Government officials said Wednesday they are investigating allegations that soldiers were involved in several violent clashes between villagers and NGO-organized law enforcement officials in Aural Wildlife Sanctuary over the weekend.
In three incidents, rangers, supported by NGOs Fauna and Flora International and Conservation International, were threatened by soldiers and assaulted by villagers in Kompong Speu province armed with sticks and axes, the NGOs said in a joint statement Tuesday.
Chay Samith, director of the Ministry of Environment’s Department of Conservation and Protection, said Wednesday that Kol Vathana, who is in charge of managing the sanctuary for the department, met Tuesday with soldiers involved in the incident, but did not give further details. Kol Vathana declined to comment Wednesday.
“The Ministry of Environment is acting with the Provincial Governor and authorities in the sanctuary to solve the problem,” Chay Samith said.
Local police and environmental officials said they are investigating at least one of the reported incidents. Meas Sophea, RCAF deputy commander in chief, said he had not heard about the confrontations. Regional Commander Keo Samuon, who was familiar with the incidents, would neither confirm nor deny the military was involved.
According to the NGOs’ statement, the first clash occurred March 19, when two soldiers allegedly threatened four FFI-supported Ministry of Environment rangers guarding impounded timber near Spean Daik village in Kompong Speu’s Trapaing Chou commune. Later that evening, 60 people carrying sticks and axes, accompanied by armed soldiers in a car, attacked the rangers and tried to remove their weapons, the statement said.
According to the statement, a group of CI-supported forestry rangers arrived around 10 pm as backup, and came under fire from a nearby house. A military policeman was wounded in the arm, the NGOs reported, and a man in the crowd was injured by a “ricochet from a warning shot” fired by one of the rangers. Keo Samuon accused the rangers of intentionally shooting the villager.
The third incident occurred March 21, when, according to the statement, 120 civilians armed with axes, sticks and rocks arrived from Reaksmei commune in three trucks at Kantuot ranger station, which held seven impounded “timber-transport vehicles.” NGOs allege that a group “believed to be soldiers” outside the station incited the crowd.
All project staff have been withdrawn from the area, said Mike Appleton, FFI’s project head. And all projects within the sanctuary have been suspended. He said the NGOs are discussing with officials how to restore order in the sanctuary and restart operations.
FFI has a budget of about
$3 million for up to four years of work to help the Ministry of Environment manage the Samkos and Aural wildlife Sanctuaries, Appleton said. CI has funds to manage the central region of the Cardamom mountains, located between the sanctuaries.
In the statement, the NGOs allege that several hundred soldiers are based in and around the sanctuary and have established a new base inside. “Almost all forest crimes identified and documented in recent enforcement operations are linked to the military,” the statement said.
Meas Sophea said, “The soldiers were ordered to leave the area about a month ago.”
When asked about a new base, Keo Samuon said, “Please don’t ask me. I’m not the controller of the forest.”
