LIBRARY

12 February 2019

Cambodia's human rights situation continued to deteriorate in 2018, with the ongoing closure of democratic and civil society space as well as the silencing of government critics and independent media.

26 January 2019

A man was shot and critically injured by mixed security forces after more than 100 police, gendarmes, and soldiers descended on Kokir village, in Preah Sihanouk province, on Thursday morning to enforce a Supreme Court decision awarding disputed land to nine families.

When the heavily armed security forces tried to enter the site in Bet Trang commune, protesters, some holding sticks, burned tires and threw rocks to prevent them. Security forces - including soldiers from Preah Sihanouk provincial sub-operational zone then withdrew, regrouped, and re-entered the village. This time they fired dozens of shots of live ammunition into the air as well as into the crowd in what was a clearly excessive use of force.

3 January 2019

Around 100 unionists, workers and rights activists gathered for a memorial ceremony this afternoon to mark five years since security forces opened fire on striking workers at Phnom Penh’s Veng Sreng Boulevard, killing four and injuring dozens.

Today’s commemoration was held at association and union coalition Solidarity House and attended by garment workers, unionists and families of the victims. Participants took part in a religious blessing ceremony and a discussion on the minimum wage protests, where workers were demanding a $160 living wage, and the ensuing violence.

Victims of the violence called for security forces members to be held accountable for the killings and for protest-related charges against workers and union leaders to be dropped immediately.

10 December 2018

This video, part of the campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence, highlights the determination and resilience of Cambodia’s Women human rights defenders, who stand up to state violence aimed at silencing them.

10 December 2018

Phnom Penh municipality banned a Human Rights Day march planned for this morning but celebrations went ahead nonetheless amid a heavy police presence at a government-approved location four kilometres from the city centre. Security forces wearing crash helmets outnumbered participants and cordoned off the square.

Several hundred garment workers, farmers, teachers, trade unionists, community representatives and youths attended the event organised by trade unions and associations at the so-called “new” Freedom Park in Russey Keo district. The municipality threatened legal action if the organisers went ahead with a march affecting “security and public order”, despite the fact that 10 December is an annual public holiday with far less traffic in the city.

Despite recent government declarations about the lifting of restrictions on civil society groups, authorities continued to restrict the movements of communities across the country, preventing them from gathering in public, demanding letters of permission and dictating where they could meet.

7 December 2018

To mark the international campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence (25 November – 10 December) LICADHO is highlighting women land campaigners and human rights defenders (HRDs) who face state violence in Cambodia.

At least a half a million Cambodians have lost their land and homes in forced evictions over the last two decades and women have been at the forefront of peaceful protests demanding justice and fair compensation. Their activism has often been met with violent attacks by security forces as well as judicial harassment and arbitrary detention.
Over the 16 days, we are publishing profiles of women who – despite many hardships – continue to speak out in solidarity with others to demand justice.

Sor Sorn (58) has faced repeated harassment, arrests and detentions for protesting against the violent forced eviction of Borei Keila community in Phnom Penh.

5 December 2018

To mark the international campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence (25 November – 10 December) LICADHO is highlighting women land campaigners and human rights defenders who face state violence in Cambodia.

At least a half a million Cambodians have lost their land and homes in forced evictions over the last two decades and women have been at the forefront of peaceful protests demanding justice and fair compensation. Their activism has often been met with violent attacks by security forces as well as judicial harassment and arbitrary detention.

Over the 16 days, we are publishing profiles of women who – despite many hardships – continue to speak out in solidarity with others to demand justice.

Um Sophy (39) has faced serious harassment, multiple criminal cases and even lost her job as a teacher as a result of her tireless activism to defend her community’s land against a politically connected company.

26 November 2018

To mark the international campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence (25 November – 10 December) LICADHO is highlighting women land campaigners and human rights defenders (HRDs) who face state violence in Cambodia.

At least a half a million Cambodians have lost their land and homes in forced evictions over the last two decades and women have been at the forefront of peaceful protests demanding justice and fair compensation. Their activism has often been met with violent attacks by security forces as well as judicial harassment and arbitrary detention.

Over the 16 days, we will publish short profiles of women who – despite many hardships – continue to speak out in solidarity with others to demand justice.

We start with Tep Vanny (38), who has been at the forefront of Boeung Kak Lake community’s fight against forced evictions in Phnom Penh as well as being a fervent defender of human rights.

5 October 2018

Communities around the country celebrated World Habitat Day between 28 September and 5 October 2018.

This year's theme was “municipal solid waste management” and many organised garbage clean ups as well as discussions on housing and land rights.

More than 2,000 people participated in at least 30 communities.

Authorities shut down some events, claiming they were illegal, and others were cancelled or held indoors due to threats and intimidation.

5 October 2018

Cambodia’s new repressive lèse majesté law was used for the first time yesterday to convict a former opposition party official who was handed a one year sentence.

Ban Somphy, a 70-year-old barber and former district leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was detained on 20 May 2018. He was accused of sharing a Facebook post allegedly criticising King Norodom Sihamoni which included a picture of Prime Minister Hun Sen and his wife and a video of angry villagers affected by flooding.

He was sentenced by Siem Reap provincial court under Criminal Code article 437 bis which was amended by the National Assembly in February amid strong opposition from civil society groups who warned that it would be used to silence government critics.

1 October 2018

At least two communities have been prevented from celebrating the United Nations’ World Habitat Day by Cambodian authorities and others have cancelled events out of fear of reprisals.

More than 2,000 people in at least 30 communities nationwide have planned events to raise awareness of this year’s theme – “municipal solid waste management” – as well as the annual theme: the right to housing. Activities are taking place between 28 September and 5 October 2018, many of them in communities affected by land grabbing and forced evictions or threatened by new developments.

