When Democratic Weapons Are Used to Kill Cambodian Civilians

A Thai air force Gripen fighter jet, one of three kinds of supersonic aircraft that have been used to conduct airstrikes on Cambodian soil. Supplied

#Opinion

Weapons produced by democratic countries are being used to kill innocent Cambodian civilians. This is not an allegation; it is a tragic and documented reality that demands global attention.

The Thai military has deployed US-made F-16 fighter jets, Swedish Gripen jets, and South Korean T-50 aircraft in attacks deep inside Cambodian territory, nearly 100 kilometres from the border. These are not defensive operations. This is not a “border conflict”. This is a campaign of violence against civilians.

So far, at least 30 innocent Cambodian civilians have been killed by these weapons. Nearly 100 others have been injured. More than half a million people have been forced to flee their homes, becoming refugees in their own country. Entire communities have been shattered.

Homes, temples, schools, health centres, roads, bridges and public buildings have been destroyed by airstrikes carried out with jets manufactured by countries that proudly claim to be defenders of democracy, human rights and international law.

Yesterday, South Korean–made T-50 jets dropped bombs on civilian areas where students were attending classes. Children ran in panic. Teachers fled with their students. Schools, symbols of hope and the future, were turned into targets. There is no justification for this. None.

This raises a profound moral and political question for the governments involved:

Are you selling weapons to a military that uses them to kill innocent civilians? And if so, are you proud of what your weapons are doing?

Cambodia has repeatedly called for peace. Cambodians around the world have pleaded for dialogue, restraint, and justice. Yet the response from the international community has been silence — or indifference — while advanced fighter jets supplied by wealthy democracies rain destruction on civilian lives.

Where is justice when power and profit matter more than human life?

Where is accountability when arms sales are celebrated, but their consequences are ignored?

Democracy cannot be claimed with words alone. If democratic nations truly stand for human rights, they must take responsibility for how their weapons are used. Civilian deaths do not become acceptable simply because they are caused by advanced technology or justified by political narratives.

This is not just a failure of one military. It is a failure of the global arms trade and of governments willing to look away when their weapons are used against innocent people.

These acts must be investigated. Those responsible — both the perpetrators and the suppliers — must be held accountable. Peace cannot be built on silence, and justice cannot exist when civilian suffering is treated as an acceptable cost of power and money.

Neang Sopheap is a Phnom Penh-based geopolitical analyst. The views and opinions expressed are his own.

-The Phnom Penh Post-