Disappearing monks

As The Cambodia Daily this morning reports, the Kampuchea Krom situation continues to deteriorate.

The UN’s human rights office in Phnom Penh said Friday that it was “gravely concerned” for the safety of Tim Sakhorn, a Khmer Krom monk who was defrocked and taken to Vietnam late last month.

Officials announced on July2 that Tim Sakhorn, chief of Phnom Den pagoda in Takeo province’s Kiri Vong district, had been defrocked on June 30 for damaging diplomatic relations with Hanoi, and that he had consented to being taken to Vietnam that day.

However, local rights group Adhoc on July 3 accused Cambodian authorities of abducting and forcibly deporting Tim Sakhorn, and expressed concern about his safety in Vietnam.

The Cambodian Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said Friday it too had obtained information to indicate that Tim Sakhorn had not departed willingly.

If the reports are true, and so far there is nothing to suggest otherwise, the disappearance of Tim Sakhorn is nothing less that state-sanctioned kidnapping and probably worse. Even now, Tim Sakhorn’s whereabouts are unknown, and the U.N. has concerns for his safety. That the government freely admits he was delivered into the hands of the communists gives very little reason for comfort.