U.N. Report Cites Atrocities by Cambodian Army
A confidential U.N. report accuses senior Cambodian army officers of raping, murdering and cannibalizing civilians detained in secret centers, a Cambodian newspaper said Friday.
The report said senior military officials responsible for these atrocities were not disciplined but were promoted to higher ranks, the English-language Phnom Penh Post, a reliable independent biweekly, said.
A representative of the U.N. Center for Human Rights here refused to comment on the article except to say that the agency’s report, dated May 10, was confidential.
The U.N. report documented the activities of the S-91 intelligence unit, which operates in the northwest, and blamed it for 35 executions since August, 1993, at Cheu Kmao, a secret detention facility. At least 18 others were killed before then, the report said.
After the victims died, the executioners “ripped open” their abdomens to extract their livers, then they fried or grilled them and ate them, the paper said. Many Cambodians believe eating the liver of a brave enemy will transfer the dead’s courage to the person who eats it.
Two government investigations followed up on the U.N. report but reached conflicting conclusions about the army’s involvement.
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