Thai Miltary Killing Cambodian Loggers

[churchill]

Niigata, Japan — Phorn Sarith, a 37-year-old Cambodian logger, died when Thai soldiers reportedly fired indiscriminately on 25 loggers working in the Dangrek mountains in Oddar Meanchey, a Cambodian province on the Thai-Cambodian border, last Saturday.

Since September Thai soldiers have killed six Cambodian loggers, wounded several more and arrested others. While loggers are warned by authorities in the province not to stray across the porous border into Thailand, most end up crossing it to earn more money from illegal logging, in order to feed their families.

Although such cases have increased, the Thai government has done little to understand the situation or conduct proper investigations into the cross-border intrusions.

According to an October report released by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, several cases of killings and mistreatment of Cambodians by the Thai military were reported in the three-month period from August to October. One case mentions that 12 Cambodians, reportedly missing for nearly a month, were later found to have been arrested and detained by Thai soldiers in August 2009 on suspicion of illegal logging. Two other allegedly illegal loggers were found dead in the same month; the Thai military claimed to have shot them in self-defense.

In another case, 16 Cambodian loggers were arrested, tried and handed prison terms ranging from three months to nine years by the Ubon Provincial Court in Thailand, for illegal logging. The sentences were excessive and Thai authorities reportedly mistreated the loggers. Some were brought to court with their hands and legs chained and shackled, the CCHR report said.

In another case, Thai soldiers burned 16-year-old Yon Rith to death during an illegal logging mission with other villagers in September. Although the Thai government denied the cause of death, evidence shows that soldiers killed him.

Such cruel killing by the Thai military, which enjoys impunity, was seen in a number of incidents during the late 1970s and 1980s. While the killings have not stopped, the Cambodian government has also been negligent in its role to prevent citizens from illegally crossing over to neighboring Thailand.

Although the media and human rights organizations have reported many incidents of Cambodians killed by the Thai military after illegally crossing the border, there has been no satisfactory explanation by the Thai government. Instead, it has proclaimed that the rule of law prevails in the country and that it has an independent judiciary.

Thai authorities have also failed to employ preventive measures to stop illegal crossings of its border. The issue has been overshadowed to some extent by border disputes and military skirmishes between the two nations.

The continuous arbitrary killing and mistreatment of Cambodians are clear violations by the Thai government of U.N. rights conventions and of basic principles of human rights, including the right to life, the right to a court hearing on criminal charges and the right to be protected from cruel punishment, as guaranteed by the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Thailand is a signatory.

Article 1 of the Convention Against Torture precisely defines the term “torture” as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind.”

Article 2 of the CAT also asserts that “no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.”

As a signatory to CAT, the Thai government must take immediate and unconditional steps to fulfill its legal obligation to respect human rights, especially as it says that the rule of law prevails in the country.

If the Thai government says that it has an independent judiciary, then it must end impunity for those who kill and mistreat civilians, including Cambodian illegal loggers or any such immigrants.

At the Bangkok launch of the United Nations Development Program’s report on “Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development,” on Oct. 5, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva proudly impressed audiences by saying that Thailand respects migrants’ rights.

“We realize that the most effective way to protect these migrants is to legalize their status and bring them into the formal labor market,” he said. “The migration is simply an expression of the freedom and desire of each individual to seek better opportunities in life.”

If what Abhisit said is true, then the Thai government must acknowledge the rights of the poor Cambodian loggers who cross into Thailand looking for better opportunities to sustain their families. As a civilized nation, the Thai government must acknowledge the rights of the poor Cambodian loggers who cross into Thailand looking for better opportunities to sustain their families. As a civilized nation, the Thai government must fulfill its commitment and obligation to respect human rights.

http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2009/1...n_loggers/7372/

[Credo]

So much for taking the high road in this dispute.

[brasseye]

I chocked the life out of a logger of my own this morning. I blame it on all that sticky rice the wife keeps feeding me.

Somethings gotta give. There'll be snow at Xmas next!

[GuestHouse]

Makes a change from their usual targets, Thai Citizens.

The Thai army is in that select group of the world's armies, the group where they have killed more of their own citizens than foreign enemies.

[LaoPo]

:D My Goodness...what has become of Thailand when it's soldiers:

* killed six Cambodian loggers

* wounded several more and arrested others.

* Two other allegedly illegal loggers were found dead in the same month

* 16 Cambodian loggers were arrested, tried and handed prison terms ranging from three months to nine years

* Thai soldiers burned 16-year-old Yon Rith to death

Illegal logging is not acceptable, but to kill those poor men, burn them, imprison them ?

Disgusting.

LaoPo

[londonthai]

as a member of a cambodian human rights group, the autor is biased, especially with the conclusion that "Thai government must acknowledge the rights of the poor Cambodian loggers who cross into Thailand".

firstly, those loggers are cutting the trees without any controll and permits, devastating the jungle. secondly, they are crossing the border and can be suspected that they are doing it on purpose (it's a different matter if somebody is lost by the border and unknowingly crossing it, but the loggers know the area and bring roads and machinery to cut the trees and take them back accross border to cambodia).

the author confuses illegal loggers with migration workers, which is a diffents cup of tea

[Credo]

So, if you are a Thai illegal logger you really don't have any problem?

