Amnesty International Report 1994 - Cambodia

Hundreds of people were killed in political violence before elections in May, some of them victims of extrajudicial executions. At least four people "disappeared". There were new political arrests during the year. Prisoners were subject to torture or ill-treatment: at least seven were extrajudicially executed after an escape attempt. Forces of the Partie of Democratic Kampuchea (PDK or Khmer Rouge) committed grave human rights abuses, including deliberate and arbitrary killings. The UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) continued to register voters for elections under the terms of the Paris Peace Agreement, which was signed in 1991 by the State of Cambodia (SOC) government and the three other main political factions: the PDK; the National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Co-operative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC); and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF) (see Amnesty International Report 1992). In spite of the presence of UNTAC human rights monitors, political killings, threats and intimidation were reported from almost every province, and more than 10 UNTAC personnel were killed. The PDK refused UNTAC access to areas of the country under its control, and attacked UNTAC personnel and property. In April the PDK withdrew from the Supreme National Council (SNC) and its representatives left Phnom Penh. Elections for the 120-member constituent assembly were held in May, despite threats from PDK forces to disrupt polling. FUNCINPEC won 58 seats, while the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which had formed the previous SOC government, won 51 seats. The PDK boycotted the elections and fielded no candidates. The CPP initially refused to accept the election result, and an attempt at secession in Cambodia's eastern provinces, led by prominent CPP members, resulted in a further wave of political violence, primarily against FUNCINPEC members and supporters. However, the secessionist movement quickly collapsed, and a national provisional government was formed. Cambodia's Head of State, Prince (later King) Norodom Sihanouk appointed his son, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the leader of FUNCINPEC, as First Prime Minister, and Hun Sen, the leader of the CPP, as Second Prime Minister. A new national army was formed, which launched an offensive against the forces of the PDK in August. Limited hostilities continued from that time, and hundreds of members of the PDK armed forces defected to the side of the new government. PDK forces attacked civilian targets, including trains and villages, particularly in the second half of the year. The provisional government formed a committee which drew up a new Constitution during July and August. UNTAC's mandate came to an end in September with the promulgation of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and the coronation of King Sihanouk. The two Prime Ministers of the provisional government retained their posts in the new government. Under the terms of the new Constitution, the Kingdom of Cambodia recognizes and respects human rights as defined in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and all human rights treaties and conventions. All existing laws remain in force until new laws or regulations are promulgated to replace them. The UN maintained a Human Rights Centre in Phnom Penh to continue the human rights education work started by the UNTAC Human Rights component. More than 200 people were killed and over 330 injured in politically motivated attacks during the two months preceding the May elections. There were numerous attacks on opposition political party offices and serious acts of harassment and intimidation during this period, such as death threats and destruction of property. UNTAC identified CPP forces as responsible for at least 20 attacks on opposition party personnel which resulted in grave human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions and "disappearances". Dozens of FUNCINPEC members were extrajudicially executed by SOC police and armed forces, and at least 10 others were killed by unidentified assailants. In February FUNCINPEC reported that six of its members had been arrested by members of the Cambodian People's Armed Forces (CPAF, the SOC army) in northwest Cambodia. Investigations by UN civilian police revealed that one had been released, one had escaped, and four had been killed. In the same month, four FUNCINPEC workers, who had recently returned from refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border, were abducted by CPAF soldiers in Battambang province. The CPAF soldiers denied all knowledge of the incident and, by the end of the year, the four remained "disappeared". The seven remaining known political prisoners held by the SOC were released in January. They included Ben Sophari and U Sakhun, and were all members of the Liberal Democratic Party, which at the time of their arrests in 1990 and 1991 was the political wing of the KPNLF. Evidence of detention without charge or trial on political grounds of adults and children was found throughout the year. CPAF troops arrested 52 civilians in February, in Siem Reap province, and held them without adequate food and water. The civilians were accused of associating with the PDK. Nine of them were detained for more than four days. An UNTAC human rights officer found three secret jails, one military and two civilian, in the first four months of 1993. Two 14-year-old boys were found in PJ prison in Phnom Penh where they had been held since Septem-ber 1992. Despite applications by UNTAC human rights officials, the boys were not brought to trial by the authorities. Torture and extrajudicial execution of prisoners