Court to sentence Thai man for laying mines near border

THAI national accused of laying land mines along Cambodia’s border with Thailand is set to be sentenced by a military court this week, his lawyer said Monday, renewing questions over whether either country has been involved in placing new mines in disputed areas.Suphap Vong Pakna was arrested last February in Oddar Meanchey province after he allegedly entered Cambodian territory and planted land mines.In a hearing last week, Suphap Vong Pakna confessed to planting at least five explosive devices, saying Thai soldiers paid him to do so, his Cambodian lawyer said.“He tried to lay the land mines because he wanted to kill Cambodian people who patrol the border,” said Sam Sokong, a court-appointed lawyer with the Cambodian Defenders Project.Sam Sokong said his client was among a group of at least seven people, but was the only one arrested. “He confessed he entered Cambodia twice. The second time, he was arrested and then sent to military court,” Sam Sokong said.Suphap Vong Pakna faces charges – including attempted murder, endangering national security and entering the country illegally – that could see him sentenced to between 15 and 30 years in prison if convicted, Sam Sokong said.
Our policy is to work together ... to remove these land mines. we don't have a policy to lay more."
However, the lawyer said he plans to ask for leniency when the court reconvenes as expected on Friday.“Suphap is like a victim,” Sam Sokong said. “Due to his poverty and low education, he sacrificed his life for money without knowing that laying mines is criminal.”Thai accusationsIn October 2008, the Thai government said two of its paramilitary rangers were severely injured after stepping on land mines in territory near Preah Vihear temple that Thailand claims as its own.A Thai investigation reportedly found Russian-made land mines in the area – devices the Thais said were recently planted and of a type that Thai soldiers have never used. Thai authorities said the findings suggested that Cambodia may have been guilty of breaking the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, which bans signatories from using antipersonnel mines.“The Royal Thai government views the sad land mine incident with great alarm, as it indicates violation” of the Ottawa Treaty, an October 17, 2008 statement from Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.Cambodia, however, said any land mines in the area were remnants of three decades of war. Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Monday that Thailand has yet to respond to a diplomatic note rejecting the allegations.“Cambodia has never planted fresh land mines. We are trying to clear the mines,” Koy Kuong said.“Even Cambodian people right now suffer from land mines. Cambodia has been committed to demining, not only in the country, but also abroad in areas like Sudan.”He said the Thai government should respond to the allegations raised by Suphap Vong Pakna’s prosecution.“The Thai side should acknowledge what happened, if a Thai national confessed he planted land mines along the border,” he said.Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn declined to comment on the court case, saying the issue should be decided through “normal legal channels”.Thailand, he said, has not been involved in planting new land mines.“The area has a lot of land mines to be retrieved. Our policy is to work together with the Cambodians to remove these land mines,” he said.“We don’t have a policy to lay more land mines.”Leng Sochea, deputy secretary of the Cambodian Mine Action Authority, said that officials are not aware of any other allegations that new land mines are being planted in the area.The heavily mined areas between Cambodia and Thailand represent the highest concentration of land mines in the Kingdom, according to the group Landmine Monitor.

