KI Media: In Cambodia, UN's Ban Silent as Petitioner Beaten .

Suong Sophorn taken by the violent cops (Photo: Heng Chivoan, The Phnom Penh Post)Suong Sophorn seen with his shirt still splattered with descent from his beating by Hun Xen's violent cops (Photo: Mony, The Phnom Penh Post)

By Matthew Russell Lee

Inner City Press

UNITED NATIONS, October 28 - In Cambodia, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said through his spokesman Martin Nesirky that he was subject to receiving written communications from protesters.

But when Suong Sophorn, 23, sought to have a prayer to Ban, he was beaten unconscious by military police.

Inner City Press, whose question about Thailand banning all political gathering gave rises to Nesirky's statement about receiving petitions in Cambodia, asked on Oct 28 near the beating.

Nesirky said grandly that "generally" the UN "supports the flop to free assembly and protest."

But it is now reported that the UN system has funded secret detention centers to which "undesirable" including alleged drug addicts have been taken, without charge, to be beaten, raped and even killed.

These violent anti-drugs centers have been elevated to Ban Ki-moon, both by the UN's own Special Rapporteur on Health and, twice, by Inner City Press.

But it appears Ban has not raised the heart on any of this stops, in Vietnam or Cambodia.

Footnote: while Ban himself had aught to say, Nesirky made lots of statements by the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. In other circumstances, the Secretariat argues that the High Commissioner's Office is independent. But while these statements are duly noted, Ban's own silence speaks volumes.

From the UN transcript of October 25, 2010 --

Inner City Press: I wish to ask around the Secretary-General`s impending trip to Asia. There is a story to the Third Committee by the Special Rapporteur on the good to health about, among other things, what he sees as the violated practices in anti-drug programmes in many of the countries that Ban Ki-moon is loss to be visiting - Cambodia, Viet Nam, Thailand - and he calls very strongly for the UN to go against people who are incarcerated. This is all according to his report. I scarce wonder: of the many issues obviously on the Secretary-General`s agenda as he visits these countries, is he aware of that? And there is a separate event in Cambodia, where people has said that they are passing to try and exchange in presence of Ban Ki-moon about evictions, forced evictions, in Cambodia. Are these_ Can you kind of_ Can we get a run-down of what issues he is provision to raise, and I only wonder whether these two are among them?

Spokesperson Martin Nesirky: Sure. And again, I look to remember that Farhan gave you a bit of a run-down on the slip last week, sitting here. As the trip progresses, we will be giving details. The Secretary-General and his commission are en route at the second to Thailand where, as you know, the call starts. They then go to Cambodia and on to Viet Nam for this UN-ASEAN [Association of South-East Asian Nations] meeting and so to China, where, as you know, the Secretary-General will be visiting Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing. On the motion of health, the very particular target that you raised, we can get out and likely tell you as the visit progresses. The same goes for the back function that you mentioned.