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The opposition party, Nation Power Party, is filing a case with the International Criminal Court (ICC) concerning the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute.
In June last year, Cambodia submitted a request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to resolve its border dispute with Thailand over several ancient temple sites in the Mom Bei area.
Opposition party advisor Rong Chhun said at a press conference on Monday that 5,789 supporters, particularly Cambodians, submitted their thumbprints to file a complaint to the ICC against what he called a “Thai invasion.”
The ICC investigates and prosecutes individuals accused of the most serious international crimes, including genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression.
“We have to do our best on behalf of the opposition party and advocates. If we do nothing, we will achieve zero results,” Chhun said.
He alleged that the Thai leadership committed “war crimes” by violating Cambodia’s sovereignty despite the ceasefire and that they should be held responsible for damages to infrastructure, ancient temple sites and harming civilians.
Chhun alleged that Thailand violated Cambodian territory by installing concertina wire, carrying out construction along the border, displacing families and causing fatalities during the fighting last year.
He cited Thai airstrikes, cluster munitions attacks, alleged “toxic gas” strikes, heavy artillery fire, drone operations and incursions by Thai F-16 and Gripen fighter jets into Cambodian territory during two bouts of border clashes last year.
“After the press conference, we will collect the thumbprints and send them to the party’s branch in Europe in preparation for submission to the ICC,” he said.
Last week, Cambodia launched the rarely used conciliation process under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) after Thailand unilaterally canceled the 2001 maritime MoU on overlapping claims in the Gulf of Thailand and joint hydrocarbon exploration in an area believed to hold up to $300 billion in oil and natural gas reserves.
Government spokesperson Pen Bona did not immediately respond at the time of publication.
The Thai embassy in Phnom Penh and Thailand’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
Cambodia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Chann Rotana could not be reached for comment.
