In December 2000, Human Rights Watch reported that, within two weeks after the November attacks, over 200 people had been arrested all over Cambodia, most without a warrant (). Since then, Cambodian courts have jailed several dozen people for their roles in the attacks in trials that have been widely criticized as unfair.ĭuring the arrests of CFF suspects after the November 2000 raids, Cambodian human rights groups and opposition political parties accused the Government of arbitrarily arresting and jailing several legitimate party figures on charges of being CFF members. Prior to the November 2000 attacks, five CFF members were arrested in April 1999 for plotting to blow up a fuel depot outside Phnom Penh with anti-tank weapons. The CFF made headlines in November 2000 when it claimed responsibility for a nighttime raid on several Government facilities in Phnom Penh in which 8 people were killed and 14 others injured. The CFF's ranks include Cambodian-Americans based in Thailand and the United States and former soldiers from the separatist Khmer Rouge, Cambodia's regular army, and various political factions, according to the State Department. Vietnam installed Hun Sen as Cambodia's ruler in 1979, and the prime minister, who has since held multiparty elections, is widely seen as being strongly pro-Hanoi. Little is known about the CFF's political views beyond its aim of overthrowing the Cambodian Government, although the group claims that Prime Minister Hun Sen's Government is a Vietnamese puppet regime. They are funded by contributions from the Cambodian-American community. The rebels operate mainly in northeastern Cambodia near the Thai border. The CFF's exact size is not known, but the group probably has never had more than 100 armed fighters, according to U.S. The CFF emerged in November 1998 following a spate of political violence that forced many influential Cambodians to flee the country. Yasith is a former member of Cambodia's main opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), who according to the FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW, was forced by Mr. citizen, Chun Yasith, who is based in Long Beach, California (Jane's ). The CFF, also known as Cholana Kangtoap Serei Cheat Kampouchea, reportedly is led by a U.S. While the US State Department referred to the CFF as a "terrorist group" in its May 2002 global report on terrorism, it did not include the CFF in its August 2002 list of groups that have been formally designated as "Foreign Terrorist Organizations". The Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF) is described by the US State Department as a "terrorist group" that has an "avowed aim of overthrowing the Government" of Cambodia.
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