Court to sentence Thai man for laying mines near border

THAI national accused of laying land mines along Cambodia’s border with Thailand is set to be sentenced by a military court this week, his lawyer said Monday, renewing questions over whether either country has been involved in placing new mines in disputed areas.Suphap Vong Pakna was arrested last February in Oddar Meanchey province after he allegedly entered Cambodian territory and planted land mines.In a hearing last week, Suphap Vong Pakna confessed to planting at least five explosive devices, saying Thai soldiers paid him to do so, his Cambodian lawyer said.“He tried to lay the land mines because he wanted to kill Cambodian people who patrol the border,” said Sam Sokong, a court-appointed lawyer with the Cambodian Defenders Project.Sam Sokong said his client was among a group of at least seven people, but was the only one arrested. “He confessed he entered Cambodia twice. The second time, he was arrested and then sent to military court,” Sam Sokong said.Suphap Vong Pakna faces charges – including attempted murder, endangering national security and entering the country illegally – that could see him sentenced to between 15 and 30 years in prison if convicted, Sam Sokong said.
Our policy is to work together ... to remove these land mines. we don't have a policy to lay more."
However, the lawyer said he plans to ask for leniency when the court reconvenes as expected on Friday.“Suphap is like a victim,” Sam Sokong said. “Due to his poverty and low education, he sacrificed his life for money without knowing that laying mines is criminal.”Thai accusationsIn October 2008, the Thai government said two of its paramilitary rangers were severely injured after stepping on land mines in territory near Preah Vihear temple that Thailand claims as its own.A Thai investigation reportedly found Russian-made land mines in the area – devices the Thais said were recently planted and of a type that Thai soldiers have never used. Thai authorities said the findings suggested that Cambodia may have been guilty of breaking the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, which bans signatories from using antipersonnel mines.“The Royal Thai government views the sad land mine incident with great alarm, as it indicates violation” of the Ottawa Treaty, an October 17, 2008 statement from Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.Cambodia, however, said any land mines in the area were remnants of three decades of war. Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Monday that Thailand has yet to respond to a diplomatic note rejecting the allegations.“Cambodia has never planted fresh land mines. We are trying to clear the mines,” Koy Kuong said.“Even Cambodian people right now suffer from land mines. Cambodia has been committed to demining, not only in the country, but also abroad in areas like Sudan.”He said the Thai government should respond to the allegations raised by Suphap Vong Pakna’s prosecution.“The Thai side should acknowledge what happened, if a Thai national confessed he planted land mines along the border,” he said.Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn declined to comment on the court case, saying the issue should be decided through “normal legal channels”.Thailand, he said, has not been involved in planting new land mines.“The area has a lot of land mines to be retrieved. Our policy is to work together with the Cambodians to remove these land mines,” he said.“We don’t have a policy to lay more land mines.”Leng Sochea, deputy secretary of the Cambodian Mine Action Authority, said that officials are not aware of any other allegations that new land mines are being planted in the area.The heavily mined areas between Cambodia and Thailand represent the highest concentration of land mines in the Kingdom, according to the group Landmine Monitor.

PM skips Tamone temple on border trip

RIME Minister Hun Sen concluded his high-profile tour of the Thai-Cambodian border on Monday, continuing his harsh rhetoric against the Thai government, but avoiding visiting a temple in Oddar Meanchey province that both sides claim as their own.Speaking at Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Base 42 in Oddar Meanchey’s Banteay Ampil district, Hun Sen again accused Thailand and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of invading Cambodian territory, pointing in particular to Thailand’s occupation of the Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda, near Preah Vihear temple, that began on July 15, 2008.“Abhisit, will you swear on having all your family members be killed in a plane crash ... that your soldiers did not come to invade Cambodia at Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvarak?” Hun Sen said.“Do you dare to swear on magic that could break your neck, on a plane crash or a dissolution of the countries, that your soldiers did not invade Cambodia’s territory on July 15, 2008?”Hun Sen, who visited Preah Vihear temple on Saturday, also accused Abhisit of stealing the premiership in Thailand, saying the Thai leader had “no family honour”.“You attacked me, so I have to defend, and will continue with counter-attacks on you,” Hun Sen said.Despite these confrontational remarks, Hun Sen chose to forego a visit to nearby Tamone Thom temple, just a few kilometres away in Banteay Ampil district. Chawanon Intharakomansut, secretary to the Thai foreign minister, said Monday that Cambodian leaders had been in talks with Thailand about a potential visit to Tamone Thom, but scuttled their plans after Thailand demanded that Hun Sen’s escorts travel unarmed.“We asked them to [discard] their weapons if they want to come into the area, that’s the only condition, and I think they changed their minds,” Chawanon said.In a statement released on Monday, Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tamone Thom was “clearly situated in Cambodian territory”, citing maps from 1908 as proof of the Kingdom’s claim. Accompanied by this statement was a copy of a note written by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong in 2008 to then-Thai foreign minister Tej Bunnag in which Hor Namhong accused Thai troops of occupying Tamone Thom illegally, ordering their immediate withdrawal.Chawanon declined to comment on these documents, and said that Tamone Thom is indisputably a Thai possession.“The fact is that we’ve controlled the area for so long … so there’s no question,” he said. In a press conference on Monday afternoon at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hor Namhong denied that Hun Sen had ever planned to visit Tamone Thom. Hun Sen “had no plan to visit [Tamone Thom], and I knew before it before the visit”, Hor Namhong said, rejecting media reports to the contrary.The foreign minister reasserted Cambodia’s claim to the land around Preah Vihear temple as well as Tamone Thom, criticising Thai media outlets and politicians for blowing Hun Sen’s border visit out of proportion“Why were they really surprised about the visit of Samdech Techo? The reason is that they want to take Cambodian land,” Hor Namhong said.Chawanon dismissed the idea that Hun Sen’s visit had stoked further tensions between the two nations, arguing that it in fact represented a positive development in their relations.“For the past few days, I think some good signs have been shown between two countries, that we play by the rules of engagement in the area. That’s a good step for our relationship,” he said.