continued to be reported. Under special powers of arrest and prosecution granted by the UN in January, UNTAC human rights officers arrested two SOC prison officials in July on charges of torture, ill-treatment of prisoners and murder. The deputy director of Prey Veng prison was charged with murdering seven prisoners who had pleaded for mercy on their hands and knees after being recaptured by prison officials following an escape attempt in May. The seven inmates were shot in the head, neck and chest. Other escapees who were recaptured were subjected to severe torture, including beatings and strangulation. The second deputy director of Battambang prison was arrested by UNTAC in July and charged with torture of prisoners by burning, beatings and other methods. Both men were taken to the UNTAC Phnom Penh prison to await trial. A third prisoner held by UNTAC on charges of gross human rights violations died in custody, reportedly of a heart attack. Than Theuan was a former member of the PDK armed forces and had been charged in connection with the murder of 16 ethnic Vietnamese civilians in Kompong Chhnang province in 1992. A SOC police officer charged with the murder of an opposition party member was in UNTAC custody at the end of September, after SOC authorities had refused to bring him to trial prior to the elections. At the end of UNTAC's mandate, the three surviving prisoners remained in custody without trial, because UNTAC's Human Rights component had apparently been unable to find a competent judge to hear the cases. The new Cambodian Government agreed to take the two former prison officials into custody and to arrange for their trial. They were transferred to a Cambodian prison, and UNTAC documentation of witnesses' testimonies was passed to the Ministry of Justice. The case of the former police officer was referred directly to a court hearing by the Ministry of Justice. The judge ordered an immediate provisional release. None of the cases had reached a conclusion by the end of the year. Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment was reported in Cambodian prisons. Seventy prisoners were discovered shackled in t-3 prison in Phnom Penh. On a routine visit to the prison in June, UNTAC human rights officials found the prisoners held in leg-irons. Shackles had previously been banned from Cambodian prisons, but were reintroduced in t-3 prison after a mass escape. Following UNTAC's visit, the Ministry for National Security agreed to have the shackles removed. One prisoner starved to death in August. Chhay Narith had been held in t-3 prison without trial for almost a year, on charges of stealing a motorcycle. He was given inadequate food and no medical care, and was only transferred to hospital at the insistence of UNTAC personnel, too late to save his life. The PDK was responsible for grave abuses of human rights. Scores of civilians were deliberately killed in attacks by the forces of the PDK against members of the Vietnamese ethnic minority. More than 30 ethnic Vietnamese, including at least eight children, were killed in an attack on a fishing village in Siem Reap province in March. PDK soldiers attacked the village of moored houseboats, shooting into a video parlour. Later that month eight ethnic Vietnamese civilians, including three children, were killed by PDK soldiers in Kompong Chhnang province. Most of the victims were shot at close range, while two were hit with an axe or spear. Thousands of ethnic Vietnamese fled to Viet Nam. Following the May elections, the provisional government refused to allow these civilians to return to Cambodia, on the grounds that their safety could not be guaranteed. PDK attacks on ethnic Vietnamese civilians who remained in the country continued. In August, two adults were killed and eight ethnic Vietnamese children were held hostage by suspected PDK soldiers in Kompong Chhnang province. The children were released after a ransom was paid. Neither SOC nor provisional government officials apparently took any measures to protect the rights of the ethnic Vietnamese population. In April, three Bulgarian UNTAC soldiers were shot dead by PDK forces in Kompong Speu province, and three more were injured. Three PDK soldiers had been invited to share a meal with the UN platoon. After eating, two of the PDK soldiers left the tent, and returned with 10 armed men, who fired on the Bulgarian soldiers, killing three of them. PDK forces also apprehended UNTAC personnel for short periods, following a pattern which began in 1992 (see Amnesty International Report 1993). In February Amnesty International published a report, Cambodia: Human Rights concerns, July to December 1992. This report drew attention to human rights violations that occurred despite UNTAC's extensive operation in Cambodia, notably extrajudicial executions by the SOC government and killings by the PDK. A second report, Cambodia: Arbitrary killings of ethnic Vietnamese, was published in September. This drew attention to the killing of ethnic Vietnamese civilians in politically motivated attacks, most of which were attributable to the forces of the PDK. Amnesty International expressed concern that provisions for human rights protection in the new Constitution would not be effective unless the arbitrary use of police powers was prevented, and an independent and well-trained judiciary put in place. Amnesty International called on the government, the PDK and other Cambodian political parties, and the 18 signatories to the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, to take all steps to end attacks on ethnic Vietnamese. An Amnesty International delegation visited Cambodia in July to discuss these and other concerns with the then Prince Norodom Sihanouk, representatives of the provisional government and UNTAC officials.