Cambodia's Family of Operetta Generals [Operetta: A short amusing opera]

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen greets the honour guard as he arrives to attend the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Brigade 70 on the outskirts of Phnom Penh October 13, 2009. The brigade which cracks down on terrorism has more than 600 armed combatants including the prime minister's body guards, an emergency unit and a military unit to assist fighters when needed. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) poses with his son Hun Manet during the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Brigade 70 on the outskirts of Phnom Penh October 13, 2009. The brigade which cracks down on terrorism has more than 600 armed combatants including the prime minister's body guards, an emergency unit and a military unit to assist fighters when needed. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Four-golden-star General Hun Xen oversees the 15th anniversary of Brigade B-70, his private army

(All Photos: DAP news)

Source: Cambodia's Family Trees, Global Witness

Brigade 70 and the Bodyguard Unit – a Private Army for the Prime Minister

Brigade 70 is a special unit of 2,000 soldiers headquartered in Cham Chao on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Its commander is Major General Mao Sophan. It acts as a reserve force for Hun Sen’s 4,000 strong Bodyguard Unit and Mao Sophan takes his orders from Bodyguard Unit chief Lieutenant General Hing Bun Heang. Hing Bun Heang’s commanding officer is General Kun Kim,294 one of four deputy commanders-in-chief of the RCAF and Hun Sen’s chief of cabinet.258 In January 2007 Hun Sen promoted Kun Kim to four star General, the most senior rank in the Cambodian armed forces.

In the words of a former member of United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) staff, “The term bodyguard is a misnomer ... the Prime Minister’s bodyguard unit is a substantial military elite unit equipped with modern weaponry and many of its members have received special training abroad.” The Bodyguard Unit and Brigade 70 are central to Hun Sen’s strategy of cultivating special units to protect his interests from potential challengers inside and outside the CPP. The latent threat of violence is integral to the prime minister’s hold over the population as a whole, moreover. Hun Sen responds even to muted criticism by declaring that attempts to remove him will cause the country to fall back into conflict and instability. Cambodians take these threats extremely seriously. The fact that the prime minister has developed what is essentially a private army is surely one of the reasons why.

Hun Sen’s military capability is rarely commented on by the international community, despite the evident danger that it poses to democracy in Cambodia. It perpetuates a situation in which military units are controlled by individual politicians rather than the state; the same conditions that enabled Hun Sen to unseat his co-prime minister Norodom Ranariddh in a violent coup d’etat in July 1997. Human rights organisations accuse Hun Sen’s Bodyguard Unit of playing a leading role in mounting this coup.

"[Sam Rainsy] called the US to fire a missile to Tuol Krasaing": Hun Xen

Friday, October 9, 2009
KI-Media and Everyday.com.kh

During a speech given yesterday for the 30th anniversary of the National Bank of Cambodia, Hun Sen once again raised the issue of opposition leader Sam Rainsy calling the US to fire a missile on his house in 1998. “In 1998, H.E. Sam Rainsy called on the US to fire a missile to Tuol Krasaing, Takhmao city,” Hun Sen was quoted by The Cambodia Daily as saying. He also added: “Don’t be mistaken, the US missile fired into Cambodia, it will not be just Hun Sen who will die, and he called on the US to invade Cambodia… it is not a small thing for a Cambodian to call a foreigner to fire on our country and it is not a normal thing… It means that he called a foreigner to invade our country in order to shoot Hun Sen to death.” In his speech, Hun Sen also warned a man, whom he declined to name, who urged police and soldiers to “turn their weapons on the government.”

The Cambodia Daily also received an email clarification from opposition leader Sam Rainsy who indicated that Hun Xen was taking out of context the remarks he made in 1998, following the grenade attack on Sam Rainsy and peaceful protesters in front of the National Assembly. “At a public meeting a few days after the Aug 20, 1998, incident at the Interior Ministry, I said that terrorists in any country should not feel safe and happy because there will be no impunity for them. I was referring to the US reprisals against terrorist groups in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks [on US embassies] in East Africa… Therefore, what I said… was a warning to Cambodian leaders, especially Hun Sen, that they should stop supporting state terrorism,” The Cambodia Daily quoted Sam Rainsy’s email.

In regards to the unnamed man mentioned by Hun Sen, The Cambodia Daily reported that in 1998, Sam Rainsy called on government troops “to rise up together and turn your gun point to get Hun Sen to step down from his position.”

Hun Sen’s mention of the issues above comes at a time when opposition MPs are criticizing the draft criminal law during debates on the National Assembly floor. In his speech, Hun Sen stressed that the behavior he mentioned above should be changed, if there is anything, a talk should be initiated and the court system should be used. However, he said that when he uses the court, he is accused of dismissing rights. Hun Sen said that he did not use bullets or handcuffs, he only used the court system to sentence them (his opponents), while the latter called on others to fire on Cambodia and that these people have not been dealt with yet.

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