Kor Muoy families remain in limbo

A group of 50 families says the government relocation plan for the P Vihear site excludes them

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN A boy pauses on Friday to speak with a former resident of Kor Muoy village who was recently sent to a relocation site some 30 kilometres away. Fifty families from the village, located at the bottom of the mountain on which Preah Vihear temple sits, say they have been excluded from housing at the new site.
Now, when the roads are good, they are asking us to resettle...."
Preah Vihear ProvinceAS political observers waited to see how Prime Minister Hun Sen’s weekend visit to Preah Vihear temple would affect relations with Thailand, a group of 50 families who have been living near the site for years hoped for the answer to a more concrete question: Where would they be forced to move come March? The families are among the 473 currently living in Kor Muoy village, below the ridge where the temple is located. When fighting first broke out near the temple following its listing as a UNESCO World Heritage site in July 2008, the government set in motion plans to relocate residents to a site some 30 kilometres away, citing concerns for their safety as well as a desire to develop the area as a “cultural heritage site”. But representatives of 50 families say they have not been included on a list of those to receive housing at the new site, to which Kor Muoy residents are scheduled to move in March, according to notices recently placed in the village by local authorities. Pov Narith, the 40-year-old owner of the Prasat Preah Vihear Manrith guesthouse in Kor Muoy, said the families had been looking to Hun Sen’s visit as an opportunity to clarify what will happen to them after they are forced to move. He said the payment of 2 million riels alone – without a new plot of land – would not be sufficient compensation. “When I first came here in 2001 there was nothing. Life was difficult back then,” he said. “There were bad roads, and there was no telephone network. Now, when the roads are good, they are asking us to resettle, but it is not easy to tear down my guesthouse, and I’m worried that life will become difficult again.”Government officials said they could not confirm why the families had been left off the housing list, but Pov Narith and others interviewed for this story said it was because of their support for opposition political parties. He said he led a trip to Phnom Penh last April to submit petitions to the Senate and the National Assembly, and that the Senate responded in May that they should be entitled to live on the land.

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN Mom Nay, 41, (left) and Ngin Yong, 54, are among the residents of Kor Muoy village who have moved to a relocation site some 30 kilometres away.But when representatives tried to press their case to the premier on Saturday, they were rebuffed by security, he said. “We knew Samdech Techo would visit this village, and we tried to see him and submit a petition about this partisan discrimination, but we were detained on the day of his visit and have now become targets of discrimination by the local authorities,” he said.Heng Sreypov, 46, who has lived in a large wooden house in Kor Muoy since 2002, is also among the villagers who have been left off the list at Techo Hun Sen Natural Village. She said she was detained by a bodyguard of provincial governor Sar Thavy for five hours on the day the premier visited. “I did nothing wrong, but the bodyguard of the governor pulled me out from the crowd and pushed me into the car as a criminal. I was ashamed, but I didn’t have any idea what I did wrong,” she said. Sar Thavy could not be reached for comment on Monday. Ham Sokha, one of the village chiefs at the relocation site, said the 50 families would need to wait to receive their plots of land because it was still being cleared. “Everyone will receive land and a house of the same size,” he said, adding that he did not know why just 50 families had thus far been excluded. In his speech at the relocation site on Saturday, Hun Sen said a total of 792 families would ultimately be able to live at the relocation site: the 473 from Kor Muoy as well as the 319 families who moved from the market at the base of the temple after their homes were destroyed by Thai rocket fire during a skirmish last April. “Even if you did not vote for me, it is still my duty to resolve the problem for you, and I would like to confirm that in the long term the area around Preah Vihear will become a development site. I will no longer isolate this area such as before, and it will be linked by road to the border of Thailand and Laos so we can keep improving the conditions,” Hun Sen said. Hang Sot, director of the Preah Vihear National Authority, declined to comment on specific plans for the cultural heritage site at the temple.