LIBRARY

9 June 2008

The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), and the Cambodian League for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (LICADHO) condemn the arrest and detention on Sunday of Moneaksekar Khmer editorin-chief Dam Sith, which we believe was politically-motivated.

On Sunday morning, June 8, national military police officers wearing civilian clothes arrested Dam Sith at a Phnom Penh car-washing shop. After several hours at the national military police headquarters, he was sent to Phnom Penh court where he was charged with defamation and disinformation and sent to Prey Sar prison for pre-trial detention.

Dam Sith was charged following a complaint against him by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong, regarding an article published in Moneaksekar Khmer on April 18. The article reported on a speech made by Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) president Sam Rainsy, at a Khmer Rouge victims' commemoration on April 17, in which he made comments about several government ministers. Hor Namhong subsequently filed a court complaint against both Sam Rainsy and Dam Sith.

8 May 2008

Radio Free Asia (RFA) Journalist Lem Piseth has yet again fled the country to Thailand after deaths threats were made against him last month.

Since early April 2008, Lem Piseth had been investigating a drug trafficking and murder case with alleged links to high ranking officials. On April 10, 2008 Lem Piseth's daughter discovered six AK47 bullets placed in front of their rented house in Battambang. The bullets were placed at the front gate only three and a half meters from his bedroom.

1 May 2008

Cambodia's news media is often described as one of the freest in the region, with no official censorship and a "flourishing press".

But if we look beyond just the quantity of newspapers and magazines, and listen to journalists and editors describe their working environment, we find a media closely controlled by politics, money and fear.

Almost all Cambodia's media is aligned to a political party, with the vast majority favoring the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). The situation varies depending on the media - television is totally owned or controlled by the government or CPP, radio has a few opposition-aligned stations and some important independent voices, while most newspapers act as mouthpieces for one party or another, with the exception of the foreign-language press.

28 December 2006

The Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC) calls on the Cambodian Government to investigate into the suspicious accident that left a journalist of Radio Free Asia, Mr. Sok Serei, in a very critical health condition. On December 14th, 2006, at around 4:45 pm, Mr. Sok Serei was involved in an accident after picking up his daughter from school. The accident knocked Mr. Serei unconscious when his head hit the road hard.

Police has indicated that they now know the identity of the owner of the vehicle but no formal investigation is underway at this moment. AFEC is deeply concerned that this incident might be a premeditated hit and run crime instead of an accident. It might be due to the work on corruption that Mr. Serei had been exposing in the last months or his works revealing illegal forest concession in Koh Kong. One recent case reported by Serei involves high ranking official in the Ministry of Rural Development. Serei was also reporting on many activities of the civil society that are critical of the government.

23 October 2006

The Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC) is deeply concerned about forceful removal of the General Manager Noranarith Anandayath and other staff of the radio station Ta Prohm FM 90.5 on October 19, 2006.

Noranarith Anandayath was formerly the Cabinet chief of Prince Norodom Ranariddh who had been ousted as Funcinpec President at an extraordinary party congress on Wednesday, October 18, which was staged by Funcinpec's Secretary-General Nhiek Bun Chay in a coup-like manner. Already on Tuesday at 2:30pm, four armed body guards of Nhiek Bun Chay had taken control of the office of the radio station in Phnom Penh.

12 October 2006

The Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC) demands for abolishing Article 62 of the UNTAC law on criminal disinformation. The network of 28 Cambodian civil society organizations holds that this legal provision contradicts the Cambodian Constitution and the international human rights law by imposing unjustifiable restrictions to the human right to Freedom of Expression. In the view of AFEC, there are other and much more adequate legal ways how to protect public peace than a law against disinformation. The AFEC is convinced that the mere publication of false statement of facts should not be criminalized at all.

In an open society there are many mechanisms that finally lead to the revelation of truth. The recent cases where high-ranking government officials brought criminal disinformation complaints against two journalists, a dismissed university teacher and three people who distributed a leaflet are demonstrating how Article 62 can be abused for silencing criticism. The fact that some of these persons are still arrested is a gross violation of Freedom of Expression.

