LIBRARY

8 March 2025

We, a group of civil society organizations including organizations, associations, independent trade union confederations, and federations, youth networks, local communities and citizens working in various sectors as listed below, have come together to celebrate the 114th Anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8 under the Theme: “Empowering Women and Girls for Equality, Economic Stability and Social Justice.”

On this occasion, we call on the Royal Government of Cambodia and/or relevant ministries, employers and brands to take concrete, effective and urgent measures to eliminate gender-based violence and harassment, address wage theft in the garment supply chain, and ensure stronger economic and social protection for women workers. According to the report "Stitched Under Strain", 91 percent of garment workers are in debt, with 70 percent of workers experiencing increased debt since the COVID-19 pandemic. Women workers are forced to borrow at high interest rates, which has pushed them deeper into debt. Furthermore, brands and suppliers have not paid wages and benefits owed to garment workers from during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving thousands of workers’ families in debt and struggling to make ends meet.

4 February 2025

The Cambodian government’s decision to deny British journalist Gerald Flynn re-entry to Cambodia and ban him from the country is a blatant attack on journalism and serves as yet another example of the Cambodian authorities’ intolerance of critical and investigative journalism. We condemn this arbitrary decision and call for authorities to immediately facilitate his return to Cambodia so he can continue his work.

Flynn, an investigative and environmental reporter who has worked for local and foreign publications in Cambodia for years, was denied re-entry at the Siem Reap International Airport on January 5, 2025. Flynn, who is the president of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia (OPCC), was returning from a holiday in Thailand.

28 January 2025

Statement on the ending of the Dutch National Contact Point mediation process from The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), Equitable Cambodia and FIAN Germany:

The mediation process that followed a specific instance filed to the Dutch National Contact Point (NCP) in December 2022 regarding harmful human rights abuses in Cambodia's microfinance sector has ended on Friday without an agreement between the NGOs and Oikocredit.

We regret that mediation did not result in timely remedy and tangible relief for Cambodian borrowers. They desperately need and deserve a functioning grievance mechanism and financial compensation from international investors, who continue to profit as borrowers continue to suffer.

10 December 2024

We, the undersigned civil society groups, are outraged by the murder of Chhoeung Chheng, a journalist working with Kampuchea Aphiwat news website and has previously reported on deforestation, who was fatally shot in Siem Reap province.

Chheng, 63, was shot in the abdomen by an assailant on December 4 as he was travelling through Chi Kraeng district in Siem Reap province. He was first taken to a commune health center and later transferred to the provincial hospital where he underwent surgery on December 5. Sadly, Chheng succumbed to his injuries during the night of December 7. Authorities have released a statement announcing that they have apprehended a suspect who has reportedly confessed to shooting Chheng over a personal conflict.

9 December 2024

The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) and Korean Transnational Corporations Watch (KTNC Watch) today filed a complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights and four other Human Rights Council Special Procedures mandate holders detailing predatory practices and gross human rights violations in Cambodia’s microfinance sector.

The submission calls on the mandate holders to examine Cambodia’s over-indebtedness crisis and issue communications to relevant national and international business enterprises, investors, governments and institutions. These communications can play a role in alleviating the worst impacts of this crisis for Cambodia’s most vulnerable borrowers by calling on relevant actors to bring the sector in-line with international human rights standards including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).

26 November 2024

We, a group of civil society organizations, including associations, unions and non-governmental organizations working to promote labor rights, women's rights and gender equality in Cambodia, are launching a celebration of this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (the “16 Days Campaign”) under the theme “Empowering Rights of Women and Girls to Be Free from All Forms of Violence and Harassment.”

25 November 2024

The new webpage offers support as we stand united to end violence against women and children.

Everyone has the right to live free from domestic and sexual violence. The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) is today launching a new webpage offering essential resources to help individuals who are facing such violence seek safety and justice.

The Safety & Justice webpage, launched on the first day of this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, provides access to resources like leaflets, audio materials, videos, relevant laws, and service-providers’ contact details to help people navigate their situations. Whether you have experienced violence yourself, are supporting someone else, or simply want to learn more, these resources are here to assist.

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.