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Link to UNCHR
(E/CN.4/2001/NGO/66)
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-seventh Session
Item 11 (b) of the Provisional Agenda
CIVIL
AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
THE
QUESTION OF DISAPPEARANCES AND SUMMARY EXECUTIONS
Written
statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre,
a
non-governmental organization with general consultative status
Beatings
of alleged criminals to death expose fatal flaws
of
the criminal justice system in Cambodia
1.
Group killing of alleged criminals has become frequent practice
in Cambodia. Pictures in newspapers publishing details of street
executions clearly show policemen standing by while people attack
and kill. These incidents are not accidental, but the product of
a legal system that has proved itself incapable of dispensing
justice objectively and a police force willing to incite violence
as a rough substitute for the dispensation of legal justice.
2.
When policing and judicial practices fail, street violence
becomes a form of trial delivering an instant remedy to appease
the appetites of people made insecure. Without recourse to
legitimate remedies and with tacit approval of law enforcement
agencies, people take to savage revenge. In Cambodia, none of
those engaging in such killings have been arrested or brought to
justice, even despite their photos being exhibited by the press.
3.
A few cases from July to October 2000 serve to illustrate. On
July 21, Song Veasna and Dy Hor were beaten to death and their
corpses burned after alleged robbery of a motorcycle. On August
19, Rim Bros was taken from the police station at Sam Pov Loun
district, Battambang, while he was under police custody for an
alleged rape; his penis chopped off, he was beaten to death by a
large mob armed with sticks and rocks. On September 15, Sna of
Chankar Morn Section, Phnom Penh, was beaten to death at Dankor
Market after attempting to escape from police, having been
accused of theft of a gold watch. Alleged thieves of motorcycle
taxis beaten to death on October 3-4 were Chea Pha, at Ang Snuol,
along Highway 4 of Kandal province; Keng Kosal and Mun Nath at
Trapeang Thloeung, Sangkat Chom Chau, Phnom Penh; and an
unidentified person at Sangkat Boeng Keng Kong, Phnom Penh. For
snatching a necklace, a student named Norng Darn was beaten to
death on October 23 in front of You Nam Market, Kampuchea Krom
Street, Phnom Penh. On October 27, another unidentified person
was beaten to death at Street 219, Sangkat Sangkat Phsar Doeum
Kor, Phnom Penh, for alleged theft of a bicycle.
4.
These killings clearly violate article 6 (1) of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which states that
Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right
shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived
of his life." They also violate the right to fair trial
enshrined in article 14 of the ICCPR. The Government of Cambodia
has ratified the ICCPR and the Constitution explicitly upholds
the ICCPR. Thus, these killings violate Cambodia's own
fundamental law as well as its international obligations.
5.
The Government of Cambodia is obliged to bring this practice to
an end and punish all those who have engaged in it. As it has
been legitimised through both the passive participation and
instigation of the police, the government should explicitly
prohibit gang killing via a pronouncement and a campaign to
reinforce the message. The government must also appoint a
commission to inquire into these cases and scrutinise actions
taken by the police to investigate and punish offenders.
6.
These practices, however, are systemic; not the product of
arbitrary mob violence or public outrage. They are rooted in the
country's failure to develop a functioning criminal
investigation system, without which there can be no fair trial.
In the absence of criminal procedure, elements of the public are
being encouraged to seek violent alternatives. A permanent
solution can come only through legal and judicial reforms
designed to make fair trial a possibility in Cambodia. Sadly,
during the seven years since the UN sponsored elections progress
in this direction has been slow, if at all.
7.
Cambodia lacks a functioning criminal justice system because
there is
a.
No penal code. The existing code consists of about forty offences
drawn up as a guideline by the UN Transitional Authority on
Cambodia (UNTAC). The Cambodian Ministry of Justice has been
drafting an adequate code but it has not been produced, despite
many claims that it is nearing completion. There seems little
likelihood of a penal code being adopted in the near future.
b.
No basic criminal procedure code. One new draft has been
circulating, but this has been based on the socialist justice
model employed from 1984 to 1992, before UNTAC and adoption of
the new Constitution. Differences of opinion about the criminal
procedure code - whether the former system of socialist
justice should continue or whether liberal democratic principles
should be used as the norms, on the basis of the 1993
Constitution, which declares Cambodia a liberal democracy -
have not been settled. For all practical purposes, the old
socialist system continues, as most judges are products of the
pre-UNTAC period.
c.
No professionally competent judiciary
8.
Without serious reforms, Cambodia will not be able to honour its
obligations under the ICCPR. The situation will continue to
degenerate, as more people are encouraged or permitted by
law-enforcement agencies to engage in barbaric practices such as
killings and other gross human rights abuses.
Posted on 2001-01-30
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