LIBRARY

16 June 2010

“When I was putting the soil into the mixing machine, the soil was stuck, so I tried to push it in, suddenly the machine caught my arm inside. After the incident, I returned to hometown to live with my single father and three younger brothers. I need to look after all of them because my father is mentally weak. I am so hopeless and my dreams are also destroyed, as I am disabled and uneducated. I don’t know what I can do besides tending cows every day. I left school when I was in grade 1 before I went to work in the brick factory.”

A 16-year-old boy who lost his left arm while he was working in a brick factory.

LICADHO and World Vision Cambodia will mark World Day Against Child Labour on June 12, 2010, by organizing a street march and local concert in Sangke District, Battambang. The event aims to sensitize the public on the issues of child labour, particularly on child labour in brick factories. The event will take place between 3 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

1 June 2010

To mark International Children’s Day this year, LICADHO is promoting the theme of “A community without child trafficking” in Kien Svay district, Kandal province, to promote children’s rights as well as raise awareness of child trafficking and the worst forms of child labor. The program will run from 7.30 am until 11am and will provide children with an opportunity to participate in singing, games, quizzes and awards. Secondary school students, community workers, local and vulnerable children, and the general public are encouraged to attend. Guests at the event include the Kien Svay district deputy-governor, Korky commune chief and LICADHO’s President, Dr. Pung Chhiv Kek.

25 March 2010

We, the undersigned civil society organizations, condemn the Kompong Speu Provincial Court’s decision yesterday to arrest and detain two community representatives involved in the ongoing Omlaing Commune land dispute. The bogus charges against the two community representatives constitute yet another instance of Cambodia’s rich and powerful using the judicial system as a tool of enrichment and weapon of intimidation. We also condemn the response of mixed police forces to the villagers who came to the provincial court to show their support.

Omlaing Commune Council member You Thou and community leader Khem Vuthy were arrested on charges that they incited villagers to burn two temporary shelters used by construction workers belonging to Ly Yong Phat’s Phnom Penh Sugar Company. The two representatives also stand accused of colluding to set the structures on fire.

11 March 2010

Although the Coalition of Cambodian Civil Society Organizations (hereafter “the Coalition”),comprised of more than 200 local NGOs and Associations, only received a copy of the current Draft of the Anti-Corruption Law “hereafter “the Draft” at the last minute, the Coalition have made a concerted effort to provide several key comments on the Draft in its previous joint statement issued on March 09, 2010 on the eve of the National Assembly Session convened to debate the Law.

The joint and several efforts of the Coalition are aimed at ensuring that the proposed law is good and that it is able to adequately serve Cambodian society and the people well into the new decade through various radio talk shows, press conferences, and the submission of a letter attached to our previous joint statement, requested that the parliamentary debate and adoption of the draft law be deferred until a later date to allow for more time and scope for public input into the discussion now before the National Assembly.

5 March 2010

We the named organisations, express our deepest concern at the prevention by Dangkar district police of a demonstration by villagers against the alleged seizure of their farmland, the arrest and reported blackmail of villagers who attempted to take part in the demonstration and the deletion of photographs taken by human rights monitors from the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Organisation (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO).

The attempted demonstration in question was set against the all too familiar backdrop of a land dispute. On 1 March 2010, villagers from Proka Village in Dangkor District who are involved in a land dispute with In Samon, the deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior, attempted to hold a demonstration outside the home of Prime Minister Hun Sen in Takhmao.

27 January 2010

The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) calls for an immediate end to the illegal land-clearing and military violence against families in Preah Sihanouk's Prey Nob district. The disputed land is claimed by Chinese-owned Yi Chea Company, a resort company which has enlisted the help of the Cambodian military's Brigade 31 to forcibly clear the land.

The dispute began in early 2009, when Yi Chea Company started clearing a 3,300-hectare land concession within Ream National Park given by the government. But the concession overlapped with the land of 116 families from Ream and Thma Thom villages.

9 December 2009

More than 10,000 Cambodians from communities around the country, including trade unionists,students, farmers, fishermen, musicians, youths, tuk tuk drivers, motorcycle drivers and NGO workers, will celebrate International Human Rights Day (IHRD) in their communities this year.

