(18 Oct 1998) Khmer/Natsound
A United Nations Human Rights team in Cambodia has unearthed what is believed to be the body of a monk, killed during last month's street fighting in Phnom Penh.
It was one of four corpses villagers said they saw floating in the Mekhong River following the trouble.
September's demonstrations were set off by a report from the country's opposition parties accusing Cambodian leader Hun Sen's ruling party of election fraud in July's general election.
Local people led the investigators to where they'd buried the body, close to the riverbank, about sixty kilometres (40 miles) downstream from Phnom Penh.
They said the body was dressed in police clothing, but the uniform was inside-out, and was so large the trousers were held on with rope.
They had noticed that the man's head and eyebrows had been shaved, the customary practice for Buddhist monks.
Since last month's trouble there have been repeated claims that the government hid the true number of dead by disposing of victims in the countryside.
The body had been in the ground for more than a month.
The U-N team ascertained that the man had suffered head and rib injuries before his death.
But the remains were so badly decomposed that they couldn't prove the villagers' claims.
A monk from a nearby temple, however, believes the claims may be true.
SOUNDBITE: (Khmer)
"I'm not one hundred per cent sure the body was that of a monk, but most of the people who took part in the burial said they thought it was."
SUPER CAPTION: So Sokha, Buddhist Monk
Monks played a prominent part in the street protests in Phnom Penh last month.
The protests turned violent after a government crack down.
At least one monk was shot, and several others were injured.
The attacks enraged many Cambodians, who generally respect Buddhist clergy.
In the aftermath of the protests, U-N human rights investigators discovered more than 20 bodies, many bearing signs of torture, prompting speculation that the death toll could be much higher.
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