Statements
Statement | LICADHO Calls for Restoration of Open Access to Companies Register
25 June 2015
The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) deplores the apparent decision by the Ministry of Commerce to substantially reduce the amount of information about companies that it publicly discloses through its website. After a recent website upgrade by the ministry the only information now available on companies is the company name, the chairman’s name, and a phone number. Coming so soon after LICADHO’s request for greater transparency in relation to economic land concessions, this development is particularly disappointing.
Statement | On Stony Ground: A Look into Social Land Concessions
24 June 2015
State-involved land conflicts have been one of the largest causes of human rights abuses in Cambodia for over a decade. Many of these abuses arose from disputes involving Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) and other land concessions awarded to private companies. On the eve of this great Cambodian land giveaway, in March 2003, the Cambodian government unveiled a potentially progressive land policy with the aim of transferring land to landless and poor Cambodians – Social Land Concessions (SLCs).
LICADHO recently investigated a $13 million SLC project, supported by the World Bank and the German development agency GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), to assess whether the project has in fact benefitted rural poor Cambodians, as stated in both agencies' project reporting narratives.
Statement | LICADHO Urges Government to Support Child Rights and to Protect Youth in Prisons
31 May 2015
LICADHO’s Children’s Rights Office (CRO), in partnership with the Child Protection Group (CPG) network, will celebrate International Children’s Day 2015 in several locations. On 28 May, early celebrations took place in Dangkor Middle School, Phnom Penh. On 1 June, the official date of International Children’s Day, celebrations will take place in the morning (8:30am-11:00am) at Sangkat Norkor Thom, Siem Reap, Sal Mohorsrop Theater, Koh Kong, and at Build Bright University in Sihanoukville, Preah Sihanouk. At these locations, the CRO and CPGs will organize public forums and interactive theatre performances concerning child rights, and help distribute social assistance packages to the families of vulnerable children and youth. Approximately 2,350 people are expected to attend the celebrations.
Statement | Mothers Behind Bars: The Impact of Detention on Women and their Children
26 May 2015
Today, LICADHO releases its report “Mothers Behind Bars: The Impact of Detention on Women and their Children” which seeks to raise awareness of the harmful, and sometimes devastating, impact a mother’s imprisonment can have on her children.
Statement | Going Offline? The Threat to Cambodia’s Newfound Internet Freedoms
17 May 2015
On World Information Society Day, LICADHO releases its report “Going Offline? The Threat to Cambodia’s Newfound Internet Freedoms,” describing the vital importance of the Internet for freedom of expression in Cambodia and the imminent threat that this last bastion for independent voices now faces.
Statement | Cambodia: Withdraw Proposed Association Law and Make Legislative Drafting Process Transparent
11 May 2015
The Cambodian government must withdraw the proposed Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (LANGO) and make the legislative drafting process in the country transparent, FIDH and its member organizations, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), said today.
Statement | Cambodia Should Register, Not Return, Vietnamese Asylum Seekers
1 May 2015
Cambodia’s refusal to allow asylum seekers from Vietnam to register and seek refugee status demonstrates a dismal failing to abide by international refugee law, LICADHO and Human Rights Watch said today. In the last four months, Cambodia has forcibly deported 54 Vietnamese asylum seekers, and appears poised to deport 40 more.
Statement | LICADHO Opens up its Land Concessions Data, Urges Full Transparency from the Government
30 March 2015
The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) is today releasing to the public its land concession dataset and urges the government to follow suit by publicly disclosing details of all land concessions granted in Cambodia. The information released is the culmination of five years of investigation into this sector.
Statement | Long-term Solutions Necessary for the Welfare of Children whose Mothers Face Imprisonment
18 March 2015
Following the recent release of 22 women from prison, LICADHO welcomes news that the Ministries of Justice and Interior will discuss longer term solutions to ensuring the welfare of children whose mothers face prison sentences.
LICADHO has recently conducted detailed research into the arrest and sentencing of mothers with dependent children and has found that the welfare of the child is rarely taken into account when a mother is sent to pre-trial detention or at sentencing. Many women interviewed told LICADHO that judges did not even ask them if they had children or not before sending them to prison.
Statement | LICADHO Cancels its Long-Time International Women’s Day Activities in Prisons due to Government Restrictions
5 March 2015
It is with deep regret that LICADHO announces it will not conduct annual activities in Cambodian prisons this year for International Women’s Day, which will be celebrated on March 8.
