Land Dispute Victims Point To Military Police Beatings In Tuy Sros Death
Tuy Sros, 34, was one of the hundreds of people at a land protest in late December last year, in the northwestern border province of Banteay Meanchey. The dispute was similar to other land conflicts in the country; villagers had been displaced from land they were living on and the authorities claimed they were illegally occupying the land.
Most of the land disputants left the site of the protest, the provincial hall, after they were scattered away by military police personnel following two days of protests. But five protestors were arrested on the second day, December 28, and taken to the military police provincial office just next door.
Four days later, Tuy Sros was pronounced dead and officials were quickly putting forward claims that he had been sick before his arrest and that he was an alcoholic.
Sun Narin
