Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak during a press conference in March last year. Hean Rangsey
The Ministry of Interior responded to a letter signed by 26 civil society organisations (CSOs) and 50 citizens who requested that the ministry take legal action in cases of crimes and misconduct committed by wealthy individuals and public officials.
A group of 26 CSOs and 50 individuals sent an open letter on May 12 to interior minister Sar Kheng, Minister of Women’s Affairs Ing Kantha Phavi and Minister of Justice Koeut Rith, requesting that they take legal action in the cases of Oknha Heng Sear, former Oknha Duong Chhay and former Kampong Thom police chief Ouk Kosal for their involvement in cases of domestic violence, harassment and sexual violence against women.
The open letter states that the CSOs and citizens who sent the letter are deeply disappointed that the authorities have not properly and effectively enforced the law in past cases of violence and sexual harassment.
The open letter states: “In these cases, the victims did not receive full justice, which greatly affected the effectiveness of law enforcement in the Kingdom of Cambodia and led to an increase in violence and sexual harassment of women and girls.”
The open letter goes on to say that past actions to dismiss and demote or silence officials in power have not provided justice for women victims, and this has led to a culture of impunity.
The government response to the letter was generally dismissive of its claims as broad and unfair generalisations.
“Only two or three cases of misconduct have been identified and used to make an overall assessment of the efforts by law enforcement and … this doesn’t reflect the realities of society,” said interior ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak.
Sopheak stated that the interior ministry always enforces the law without discrimination on the basis of individual status in society or the type of crime in order to maintain security and public order for the nation and the people.
“In all past criminal cases involving the general public or law enforcement, the interior ministry has always taken stern action without exception or compromise. Many detainees and convicts in Cambodia are former high-ranking officials,” the statement said.
Sopheak stated that in 2020, the ministry enforced disciplinary measures on 256 law enforcement officers that violated their professional code of conduct – including 123 dismissals, 38 demotions, 65 warnings and 15 suspensions.
Ros Sopheap, the executive director of equality group Gender and Development Cambodia, told The Post on May 25 that cases of misconduct were not insignificant because the armed forces and law enforcement authorities are the mechanisms for implementing national policy.
She says that CSOs are not accusing the government of intentional misconduct. They see that some actions have been taken, but the implementation wasn’t consistent because it was done on a case-by-case basis.
Sopheap said that in some cases the CSOs were disappointed when the government took too much time before taking action because this could give the public the impression that Cambodia had a culture of impunity and the CSOs did not want the people to distrust the government or grow angry with the government’s handling of sensitive cases.
Sopheak told The Post on May 25 that taking action on any given case was not based on the “feelings” of the law enforcement or court officials and that the settlement of each case was based on the principles of the law.
