LIBRARY

1 October 2024

We, the undersigned communities, media organisations and civil society groups, are calling for the immediate release of Cambodian journalist Mech Dara who was charged with incitement and sent to pretrial detention by the Phnom Penh Capital Court on October 1, 2024.

A court prosecutor questioned Dara on Tuesday morning and the journalist was charged by Investigating Judge Lim Sokuntheara later in the day with incitement under Article 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code for social media posts he made on September 20, 23, 26, 28 and 29. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 2 years and are a clear attempt to silence a brave journalist whose investigative journalism has routinely called for accountability in cases of human rights violations. Dara is being held at the Kandal Provincial Prison.

24 July 2024

We, the undersigned civil society groups, associations, confederations and unions, deeply regret that on 19 July 2024 the Svay Rieng Provincial Court decided to charge and send to pre-trial detention Chea Chantha, a leader of Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA) in Svay Rieng province. Chantha’s work on 16 July 2024 was in line with the Cambodian government’s policy on the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). Despite this, he was arrested and charged with fraud under Article 377 and 378 and for conducting “activities causing misapprehension with the discharge of public functions” under Article 610 of Criminal Code. If convicted, he will face up to 3 years in prison.

IDEA has conducted public forums in several provinces to explain social protection schemes. These forums have also seen the participation of NSSF officials to help disseminate information to workers, street vendors and domestic workers so that they can understand and voluntarily register as NSSF members. Chantha and other activists have jointly done this work to follow the government’s vision and to be part of the association’s mission to help workers in the informal sector and for them to receive social protections.

4 July 2024

The Phnom Penh Capital Court’s conviction and sentencing of 10 Mother Nature activists to 6-8 years in prison, and the arrest of five of them on 2 July 2024, is a shame for our nation. Silencing environmental defenders and characterising their peaceful advocacy as a threat to the state is a mockery of justice.

It is well past time for authorities to listen to and work with youth and environmental activists. Stop spending resources harassing, threatening and prosecuting the brave and passionate young people who are working to protect Cambodia’s most precious natural resources.

27 June 2024

The Interior Ministry’s decision to investigate the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL) for a 4 June report the NGO issued about the Better Factories Cambodia programme is a clear reprisal and an attempt to intimidate an NGO that is committed to improving the freedom of association for all Cambodian workers and unions.

12 June 2024

We, a civil society group comprising unions, union federations, associations, and non-governmental organizations committed to promoting human and labor rights in Cambodia, deeply regret the illegal dismissal of Mrs. Roeurn Kolab by Shengbo Garment (Cambodia) Co., Ltd on June 30, 2023. It has been a year since she faced this injustice. The dismissal of Mrs. Kolab, a newly elected union leader, is a severe violation of the right to freedom of association and union organizing, fundamental to protecting workers’ rights in the workplace.

31 May 2024

Thousands of children and minors across Cambodia are locked up in overcrowded and under-resourced prisons this Children’s Day. The number of children and minors living in prison, rather than being at home with their families or studying at school, has continued to grow at a staggering rate over the last year. This is deplorable.

LICADHO calls on the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, courts, and law enforcement to stop the excessive detention of children and minors in prison, and to immediately and consistently use alternatives to detention before resorting to imprisonment. It is crucial that children are not placed in overcrowded cells, deprived of basic care, or cut off from their communities. This is not the first time LICADHO has issued this call, but the problem has only become more dire.

24 May 2024

The internal compliance unit of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has found a complaint filed by LICADHO eligible for an environmental and social compliance review. The complaint was filed by LICADHO on behalf of complainants who have suffered human rights harms from private-sector companies that are promoted under the UN agency’s investment project.

7 May 2024

The Cambodian government must urgently act to address predatory lending and abusive collection practices in the country’s microfinance sector, local and international CSOs urge in a submission ahead of the UN Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review (UPR) of Cambodia.

The call to address long-standing and widely reported abuses in Cambodia’s microfinance sector comes as 30 recommendations made in the 2019 UPR cycle to improve the human rights situation have gone unheeded due to a lack of meaningful government oversight. This has enabled Cambodia’s microloan sector to balloon in recent years, with average loan sizes rising to over $5,000—the highest in the world—and coerced debt-driven land sales happening in significant numbers across the country.