These celebrations are tied together with the common theme "We All Need Freedom of Expression and Justice!" and a common symbol - the blue Kramar to represent the important role of human rights defenders in Cambodia.

The community initiatives will mark the achievements made in human rights in Cambodia, but also focus on critical issues still facing the country's citizens - including exploitation of land and natural resources; restrictions to the freedoms of expression, association and assembly; and violations of labor rights.

2 December 2009

The first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Cambodia was conducted by the UN Human Rights Council in its Working Group session held on Tuesday 1 December 2009 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The UPR is a new mechanism that allows a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN member States once every four years. During the 3-hour proceedings of yesterday, the Cambodian delegation led by Mr. Ith Rady, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice together with Ambassador Sun Suon of the Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the UN in Geneva, presented the achievements and developments with regard to the human rights situation in the country, extensively focusing on its poverty reduction strategies and plans in particular. The Cambodian delegation, however, attempted much to emphasise ‘its own historical and socioeconomic context’ as a least developed country in a post-conflict setting, rather than recognising the reality of its human rights challenges in a frank and substantive manner.

16 November 2009

We, the undersigned members of Cambodian civil society, condemn the lifting of parliamentary immunity from Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) President Sam Rainsy by the National Assembly on November 16, 2009. The Assembly's action is yet another blow to Cambodia's faltering democracy, and continues the government's disturbing trend of using the courts to intimidate and weaken political opponents.

Rainsy is the third SRP member to be stripped of parliamentary immunity - the second time this year only - in the past five months. Fellow SRP Parliamentarians Mu Sochua and Ho Vann were stripped of their immunity by the National Assembly on June 22, 2009. The latter was acquitted by the Phnom Penh court on September 22, 2009; yet, the National Assembly has failed to restore his parliamentary immunity back.

2 September 2009

The Cambodian League for Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) and the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) jointly condemn the decision by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to acquit former National Military Police Deputy Chief of Staff General Chea Ratha and her accomplices accused of an acid attack on Ya Soknim. The August 31 verdict, issued by judges Sin Visal, Din Sivuthy and Sem Sakola came after several inexplicable delays in the case over the past months.

Human rights activists believe the attack on Ya Soknim, that left her severely mutilated, was an act of revenge against her and her niece, the TV celebrity In Solyda, who has been estranged from Chea Ratha since early 2008.

4 August 2009

LICADHO condemns this morning's court verdict convicting opposition MP Mu Sochua of defamation and ordering her to pay a total of 16.5 million riel (US$4100) in fines and compensation.

"This verdict is a significant blow to freedom of expression and will have serious ramifications on the ability of National Assembly members to publicly speak their minds," said LICADHO director Naly Pilorge. "It is yet another example of the perilous state of democratic freedoms in Cambodia."

Mu Sochua, a Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) MP for Kampot province, was convicted by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen and ordered to pay 8.5 million riel in fines and 8 million riel in compensation to Hun Sen. Mu Sochua was tried on July 24 but the verdict was delayed until today.

The Prime Minister filed a defamation lawsuit against Mu Sochua in response to her attempting to sue him for defamation for comments he made during a public speech in April. The court threw out Mu Sochua's lawsuit against the Prime Minister but proceeded with his counter-suit against her.

26 July 2009

LICADHO deplores the authorities' renewed campaign to unlawfully arrest homeless persons, beggars, sex workers and other "undesirables" from the streets of Phnom Penh. In recent days, such arrests have led to women and children being sent to stay in a government social affairs center whose staff include alleged rapists and murderers, and to sex workers who have HIV/AIDS being detained at an NGO shelter where they were denied their life-sustaining anti-retroviral medicines.

"Once again, the government is treating poor people who live and work on the streets as though they are criminals," said LICADHO director Naly Pilorge. "This has nothing with to do with actually trying to help these people - it is simply intended to drive them off the streets in order to 'beautify' the city."

17 July 2009

Joint civil society organizations strongly condemn the 3-years-long coercion campaign of Group 78 residents to leave their homes and land, culminating in this morning's final eviction of the area. Over the years, Group 78 families were served with a number of eviction notices by local authorities while witnessing two violent forced eviction that took place in the same area, namely Dey Krahorm and Sambok Chap.

