[Editor’s note: Lem Pichpisey, a 40-year-old reporter for Radio Free Asia, arrived in Norway under UN protection last month following reported death threats and a flight with his family from Cambodia last year. The government and spokesmen for Prime Minister Hun Sen have repeatedly denied allegations of involvement in illegal logging, a subject of Lem Pichpisey’s reporting ahead of the threat. Lem Pichpisey spoke to VOA Khmer by phone.]

Q. Can you tell us briefly about why you fled to Norway?

A. I decided to leave my beloved Cambodia because I received a death threat, when someone put a bullet outside my Battambang house to scare me. My daughter found the bullet when she was sweeping dirt in front of the house. We thought this was the last sign and that we had to leave Cambodia, and I should give up on the profession of journalism.

Someone had threatened my life before the bullet in front of my house. The first death threat I received was while I was investigating and reporting about massive illegal deforestation at Prey Long, in Tum Rinh commune, San Dan district, Kampong Thom province. After that, I received a death threat while I was reporting this issue for Radio Free Asia, and it was exactly the same as the [government-banned] Global Witness report published June 1.

When I verified my investigation with that report, it was exactly the same on illegal deforestation, which involved Prime Minister Hun Sen’s family members and high-ranking military officials of Military Division 70 and a group of Hun Sen’s bodyguards, and especially Hun Sen’s in-laws. They were involved in this destruction, according to my investigation and the Global Witness report.

Q. When you first received a death threat, where did you go? You then returned to Cambodia. Why?

A. I escaped to Thailand, because I thought that at least Thailand had more democracy than Cambodia. The reason I came back to Cambodia was that I had committed myself to work fighting for democracy and the rule of law after I received the knowledge from US-provided training about international journalism and media management. After that training, I wanted to show my gratitude by sacrificing myself to training and bring about human rights, democracy and real freedom of expression to the Cambodian people.

Because I still loved the profession of journalism, I left Thailand and came back to Cambodia and told my boss at Radio Free Asia in Washington that I could not live in Thailand anymore, that I needed to go back to Cambodia. Some people had asked me why I had to come back to Cambodia, didn’t I feel scared? I told them that I felt scared, but I needed to ask the International Human Rights organization to pressure the government, and when the situation calmed down a bit, I could go back to Cambodia and continue my journalism.

Q. What happened with the second death threat? How many threats were there? And where did you flee for you life?

A. I received another death threat early in November 2007. I escaped to Thailand again because I had published Free Press Magazine, a compilation of many reports about illegal logging, the death of dancer Piseth Pilika and the report of Global Witness. That was a legal magazine, because I had permission from the Ministry of Information already. The police came to my office in Phnom Penh to confiscate more than 2,000 magazines without telling me ahead of time.

We knew that the police had come to my office to copy some documents, and I was also told by some friends working in the government that the government sent secret agents to investigate me. We knew that the police came to check my background at my home in Battambang province. At that point, I was scared, forcing me to leave Cambodia.

Q. In Thailand, which organization protected you?

A. I received a lot of support from international human rights organizations, including [UN High Commissioner for Human Rights] in Cambodia. I want to clarify that the protection is not against the Cambodian government. But it is a sign that the freedoms of expression and media in Cambodia are still weak, and journalists still suffer from death threats, persecution and intimidation.

So those international organizations issued press releases or statements of protection and urged the government to end human rights violations against activists and journalists. Some of the international organizations that issued press releases to support me were the Asian Human Rights Commission, based in Hong Kong, Licadho, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, Adhoc, journalism clubs and the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance and others. That meant there was a spirit of support from national and international non-governmental organizations.

Source: VOA News

]]> http://vuthanews.info/2009/02/journalist-recounts-flight-after-death-threat/feed/ 0 http://vuthanews.info/2008/09/us-fbi-agents-assist-cambodian-journalist-murder-investigation/ http://vuthanews.info/2008/09/us-fbi-agents-assist-cambodian-journalist-murder-investigation/#comments Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:51:32 +0000 Cambodian News http://vuthanews.info/?p=666 The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has sent two agents to Phnom Penh to assist in the investigation of the murder of opposition journalist Khim Sambo and his son.

The Phnom Penh Post quotes a US embassy spokesman saying the agents were assigned to Cambodia following a request from the Ministry of Interior, and that their role will be purely supportive of the Cambodian investigation.

