Journalist from opposition-aligned newspaper and his son murdered

CAMBODIA 14 July 2008
Journalist from opposition-aligned newspaper and his son murdered; editor of same paper released, charges dropped
SOURCE: Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), Bangkok

(SEAPA/IFEX) - SEAPA strongly condemns the fatal shooting of a Cambodian journalist and his son on 11 July 2008. Reporter Khim Sambo, 47, died on the spot after he was shot twice in the back as he emerged from a sports stadium in Phnom Penh on Friday evening. His son, Khat Sarin Theada, 22, was shot in the chest and later died in hospital. Phnom Penh's police chief Touch Naruth said they are still looking for the perpetrators.

SEAPA joins its alerts partner organisation, the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), in condemning this barbarous act. The organisations call on the Cambodian police and authorities to decisively bring the murderers to justice.
Khim Sambo's death comes amid heightening violence and tension in Cambodia in the run-up to general elections, scheduled for 27 July. The journalist had been working for the daily Khmer-language "Moneakseka Khmer" (Khmer Conscience), a newspaper known to back opposition leader Sam Rainsy.
"Moneakseka Khmer"'s editor, Dam Sith, was recently charged for printing allegations that Cambodia's foreign minister had ties to the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, the Agence France Presse notes. The charge was later dropped, and CAPJ says that the attack on Khim Sambo came soon after Dam Sith's release.
CAPJ President Um Sarin stressed that unless the police move swiftly and reassuringly, the attack on Khim Sambo could have a chilling effect on Cambodia's press, and taint the larger environment for the upcoming elections.

SEAPA ( http://www.seapa.org ) is a coalition of press freedom advocacy groups from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Established in November 1998, the network aims to unite independent journalists and press-related organisations in the region into a force for the protection and promotion of press freedom and free expression in Southeast Asia. SEAPA is composed of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (Indonesia), the
Jakarta-based Institute for the Study of the Free Flow of Information (ISAI), the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and the Thai Journalists Association.
Updates the Dam Sith case: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/94379
For further information, contact Roby Alampay, Executive Director, SEAPA, 538/1 Samsen Road, Dusit, Bangkok, 10300 Thailand, tel: +662 243 5579, fax: +662 244 8749, e-mail: seapa@seapa.org, seapa@seapabkk.org, Internet: http://www.seapabkk.org
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of SEAPA. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit SEAPA.
17 July 2008
Despite withdrawal of lawsuit, editor Dam Sith still facing criminal charges
SOURCE: Human Rights Watch
(New York, July 16, 2008) - With less than two weeks before Cambodia's National Assembly elections on July 27, the political climate has sharply deteriorated, highlighted by the killing of opposition journalist Khim Sambo and his son in a drive-by shooting on July 11 in Phnom Penh, Human Rights Watch said today.

At 6:30 p.m. on July 11, Sambo, 47, and his son, Khat Sarinpheata, 21, were fired upon numerous times by a man riding on the back of a motorcycle near Olympic Stadium in central Phnom Penh, where Sambo and his son had been exercising. Sambo died at the scene. His son died the following day in hospital.

"As in previous pre-election periods, this killing appears to be intended to send a message not to engage in opposition politics," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Sambo had been a reporter for more than 10 years for Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience), a newspaper affiliated with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). It is one of the few newspapers in Cambodia that is not dominated by the government or the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen, which also controls most television and radio stations. Sambo was known for his hard-hitting articles about government corruption, political affairs, and land grabbing.

"The Cambodian authorities should surprise everyone for once and hold accountable those responsible for Khim Sambo's murder, no matter their political allegiance," said Adams. "Sadly, there is every reason to fear that Khim Sambo will be yet another opposition journalist whose killing will not be solved."

Just a month before his murder, military police arrested Moneaksekar Khmer editor, Dam Sith, who is also running as an SRP candidate in the elections, after the paper reported on allegations about the current foreign minister's role during the Khmer Rouge regime. Although Sith was released after several days in detention and the foreign minister dropped his lawsuit against the editor, criminal charges of defamation and disinformation are still pending against Sith under articles 62 and 63 of Cambodia's penal code.

The buildup to the July elections has been marked by intense and systematic efforts by the CPP to pressure opposition party members, particularly those from the SRP, to defect to the CPP. Lucrative offers of high-paying government positions or threats and reprisals against those who refuse have resulted in hundreds of opposition party members defecting to the CPP during this campaign.

One of those suffering reprisals as a result of the defection campaign is Tuot Saron, a local SRP leader in Kampong Thom province, who remains in detention almost four months after her arrest ( http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/23/cambod18325.htm ).

In violation of election rules, the 11 political parties competing in the election do not have equal access to the media, especially radio and television. Most of the electronic media outlets in Cambodia have focused their election coverage almost exclusively on positive portrayals of the CPP or one-sided attacks on the opposition. On July 10, the National Election Commission (NEC) issued a warning to 13 television and radio stations for broadcasting biased coverage of the elections. Ten of those stations are dominated by pro-CPP coverage, according to the NEC.
Human Rights Watch called on the Cambodia authorities to promptly implement
other critically needed reforms in advance of the elections. These include to:

- Remove pending criminal charges against Dam Sith;
- Reissue the license and reopen Angkor Ratha (FM 105.25) radio in Kratie province, which was shut down by the government in May 2008 after it sold air time to opposition parties;
- Release SRP member Tuot Saron in Kompong Thom;
- Stop the unprecedented pressure by the CPP to coerce opposition party officials to defect to the CPP before the elections; and
- Ensure fair and equal access to electronic media.

"Elections in Cambodia are always fraught with violence and intimidation," said Adams. "While political violence is considerably less than in past elections, the fact that an opposition journalist has been gunned down on a busy city street has sent shock waves through the community of media workers, opposition party supporters, and the voting population in general."

For more of Human Rights Watch's work on Cambodia, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=cambod
Updates the Dam Sith case: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/95326
For further information on the Khim Sambo case, see:
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/95326
For further information on the Angkor Ratha radio case, see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/94379
For further information, contact Brad Adams (English), London, U.K., tel: +44 20 7713 2767, mobile: +44 790 872 8333; Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin), Washington, DC, tel: +1 202 612 4341, mobile: +1 917 721 7473; Reed Brody (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese), Brussels, Belgium, tel: +32 2 737 1489, mobile: +32 498 625 786; or Human Rights Watch, Washington Office, 1522 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20005-1202, U.S.A., tel: +1 202
371 6592, fax: +1 202 371 0124, e-mail: hrwdc@hrw.org, Internet: http://www.hrw.org/
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of Human Rights Watch. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit Human Rights Watch.

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