At 4 am this morning, dozens of armed police took up positions around Group 78 in order to enforce a municipal order that they dismantle their homes or be forcibly removed. This followed 53 families yesterday “agreeing” to the authorities’ demand that they accept an offer of $8,000 compensation or their homes would be forcibly destroyed. Negotiations this morning with the remaining 7 families who had not “agreed” led to a final offer to them of up to $20,000 in compensation which they all accepted, except for one family whose home was destroyed against their will.

22 June 2009

We, the undersigned members of Cambodian civil society, condemn the lifting of parliamentary immunity from SRP members Ms. Mu Sochua and Mr. Ho Vann by the National Assembly today, Monday 22 June 2009. The National Assembly’s action is a significant blow to democracy and freedom of expression in Cambodia.

In addition to the decision to lift Ms. Mu Sochua’s parliamentary immunity, which was made to allow Prime Minister Hun Sen’s criminal defamation lawsuit against her to proceed, the National Assembly also made a surprise decision to lift Mr. Ho Vann’s immunity this morning. In his case, the decision clears the way for a lawsuit, filed by a group of military officers, for criminal defamation, disinformation and incitement to be made against him.

The manner in which the lifting of the two SRP MPs’ immunity was conducted this morning leaves no doubt that the government understands that this process was unfair. The decision to include Mr. Ho Vann’s immunity in the vote was made in secret and only known at the last minute. National and international observers - including foreign diplomats - were refused access to the National Assembly to observe the vote. One open handed vote, rather than separate ones, was used to lift the immunity of both MPs.

11 June 2009

We, the undersigned organizations, are strongly concerned about the perilous state of freedom of expression in Cambodia. Since the end of April 2009, Cambodian government officials have filed complaints of defamation, disinformation or incitement against several Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) lawmakers as well as a lawyer, a journalist and an NGO president.

In addition, Phnom Penh authorities have taken harsh action to suppress freedom of expression by residents of Boeung Kak lake. Such events have serious negative impacts on the freedom of expression in Cambodia.

10 June 2009

A concert to raise awareness about child domestic workers’ rights will be held at Provincial Stadium of Kampong Cham, on June 12, from 4:30pm to 9:30pm.

Organized by human rights organization LICADHO and World Vision Cambodia (WVC), the concert aims to highlight the rights of child domestic workers to education, health-care, and protection from physical, psychological, and sexual abuse and exploitation. The 12 June event coincides with the World Day against Child Labor, the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the landmark International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention Number 182 which requires signatory countries to take action to end the worst forms of child labor.

6 June 2009

Cambodia's epidemic of land-grabbing - often committed in the name of so-called "development" - is fueling poverty and jeopardizing the government's claimed development goals. LICADHO's latest report entitled Land-grabbing and Poverty in Cambodia: The Myth of Development, concludes that: "The Cambodian government's policies and practices on land management have failed. Rather than contributing positively to the development of the country, they are swelling the ranks of the landless, the unemployed and the poverty-stricken".

2 May 2009

Cambodia's media is often described as one of the freest in the region, especially relative to the likes of Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos or China where the media is all but controlled by the government. But the reality is that Cambodia's media still exists in a repressive environment where the government controls the majority of the media. Those that it does not control, it is not afraid to attack, threaten or censor.

29 April 2009

Cambodian civil society organizations condemn the reported threat to lift the parliamentary immunity of National Assembly member Mu Sochua.

The Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) MP last Thursday announced her intention to sue the Prime Minister for defamation, in connection with comments he made in a public speech in Kampot province on April 4. Within 24 hours of this, a pro-government television station quoted a Prime Ministerial advisor as saying the government would counter-sue Mu Sochua and that all Cambodian People's Party (CPP) MPs would support the lifting of her immunity.

27 March 2009

LICADHO today called upon the Royal Cambodian Government to take urgent action in response to the unjustified violence by authorities against villagers involved in a land dispute in Chi Kreng district of Siem Reap province last weekend.

"This was extremely serious violence against villagers committed by government armed forces, and it demands a strong response by the government," said LICADHO president Kek Galabru. "The police and other officials who committed this violence must be punished, and there must be a fair resolution to this land dispute."

Four villagers were wounded when members of a joint force - including police, military police, border police and soldiers - opened fire on a crowd of farmers in Anlong Samnor commune on Sunday, March 22.