The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Anger, grief after clash” plus 9 more

Only one of 38 people arrested over Tuesday's violent clash between garment workers and police was an employee of the SL Garment factory, police said yesterday.

Choun Narin, deputy municipal police chief, said police had sent two people to court over the riot in the capital's Meanchey district, which began with more than 600 striking SL workers and ended with police opening fire, killing 49-year-old rice vendor Eng Sokhom.

"Among 31 people, there is only [one] SL worker and the others are opportunists who used the violence to attack police and destroy public property – that's why we arrested them," he said.

However, none of the 29 who walked free yesterday - seven detained monks were released the night before - was charged with a crime, and many spoke of being arrested at random.

Speaking to Post reporters from inside a cell at Phnom Penh Municipal Police headquarters, Krong Soknet, 30, a motodop, alleged police beat him up before arresting him, even though he wasn't part of the protest.

"I don't know why the police targeted me and beat me like an animal."

Khim, 27, one of 13 others who shared a small cell with Soknet on Tuesday night, said police arrested him after those who had actually attacked them fled.

"I knew I didn't do anything wrong, that's why I stayed in the pagoda," the currency exchange worker said.

The two men sent to court yesterday were yet to be charged, but had thrown rocks at police and were involved in the destruction of two police cars and motorbikes, Narin alleged. Neither were SL employees.

Saying goodbye
Across town, a group of about 40 mourners yesterday said goodbye to Sokhom.

They knelt down with their heads bowed toward the casket that contained the rice vendor's body.

"I am heartbroken and angry with whoever shot my wife dead," said Ngeth Vong, her 51-year-old husband. "I call on police to investigate this case, find the facts and give justice to my wife and other victims."

As anger continued to build over the police's decision to unleash live ammunition on the workers, police announced they had formed a committee that would investigate the bloody clash.

"We are investigating the woman's death," said Eng Sophea, chief of the Phnom Penh municipal serious crime office. "Someone has been shot dead – and we have to investigate that."

In front of the small shrine that surrounded his wife's casket, Vong said that when Sokhom was hit in the chest with a bullet, they initially underestimated the severity of her injury.

He and one of his sons first tried to get her on a motorbike, but she was unable to sit up, Vong said. They then carried her to a tuk-tuk, which took her to Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Stung Meanchey police questioned Vong in the hours after his wife's death, he said. They asked whether he had seen the faces or any other identifying attributes of the police who killed his wife, he added.

"I told them that I did not see their faces or know their names. If I saw them or knew their names, I would file a complaint against them directly to the court."

The municipality provided Vong with 5 million riel ($1,250) to pay for the funeral, he said. Sokhom's body will be cremated today.

"The police chief made the order to shoot," a villager, who was not at the protest, alleged at the funeral. "If there was no order to shoot, there'd be no shooting."

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Bullet wounds
Nearby, at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, Ty Sophanith, 31, lay in the last of four beds in a room on the hospital's third floor, with bandages on his thigh and neck and an IV in his arm.

Bullets fired by police grazed Sophanith's neck and hit his right thigh, splintering the bone, as the SL employee stood in front of the Stung Meanchey pagoda, he said.

"A doctor tried to tell me that I would be able to walk normally after the wound heals," Sophanith said, less than 24 hours after doctors removed the bullet. "But I am concerned, because other doctors told me that the injury could render that leg immobile."

Sok Sophoeun, 26, Sophanith's wife, also worried about her husband's recovery prospects, saying that she and their 5-year-old son depended on Sophanith's ability to earn money.

CNRP lawmaker Ly Sreyvyna, who is also a doctor, looked at Sophanith's X-ray when she walked into the room with fellow CNRP elected lawmakers Yim Sovann and Son Chhay.

Sophanith and doctors should still be concerned about whether his bones align properly to heal correctly and the formation of blood clots, she said before decrying the police shooting.

"This is criminal.… They really meant to kill him," Sreyvyna said. "All [SL workers] want is a raise, not a war."

