On the news they had a shot of the
father carrying his dead son (see story below as well), the head blurred because that's where he was shot. I cried for most of Rosalyn's feeding because of this.
Normally, I believe that the courts should deal with things. But there are two things that make me believe in eye for an eye.
- ANY type of child abuse-sexual, physical, emotional. With proof, these people should be taken into a field and beaten to an inch of their lives, made better, beaten again, and suffer through this until they do die. These people do not deserve to foul the ground or air we walk on. And I speak as a childhood survivor of sexual abuse.
- ANY thing like this, or Beslan. People who are so damaged that they resort to using children as shields or collateral-THEY should be SLOWLY drawn and quartered.
Why do I feel this way? Because there are certain crimes that are unforgivable, and in many cases, the courts give more jail time in fraud cases than child rape. I feel this way because some people are so damaged that they cannot be fixed. And yes, I feel this way because sometimes, I want revenge...
___________________________________
A 2-year-old Canadian boy was shot dead yesterday in the Cambodian tourist town of Siem Reap, the sole fatality after a day-long hostage crisis in a local school that triggered a massive security operation.
For a few fleeting hours yesterday, the eyes of the world were riveted on the yellow schoolhouse where masked gunmen held 70 foreign children and three teachers captive.
The drama seemed to end peacefully as the rescued children rushed into the arms of their parents from Japan, Australia, America, Britain, Ireland and other countries.
But for Martin Michalik, who arrived in this sleepy Cambodian tourist destination just a few months ago, there would be no homecoming for his 2-year-old son Maxim.
He soon learned his only child had been shot dead. Police quoted the gunmen as saying the boy had cried too much, but the grieving father said today his son's only mistake might have been that he went looking for his favourite book.
As little Maxim sought out the book, the bandits picked him up as a human shield.
"He was only 2 years old. He didn't understand what was going on," Michalik said in a telephone interview from Phnom Penh, the capital, where he arrived early this morning. "He was looking for a book he wanted to read."
Then he was shot in the head.
Michalik, 37, said that after talking to one of his son's teachers, he believes Maxim died in the hail of bullets after security forces raided the school in which he had just enrolled.
"The SWAT team started shooting, and that's how Maxim got killed. We don't know when this actually happened, but I think it was at the end. Supposedly it was accidental. He was not executed."
Michalik and his wife Michaela, both Slovak-born Canadian landed immigrants, said their son was born in Victoria, B.C., in 2003 while Michalik was working at a resort in British Columbia. They are taking the boy's body to Bangkok today and then to Slovakia for burial.
Prime Minister Paul Martin called Maxim's death a terrible tragedy. "It's quite clear that our hearts go out to the family. It is virtually incomprehensible, and I know that I speak for all Canadians when I say to the family that our thoughts and our prayers are with them at this time," Martin told reporters in Ottawa yesterday afternoon.
Michalik had moved his family to Cambodia a few months ago to start a new life as resident manager of a sumptuous five-star hotel, the Hotel de la Paix — the Peace Hotel — scheduled to open this summer.
Like other expatriates who have settled in this boomtown, they chose the Siem Reap International School, which employed security guards and the best teachers.
Now, police suspect disgruntled security guards may have been involved in the attack, hoping to ransom the children for cash, arms and a getaway vehicle. As the day wore on, the kidnappers released half of their captives, but the youngest — including Maxim — were kept behind.
Police raided the classroom and subdued four kidnappers after they "threatened to kill the other children one by one," Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said.
Mobs attacked the bandits in the aftermath, but police subdued the crowds and arrested the kidnappers, all Cambodians in their 20s.
Cambodian police later arrested a security guard suspected of masterminding the hostage-taking, officials said today.
The guard, 29-year-old Ul Samnang, worked at a souvenir shop and did not take an active part in the hostage drama, Siem Reap police chief Phoeng Chenda told Reuters.
Canadian diplomats declined yesterday to provide many details about the boy's death, saying they were bound by law to protect the family's privacy and that it was too early to know more about the attackers' motives.
Cambodian police said they gave the kidnappers a minivan and $30,000 (U.S.) in cash, but attacked the gunmen when they tried to escape.
"We could barely control the angry crowd," military police officer Prak Chanthoeun said.
Maxim was born after Michalik and his wife Michaela moved to Canada from Polynesia, said Markus Griesser, who worked with Michalik at the Aerie Resort and Spa, a five-star operation on Vancouver Island.
The family stayed in Canada for a year and a half before setting off for the Bahamas when Michalik was offered a job at another resort, Griesser told the Toronto Star's Scott Roberts.
Griesser was devastated upon hearing about the tragedy yesterday. He described Maxim as "perfect" and struggled to find the words to express his anguish.
"They are just outstanding people," Griesser said of the boy's parents. "They were completely dedicated to their family. I couldn't begin to describe how cranked up they were to have a son. He meant everything to them."
Griesser described Michalik as a good father who was looking forward to introducing hockey to his young son. "You could always see him and Maxim heading to the rink," he said.
Only a handful of Canadians live in Siem Reap, site of the 800-year-old Angkor Wat archaeological ruins that have been designated a world heritage site, according to Phloeun Prim, a Cambodian-Canadian who runs the Auberge Mt. Royal hotel.
Prim, who helps out at the Canadian Embassy as a volunteer in times of emergency, and who will soon be enrolling his own daughter in the school, said Siem Reap's tourist industry is now in a state of shock.
"It's a peaceful and quiet city. Nothing bad ever happens here," said Prim, who watched the Michalik family cheerfully take up residence a few months ago. "Now the news has spread around the world already."
Tour guide Saron Soeun, who spent hours outside the school yesterday, said he now feared for his own job. "All the tour guides are worried there won't be any more tourism in Siem Reap after this," he said.
Anxious to avoid any fallout for the industry, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told reporters the attackers did not belong to any "terrorist network."
In Ottawa, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper also offered his condolences. "Obviously it's very difficult for us to really imagine how the parents feel today, but they can be assured that they do have our thoughts and our prayers with them today."
