VZCZCXRO7886
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0706 2601046
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 171046Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1193
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000706 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, P, D, DRL, G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KTIP CB
SUBJECT: PLANNED DEPORTATION OF BELGIAN PEDOPHILE SHOWCASES 
RGC/NGO COOPERATION 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) 
agreed on September 16 to deport a convicted Belgian 
pedophile who NGOs claim presents a high risk of recidivism. 
The agreement illustrates the RGC's political will to fight 
child sex tourism (CST) and the ability of the RGC to 
cooperate with NGOs to find a satisfactory solution to the 
problem.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Cambodian courts convicted Belgian pedophile 
Philippe Dessart in 2006 for debauchery of a 13-year old boy 
and sentenced him to 18 years in prison.  Dessart appealed, 
and in 2008 the Appeals Court upheld the guilty verdict but 
reduced the sentence to three years under the Law on the 
Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation. 
The Supreme Court upheld the changes made by the Appeals 
Court in March 2009, and Dessart was released in April 2009 
after serving the three years in prison. (NOTE: In 1991, 
Dessart also served prison time in Belgium after being 
convicted of child rape and torture in that country.  END 
NOTE)  Following his release in Cambodia, Dessart moved back 
into the home of his victim (now 16), claiming an intent to 
marry his victim's mother and live with them in Banteay 
Meanchey Province. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On August 6, a number of NGOs that work to combat 
child sex tourism and trafficking sent a petition to the 
Immigration Department at the Ministry of Interior requesting 
Dessart's expulsion from Cambodia.  The petition argued that 
Dessart presented a high risk of re-offending, remained a 
danger to children in Cambodia, and as a convicted felon was 
eligible to be deported from Cambodia under existing 
immigration law.  General Sok Phal, Deputy Commissioner 
General of the Cambodian National Police (CNP), thereafter 
informed the NGOs that immigration police detained Dessart in 
Banteay Meanchey Province on September 16, and intended to 
deport Dessart after revoking his Cambodian visa.  Sok Phal 
told NGO contacts that CNP Commissioner General Neth Savoeun 
and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng 
both reviewed the NGO petition, and agreed that deporting 
Dessart was "the right thing to do" given the risk he 
presents to the safety of Cambodian children.  The decision 
is not yet public, but because both the case and the petition 
have had an extremely high profile in Cambodia, the news is 
expected to become public shortly. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) COMMENT:  This decision by senior law enforcement 
leadership demonstrates the political will at the highest 
levels of the MOI to combat CST.  And because CST creates 
potential for trafficking when middle-men find and sell 
victims to pedophiles, the decision also has positive 
implications for the RGC's anti-trafficking efforts.  Even 
more encouraging is the evidence of cooperation between the 
RGC and NGOs.  The NGOs presented a well-reasoned petition to 
the Ministry of Interior (MOI) that argued for Dessart's 
expulsion under Cambodian law.  The fact that the most senior 
leaders of the police and MOI accepted the petition, gave it 
fair consideration in a relatively quick timeframe, and 
concurred with its recommendation showcases the increasingly 
positive relationship between the RGC and NGOs on 
anti-trafficking issues.  END COMMENT. 
RODLEY