On his way from the hospital to visit the Stung Meanchey pagoda, Chhay said authorities opening fire on crowds of unarmed people was nothing new, referencing former Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith's shooting at a strike last year and the September 15 shooting of Mao Sok Chan, 29, during a clash on the Kbal Thnal overpass.

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Self-defence
The International Labor Organization released a statement yesterday, pushing garment workers and police to avoid a similar incident in the future.

"We strongly condemn the use of violence by both authorities and protesters and urge all involved parties to respect the rule of law, exercise maximum restraint and express their views peacefully," the statement says.

But Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers' Association in Cambodia, called the police shooting a reasonable response to demonstrators throwing rocks on Tuesday.

"When you have a mob of a couple of hundred people rushing you, throwing rocks at you, you feel in danger.… You will do whatever you can to defend yourself," Loo said.

He added that he identified with the fear police most likely felt, because he was inside the Sabrina factory in Kampong Speu in June when a demonstration outside turned violent. "If one of those hits your head, you'll meet your maker," he said.

But according to those who walked from police custody yesterday, those responsible for violence that injured more than 20 officers are yet to be found.

"I was walking along the sidewalk, and then police arrested me," said Chhay Theany, 31, the sole SL employee detained.

REPORTING BY KHOUTH SOPHAK CHAKRYA, SEAN TEEHAN, MOM KUNTHEAR AND SHANE WORRELL

A day after a Thai general said his nation planned to withdraw its troops from the vicinity of Preah Vihear temple as ruled by the International Court of Justice, the Thai government said they have yet to accept the ruling.

Sek Wannamethee, spokesman for the Thai foreign ministry, said yesterday that Thailand did not accept the world court's ruling that clarified Cambodia's sovereignty over the promontory of Preah Vihear.

"[We have] not accepted the ruling. Both sides need to meet," he told the Post.

"Both sides need time to study and analyse the substance of [the] verdict. No troops [are] to be withdrawn, as both sides have not met yet."

The ICJ judgment said Thailand was obliged to withdraw all guards, troops or police forces from the vicinity of the temple.

Whether Thailand accepted the ruling would be determined by bilateral talks "in good faith", Wannamethee said.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said yesterday, however, that both sides had committed to "fully implementing" the ICJ decision.

"It is clear. Both sides have committed to their international obligations [under] the ICJ. But they have to talk together to understand the technical [aspects] to define what belongs to whom," he said.

"On principle, the Thais have to withdraw their troops, but to where? That is the question."

According to local media reports, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has also said that troops will remain at the border area for the time being.

Yingluck is coming under increasing domestic pressure from nationalists, who say her administration has given up land to Cambodia.

Somchai Sawaengkam, a member of the senate committee on foreign affairs, has claimed that Thailand has lost at least one square kilometre of land from the verdict, the Bangkok Post reported yesterday.

It also reported that senators have called for an analysis of the pros and cons of the verdict to decide whether they should comply, with some suggesting a referendum be held.

ICJ verdicts are binding and cannot be appealed.

A white paper released yesterday by the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction argues that land policy reforms are inherently linked to poverty reduction.

The need for land-titling reform in particular is a consistent theme in the paper's latest draft – the ninth produced by the ministry.

"Poverty risks of poor families can be reduced when there is growing ability [to use] land, especially when [land is guaranteed] through issuance of ownership titles," the paper states.

But while seemingly offering de facto support for the country's controversial land-titling program, the paper also has criticisms of the government's land-management track record.

"[T]he management of state land and natural resources by competent institutions and all levels of local authorities who are responsible for land management are [problematic] over how land [policy] is supposed to [be] managed and implemented," the document states.

The document, which covers issues ranging from gender equity in relation to land ownership to the illegal occupation of "state-owned land", is the result of multiple inter-ministry meetings dating back to 2007, the ministry's secretary of state, Lim Voan, said yesterday.

