NGO Urges Campaign to Curb Illegal Weapons

To curb the threat of gun violence during the national elections, speakers at a workshop Thursday called for raising public awareness about the penalties for possessing illegal weapons, keeping armed officers away from polling stations and instituting a more stringent campaign to confiscate illegal weapons.

“If the election campaign and the election are peaceful, then the international community, which will be closely observing these elections, will be far more ready to give more money for the development of Cambodia,” said David de Beer, program manager for the European Union-Assistance on Curbing Small Arms and Light Weapons in Cambodia. “Each violent incident before the election will detract from this impression in the eyes of donors and potential donors.”

In the 1998 national election and the 2002 commune council elections, 61 people were killed, 11 injured, and 63 incidents of in­timidation were recorded, according to the Working Group for Weap­ons Reduction, an NGO spon­soring the two-day workshop.

Although the government has taken great strides to reduce illegal weapons—de Beer noted that more than 111,000 weapons have been publicly destroyed in Cambodia since 1998—the NGO warned that fear and anarchy will reign if there is not a strict en­forcement of security in the up­coming election.

“If we don’t enforce the law, we can’t stop gun violence,” said Hak Kiri, director of Alliance Associa­tion for Rural Restoration.

Law enforcement representatives said they are cracking down on illegal weapons possession.

Though illegal weapons have been reduced considerably since 1998, a nationwide report from the Director-General of National Police found that from January to April 2003, an average of two to three people a day were victims of armed violence.

Even so, Neb Sinthay, executive director of WGWR, is cautiously optimistic that gun violence will be reduced in the upcoming election.

“At least everyone is beginning to understand that we need to stop the violence,” Neb Sinthay said.

“We will not let offenders go un­punished,” said Kang Sokhun, police commissioner of Kom­pong Cham province.

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