He says the agents have no definite timeframe for their involvement and could stay until the investigation is complete.

Phnom Penh’s Deputy Police Chief Hy Prou who is heading the investigation told the newspaper local police currently have no leads on a suspect and that the complexities of the case have made investigation difficult.

Khim Sambo was killed instantly after being shot twice in the back while riding on a motorbike driven by his son, who was also shot twice from behind and died later that night in a Phnom Penh hospital.

Source: ABC Radio Australia

The ministry has received a letter from the FBI, but the investigation committee will decide how the FBI can help, said Interior Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak told VOA Khmer.

The ministry has requested the help of the FBI, but US officials said this week they were still waiting for a specific responses on how the US agency might help the investigation.

“We’re still waiting,” former US ambassador Joseph Mussomeli told reporters before leaving the country Monday. “We are still awaiting from the police a list of exactly what they think they need from us.”

“We have very good ideas of what they need from us, and we are sharing that as well,” Mussomeli said.

The FBI could help, for example, through the use of a sketch artist or forensic specialists, US Embassy spokesman John Johnson said Tuesday.

Khim Sambor was shot dead in Phnom Penh on July 11, along with his son, two weeks ahead of national elections. No suspect has been arrested.

Source: VOA News

Sith was once jailed over accusation by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong for defamation. His part-time colleague, journalist Khim Sambo, was shot dead on street and the murderer is still at large.

“Dam Sith has left because his life was in danger,” English-Khmer language newspaper the Mekong Times quoted SRP deputy secretary general Mu Sochua as saying.

“His career as an editor is under threat as one of his colleagues was killed and the authorities haven’t found the killers. Politics is also involved as he is a SRP member,” she added.

Meanwhile, SRP lawmaker Son Chhay said that Dam Sith had been very worried about his safety and with the help of SRP, he received a visa from the U.S. Embassy before the general election in July.

Mu Sochua said that the editor in chief will return to Cambodiaas soon as the situation becomes stable and his personal safety is ensured.

More than 10 reporters and editors have been killed since the 1990s in the kingdom. None of the cases are settled yet.

Source: Xinhua

The Ministry of Interior has accepted an offer of help from the FBI in investigating the pre-election murder of an opposition journalist, officials said Monday.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday had accepted the FBI’s help in the case of Khim Sambor, and opposition journalist, and his son, who were both killed July 11 in a Phnom Penh shooting, two weeks before the national elections.

The cooperation met with approval from many Monday, but it remained unclear what role the US agency would play.

Kim Sambor’s daughter, Kath Sarinda, 24, said she supported the cooperation.

“I hope that they will bring in the real killer, not the fake killer, like in the Chea Vichea case,” she said.

Labor leader Chea Vichea was shot dead in 2004, and two men widely considered innocent each received 20-year prison sentences for the murder.

The US Embassy received an official request from the Ministry of Interior, , a US Embassy spokesman said. It was too early to speculate how the FBI might help, the spokesman, John Johnson, said.

The FBI will make the investigation faster, he said, because the FBI has more experience and resources.

Phnom Penh Police Chief Touch Naroth said he would be happy to work with the FBI in an investigation that is already underway.

Moneaksekar Khmer editor Dam Sith welcomed the aid of the FBI, and Adhoc director Thun Saray called it a “positive” signal.

If a killer is not found with the help of the FBI, public opinion will be more calm, Thun Saray said. The cooperation will be seen as an opening of the government to international police efforts, showing a greater will for Cambodia to find the killer.

Twelve reporters have been killed since 1994, but is the first time the FBI has helped in such an investigation.

Source: Radio Australia

“We want this to be public knowledge,” Khieu Sopheak said.

The July 12 double slaying of 47-year-old Khim Sambo, a journalist for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer, and his teenaged son Khat Sarinpheata brought international condemnation.

Although the government has denied any knowledge of the killings, its questionable human-rights record has made it the target of suspicion from groups including the SRP – the second political party in the country – and New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The FBI also investigated a 1997 grenade attack on an SRP rally in which at least 16 people were killed and SRP leader Sam Rainsy sustained minor injuries. The culprits are still at large.

The ruling Cambodian People’s Party won a landslide victory in Sunday’s elections, but opposition groups have cited the killings, claiming they could have intimidated voters – a claim the government has angrily denied.

Source: The Earth Times

Two Cambodian journalists have been awarded the Hellman/Hammet Writer’s Award, for upholding standards of journalism despite political persecution.

