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| Riot police take part in a graduation ceremony yesterday in Phnom Penh. Among other things the graduates were taught how to deal with crowds during protests. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post |
Wednesday, 01 August 2012
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
The Phnom Penh Post
A deputy
police chief being sued for his alleged role in a pregnant woman being kicked
in the stomach outside the appeal trial of the Boeung Kak 13 in
June said yesterday he did not know what compensation the
woman, who miscarried, wanted.
“Is the victim old or young, and does she
sue me to return her kid?” Phnom Penh municipal deputy
police chief Phoung Malay said. “I want to tell her that if she wants to get back her kid, I am
also young,” he said.
Bov Srey Sras, 25, from Boeung
Kak’s village 21, said she was suing Malay, Daun Penh deputy governor
Sok Penhvuth and an officer who kicked her, claiming they are all responsible for
inflicting “intentional
violence”.
“I am suing them for my own
justice and for the justice of my two-month-old unborn baby who was killed
by police,” said Srey Sras, the sister of Bov Sophea, one
of the 13 women on trial.
Police armed with shields and
batons clashed with supporters of the Boeung Kak 13 on Sisowath Quay on
June 27 as they tried to march toward the Court of Appeal to attend the
women’s trial.
Srey Sras, who was caught up in
the violence, was taken to the National Maternal and Child Health Centre
after losing consciousness and later lost her unborn baby.
Sophea, who was released from
Prey Sar prison the night of the clash after spending a month and three
days in jail, said yesterday that she wanted justice for her sister.
“The justice and independence of the court
will be tested in the case of my sister,” she said.
The June 27 clash is among a
number of incidents in which police have been accused of violence
against protesters since Borei Keila residents were evicted from their
homes on January 3.
Municipal police chief Touch
Naroth said yesterday he had raised with his officers the issue of not
using violence when dealing with demonstrators.
“I always educate the police to
be patient and flexible with demonstrators who are protesting and for
them to avoid using violence,” he said. “We must turn these crackdowns
into things that are peaceful.”
Some of the forces Naroth
referred to were busy in Phnom Penh yesterday demonstrating nonviolent
tactics they had been learning since June 13.
Naroth ordered them not to fire
on protesters or commit violent acts against them in the future and said
they were “waiters for the people” who should be considered friends
rather than enemies.
“I would like to emphasise that
the main objective of this training for our national police forces was
not to crack down on people, protesters or demonstrators,” he said.
“It was to protect or prevent
[people] from having strikes or demonstrations or other illegal
activities in order to guarantee public order, safety and security for
people in the Kingdom of Cambodia.”
Nevertheless, in cases where
protesters used violence or took up weapons against police, force
remained a last resort, he said.
The police also demonstrated
their counter-terrorism strategies as part of yesterday’s display at the
Phnom Penh police commissariat, advancing in tight formations while
training their AK-47s on imaginary targets.
Pung Chhiv Kek, president of
rights group Licadho, said she appreciated Touch Naruth’s orders, saying
that past instances of police resorting to violence against protesters
and demonstrators could not be repeated.
“I support and appreciate these
orders. I hope that if the police really implement General Touch
Naroth’s orders, there will be no more violent acts against protesters
or demonstrators in our country,” she said.
Srey Sras said Prak Savuth,
president of clerks at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, had accepted her
complaint.
“He told me he will send this
complaint to his superior,” she said.
Sok Penhvuth could not be
reached for comment yesterday.
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