(Bangkok, January 10, 2025) – Thai authorities should immediately conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of a former Cambodian opposition leader in Bangkok, Human Rights Watch said today.
On January 7, 2025, in the early evening, a gunman shot dead Lim Kimya, a 74-year-old former member of Cambodia’s parliament and member of the now-disbanded Cambodia National Salvation Party (CNSP), in front of Wat Temple. Bowonniwet of Bangkok. Lim Kimya and his wife had just arrived by bus from Siem Reap province, Cambodia. Thai authorities later identified the shooter as Ekkalak Pheanoi (the name is sometimes spelled Aekaluck Paenoi), a former Thai marine, and issued a warrant for his arrest. According to local media, Cambodian authorities arrested Ekkalak Pheanoi in Battambang province after he fled to Cambodia, and said they would transfer him to Thailand.
According to The Nation newspaper, a Thai criminal court issued an arrest warrant for a Cambodian national, Kimrin Pich, deputy director of a public market in Phnom Penh, for his alleged involvement in the assassination. Police Major General Theeradej Thammasuthee, head of the investigation division at the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said Kimrich Pich entered Thailand with Lim Kimya. CCTV footage shows that Kimrich Pich had traveled with Lim Kimya in a minibus heading to Bangkok. General Theeradej added that Kirim Pich took a flight at Bangkok International Airport after the murder.
« The brutal assassination of a prominent Cambodian political opponent in central Bangkok raises serious concerns about foreign government involvement in a politically motivated killing on Thai soil said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “ Thai authorities should fully investigate the killing of Lim Kimya and ensure that all those responsible are brought to justice. »
Cambodian authorities have systematically repressed government critics, including political opposition and civil society groups; They notably resorted to harassment, threats and incitement to violence, and carried out arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as unfair trials leading to unjustified prison sentences. Since the government-controlled Supreme Court dissolved the PSNC in 2017, Cambodian authorities have been pursuing former party members – including those living in exile in neighboring Thailand – on politically motivated charges.
According to Cambodian human rights organization LICADHO, Cambodia currently holds 38 political prisoners.
In his last Facebook post, Lim Kimya criticized Hun Many, the Cambodian deputy prime minister and brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet, for spending a considerable sum on January 1 for a New Year’s party that was not successful. “ no lasting beneficial effect for the people “. Lim Kimya added that the government should instead respect human rights.
The killing of Lim Kimya, who had dual Cambodian and French citizenship and previously worked in the French civil service, sends a message to critics of the Cambodian government that they are not safe anywhere, Human Rights Watch said.
Many other Cambodian dissidents seeking refuge in Thailand have been targets of this type of transnational repression – human rights abuses carried out across borders to stifle dissent – sometimes with the cooperation of Thai authorities.
A PSNC activist, Phorn Phanna, previously told Human Rights Watch that in August 2023, attackers monitored and followed him around his neighborhood in Thailand’s Rayong province, photographed him from their car, and then shot him. had been physically assaulted. Ten construction workers who had witnessed the attack, filmed by security cameras from neighboring stores, came to his aid.
Cambodian leaders continued to threaten Phorn Phanna while he was awaiting resettlement in the United States. Radio Free Asia reported that an audio clip posted on Facebook revealed that in September 2024, former Prime Minister Hun Sen, current Senate President, said: ” The task force in Thailand must work with the Thai police to eliminate the group of people living in Thailand, including Phorn Phanna…. Our forces must bring him back here at all costs – dead or alive ».
In December 2019, two Khmer-speaking assailants attacked CNRP activist Soun Chamroeun at a 7-Eleven convenience store located a few steps from his apartment building in Bangkok. They assaulted him with a stun gun for 15 minutes, attempting to subdue him and drag him out of the store while hitting him in the head, back and arms. When 7-Eleven employees said they had called the police, the unidentified men fled.
Thai authorities have also committed human rights violations against Cambodian dissidents, with the possible complicity of the Cambodian government. In November 2024, Thai authorities violated international law by forcibly returning six Cambodian political opposition activists and a young child to Cambodia, putting them at risk of unfair trials and mistreatment there.
A report released by Human Rights Watch in 2024 described a pattern of transnational repression in which Thai authorities helped governments of neighboring countries take illegal actions against dissidents and activists who sought Thailand’s protection. In exchange, Thai authorities were able to target critics of the Thai government living in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, as part of a ” exchange of refugees and dissidents ».
« Thailand’s response to Lim Kimya’s assassination will show whether Thai authorities accept or reject shocking crimes that could constitute acts of transnational repression », a conclu Elaine Pearson. « France and other countries with friendly relations with Thailand should urge its government to urgently conduct a credible investigation, and hold all those responsible to account. »
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