Chheang Bopha, 28, and Duong Sokha, 27, were selected among 34 journalists from 19 countries to receive the award, which “recognizes courage in the face of political prosecution,” Human Rights Watch, which administers the award, said in a statement.

“Chheang Bopha and Duong Sokha represent a small minority among Cambodia’s press corps who dare to challenge corrupt and politically biased institutions through their writings and their actions,” said Sara Colm, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch.

Both men quit working for the French-language newspaper Cambodge Soir to protest the dismissal of a colleague who had reported on illegal logging, including coverage of a banned report by the environment monitor Global Witness.

The Global Witness report implicated many high-ranking members of government, including those in the family of Prime Minister Hun Sen, in illegal logging.

“In a climate of increased suppression of free expression and attacks against independent media–including from the highest levels of government–few journalists dare challenge the system,” Colm said. “Sokha and Bopha aim to uphold professional standards in a country with few truly independent media outlets.”

Source: VOA News

Khim Sambo, 47, and his 21-year-old son Khat Sarinpheata were riding on a motorbike near Phnom Penh’s Olympic Stadium when gunmen opened fire, ending a period of unusual calm amid the electioneering.

Campaigning had focused on the economy and a border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand that involved possession of the Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia’s remote northwest. The temple was recently listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.

Phnom Penh won the diplomatic battle with Bangkok, but it was the absence of campaign violence that was winning Cambodia some rare praise for its fledgling democracy until the July 11 slayings.

Human rights groups have been quick to claim the killing was politically motivated and designed to silence critics of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) ahead of the July 27 poll.

Khim Sambo had extensively covered election irregularities, illegal logging and fishing, and land grabbing for the local newspaper Moneaseka Khmer, which is affiliated with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP).

The paper’s editor, Dam Sith, was recently charged with libeling Cambodian foreign minister and senior CPP member Hor Namhong.

However, the violence has not been restricted to opposition parties.

Ngor Srun, a CPP secretary of state, survived an acid attack Sunday morning as preparations were being made for the cremation of Khim Sambo.

The U.S. embassy said it was saddened by the attacks.

“The FBI, through the U.S. embassy, stands ready to provide assistance, if requested by the Cambodian government, in investigating the case,” it said in a short statement.

Paris-based Reporters without Borders also urged authorities to act quickly, warning that such murders would impact on the election if they went unpunished.

Cambodian elections, which were restored by a United Nations-sponsored poll in 1993, have often turned nasty in recent years as this country struggles with a notorious culture of impunity. Election monitors Comfrel said the increase in pre-election violence followed familiar patterns established in 1998 and 2003.

But determining whether killings are politically motivated — and from whence the orders to carry out violence are issued — has always proved tricky and investigations rarely result in a prosecution.

Officials also claim election campaigns have been used as an opportunity to settle old scores. Tempers fray, guns are common and the traumas associated with decades of war, which ruined this country, still persist.

“If this pattern continues, more violence will happen in election campaigning,” Koul Panha, Comfrel executive director, said.

Human rights advocate Theary Seng agreed, saying the double killing would have a chilling impact on the election.

“It was politically designed to send a message of fear,” she said.

Khim Sambo was the 12th journalist slain in 15 years.

The election is being contested by 11 political parties, but the CPP, enjoying the benefits of a buzzing economy and with Prime Minister Hun Sen at the helm, is expected to win and govern outright for the first time.

Previously, the constitution had demanded a party must win a two-thirds majority in parliament before being able to govern on its own. This often resulted in messy and uncomfortable coalitions.

However, a constitutional amendment has reduced the mandated number of parliamentary seats to 51 percent, making it easier for Hun Sen, Southeast Asia’s longest serving leader, to extend his 23-year tenure.

This longevity, coupled with the violence meted out among rivals has won him comparisons with Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

“He’s like Mugabe, he wants to stay in power forever,” SRP chief Sam Rainsy recently quipped.

Luke Hunt is an Australian journalist based in Hong Kong, and a frequent World Politics Review contributor.

Source: World Politic Review

A journalist with the opposition-aligned Khmer-language daily paper Moneaseka Khmer, Sambo was shot twice while riding his motorcycle with his 21-year-old son on July 11 in the capital of Phnom Penh, according to international and local news reports. He died later in the hospital. His son was also shot and killed, the reports say.

