Non governmental agencies such LICAHDO, Women in Crisis, Amnesty International and other Human Rights organizations were heavily involved in various projects to try and put an end to human trafficking, sexual assaults, child abuses and sexual slavery in developing countries such as Cambodia. It was estimated that Cambodian government received at least $40 million per year to combat these local and international criminal activities; especially to prevent foreigners who have gone to places such as Cambodia to prey on the young and innocent children.
Cambodia like many countries in the developing world was going through a period of transition from Communism to a free and democratic society. Inadequate law enforcement, extra judicial settlements and weak prosecution were still major problems that the Cambodian government was still trying to resolve. These were works in-progress and will take years to accomplice given the lack of legislations and institutional challenges. The Cambodian Government has tried to implement rules of laws by implementing institutional reforms within the police and military regarding law enforcement pertaining to rape, sexual assaults and other sexual crimes typically committed by those in power and often times went un-reported. Weak judicial systems in Cambodia have led to criticism by the international community about human rights abuses and other abuses where perpetrators were never caught or convicted.
There have been little successes even with the overwhelming financial supports from the international community due largely to the lacks of law enforcement by officials who were still very much interested in protecting their own pockets and their positions.
According to Cambodia’s Statute of Limitations, Article 33, a minor is defined as under 15. An adult's sexual intercourse with a minor is defined as statutory rape based on the principle that a child is not capable of consent and that any apparent consent by a child is not considered to be legal consent. Perpetrator found convicted of the crime is subjected to 5 to 10 years imprisonment.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Cambodia was a signatory, required states to protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. This includes outlawing the coercion of a child to perform sexual activity, the prostitution of children and the exploitation of children in creating pornography.
But the Cambodian government admitted that it was struggling to even understand the scale of the problem, let alone address it.
For Piseth, it was a case where he was already perceived d to be a convicted rapist. People that were following Piseth’s case were led to believe that he was a no good, disgusted returnee who took advantage of his own sister-in-law to fulfill his own sexual desire. Piseth’s case in many people’s eyes was a model case to show the world that the government was taking serious measures to enforce the laws in protecting children from foreign perpetrators.
Mr. Sombath, Piseth’s attorney has a tough road before him. Mr. Sombath has already been ridiculed by his own colleagues and others in the government for taking on Piseth’s case because many felt that it was a case that was difficult to prove and he was up against many giants, including the Cambodian authorities who wished to not get involved due to funding connection with the Non-Governmental Agencies and Developing Partners like UNICEF and others.
Lundi, Piseth’s closest friend has also been under a lots of pressure from his department to distance himself from Piseth’s case because if Piseth could not be proven innocence; Lundi’s job at the Defense Department and his reputation will be jeopardized.
For Lundi, he was a man of altruistic character and a man of principle who will not be distracted by the negative comments nor threats by his department.
Lundi set off on a personal mission to find the truth by gathering evidences to prove that Piseth never committed the sexually crime that he was wrongly accused.
With the aid from Mr. Sombath, Piseth’s attorney and his own connections with the police and the military; Lundi ventured into Sopheap’s neighborhood (Piseth’s wife).
Lundi began his investigation by interviewing the people that were living at Piseth’s house before the incidence occurred. First, Lundi began to interview the neighbors to try and get a better understanding of Sopheap and her personality. Lundi had every reason to believe that Piseth was set up by his wife and mother-in-law.
From the many interviews of the neighbors; Lundi was able to learn that Sopheap was involved with trafficking, manufacturing of drugs in her house and most importantly had an affair with a senior military police that regularly frequented her house whilst Piseth was absent living in the USA.
Lundi also learned of child neglect where Lily would be left in the house alone for days not having anything to eat because Sopheap was too busy gambling and traveling outside of the house for on end. Sopheap also had abusive behaviors towards her two guards and all of the three housemates who were living with her. Neighbors also witnessed beating on the housemates and the house guards by Sopheap.
There were incidences where Lily at the age of 6 years old, living in a great mansion did not have anything to eat but only survived because the neighbors pity her and gave her foods to eat.
On one occasion, three neighbors recalled, Sopheap demanded that the guards and housemates leave the house. She was so high on Yama and Ecstasy (drugs widely used in Southeast Asia) with Lily inside with her lit the suitcases on fire. She wanted to burn the house down and committed suicide and burn Lily alive, as one neighbor exclaimed. With smoke coming out of the windows, neighbors living next to Sopheap’s house rushed over and extinguished the fire. When the police arrived, Sopheap managed to pay them off and told them that it was just an accident caused by Lily playing with matches.
Lundi’s interviews with the guards revealed that Sopheap had people coming in to the house with drug manufacturing equipment and had a room dedicated to drug making. One can only questions where has the money gone with all of the drugs sold because it was lucrative and could potentially earned Sopheap so much money. When one of the neighbors called and reported to the police, Sopheap again managed to silence them by paying them off.
The irony was that Sopheap was also a compulsive gambler. Sopheap had everything she had ever wanted in a woman’s life time. A caring husband, a mansion, 3 hotels and two cars with incomes that were enough to feed the whole village given the horrible past working as a prostitute earning about $30 per day.
Sopheap was not an ordinary woman. She was beautiful, unusually smart, witty and most importantly charming. She had been approached many times by karaoke directors and appeared in three volumes of Cambodian karaoke with love songs about true love before she met Piseth.
The revelation came when Lundi interviewed one of the housemates. The housemate who frequented places with Charya and Piseth felt a sense of remorse for Piseth by revealing what she witnessed about Sopheap’s true personalities.
On one occasion Sopheap contracted a painter to come and repaint the interior of the house. The job took four days to complete. On the third day, Sopheap was so high on ecstasy that she came on to the painter and had sex with him with the door opened. Sopheap screamed so loud from her sexual excitement that she woke the housemate and Lily whilst taking nap during siesta. Was Sopheap psychologically insane? Were the abuses and repeated rapes that she endured during her childhood that caused her to behave like this, or was it a result of the drug that has so much effect on her brain that she would commit such act? One could only know if Sopheap’s psyche can be revealed?
No comments:
Post a Comment