Cambodian Justice

I’ve been following a story about an attempted prison breakout in Battambang province. The trouble began as an inmate conducted the prison’s fortnightly head count, as was the normal practice. The inmate opened a cell to check on a fellow prisoner, who forced his way out and proceeded to free others. Guards took refuge as the prisoners tried to make their escape. This went on for some time – prisoners running around inside the prison, guards hiding. Shots were heard, and a grenade exploded somewhere inside the jail. Rumours circulated that up to ten prisoners were dead.

The following day, the official story took shape. Nine men had died after they tried and failed to escape. Police claimed that a prisoner died after they had detonated a grenade inside the prison. The official line was now that the men died after agreeing to pull the pin on a grenade that they happened to have lying around in their prison cell. A Cambodian human rights group claims that police snipers dressed in smart black uniforms arrived by helicopter. They were seen firing smart black automatic rifles into the jail from vantage points along the fence. Witnesses heard several minutes of continuous automatic weapon fire. That’s a lot of bullets.

As tragic as it may be, this type of thing isn’t unheard of in Cambodia. Sixteen prisoners died in a similar episode last year. They were buried the same day, their names never released. But here’s the thing about the latest incident…

The next day, human rights groups requested that the bodies be examined. They suspected that unnecessary force had been used to quell the situation. They may have expected to find bullet wounds. Relatives of the dead also requested that their loved ones be returned to them. Their requests were denied as prison guards hurried to bury the bodies within prison grounds. The Prison Director released the following statement:

“We did not permit any of the dead bodies to be sent to their families, because the prisoners have been sentenced for up to 30 years. We will keep their bodies until they finish their punishment.”

No further questions.