"This is the goal of our land policy, to manage use, and divide the land and natural resources fairly, transparently and effectively to reduce poverty, guarantee food security, and boost peoples living standards," Voan said.

This version – the final copy – is designed to prevent land disputes and improve the management of natural resources, with a special emphasis on the grabbing of both state and private land. It is expected to be submitted to the Council of Ministers next year, according to Voan.

An employee of one of the NGOs contributing to the workshop who was not authorised to speak to the media said the document will be "shared electronically and circulated amongst private and public NGOs for feedback and input", adding the next workshop was slated to commence in April.

Transparency watchdogs have warned that $1.5 billion of unallocated funds in next year's budget will only encourage nepotism and embezzlement.

The Draft Budget Law was approved at the National Assembly on Tuesday in a unanimous vote of 66 ruling Cambodian People's Party MPs.

The opposition's 55 elected lawmakers have yet to take their seats in parliament following July's disputed election.

The $3.4 billion spending bill included about $1.5 billion in "unallocated" money, which amounts to more than 44 per cent of the total budget.

"This is a huge amount and a concern for us," said Chhith Sam Ath, director of Cambodia's NGO Forum, which works with the US-based International Budget Partnership (IBP) to advocate for greater fiscal transparency. "Our experience is that in previous years, we see … that it gives more flexibility [to the authorities to allocate funds] without passing through the National Assembly."

In 2012, IBP's Open Budget Index ranked Cambodia 81st out of the 100 countries surveyed and second to last in Southeast Asia with a score of 15, beating only Myanmar and falling far behind the regional average.

Cheam Yeap, a senior CPP lawmaker, said the $1.5 billion had not been allocated because reserve money could be needed for natural disasters or if conflict broke out with Thailand.

"We have no ability to protect against Thailand if we do not have a reserve budget," he said. "And also natural disasters; we lost nearly $1 billion in the recent [flooding]."

However, while the amount of money not allocated in the annual budget has steadily increased in recent years – from about $948 million in 2009 to $1.4 billion last year – it has remained between 46 and 52 per cent of the total.

Ou Virak, director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said unassigned money in the budget kept the door open for corruption.

"Actually, it's common. It means that the prime minister can basically do whatever he wants [with this money]," Virak said. "He can allocate money to whatever projects he wants.… In the past, they have given money to companies owned by their own sons, for example."

While it is normal for governments to have "discretionary funds" in their budgets, Kol Preap, executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, said that anything over 10 per cent should be a cause for alarm.

"We are concerned that such an amount could be potentially misused or that there will be a lack of transparency.… It's not a good practice. Any amount below 10 per cent would be reasonable," he said.

Son Chhay, a senior Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker, said the government was "fooling around" with the budget.

"We found last year that the unallocated budget has been increasing from around 27 per cent in 2007, to about 40 per cent now," he said. "We need an explanation of why this is becoming common practice in this country."

Political analyst Peter Tan Keo called on the CNRP to match those words with actions, saying the party's resources could be "better spent combing through the budget proposal" than calling for an electoral investigation.

A meeting at the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training yesterday, held amid a three-month strike that led to a deadly riot on Tuesday, failed to reach an agreement between SL Garment Processing (Cambodia) Ltd and union officials.

The negotiation, attended by SL chief executive Wong Hon Ming, lasted about four hours, during which he refused to reinstate 19 employees who are members of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) and who have been sued by SL.

"Those 19 unionists are responsible for our company losing a lot of profit, so we can't accept those people back," he said through a Cambodian-Chinese translator.

C.CAWDU and SL management agreed on several points, including an agreement that SL would pay workers 50 per cent of the wages they would have earned during the strike, and that shareholder Meas Sotha – who hired armed military police to stand guard inside the factory – would no longer be associated with the factory.

David Welsh, country director of labour rights group Solidarity Center/ACILS, questioned the singling out of the 19 unionists, though held out hope for an agreement.

