The Kompong Cham provincial court is scheduled to begin a landmark torture trial today involving five prison guards who are accused of severely beating inmates at the provincial prison.
The trial, which had taken more than two years to be heard in court, is reported to be the first time since 1993 that prison authorities will be prosecuted for alleged abuse of inmates.
“This is an important, precedent-setting case because it is one of the very few times that prison guards have been brought to trial for torture,” a representative of the New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. “Torture by security officials of people in custody is all too common.”
Officials in the Kompong Cham provincial court confirmed on Wednesday that prison guards Rong Piseth, Chhoung Sophea, Tun Kim, Kol Virak and Hak Yi will be tried today. The accused are charged with beating five inmates of the provincial prison in Kompong Cham town—a misdemeanor violation under Article 57 of the Untac law that carries a sentence of between one and five years.
“We always believe our clients are innocent because the victims ran away, so we need to have an action to suppress them—this is something [the prison officials] cannot avoid,” Kea Eav, lawyer for the accused, said on Wednesday.
Three of the five accused are still employed at the provincial prison.
The case stems from a 1999 incident at the prison. According to sources, on the morning of Dec 13, 1999, more than 50 inmates at the prison were led into the prison’s courtyard for their daily exercises. While most of the prisoners were exercising, five inmates tried to escape by climbing the prison’s walls.
The prison guards immediately caught the five prisoners. The guards took the prisoners, placed them in front of the cellblock and allegedly hit, kicked and beat them with sticks in front of other inmates, sources said Tuesday and Wednesday. Several of the victims lost consciousness.
“The police who tortured the victims beat them with wooden bed slats and the handles of hoes because they were angry with the escapees,” said Khov Chantha, a lawyer representing some of the victims.
“The condition of the inmates was serious—several of them had broken bones,” said one human rights official who interviewed the inmates in January 1999. “The prison medical team provided preliminary treatment—they bandaged and cleaned the wounds—but would not let us see the prisoners for an entire month.”
One doctor with a leading human rights NGO reported that when he finally provided care to the inmates, a month after the alleged incident, they were covered with bruises and scars consistent with beating.
The five victims, identified as Thim Tha, Sao Sroeun, Roeun Phal, Roeuk Chan Thuon and Kim Rann, had been convicted for crimes ranging from murder and weapons possession to armed robbery, according to sources. The were serving sentences ranging from eight to 21 years.
All five victims, who are still serving out their sentences, brought formal complaints against the prison guards in early 2000 with help from the human rights group Licadho, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights office and the Cambodian Defenders Project. The provincial court started investigating the case in October 2000 and filed formal charges in August 2000.
Although the trial was set to go forward in late 2001, the court delayed it for an unspecified reason. One human rights official who has worked on the case since January 2000, who declined to be identified, said the court delayed the case because it involves prison officials.
“The case is very slow because the court does not want to work [on this case] for political reasons,” the official said. Many human rights workers interviewed for this article asked not to be identified because they are concerned for their personal safety.
Court officials disputed the accusation that they have been intentionally dragging their feet.
“We are going to try them in order to warn the police from abusing the prisoners,” said Tith Sothy, director of the court.
Although the court is scheduled to begin the trial today, several human rights officials expressed concern that the government may not transport the victims from the prisons where they are currently held to the courthouse in Kompong Cham.
One victim and at least five witnesses are being held at Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh while they appeal their prior convictions. The other four victims are imprisoned in Trapaing Klong town in Kompong Cham’s Ponhea Krek district—a two- to three-hour drive from Kompong Cham town.
Several human rights officials and a Ministry of Interior official said it was not uncommon for inmates who are serving long sentences for violent crimes to be transferred to smaller district prisons in order to decrease overcrowding in city prisons.
Ministry of Interior Director General for Administration Sak Setha assured to Tith Sothy that the ministry would provide transportation for all the witnesses and victims, Tith Sothy said.
Sak Setha could not be reached for comment.
The last reported trial involving a prison official abusing inmates occurred in 1993, when the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted the deputy director of the Battambang provincial prison, Ten Seng, for torturing inmates.
Ten Seng was reported to have been sentenced by the municipal court to serve one year in prison, but it remains unclear whether he served all, part or any of the sentence.
