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Link to UNCHR
(E/CN.4/2001/NGO/68)
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-seventh Session
Item 11 (d) of the Provisional Agenda
CIVIL
AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
THE
QUESTION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY,
ADMINISTRATION
OF JUSTICE, IMPUNITY
Written
statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre,
a
non-governmental organization with general consultative status
Police
abuses in Cambodia
1.
Basic principles of international law and fair trial are often
violated in Cambodia’s criminal justice system. Impunity,
torture, forced confessions, illegal arrests and detention are
frequently reported by the news media and monitoring
non-government organisations.
2.
Such practices are in violation of the Cambodian constitution of
1993 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), which Cambodia has ratified and to a large extent
incorporated into its national constitution. The constitution
protects the right to life, personal freedom and security and the
right to judicial recourse. It also prohibits the death penalty,
physical abuse, arbitrary arrest and detention. Accused persons
are protected against forced confessions and are presumed
innocent until proved guilty.
3.
However these constitutional provisions are often violated, and
the Cambodian criminal justice system lacks almost all components
for effective operation, including an independent and efficient
judiciary. Police activities are devoid of democratic policing
and rule of law principles. In fact, the police and military are
often involved in crimes and human rights violations, alike
ordinary perpetrators. Police or military agents perpetrating
gross abuses are not brought to justice. In the eyes of the
public, the police constitute a threat to their safety and
security; they are mistrusted and regarded as criminals.
4.
Police officers do not behave according to either the Cambodian
constitution or article 6 of the ICCPR, protecting the right to
life, as the following examples demonstrate.
a. On November
1, 2000, Don Ran (26) was shot dead by a police officer armed
with an AK-47, at his house in Traing Village, Kom Rieng
district, Battambang. Border policeman Chhun Touch shot the
victim repeatedly in the throat and chest, after becoming angry
when Ran criticised him and belittled him over an unpaid debt.
According to the police, Touch fled over the border to Thailand.
(Phnom Penh Post, November 10-23, 2000).
b. On November
28, 2000, Buot Dan was shot dead by criminal police after he was
freed from prison in the provincial capital of Kratie. According
to the police, a moto-taxi driver was severely wounded in the
shooting. Buot Dan was allegedly a former member of the Khmer
Serey insurgency movement in Sambo district. (Phnom Penh Post,
December 8 -21, 2000). This case is an example of police in
Cambodia not considering the judiciary and its judgements binding
on them or their authority. The motive for this killing was the
victim’s alleged political persuasion, indicating a lack of
respect for other political convictions and so further violating
articles 1 (1), 2 (1) and 26 of the ICCPR.
5.
Cambodian legal aid organisations report that approximately
twenty percent of all their cases involve forced confessions
(Cambodia Defenders Project statistics). Lawyers have major
problems proving that they are forced, as police tend to keep the
victims in custody until bruises and other signs of violence have
disappeared. Victims of forced confessions tend to confess to
prosecutors because police threaten the accused with more
violence if they do not obey their orders and do so. Police very
rarely testify in court, and never stand trial accused of
torturing or forcing confessions. That most criminal cases are
based on confessions indicates that Cambodia is still employing a
socialist evidentiary style. These violations breach article 7 of
the ICCPR. The following cases illustrate:
a. On May 27,
1998, Ngan Kim Srun was charged drug usage, counterfeiting,
murder, robbery and kidnapping of two children near the central
market in Phnom Penh. The accused was one of ten persons charged
in the kidnapping case, of which six persons are being
prosecuted. The robbery and murder charges were dropped. Ngan Kum
Srun was arrested by a soldier and blindfolded. According to his
statement when brought to the police station he was beaten and
forced to confess. However, witnesses did not identify him among
the kidnappers, and the kidnapped children were not available to
give testimony. The defence lawyer argued that the confessions
were forced, but the investigating judge maintained that the
accused had confessed to both the police and prosecutor, stating
that there was no risk of being beaten by the prosecutor and
therefore that confession could not be regarded as forced. The
investigating judge decided to forward the case to court. The
trial date is set for June 6, 2001 (Cambodia Defenders Project,
Case No. 424 / 27-05-98).
b. On November
1, 1999, Kim Van Dy was one of three persons accused of robbery.
The two other accused confessed and stated that Kim Van Dy also
participated. When the case came before Phnom Penh Court, the two
withdrew their statements and said that they had only confessed
to Kim Van Dy being part of the crime because the police had
beaten them and forced them to do so. The defence lawyer raised
the question of forced confession, but the judge did not consider
this argument and said that the police knew the three for their
previous crimes, however he did not make any specific reference
to a crime the accused had allegedly been involved in. No other
witnesses were heard. The judge sentenced the accused to three
years imprisonment. (Cambodia Defenders Project, Case No. 18/
03-01-00).
6.
Cambodian police also violate the right to liberty and security,
including freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, as dealt
with by article 9 of the ICCPR. For example, in February 2000 a
married couple travelling by motorbike in Siem Reap Province were
arrested by a military lieutenant for no apparent reason. The
husband was threatened with death if he resisted. Both suffered
head inquiries from beatings. The wife was pregnant at the time
of the incident, and the case went to court, as the couple wanted
compensation for the wife having to spend all her time at the
hospital till she gave birth. In November 2000, the judge issued
an arrest warrant for the lieutenant, which was sent to the
police commissary and headquarters of the provincial military
police. By the beginning of December 2000, however, the
perpetrator was still not arrested (LICADHO).
7.
In Cambodia, illegal arrest and detention, torture and forced
confessions in police custody are common. This situation may have
been caused by many factors, such as the heritage of the
communist era; the long term use of the Cambodian police as a
tool for political power struggles; the militaristic role imposed
on policing by past regimes; and the many police officers without
training, if any education at all.
8.
No doubt there is a major need for reform of policing in
Cambodia. International organisations and donors must push the
government to conduct reforms towards creation of a democratic
civil police force committed to upholding the national
constitution. However, reforms cannot be successful without the
commitment and participation of all the key stakeholders,
including the government and police organisations. Furthermore,
police reform should be linked with reform of the judiciary and
rule of law in Cambodian society.
9.
In the short term, the Commission must urge the Government of
Cambodia to make an effort to stop human rights violations
committed by police and military authorities and to ensure that
those violating constitutional provisions be bought to justice.
The government should put high priority on creation of an
independent organ with a mandate to handle complaints against the
police, empowered to make inquiries into specific cases, as well
as general areas of concern. It should have the capacity to
obtain all documentation on cases that it is investigating and
hold powers to subpoena and refer cases to the judiciary. An
independent organ handling public complaints would facilitate
reduction of the prevailing climate of impunity in Cambodia.
Posted on 2001-01-30
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