7 September 2006

Wednesday September 6, 2006 marked the three-month anniversary of the detention of two villagers - Chan Ra and Chhen Sovan - from Sambok Chab village and Hem Chhun, a journalist from Khmer newspaper Samrek Yuthetor (Scream for Justice). The three had been arrested and detained in connection to the Sambok Chab eviction which, on June 6 2006, culminated in an excessive display of force by the authorities to empty the village.

Assembling inside a pagoda nearby Phnom Penh's Prey Sar prison, family members of the three men, surrounded by over 200 supporters, spoke to the media and the crowd.

5 September 2006

Two of the villagers, Mr. Chhen Sovan, and Mr. Chan Ra, were arrested during the eviction of the residents of Sambok Chab, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, on June 6, by hundreds of armed policemen. The third person, Mr. Hem Chhun, who worked as a reporter for the newspaper Samrek Yuthetor, was arrested on July 7 close to the site in Dangkao District of Phnom Penh where the villagers were relocated. The three persons have been accused by the Phnom Penh authorities of having incited a riot at Sambok Chab Village on May 30 that lead to the destruction of private and public property. The authorities have accused the journalist of being the "mastermind" behind this violent event.

The AFEC rejects violence as a means of expressing opinions. However, the alliance points out that the riot was a spontaneous act by about 100 desperate villagers facing eviction and the destruction of their homes. The event took place after the dismantling of some of their houses had started and a girl had been wounded by falling debris. There is little indication of any kind of an organized plan or premeditation on the part of the villagers who participated in the riot.

11 August 2006

A slideshow presentation on Human Rights situation in Cambodia 2006.

11 July 2006

The Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC) is very worried about the fact that persons from within or close to the Cambodian government are using Article 62 of the UNTAC law on "disinformation" against journalists who criticized them. The recent complaint against two Cambodian journalists have been filed only a few weeks after that the National Assembly has taken the prison terms out of Article 63 of the UNTAC law on criminal defamation recently. The AFEC is afraid that there was no change of attitude behind this minor legal reform.

10 July 2006

On July 6, 2006, more than 250 family members, villagers from Sambok Chab, NGOs workers and union workers gathered in front of Prey Sar prison to demand the immediate and unconditional release of three detainees. The three had been arrested and detained in relation to the Sambok Chap village eviction which ended on June 6, 2006 in an excessive display of force by the authorities. The event was organized by several NGOs and was initiated by the Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC).

1 February 2006

The Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC), a coalition of 27 member organizations, would like to express its deepest gratitude to all individuals, local and international NGOs, embassies, governments and international institutions who joined the recent struggle for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia. This timely and vehement support has constituted an effective influence on the Royal Government of Cambodia that led to the release on bail of five arrested individuals: journalist and radio manager Mam Sonando, unionist Rong Chhun and the NGO leaders Kem Sokha, Yeng Virak and Pa Nguon Teang.

AFEC regrets that the right to Freedom of Expression of civil rights activists has been violated. Therefore, AFEC welcomes that the Government withdraws its complaints against the above-mentioned persons, and urges that similar complaints against other individuals in Cambodia and abroad, namely Ear Channa, Men Nath, Chea Mony, Prince Sisowath Thomico, and Say Bory are also withdrawn. AFEC further hopes that all criminal defamation charges will be dropped speedily by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

10 March 2005

Cambodian women and children are facing a rising tide of sex crimes and urgent action is needed to stop abuse, a rights group warned on Monday.

Rape and indecent assault cases have risen steadily in recent years, and many of the victims are children, some as young as four years old, local human rights group Licadho said ahead of International Woman's Day on Tuesday.

4 February 2003

Following the anti- Thai riots of January 29th, 2003, CHRAC called on the Cambodian government to release Mom Sonando, Director of Beehive radio. CHRAC emphasized that his arrest was groundless and that proper legal procedures had not been followed.

6 August 2002

CHRAC opposed the decision by the Ministry of Information to suspend publication of Moneaseka Khmer because of a provocative article, saying that the suspension threatens freedom of the press in Cambodia.

12 July 2002

CHRAC expressed its support of press freedoms following the detention of a journalist who provided information about the controversial issue of immigration.