Whether it is illegal or not, they are not a threat to national security and they don't deserve to be killed. Let's remember some of this border area isn't properly demarked as of yet.

[way2muchcoffee]

:D My Goodness...what has become of Thailand when it's soldiers:

* killed six Cambodian loggers

* wounded several more and arrested others.

* Two other allegedly illegal loggers were found dead in the same month

* 16 Cambodian loggers were arrested, tried and handed prison terms ranging from three months to nine years

* Thai soldiers burned 16-year-old Yon Rith to death

Illegal logging is not acceptable, but to kill those poor men, burn them, imprison them ?

Disgusting.

LaoPo

Not saying I agree with the actions of the military. Arrest and imprisonment is in order, but not killing, maiming, or burning. However, I wonder Lao Po, what would be your reaction if I came into your house and started taking your belongings, or jumped the fence into your property and decided your Benz really should be my Benz? Should I be imprisoned?

[llso]

That whole area is heavily mined on both sides of the border. Has got to be "one" of the largest minefield areas in the world.

LL

[yabaaaa]

So, if you are a Thai illegal logger you really don't have any problem?

Whether it is illegal or not, they are not a threat to national security and they don't deserve to be killed. Let's remember some of this border area isn't properly demarked as of yet.

No problem Thai love Thai

[Gaccha]

That whole area is heavily mined on both sides of the border. Has got to be "one" of the largest minefield areas in the world.

LL

I suspect you are just misreading the map; the person who made the map owns the area and had a mushroom field.

00:46 of this video onwards.

"It says 'mine'. So... these mushrooms must belong to the man who made the map."

[Svenn]

Cambodian "human rights" groups are waaay overstaffed and overfunded because Cambodia is the fashionable place for idealistic Westerners to go these days. They tend to exaggerate isolated events as being the product of widespread policies, when in fact this story is just about individual Thai criminals rather than the Thai military as a whole. I shudder to think what the Khmer military would do if a Thai log poacher came across their border.

[londonthai]

So, if you are a Thai illegal logger you really don't have any problem?

Whether it is illegal or not, they are not a threat to national security and they don't deserve to be killed. Let's remember some of this border area isn't properly demarked as of yet.

illegal logging is strictly a no no in thailand, even possesion of chain saws is limited. All wood transportation between provincies, including an old wood, is by permits.

the loggers are not threat to security, but because of the border disputes and political tention, when military on each side are high strung, they are risking to be shot at and killed. Six dead in a 4 months is not a high number.

I would imagine, that thai illegal loggers are also shot at by police all over the country, and not only in the border areas, if they do try to escape or resist orders.

[LaoPo]

:D My Goodness...what has become of Thailand when it's soldiers:

* killed six Cambodian loggers

* wounded several more and arrested others.

* Two other allegedly illegal loggers were found dead in the same month

* 16 Cambodian loggers were arrested, tried and handed prison terms ranging from three months to nine years

* Thai soldiers burned 16-year-old Yon Rith to death

Illegal logging is not acceptable, but to kill those poor men, burn them, imprison them ?

Disgusting.

LaoPo

Not saying I agree with the actions of the military. Arrest and imprisonment is in order, but not killing, maiming, or burning. However, I wonder Lao Po, what would be your reaction if I came into your house and started taking your belongings, or jumped the fence into your property and decided your Benz really should be my Benz? Should I be imprisoned?

Our house was burglared on Samui but I doubt the burglars (if they would have been caught) would have been set on fire or shot to dead.

An imprisonment of 9 years is also quite stiff for some poor people, trying to make a living.

But, of course illegal logging is not an excuse.

The military who did this should be getting LIFE imprisonment!

LaoPo

[Thongkorn]

Who would not do the same , would you try to have a better life for your family, Killing people because they are trying to live a better life, is not the answer. It just proves that Life is cheap in South East Asia, To some. How many more have gone unreported , or is it a case of we got caught out ,

[LaoPo]

I am shocked that this topic doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Would there be more attention if the killed, burned and imprisoned foreigners (Cambodians) would have been white/Farang ?

I'll bet there would have been 1,000 posts by now.

LaoPo

[Scott]

Thanks LaoPo. I too am shocked.

[kikoman]

Thailand has a right to control its borders, and natural resources. The rule of law must prevail in a democracy.

It is foolish for those loggers to cross the borders , to cut down Thai trees when there is so much tension (bordering on war between Thailand and Cambodia) they know the risks.

If you do the crime ,you can do the time.

[LaoPo]

Thailand has a right to control its borders, and natural resources. The rule of law must prevail in a democracy.

It is foolish for those loggers to cross the borders , to cut down Thai trees when there is so much tension (bordering on war between Thailand and Cambodia) they know the risks.

If you do the crime ,you can do the time.

Wouldn't it be news if there would be headlines like: "Cambodia soldiers killed 6 illegal Thai loggers".....burned a 16-year old to death.....Cambodia put 16 illegal loggers up to 9 years in prison....?

We're talking human beings, not "just" illegal loggers. Punish them ? ....certainly but kill them, burn them ?

LaoPo