Human Rights Watch today denounced the killing of a Cambodian human rights activist in Kandal Province on December 19 and called for the prompt investigation, arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the murder.
"This is the first killing of a human rights employee or activist in Cambodia that has occurred in connection with rights workers performing their duties," said Sidney Jones, director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch. "This killing will deter others from trying to protect human rights, especially in the current political climate, in which many crimes go unpunished. The fact that this murder took place during a week that two rights workers were arrested in Sihanoukville sends a particularly ominous message."
On December 19, at 7:30 p.m., Pourng Tong, 55, an activist member of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (known by the acronym ADHOC), was shot and killed in the doorway of his home in Prey Pongro Village, Ponhea Leu District, Kandal Province. He was allegedly shot in the presence of a member of the commune militia by the bodyguard of a local gravel company that was attempting to evict fifteen families. Witnesses say that prior to the murder, a man stood outside Pourng Tong's house and called for him to come out. When Pourng Tong opened the door, he was shot with an assault rifle. Four bullets hit him in the chest and abdomen and two bullets lodged in his calf muscles. He died within a few minutes.
Local villagers in the area have been working for the past five years grinding stones for a gravel company that has repeatedly tried to occupy the land on which the families lived. Villagers have charged that the company hired a militia unit to intimidate local residents and to ensure that company trucks could pass through the area. In addition, the company offered U.S. $300 to residents to leave. While eight families accepted the offer, fifteen families rejected the money, saying it was not enough to compensate the loss of their land.
Pourng Tong had been a volunteer activist member with ADHOC since 1997. He had been helping the group of fifteen families resist the eviction and assisted them in filing a complaint in the provincial court against the eviction threat. He is survived by his wife and seven children. The case is currently under investigation by the Kandal provincial police. However ? even though the deputy chief of the provincial police has told the media that a member of the local militia is thought to have been involved in the murder, and the names of other suspected perpetrators are known ? no arrests have yet been made. "Indigenous human rights defenders are more important than ever in documenting and demanding action to stop Cambodia's widespread human rights abuses," said Jones. "Harassment, arrests, and violence against human rights workers must cease. The authorities must act immediately to investigate and prosecute this case."