"Continuing to penalise the entire union leadership is difficult to accept. All other [points] seem close to resolution," Welsh said, adding that both sides agreed to make whatever efforts necessary to quell violence.

C.CAWDU secretary general Ek Sopheakdey and about 40 union representatives who attended the meeting said if there is no agreement by today, the SL strike will grow.

Police officers who defied orders not to open fire on rioting garment workers on Tuesday – an act that resulted in the fatal shooting of 49-year-old rice vendor Eng Sokhom – could lose their jobs, a National Police spokesman said yesterday.

Kirt Chantarith told the Post that a committee had been set up in the aftermath of Sokhom's death to investigate why police had used live ammunition on protesters, the second death of an unarmed civilian on the capital's streets in less than two months.

"The [National Police] Commissioner General [Neth Savoeun] ordered them not to use guns," Chantarith said, referring to the violent crackdown on workers from the SL Garment factory on Tuesday that left at least six others with bullet wounds. "He ordered them just to use water and tear gas."

The police officers who violated those orders would "face disciplinary action, according to the investigation", he added.

Such action could include dismissal, he said.

When asked if officers who pulled the trigger would face criminal charges, Chantarith's phone went dead and he could not be reached again.

After the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Mao Sok Chan during a clash at a bridge on the capital's Monivong Boulevard in September, rights groups called for a full investigation.

Despite previous comments from officials suggesting such an investigation was not being undertaken, Chantarith said yesterday that police had already formed a committee to investigate that bloodshed.

Buth Bunchhean, a Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) legal officer who was involved in the clash on Tuesday, said his union would launch its own investigation into the shooting.

"We're going to investigate [why police fired guns] to crack down on the workers," he said. "We cannot accept what has occurred. Police must investigate this woman's death." The police, he added, must press charges against officers who had fired their guns, in order to avoid further deaths.

Dave Welsh, country manager for labour-rights group Solidarity Center/ACILS, said it was critical that Sokhom's death be investigated.

"Using live ammunition is totally unacceptable," he said. "It is critical that [Sokhom's death] be investigated and some liability be attached."

Rights groups and observers will be focused intently on the progress of the investigation, especially after Military Police spokesman Kheng Tito, who could not be reached yesterday, said on Tuesday that it was not yet conclusive that police bullets had killed Sokhom, despite numerous eyewitness accounts of police firing live ammunition and photographs showing police with drawn pistols.

That was a sentiment repeated by Phnom Penh deputy police chief Choun Narin yesterday.

"Did you really see police take a gun and shoot them?" he asked a reporter during a press conference.

The provincial governor of Banteay Meanchey was killed in a traffic accident in Battambang's Mong Russey district yesterday morning after his car hit a truck on National Road 5.

Try Narin, 36, was travelling to Phnom Penh, according to provincial deputy police chief Chet Vanny.

"Try Narin's car was speeding and hit the front of a truck [that lacked] reflective lights; his car hit the truck full force. We sent him to hospital, but he died [on the way]," Vanny said, adding that Narin's chauffeur sustained minor injuries.

The family is expected to travel from the capital to arrange funeral rites and allow officials to pay their respects according to Chan Kosal, a deputy provincial police chief.

Narin appeared to be on the political fast track – after starting as a commune chief in the capital's Niroth commune, he went on to serve as Poipet town's governor and was appointed provincial governor in May this year, provincial spokesman Ouk Keo Ratank said yesterday.

The eldest son of tycoon Duong Ngiep is a free man, the bulk of his three-and-a-half-year prison sentence dropped in lieu of travel strictures and a prohibition on his drinking alcohol.

Duong Otdom Chhorvin, also known as Duong Chhay, 24, was arrested in April along with his brother Duong Kimlong, 17, and their bodyguard, Ly Rayuth, 20, after the trio beat a man at a restaurant in the capital, according to court documents.