6 May 2024

We, the undersigned civil society groups, unions and confederations, are dismayed by the Supreme Court’s unjust decision last week to uphold convictions against current and former members of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU). Authorities and courts have repeatedly failed to provide justice to LRSU activists. They must release union president Chhim Sithar from prison immediately and restore the freedoms of all defendants in this case.

On the morning of 3 May, the Supreme Court upheld convictions against eight current and former LRSU members, who were previously sentenced by the Phnom Penh Capital Court to prison sentences ranging from one to two years. Of the eight defendants, LRSU President Chhim Sithar is in prison serving a two-year sentence, and five other defendants are at risk of being immediately imprisoned. The five defendants — Chhim Sokhorn, Hay Sopheap, Kleang Soben, Sun Srey Pich and Touch Sereymeas — were sentenced by the Phnom Penh Capital Court to 18 months in prison.

8 April 2024

We, the youth, local communities, unions, associations, and local civil society organisations mentioned below are deeply disappointed by the arrest of Mr. Koet Saray, the President of the Khmer Student Intelligence League Association (KSILA).

Note that Mr. Koet Saray was arrested by plainclothes police officers in Phnom Penh and sent to the Phnom Penh Capital Court at 3:45pm on April 5, 2024, while he was working at the office. Mr. Koet Saray, the President of the Khmer Student Intelligence League Association (KSILA), was arrested and sent to Phnom Penh Capital Court without clarification of the exact charge or notice to his family. The arrest was made on the order of Mr. Seang Heang, Deputy Prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Capital Court, on April 5, 2024 under the charge of incitement to commit a felony or to disturb social security. According to a press release issued by the Phnom Penh Capital Court Prosecutor's Office, he faces an additional charge of committing a misdemeanor after sentencing for a misdemeanor, and was sent to pre-trial detention at Prey Sar Prison during the afternoon of April 7, 2024.

19 March 2024

On 13-15 March 2024, representatives of social impact investor Oikocredit, Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society U.A. and of three human rights NGOs, Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), Equitable Cambodia and FIAN Germany, came together for a dialogue. This was part of the process related to the submission made by the three NGOs to the Dutch OECD National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct concerning the alleged negative impacts of some microfinance loans on Cambodian borrowers.

During the dialogue, there was strong common ground between the parties in their commitment to improve the livelihoods of Cambodian borrowers. There was also a joint recognition of the urgent issues in the Cambodian microfinance sector and the need to take action to address them. The parties have identified and committed to concrete next steps towards a positive outcome of the dialogue.

The Dutch NCP has commended both parties on their good faith engagement in the ongoing NCP process.

12 March 2024

We, the undersigned, are disappointed by the actions of the Sangkat Nirouth Police Station in Khan Chbar Ampov, Phnom Penh, which ordered the owner of Champei Garden Restaurant to stop displaying photographs that were part of an exhibition by Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT). The authorities provided no reason or justification for their actions.

The topic of the photo exhibition was Housing and Life , and it had opened on 25 February 2024. It aimed to highlight the ongoing concerns and challenges facing Cambodia’s urban poor communities, with the purpose of finding solutions.

14 February 2024

We, the undersigned organisations, associations, unions and communities, are outraged by the threats of legal action against Soeng Senkaruna, a senior staffer at the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), over comments attributed to him in a media article. Senkaruna is the Deputy Head of the Human Rights, Land Rights and Natural Resource Section and Spokesperson of ADHOC. He has for years courageously spoken out in defence of human rights and social justice.

The Cambodia Daily Khmer published an article on 2 February paraphrasing Senkaruna as saying that political conflicts should be resolved through dialogue rather than in court. The article also paraphrased Senkaruna as noting that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) had regularly used the courts as a barrier to oppress opposition parties.

25 January 2024

We, the NGOs and civil society groups inclusive of the associations and local communities listed below, express our concern about the land security of Samrong Tbong Community in Phnom Penh. Community members may be forcibly evicted as the Royal Government of Cambodia continues to excessively partition and parcel off Boeung Tamok lake. Community representatives continue to face charges and court complaints as a result of their efforts to protect community members’ lands, houses, and housing rights.