According to the UN, World Habitat Day (WHD) is an opportunity to “reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter”.

1 October 2018

A defamation conviction against former human rights worker Ny Chakrya was rejected and referred back to the Appeal Court for re-trial this morning due to insufficient evidence. The case marks the first use of a repressive penal code article criminalising criticism of judicial decisions.

The former Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) staffer – and current Deputy Secretary-General of the National Election Committee – was convicted to six months in prison and fined six million riel (US$1,500) by Phnom Penh Municipal Court on 22 September 2016. He was found guilty of defamation, malicious denunciation and unlawfully coercing judicial authorities (Articles 305, 311 and 522 of the Cambodian Criminal Code).

Chakrya was charged following a complaint by an investigating judge and a deputy prosecutor at Siem Reap Provincial Court over comments he allegedly made at two ADHOC press conferences in May 2015 regarding a land dispute case and the jailing of two victims of land rights violations.

24 August 2018

This morning Boeung Kak Lake activist Tep Vanny and five other members of the community were found guilty of making a “death threat” against a former community member. They were each given six-month suspended sentences. Another charge of “public insult” was dropped by Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

The case was revived in late 2016, despite the plaintiff, Ly Mom, having dropped her March 2012 complaint in October 2016.

The trial of Tep Vanny, Nget Khun, Cheang Leap, Kong Chantha, Tol Sreypov and Heng Mom began in July 2017 but was suspended by the judge when prosecution witnesses failed to appear in court.

13 July 2018

This morning, the Supreme Court upheld the convictions of Sun Mala, Try Sovikea and Sim Samnang, three former activists with the now-disbanded environmental NGO Mother Nature. The activists were arrested almost three years ago, on 17 August 2015, amid a campaign calling for an end to allegedly unlawful and destructive sand dredging in Koh Kong.

The activists originally stood trial in Koh Kong as perpetrators charged under Article 424 of the Criminal Code for allegedly threatening to cause destruction, defacement or damage to property. But the trial judge altered the charges at the last minute to convict them as masterminds behind the offence, a verdict later upheld by the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court hearing last Friday further violated fair trial rights, as the burden of proof was reversed and no evidence was presented by the prosecution.

The Supreme Court’s decision upholds their 18 month sentence, around eight of which are suspended. This puts the three activists at risk of re-imprisonment for the remainder of their sentences, if they are convicted of any other offence in the next five years. They were also ordered to pay 100 million riel ($25,000) compensation and a two million riel ($500) fine. Under Cambodian law, failure to pay fines and compensation can result in further imprisonment.

5 June 2018

(Updated 14.00 following land ministry meeting)

Despite attempts to prevent them travelling to Phnom Penh, more than 200 villagers from Koh Kong communities seeking compensation for a decade-old land grab rallied outside the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction early on Tuesday morning.

They were met by Koh Kong deputy governor Orn Pheareak who asked them to return to their province to discuss a solution. Community representatives also met land ministry officials and were given a letter pledging to measure land for 585 families by 20 June 2018.

4 June 2018

Police have attempted to block about 300 villagers from Koh Kong province from travelling to Phnom Penh to demand compensation for a decade-old land grab. The police, led by a District Deputy Governor, stopped the communities’ buses in Sre Ambel district early on Monday morning.

Instead the community groups set out on foot, determined to make the 150 km trip to the capital. Along the way, they have encountered military police forces and have been pressured by authorities to return to their province.

The communities from Chi Kha Leu, Chi Kha Kraom, Dang Peng and Kandoul communes have petitioned the ministry and provincial authorities for over a decade for compensation for land they lost to two Economic Land Concessions linked to the Thai sugar company KSL and ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat.

31 May 2018

Former Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin were interviewed by an investigating judge at Phnom Penh Municipal Court today on charges brought under the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.

The two men worked for RFA until the media outlet shut its Phnom Penh Bureau in September 2017, citing government repression and the forced closure of its FM radio broadcasts as part of an ongoing crackdown on critical media.

They were arrested and detained on 14 November 2017. Four days later they were charged with treason and sent to pre-trial detention in Phnom Penh's chronically overcrowded Correctional Centre 1 (CC1). The trafficking charges, which are part of a second separate case against the pair, were added later.

16 May 2018

Two former Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists charged with treason were brought to Phnom Penh Municipal Court today to decide whether their six months in pre-trial detention will be extended or if they will be released (update below).

Under Cambodian law, felony suspects can only be held in pre-trial detention for six months unless a judge rules that a further six month period is necessary for an ongoing investigation. No evidence substantiating the charges has been made public.

At a bail hearing in March, Presiding Judge Khim Pon said an investigation was still underway and that releasing the men could result in “serious damage”.

9 May 2018

We, the undersigned civil society groups, condemn the latest blow to press freedom in Cambodia, with the opaque sale of The Phnom Penh Post, and the new owner’s immediate interference in the paper’s editorial independence, which compelled 13 senior staff and reporters to resign and led to the sacking of the paper’s Editor-in-Chief.

This is just the latest in a series of attacks which have devastated Cambodia’s media landscape since mid-2017. The Phnom Penh Post was Cambodia’s last remaining independent English-Khmer language daily, and its change of ownership raises serious questions about the paper’s continued independence.

2 May 2018

Close to a thousand workers and trades unionists celebrated International Labour Day around Cambodia on 1 May 2018 despite restrictions on public gatherings and a ban on the traditionally held march in the capital.

A large area around the National Assembly was cordoned by mixed police forces and the rally in the capital was closely monitored.

Other events in Cambodian provinces were also low key and closely watched by authorities.