Cambodge-gb

Royal Gendarmerie of Cambodia

Year of creation:

1954

Ministry of attachment:

Ministère de la Défense

Workforce:

10 700

General manager:

Général d’armée SAO Sokha

Address:

Boulevard Penn Nout, sangkat Tuol Kork, Phnom Penh, Cambodge

Tél.: +855 97 77 77 707

Orders and Logistics Service:

Major général KHUON Van E

Tél.: +855 12 75 38 75

International relationships:

Major général KHEAV Samet

Tél.: +855 12 36 36 36

Email: ks555mp@yahoo.com

History

Before the independence, the French gendarmerie is present in Cambodia from the end of the XIXth century. Created on July 20th, 1954, the Cambodia Royal Gendarmerie is officially recognized by the royal orders n° 446 NS and 447 NS of September 27th, 1957 under the name of Khmer Royal Gendarmerie (KRG). After the reversal of prince Norodom Sihanouk on March 18th, 1970, the KRG is renamed National Gendarmerie by the decree n° 574/71 IT of October 5th, 1971 within the framework of the Khmer Republic (1970-1975) managed by general Lon Nol. During the seizure of power by the Khmer Rouges from 1975 till 1979, the KRG is suppressed. From 1979, while the Vietnamese army controls a big part of the country, the gendarmerie is restored from January 7th, 1979 till October 23rd, 1991, under a military police structure form.

The KRG is reconstituted on July 14th, 1993 with staff taken from those of the Khmer Royal Armed Forces (KRAF). It receives an international assistance for its staff training within the framework of the United Nations temporary Authority in Cambodia (APRONUC). One year later, a training school is created in Kambol. The sub-decree n° 77 of December 21st, 1994 fixes the general organization and the attributions of the KRG which constitutes a disciplined strength, of about 10 000 men, which founds its entire place within the Cambodia Kingdom security forces. On December 4th, 2009, a linguistic training centre is inaugurated in the school of Kambol premises.

Organization

The Khmer Royal Gendarmerie (KRG) is under the supervision of the Ministry of Defence.

Central Organization

At the central level, in Phnom Penh, the command echelon includes a cabinet, an administration office and a general staff. The general staff is organized itself in five departments according to the capacities of the sub-decree n° 136 of August 25th, 2009:

• The intelligence and security department;

• The operations department;

• The researches and the justice department;

• The human resources department;

• The department of logistics.

The Prime Minister should approve a new organization chart during year 2015 in the form of a sub-decree repealing the above-mentioned.

Territorial organization

At the 25 provinces level, we find a forces staff, reduced but adopting the model of the central level, and some districts. Districts consist themselves of security stations for which we could dare a parallel with our French Territorial Brigade, even if workforces are different.

Every provincial commander has an intervention company of variable-volume, a kind of Anti-riot Mobile Platoon (ARMP) used within "zonalisation" missions most of the time or working for maintenance law and order missions. The Phnom Penh province-city counts 6 battalions of intervention and a Royal Gendarmerie group of intervention acting under direct orders of the KRG commander.

Specialized Training

None.

Missions

The article 4 of the sub-decree n° 77 of December 21st, 1994 on the KRG general organization and attributions establishes that this one has for missions:

• to ensure administrative police activities (to maintain the security and the general law and order, to ensure the law and all the regulations full respect, inform and rescue the citizens when necessary). In this frame, the KRG acts according to the Ministry of interior and proper authorities instructions;

• to ensure the Criminal Investigation Department activities (to identify and notice the crimes and offences, to establish crime and offence reports, to collect evidences, to look for and to question the criminals and delinquents in order to refer them to the judicial authorities, to execute the delegations of investigating judges). In this context, the KRG acts according to the Minister of Justice and competent judicial authorities’ instructions;

• to carry out and achieve missions with military specifically character: maintain the security and "salute" & pay respects to the governmental institutions and the supreme authorities of the kingdom of Cambodia, protect the military installations, execute the military police missions inside and outside the military compounds. In this context, the KRG acts according to the Minister of Defence, the Khmer royal armed forces’ General chief of staff and the competent military authorities’ instructions. The article 12 adds that the Military Provost ship is one of the components of the institution;

• to assist the other ministries, which makes it the request.

Staff

The officers are directly recruited with High school diploma + 4 year-study, or within armed forces, and the non-commissioned officers are recruited at High school diploma, directly also. At present the KRG counts only a school, moreover work of the French cooperation, in Kambol. A second school in Kampong Chhnang will be inaugurated in 2015 and will have vocation to train the young recruits, while Kambol will not welcome more than specialized trainings.

The feminization exists since 1993. About 8 % of staff is feminine. The gendarmes do not live necessarily in barracks. The reception of families in barracks depends on capacities and on the command. The staff is naturally under military status and of career; there is no contract employee, nor conscripts.

Training institutions

• School of Kambol.

• School of Kampong Chhnang.

Main equipment

• Armament: pistol 9 m/m Makarov PMM, assault rifle of 56-2 type, assault rifle M16A1 with M203, assault rifle AKMS.

• Vehicles: varied ground vehicles. Generally heavy trucks are Chinese, the light vehicles Japanese.

Cooperation

In the extension of the October 23rd, 1991 Paris agreements, France agrees, at the request of the King and the Cambodian government, to bring its help and assistance to the revival of the KRG. This cooperation particularly results in the creation of a KRG officers and non-commissioned officers training school in Kambol. The technical cooperation between the KRG and the French gendarmerie is officialised by agreements signed between 1993 and 1994. Today, the French Gendarmerie action in Cambodia is applied within a bilateral convention framework, renewed every two years. The French gendarmerie brings a support for the initial or later training of the gendarmes with regard to criminal investigation. A French National Gendarmerie officer is present to assist the KRG commander for this purpose. Today, the last convention of December 16th, 2014 specifies that the effort is concerning the training of criminal police officers’ /officials empowered to make arrests and the high-level executives.