2 November 2023

On this International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, we, the undersigned civil society organisations, call upon the Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) to take immediate and concrete action to ensure the effective, independent, and transparent investigation of all crimes committed against journalists and human rights defenders (“HRDs") in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

At least 15 journalists have been killed in Cambodia since 1994. Twelve of them were reporting on sensitive issues at the time of their deaths. Not a single perpetrator has been brought to justice in any of these cases.

10 October 2023

We are the undersigned association, unions, civil society organization, active youths, are deeply concern after receiving information about Angkor Plywood Co. Ltd's request for a five-year extension of timber exports from 2022 to 2026. Based on reported by RFA, on July 7, 2023, titled “Angkor Plywood Company Continues to Export Rare Timber for Sale Abroad,” the Office of the Council of Ministers granted permission to postpone the export of timber until the end of 2023 in response to the company's request to export timber for five years.

To maintain sustainable natural resources in Cambodia, we, as associations, NGOs, unions, local communities, and youth groups, call on the Cambodian government to take serious action. Specifically, we urge the authorities to revoke Angkor Plywood Co. Ltd's timber export license and investigate their illegal export of rare timber species abroad. Such actions are in violation of Cambodian law and pose a significant threat to the country's valuable natural resources.

18 September 2023

The Netherlands’ National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct (Dutch NCP) has accepted and will proceed with a complaint alleging that Oikocredit, a global social investor based in the Netherlands, has contributed to severe adverse human rights impacts in Cambodia’s microfinance sector.

The complaint followed extensive public evidence of widespread and systematic human rights abuses in Cambodia’s microfinance sector, including reports of violations associated with the microloan providers that receive direct funding from Oikocredit. The complaint alleges that Oikocredit was aware of reports of predatory lending, coercive collection practices, and related serious harms in Cambodia’s microfinance sector since at least 2017 yet continued and even increased its investments through 2022.

6 July 2023

We, the undersigned, call for the baseless charges of incitement against 10 land activists from three communities in Koh Kong province to be immediately dropped, and for their unconditional release. These activists did nothing but peacefully raise concerns and speak out in defence of their land and fellow community members, but have been harassed and imprisoned for doing so.

The 10 activists were arrested and charged with incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code on 29 June 2023. Nine of them are currently in pre-trial detention in Koh Kong provincial prison; one was released on bail with restrictive conditions. The charges followed their attempt to peacefully travel to Phnom Penh to submit a petition to the Ministry of Justice. If convicted, each activist faces up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 4 million riel (about US$1000).

3 July 2023

The ombudsman of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has determined that a compliance investigation is warranted in response to a complaint that IFC’s investments in six microfinance institutions in Cambodia, as well as four funds and investors, contributed to harms suffered by Cambodian borrowers. However, in an unprecedented move, IFC management has requested that the IFC Board review the ombudsman’s decision – which could delay or end the compliance investigation process.

The Board has 10 working days to review the request. It may either allow the compliance investigation to move forward, reverse the CAO’s decision, or give itself additional time to review the request.

“An investigation is a crucial step toward justice and remediation for Cambodian borrowers who continue to suffer due to predatory lending,” said Naly Pilorge, outreach director of LICADHO. “The IFC management’s request for board review, after the CAO decided an investigation is merited, is a shameful ploy to avoid scrutiny. The IFC needs to prove that it is committed to accountability through the CAO and stop trying to corrupt an independent process.”

28 June 2023

We, the undersigned organisations, call on the Cambodian and Italian governments to immediately halt the reopening of intercountry adoptions. Cambodia has not enacted safeguards that will sufficiently protect the best interests of the child or prevent reoccurrences of the severe fraud and corruption that marked intercountry adoptions in the past.

Multiple countries banned intercountry adoptions from Cambodia throughout the 2000s following widespread evidence of illegal and unethical practices. These included Cambodian authorities and orphanage staff falsifying documents to declare some children orphaned or abandoned, often altering their names and birthdates. Children were then adopted abroad without their parents’ knowledge or informed consent. As a result, Cambodia itself suspended intercountry adoptions in 2009.