ARTICLE

On Monday 13 September, Sihanoukville Provincial Court ruled that Military Police Officer Khun Torn was guilty of raping and robbing a Canadian tourist at gun point.

After interviewing the victim, perpetrator and witnesses for over eight hours, trial Judge Tack Kimsia handed down a conviction of 15 years, as well as ordered the perpetrator to pay 30 million riel (approximately US$7,500) in compensation to the victim, to offset legal costs associated with her case and the cost of returning to Cambodia to pursue the prosecution. The judge dropped the last charge, Bearing or Transporting Illicit Weapons, for lack of evidence.

Typically, up to thirty military police officers guard the Military Police headquarters near the beach. On the night of the rape and subsequent robbery, all the military police were assigned to protect Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was in Sihanoukville for an inauguration.

At approximately 12:30 in the morning on 1 April, 2004 Khun Torn, armed with an AK 47 assault rifle forced the victim to enter a room located inside the Military Police headquarters located at the north end of Ochheteal Beach. The perpetrator then repeatedly raped the victim at gun point, and took her wallet containing Lao kip, Thai baht and US dollars - totaling approximately US$30. Also in the wallet were two passport photos the victim had kept for visa applications and border crossings.

At the time of his arrest on 28 April, the perpetrator Khun Torn was carrying the two passport photos of the victim, as well as other personal belonging of the victim. He initially confessed to the rape and robbery to the Military police and the Anti Trafficking police, and persons in the community claim he bragged about the rape before he was arrested. Later on he retracted his confession and said he had gone to karaoke by himself that evening.

The Australian embassy, which provides consular services for Canadian citizens, informed the victim she should leave Cambodia immediately and that seeking redress in the courts would be difficult and dangerous.

However, the victim studied Cambodian law from the internet, contacted resources in Canada with knowledge of the Cambodian legal system, and upon her return to Cambodia decided to seek the services of LICADHO. The victim stated, “After coming back to Cambodia in mid-August, I was introduced to LICADHO, and I finally found the information, resources and support that I was looking for. It would have been so much harder to go through this process alone, and I'm not sure what the result of the trial would have been if I had not had this support."

This case was handled by LICADHO's Monitoring office because the perpetrator is a state actor. LICADHO referred the victim to the Cambodian Defenders Project (CDP) for legal services, as well as assisted with monitoring the courts and following up the case in both Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh with the Ministry of Interior’s Anti Trafficking Police.