As Soldiers Leave Kratie Village, Problems Remain

After a three-day blockade, soldiers pulled out over the weekend from the Kratie province village where a teenage girl was shot dead last week by government security forces, officials said yesterday. However, human rights workers denied a report by a provincial official that freedom of movement had been restored to the area. On Wednesday, 14-year-old Heng Chantha was gunned down when 200 soldiers, police and military police swept into Chhlong district’s Broma village with the stated aim of routing a so-called “seccessionist movement.” Following the raid, hundreds of families deemed newcomers” were evicted from the area and told to return to their original homes in Kompong Cham, Prey Veng and Kandal provinces. The area was sealed off by units of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and military police, who kept human rights workers from entering the village where the teenager was shot dead. Kratie Provincial Governor Sar Chamrong said the withdrawal of troops started on Saturday and that freedom of movement was now permitted in the area. … But human rights workers gave a different account. Chan Sovath, senior monitor for ADHOC, said that as of midday yesterday, rights workers remained blocked from Broma village. … “The armed forces are still searching, still finding, to make arrests in Kompong Cham or in someplace else,” said Adhoc’s Mr. Soveth, who added that even some of the long-term residents were afraid to return to the area. … Governor Chamrong denied the account, reiterating that the villagers who were not evicted were “happy with our operation.” “They said it was as if they had been rescued from the Pol Pot period,” Mr. Chamrong claimed. …