For over 15 years LICADHO has visited Cambodian prisons on International Women’s Day (IWD) to provide care packages to female prisoners, female guards and to the children living in prison with their mothers. In the past 10 years, LICADHO has also coordinated special entertainment in prisons including speeches, games, traditional dancing and shows performed by the prisoners themselves. The activities have been well received by the prisoners and used to be supported by the prison authorities.
Statement | Report Documents Cambodian Government’s ongoing Failure to Implement ICCPR
3 March 2015
The Cambodian government has failed to comply with its fundamental civil and political rights obligations, FIDH and its member organizations, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), said in a joint shadow report submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC).
Statement | Release of Imprisoned Mothers and Pregnant Women Will Provide Some Relief but Does Not Address Underlying Issues
2 March 2015
Late last week a committee headed by the Ministry of Justice announced that 16 incarcerated women, including 15 women with children and one pregnant woman, will be released before International Women’s Day on March 8, 2015. The committee also stated that the government plans to release pregnant women and women with children every year.
Statement | Withdraw Armed Forces and Court Officials from Political Party Ranks to Strengthen Rule of Law and Democracy in Cambodia
26 February 2015
We, the Electoral Reform Alliance (ERA) and Civil Society Organizations, condemn any political party which includes, or will include court officials and officers armed forces within political party’s ranks. This inclusion is a violation of the constitution, the rule of law, and the principle of democracy, in particular free and fair elections.
Statement | Renewed Surge in Land Disputes Must be Addressed Not Denied
19 February 2015
The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) strongly expresses its concern at the surge in land disputes documented by its offices in 2014, which resulted in a threefold increase in the number of families newly affected by land conflicts during that year when compared to the previous year.
Statement | Civil Society Groups Condemn Use of Visa Denial to Curb Activism
17 February 2015
We, the undersigned civil society groups, condemn the recent decision to deny a visa renewal for prominent environmental activist Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson. Mr Gonzalez-Davidson has been at the forefront of a campaign by local Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Mother Nature, to halt the controversial development of a hydroelectric dam in Areng valley, Koh Kong province.
Statement | Childhood Behind Bars - Growing up in a Cambodian Prison – Dara’s Story
15 February 2015
Today, LICADHO releases its second and latest report in a series of case studies assessing the impact on children of growing up in Cambodian prisons. As of January 2015, there were 39 children between the ages of one month and four years living with their mothers in 18 Cambodian prisons monitored by LICADHO. Approximately half of them were born while the mother was imprisoned and almost all have never experienced or do not remember life beyond prison walls.
Statement | Civil Society Organizations Call on the Government and Political Parties to Respect Freedom of Expression
5 February 2015
We, the undersigned civil society organizations, wish to express serious concern regarding the potential introduction of new measures banning staff of civil society organizations from giving media interviews or making statements deemed to have “insulted” political parties during election periods. Such restrictions would amount to violations of the right to freedom of expression.
Statement | Civil Society Groups Condemn the Ongoing Detention of 11 Activists
26 January 2015
We the undersigned civil society groups condemn the indefensible verdicts issued this morning by the Court of Appeal in the cases of ten land activists and one monk.
Statement | Rights at a Price: Life Inside Cambodia’s Prisons
20 January 2015
Ahead of the appeal hearing this week for 10 land activists and one monk, all wrongfully convicted and imprisoned following unfair trials, LICADHO is publishing a new report about the current state of Cambodian prisons and the human rights implications for those held in them.
The report “Rights at a Price: Life inside Cambodia’s Prisons” details the ongoing, systematic abuse, discrimination, exploitation and corruption within Cambodia’s prison system and notes that despite steps towards reform, many challenges remain, including prison overcrowding, poor infrastructure, lack of appeal transportation, weak implementation of the law and lack of knowledge amongst prison officials.
Statement | Veng Sreng Anniversary: Still no Justice for the Dead, Missing and Injured
1 January 2015
One year on from the state violence of early January 2014 which led to the deaths of at least four men and the hospitalization of dozens, the disappearance of a teenage boy and the wrongful imprisonment of 23 union leaders, activists and workers, we the undersigned civil society organizations condemn the lack of progress made in investigating these human rights violations and in punishing those responsible.