Chhay was convicted of illegal weapons possession, assault and destruction of property, and sentenced by Phnom Penh Municipal Court to three and a half years. He was also ordered to pay $10,000 in damages and fined $1,750.

Yesterday, defence lawyer Nach Try said the tycoon's son was released after just six months served.

"My client was released from the prison about two weeks ago. Although … the court has not dropped charges against him," he told the Post.

But according to his lawyer, Chhay is still feeling the burden of his crime.

"He was released, but he has not received his full freedom," Try said. "He is prohibited by the court from drinking, using a weapon and travelling to another country. I think that this court's prohibitions have seriously infringed on his rights."

President of the Appeal Court You Bunleng and his vice president, Chuon Sunleng, could not be reached for comment yesterday regarding why the convicted man was released.

Chhay's younger brother, Kimlong, received a five-month suspended sentence and a $125 fine. Bodyguard Ly Rayuth was released after the court found him innocent.

A Chinese national was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday for the rape of a 14-year-old acquaintance nearly one year ago.

In addition to the seven-year sentence, Luo Chintong, a 39-year-old former finance manager of Global Taxi Company in Phnom Penh, was ordered to pay 12 million riel, about $3,000, to the victim.

"The court has found that Lou Chintong is guilty as accused," said Sous Sam Ath, presiding judge of Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Chintong was arrested by anti-human trafficking police in the capital's Chamkarmon district in March, after the victim's parents discovered her unconscious and bleeding on a bed in their home.

Chintong knew the family, who sometimes sold him fish and vegetables from their home, according to the victim's father.

About a week after the rape, Global Taxi Company employees came to the victim's house on Chintong's behalf, and offered the family $350 if they would drop all legal charges, the family said.

Instead, the family sued for $10,000 and the maximum 15-year sentence. The family was not in court for the verdict.

Chintong and his defence lawyers declined to comment yesterday, though during the hearing last month, the defence had maintained his innocence and asked the court to drop charges.

Partly triggered by recent flood damage and an increase in road accidents, claims filed with the six general insurance companies in Cambodia spiked more than 160 per cent in the nine months through to September compared with the same time last year, the latest data show.

Total claims reached $8.5 million, a 167 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the Insurance Association of Cambodia, which released the figures on Tuesday. The sector that generated the most claims by value, or $3.2 million, was engineering, which includes property, irrigation systems and road construction.

In the number two slot was the "motor" sector, encompassing car and motorbike accidents. There, claims amounted to $1.95 million, a 187.7 per cent year-on-year increase. Medical filings represented the third largest chunk, growing 13.7 per cent to $1.87 million in the first nine months.

Of the total, leading general insurance provider Forte paid out more than $2 million as of October.

"Claims increase during flooding season, both caused by the Mekong river and the rain," Youk Chamroeunrith, general manager of Forte Insurance, said yesterday.

With clients in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, the second-largest general provider, Infinity, also shouldered a big part.

According to David Carter, CEO of Infinity Insurance, medical and motor claims have increased for Infinity "as medical costs increase and the number of insured cars on the roads rises".

He added that the claims were still under budgeted projections.

Handicap International's road safety program manager, Ear Chariya, said yesterday that only a small percentage of people have insurance in Cambodia and that insurance companies should raise more awareness about responsible driving.

According to the most recent traffic police statistics, between November 2012 and August 2013, Cambodia counted 3,306 car and motorbike accidents, 1,519 accident-related deaths and 3,358 damaged vehicles.

Only commercial vehicles like buses are legally required to buy motor insurance, but private car owners could soon be made to buy plans if new legislation is approved. The Ministry of Economy and Finance, which oversees the insurance industry, in May proposed that private car owners be forced to take out third-party liability insurance, which covers damage caused in accidents for which insured drivers are held responsible. The legislation is still pending, said Chhay Rattanak, chairman of the Insurance Association of Cambodia.

Premiums in Cambodia's insurance sector in the first nine months reached $31.38 million, a 20 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the association.