Interior minister: Police must set example for public
MINISTER of Interior Sar Sokha has reiterated that as the authorities’ anti-drug campaign continues, National Police officers and other civil servants will be subjected to drug tests, with no exceptions, to set an example for the public.
The remarks came as he presided over the February 13 inauguration of new roading infrastructure and the closing ceremony of the second graduating class of the 17th intake of the police vocational training course, at the National Police School, Region 1, in Stung Treng province.
“As our anti-drug campaign rolls on, we are continuing to test interior ministry officials, National Police officers and tax officials. Nobody will be exempt from these tests. As public officials, we must set an exemplary example for the public,” he said.
He expressed his admiration to the ministry leadership for their active, honest implementation of testing, noting that disciplinary action has been taken against any official who was found to be a drug user.
“In the past five years, whenever we have discovered an official committing illegal acts or violating their professional discipline, we have not hesitated to sack or demote them, or strip them of their roles. Neither I personally, nor the secretaries of state or the National Police chief, want to have to do this, but we have to remove any meat that is rotten and get our own house in order before we can plan further development of our human resources,” he explained.
He advised the newly graduated police officers that they must take an active role in the anti-drug campaign, and warned them not to become embroiled in the use of drugs or any other offences, because they would be dismissed without exception.
Am Sam Ath, operations director at rights group LICADHO, said it is necessary for the government to maintain the testing regime. Police officers, all security forces and civil servants need to stay away from drugs. They must observe the law stringently and set an example for the public to follow.
“The drug problem remains a concern. If we look at the statistics of the Kingdom’s prison inmates, more than 50 per cent are locked up for drugrelated offences. In addition, there are tens of thousands of other victims of illegal drugs,” he said, explaining that drug use destroys human resources and wastes state budgets.
Sam Ath suggested that the ministry strengthen the implementation of anti-drug laws, increase cooperation with all partner organisations and root out any corruption relating to drugs. It must ensure that people who are involved in the manufacture or distribution of drugs are subject to legal consequences.
He added that the ministry needs to increase its collaboration with other nations, both regionally and globally, to tackle the drug problem.*