Cambodia: French Court Indicts Hun Sen Cronies

Arrest Warrants for Generals in 1997 Attack on Opposition that Killed 16, Injured 150

(Paris) – A French court has issued arrest warrants for two senior Cambodian generals for the grenade attack on an opposition political rally in Phnom Penh on March 30, 1997, that killed 16 people and injured more than 150, Human Rights Watch said today. The court order states that a summons was issued for Prime Minister Hun Sen for his role in the attack, but that the French government blocked its delivery, citing head of state immunity.

The order was issued on December 30, 2021, by Judge Sabine Khéris, vice president of investigations of the Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris (Judicial Court of Paris). It stated that arrest warrants had been issued on March 19, 2020, against Gen. Huy Piseth, then-chief of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit, and Gen. Hing Bun Heang, then-deputy-chief of the unit, for their role in planning and orchestrating the attack.

“The Cambodian government has never taken action against those responsible for the 1997 grenade attack on the opposition leader Sam Rainsy and his supporters because there is substantial evidence that Prime Minister Hun Sen and his generals were behind this mass atrocity,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The French government should request a European Arrest Warrant and an Interpol Red Notice to take Gen. Huy Piseth and Gen. Hing Bun Heang into custody and produce them before the court for trial in Paris.”

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