit and walk properly by himself. The Buddhist Centre had to help to send him for medical treatment, and it is feared that one or two of his ribs and a thighbone are fractured.
I therefore urge you to take appropriate action against the policemen involved, in particular Chuop Sophy. They should be held to account for torturing the victim. I am aware of the lack of laws in the country which define torture as a criminal offense and I therefore urge you to ensure that those involved are punished under the existing criminal law for battery with intent, and ordered to pay compensation for the injuries and suffering they have caused Muon.
I ask the Cambodian government take other adequate measures to prevent the commission of torture by security forces and to ensure adequate remedies for victims. Also, I urge the Cambodian parliament to ensure the speedy enactment of the penal code which has, as I have learned, would be able to criminalise torture.
I trust the Cambodian government will take such actions and measures, and the Cambodian parliament will heed such a call.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Heng Samrin
President
National Assembly
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855-23-21 77 68
Fax: +855-23-21 77 69
E-mail: kimhenglong@cambodian-parliament.org
2. Mr. Chea Sim
President
Senate
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855-23-21 14 41; +855-23-21 14 42; +855-23-21 14 43
Fax: +855-23-21 14 48
E-mail: info@senate.gov.kh
3. Mr. Samdech Hun Sen
Prime Minister
Cabinet of the Prime Minister
No. 38, Russian Federation Street
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 2321 9898
Fax: +855 23 36 0666
E-mail: cabinet1b@camnet.com.kh
4. Mr. Sar Kheng
Deputy-Prime Minister
Minister of Interior
No.275 Norodom Blvd., Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax/phone: +855 23 721 905 / 23 726 052 / 23 721 190
E-Mail: info@interior.gov.kh or moi@interior.gov.kh
5. Mr. Tea Banh
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of National Defence
Russian Federation Street
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855-23 883184 / 428171
Fax: +855-23 883184
E-mail: info@mond.gov.kh
6. Mr. Ang Vong Vathna
Minister of Justice
No 240, Sothearos Blvd.
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax: +855 23 36 4119 / 21 6622
E-mail: moj@cambodia.gov.kh
7. Mr. Henro Raken
Prosecutor-General
Court of Appeal
No 240, Sothearos Blvd.
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 11 86 27 70
Fax: +855 23 21 66 22
8. General Hok Lundy
National Police Commissioner
General-Commisariat of National Police
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 23 21 65 85
Fax: +855 23 22 09 52
9. General Sao Sokha
Commander
Military Police
Mao Tse Tung Blvd
Khan Tuol Kok
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 12 36 3636
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)
