Death in #Cambodia: In Re Kem Ley

Cambodian community activists carry a wreath during the funeral
procession of government critic Kem Ley in Phnom Penh, July 11, 2016 (AP)

So far, attempts by the Hun Sen regime to bury the murder of a Cambodian political activist as a more common crime are yielding bitter fruit

His death followed a months-long crackdown on dissenting voices that gained world-wide headlines with thebashings of two opposition politicians in October and last week’s Global Witness report which valued this country’s first family at a bare minimum $200 million. 

Incidentally, he was killed just meters from the house of the prime minister’s nephew Hun To, who featured prominently in the Global Witness report and denies allegations linking him to a $1 billion heroin and money laundering ring in Australia. 

Street protests erupted almost immediately afterwards as the body was ferried through the capital to a wat. Thousands jeered the police and observers said people were very angry and mindful of the slain environmentalist Chhut Vuthy and the murdered unionist Chea Vichea.

http://thediplomat.com/2016/07/whats-behind-the-death-of-a-prominent-cambodia-government-critic/

...the Hun family are major gatekeepers to the influx of foreign capital into Cambodia, and the litany of abuses they are linked to pose significant legal, financial and reputational risk to companies and investors...

These relationships have helped lift Cambodia from the ashes of the Khmer Rouge genocide that killed millions in the 1970s, making it one of the world’s fastest growing economies, on course to forge the leap from a low- to middle-income country. But the benefits are enjoyed by a small elite – while the Hun family have a combined wealth estimated to total between US$ 500 million and US$ 1 billion, 40% of Cambodians still live below or close to the poverty line.

Cambodians might resent this closed circle of immense and ever-growing wealth, but they are inextricably locked into it. One of the cruellest ironies of Hun Sen’s model of dictatorship is that his family has Cambodia’s economy so sewn up that Phnom Penh residents are likely to struggle to avoid lining the pockets of their oppressors multiple times a day. 

https://www.globalwitness.org/fr/reports/hostile-takeover/

Kem Ley was shot twice in broad daylight, from behind with a high precision handgun, which is not normally associated with street thugs and debt collectors. 

Chea Vichea was also shot twice in broad daylight. Two suspects were tried, a process widely slammed by human rights groups who say both men were used as scapegoats. 

Their case ran nine years before being dropped because of a lack of evidence. Investigations into the deaths of two other two unionists were inconclusive, and activists say a probe into the killing of Chut Wutty was closed without justice rendered.

http://www.voanews.com/content/assassination-raises-political-stakes-in-cambodia/3413285.html

Within hours, a video of the suspect’s interrogation—the man bleeding from the head and scared witless—was released to the TV Station BTV, which is 100 percent owned by the daughter of the Cambodian dictator Hun Sen. The arrested suspect was asked his name by police. “Chuab Samlab,” he answered, lips quivering. 

“Chuab Samlab” translates directly in English as “Meet Death” or “Meet Killed.” A more literal translation would be “To be killed upon encountering.” 

There is not a mother in Cambodia who would give her son such a name. 

Kem Ley’s assassination–and make no mistake, this was a targeted political killing ordered by the highest level ruling powers in Cambodia—is the normal rhythm of life under Hun Sen’s government. There are uncountable precedents of murder that stretch back decades.

“Whenever I make a criticism, I never expect myself to be alive,” Kem Ley said recently.

http://www.asiasentinel.com/opinion/analysts-murder-highlights-cambodian-misrule/#frameId=appnext_widget&height=64