Sar Kheng criticises police violence
MINISTER of Interior Sar Kheng said on Tuesday t hat t he recent v iolent crackdow ns i n Kratie and Preah Sihanouk prov inces on people locked in land disputes were i l lega l ly implemented and procedurally wrong as the militar y was used.
He instructed a ll aut horities nationwide not to use v iolence in such situations.
“In solv ing land disputes, we need to remember that we are lega l and administrative of ficia ls. It is right to deploy t he police and militar y police to i mplement the law, but it is wrong to deploy armed milita r y forces.
“Militar y forces should not be deployed in t he implementation of court rulings. Such cases have happened in Kratie and Preah Sihanouk prov inces. It means the prov incia l administrations there do not understand the law, and other prov inces should not deploy militar y forces in t his way,” Sar Kheng said.
Speaking at a Ministr y of Interior convention out lining t he results of 2018 and goals for t his year, he stressed t hat aut horities should have a better strateg y to solve such conflicts peacefully.
“The enforcers of the law are t he police, t he Militar y Police and prosecutors. I have ta lked about t his before, but I must ta lk about it again because if we are wrong [when implementing t he ruling of the courts] and continue to be so, it makes t hings worse.
“The law permits us to stop and think of solutions, but we have not done so. We have v iolently implemented [t he law],” he said.
After the Preah Sihanouk clashes, t he National Militar y Police created a committee to investigate t he incident, claiming some police officia ls are being administratively punished for t heir roles in t he v iolence.
Ministr y of National Defence spokesman Chhum Socheat told The Post on Tuesday t hat t he militar y never direct ly and solely implements t he law, wit h its participation requested by loca l aut horities.
“I do not support t he participation of t he militar y [in such cases] because it is a matter for t he aut horities, as Sar Kheng said.“Many conflicts are caused by land dis- putes and aut horities mostly requested t he assistance of t he milita r y. But af ter t he recent incidents, we should let loca l aut horities ta ke care of such cases,” he said.
In t he case of t he militar y using v iolence on a protester during t he clashes at Preah Sihanouk province’s Koki v illage on Januar y 24, Socheat said no action had yet been ta ken because the ministr y had not received a complaint.
According to a report on t he incident by Preah Sihanouk Governor Yun Min, 20 prov incia l-district administration of ficia ls, 100 militar y policemen, 100 militar y personnel, 100 police force personnel and relevant department officials moved into the disputed area to implement a Supreme Court verdict.
Shots fired in the air
“Some aut horities shot in t he air [around 20 rounds] as a warning. These were not intended to cause harm, [but they] were not ordered to do so.
“The aut horities are searching for the person who injured the man with live fire because they suspect it might be a t hird part y,” t he report states.
In Kratie prov ince on March 8 last year, joint securit y forces, most of them soldiers, fired rounds in the air during clashes with around 200 people as they sought to implement a court verdict in a land dispute. Seven members of the authorities and t wo protesters were injured. Seven arrests were made.
Soeung Sen Karuna, the spokesman for rights NGO Adhoc, said it was correct to ta ke action on t he illega l use of force. He said he supported Sar Kheng’s ca ll on the deploy ment of t he militar y in disputes as they were not trained in dealing wit h protests.
“Sar Kheng’s idea is correct and hopefully t his will be addressed in t he f uture. The use of trained forces to deal wit h in such situations is t he best option to prevent v iolence,” he said.