The gunmen were also riding on a motorcycle and sped away after the shooting, news reports say. Cambodian police officials said on Sunday that they had not yet identified a motive or any suspects in the murder, which occurred during the run-up to general elections on July 27.

“We call in the strongest terms for the government to work to bring Khem Sambo’s killers to justice,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program director. “The killing of journalists unfortunately harks to Cambodia’s violent past. A lack of justice would be inconsistent with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s recent stated commitment to protect and uphold press freedom.”

Moneaseka Khmer is affiliated with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, and Sambo was among the publication’s most hard-hitting reporters. Content analysis of Sambo’s reporting in the weeks before his murder compiled by the Cambodian League for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights and reviewed by CPJ reveals a steady stream of critical reporting on Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodia’s People’s Party.

His most recent reports, written either under the pennames Srey Ka or Den Sorin, touched on allegations of government corruption, internal rifts inside the ruling party, and questions about the distribution of benefits from recent rapid Chinese investment in the country. The Moneakseka Khmer is one of only a handful of consistently critical publications in Cambodia; the broadcast media all report unswervingly in the ruling party’s favor.

On June 8, Moneakseka Khmer’s editor-in-chief, Dam Sith, was arrested and detained on defamation and disinformation charges filed by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong for a story published in the newspaper quoting a speech by opposition politician Sam Rainsy that was highly critical of several government officials. He was discharged without bail on June 15 after Hun Sen requested his temporary release while the trial was still pending, according to news reports that quoted the journalist’s lawyer.

Sith called the attack on Sambo “the gravest threat” to the publication, according to The Associated Press.

Source: Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ)

“As in previous pre-election periods, this killing appears to be intended to send a message not to engage in opposition politics,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Sambo had been a reporter for more than 10 years for Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience), a newspaper affiliated with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). It is one of the few newspapers in Cambodia that is not dominated by the government or the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen, which also controls most television and radio stations. Sambo was known for his hard-hitting articles about government corruption, political affairs, and land grabbing.

“The Cambodian authorities should surprise everyone for once and hold accountable those responsible for Khim Sambo’s murder, no matter their political allegiance,” said Adams. “Sadly, there is every reason to fear that Khim Sambo will be yet another opposition journalist whose killing will not be solved.

“Just a month before his murder, military police arrested Moneaksekar Khmer editor, Dam Sith, who is also running as a SRP candidate in the elections, after the paper reported on allegations about the current foreign minister’s role during the Khmer Rouge regime. Although Sith was released after several days in detention and the foreign minister dropped his lawsuit against the editor, criminal charges of defamation and disinformation are still pending against Sith under articles 62 and 63 of Cambodia’s penal code.

The buildup to the July elections has been marked by intense and systematic efforts by the CPP to pressure opposition party members, particularly those from the SRP, to defect to the CPP. Lucrative offers of high-paying government positions or threats and reprisals against those who refuse have resulted in hundreds of opposition party members defecting to the CPP during this campaign.

One of those suffering reprisals as a result of the defection campaign is Tuot Saron, a local SRP leader in Kampong Thom province, who remains in detention almost four months after her arrest.

In violation of election rules, the 11 political parties competing in the election do not have equal access to the media, especially radio and television. Most of the electronic media outlets in Cambodia have focused their election coverage almost exclusively on positive portrayals of the CPP or one-sided attacks on the opposition. On July 10, the National Election Commission (NEC) issued a warning to 13 television and radio stations for broadcasting biased coverage of the elections. Ten of those stations are dominated by pro-CPP coverage, according to the NEC.

Human Rights Watch called on the Cambodia authorities to promptly implement other critically needed reforms in advance of the elections. These include to:

• Remove pending criminal charges against Dam Sith;
• Reissue the license and reopen Angkor Ratha (FM 105.25) radio in Kratie province, which was shut down by the government in May 2008 after it sold air time to opposition parties;
• Release SRP member Tuot Saron in Kompong Thom;
• Stop the unprecedented pressure by the CPP to coerce opposition party officials to defect to the CPP before the elections; and
• Ensure fair and equal access to electronic media.

“Elections in Cambodia are always fraught with violence and intimidation,” said Adams. “While political violence is considerably less than in past elections, the fact that an opposition journalist has been gunned down on a busy city street has sent shock waves through the community of media workers, opposition party supporters, and the voting population in general.”

Source: Reuters