Lieutenant General Hing Bun Hieng (born 1957,[1] Khmer: ហ៊ីង ប៊ុនហ៊ាង; also spelt Hing Bun Heang) is a Cambodian general and the commander of the Prime Minister Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit.[2][3] As of March 2022, he held the rank of lieutenant general.[4]

Hing Bun Hieng
ហ៊ីង ប៊ុនហ៊ាង
Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces
Prime MinisterHun Sen
Personal details
Born1 January 1957 (1957-01) (age 67)
Kampuchea
ChildrenHing Chamroeun
Military service
Allegiance Cambodia
Branch/serviceRoyal Cambodian Armed Forces
RankLieutenant General

In June 2018, the United States government sanctioned Bun Hieng for human rights abuses, specifically his role in multiple attacks against unarmed Cambodians dating back to 1997.[3] In July 2020, he was appointed as a supreme advisor to Tep Vong, the Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia, and Bour Kry, the head of Cambodia's Dhammayuttika Nikaya order.[5] In December 2001, the Judicial Court of Paris issued arrest warrants for Bun Hieng and Huy Piseth for orchestrating a grenade attack at a political rally in Phnom Penh on 30 March 1997.[6] The attack, which preceded the 1997 Cambodian coup d'état, killed 16, and injured more than 150 individuals.[6]

Personal life

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Bun Hieng's son, Hing Chamroeun, is also a member of the Prime Minister's Bodyguard Unit.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Sanctions List Search". Office of Foreign Assets Control. 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  2. ^ "Sanctions Implicate Hun Sen's Bodyguard Chief in Grenade Attack". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  3. ^ a b "Treasury Sanctions Two Individuals and Five Entities Under Global Magnitsky". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  4. ^ "At Long Last, Signs of Justice for 1997 Cambodia Massacre". Human Rights Watch. 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  5. ^ "PM's Bodyguard Commander Appointed as Advisor to Supreme Monks". Cambodianess. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  6. ^ a b "Cambodia: French Court Indicts Hun Sen Cronies". Human Rights Watch. 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  7. ^ "'Untouchable' Sends Man Under the Cloth". The Cambodia Daily. 2004-08-31. Retrieved 2023-03-13.