Bonuses Offered for Arresting Suspects

The government of Cambodia is offering cash bonuses to police for arresting crime suspects, the latest move in a crackdown that human rights activists fear may spin out of control. The bonuses range from $80 to $130 depending on the seriousness of the crime, said police spokesman Gen. Khieu Sopheak. Rights activists fear the bonuses may entice a poorly trained police force to arrest suspects on little or no evidence to augment officers’ low salaries. Police have already been criticized for torturing suspects to extract confessions that are later used as the sole evidence for conviction in the nation’s underdeveloped courts.