A Child Living in Prison has Died: LICADHO Calls for Urgent Action
Published on 18 February 2020
A five-month-old baby incarcerated with her mother in Correctional Centre 2 prison died on Sunday, 26 January, at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh. This tragic death once again illustrates the urgent need for authorities to prioritise bail for mothers with children.
The mother of the child who died was sent to pre-trial detention in mid-2019 after authorities alleged she possessed a sachet of methamphetamine worth just 10,000 riel, or $2.50. The woman was not provided a lawyer and was unaware of her right to apply for bail. She was eight months pregnant when she was sent to prison.
We call on authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that this never happens again.
The death
On 18 January, five-month-old Tevy – whose name has been changed to hide her identity – sustained an injury that caused a thighbone fracture. It is still unclear how she was injured. Medical staff at CC2 examined her and transferred her and her mother to the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, which has previously treated detainees from the prison. Hospital staff conducted an x-ray and found that the child had a fractured thighbone.
They transferred Tevy and her mother to the National Children’s Hospital, stating that they did not have the expertise to treat a patient so young. The National Children’s Hospital then treated the child and sent her back to CC2, despite prison staff asking if Tevy and her mother could stay overnight for observation. Hospital staff refused, reportedly saying there was no room for them.
During the next week, the mother noticed that her baby had a fever and would not stop coughing. Prison staff brought them back to the National Children’s Hospital. The doctor saw them only briefly before setting a follow-up appointment for three weeks’ time. The mother told the doctor that she had run out of the medicine that had been initially prescribed for Tevy, but the doctor did not give her any more medicine. It is not clear what the child had been prescribed.
By 25 January, Tevy was struggling to breathe. The mother noticed that her baby was starting to lose consciousness and told the guard immediately. Medical staff at CC2 put her child on an intravenous drip and transferred her to the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, where they cleared and then x-rayed her lungs. They were both allowed to stay overnight at the hospital.
An autopsy showed that Tevy had died from pneumonia and severe malnutrition.
On the morning of 26 January, the child was fighting to breathe. She was transferred to the emergency room where a doctor tried to remove mucus from her lungs and performed CPR but she remained unconscious. The child was then placed in an incubator and given oxygen.
Thirty minutes later, she died.
An autopsy showed that Tevy had died from pneumonia and severe malnutrition.
Growing up behind bars
There are currently 103 children and 43 pregnant women incarcerated in the 18 prisons monitored by LICADHO, and this number has increased dramatically since 1 January, 2017. CC2, the only prison in Cambodia built to hold women and children, has an official capacity of 350 inmates. It currently holds 1,850 detainees.
In February 2015, Prime Minister Hun Sen called for a committee to provide amnesties to pregnant women and mothers imprisoned with their young children. The Prime Minister also announced that this should be seen as a first step to ensure that no more children grow up in Cambodian prisons.
On 18 February, 2019, Prime Minister Hun Sen again gave a speech urging the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Women’s Affairs to review the situation of women detainees in pre-trial detention. He spoke at length about the harsh life that women face in prison.
This week, the prime minister again called for immediate action to speed up the trials of women in pre-trial detention, even offering to rent out hotels for trial hearings if there weren’t enough courtrooms available.
LICADHO agrees with Prime Minister Hun Sen that children and pregnant women do not belong behind bars. We believe that babies and young children should always be with their mothers, but we do not believe that prison is a safe or healthy environment for them to grow up in. Since 1 January, 2017, when the “war on drugs” was declared, the numbers of children and pregnant women in prisons has sharply increased.
LICADHO recommends the following:
▪ Everyone who is eligible should be asked if they wish to apply for bail, especially in cases of vulnerable populations such as women with babies and juvenile detainees.
▪ Prioritise the bail hearings of cases of vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women and mothers with young children, so that they do not stay in pre-trial detention for lengthy and undetermined periods of time.
▪ Ensure that pre-trial detention is used appropriately and as a last resort, in accordance with the presumption of innocence and with proper consideration of vulnerable populations.
▪ Ensure that every charged person has access to adequate legal representation, is correctly informed of the charges against them and is aware of the procedures bail application, especially in cases of vulnerable populations such as juvenile detainees, pregnant women and mothers with young children.
▪ Publish guidelines on how legal and judicial authorities should handle cases involving mothers and pregnant women to ensure that they are not incarcerated at such high rates in the future.
▪ Mothers and pregnant women who are convicted of misdemeanours be given suspended sentences.
LICADHO also calls on the government to conduct a full investigation into the child’s death and recommends that appropriate authorities establish clear guidelines regarding procedures for taking children and pregnant women to hospitals. This should include taking children directly to the National Children’s Hospital and allowing them to stay in hospital with their mothers for a minimum of 24 hours.
We hope that all pregnant women and mothers in prison with their children, currently serving pre-trial detention, be granted bail or have their trials completed before International Women’s Day on 8 March, 2020.
This statement has been updated to more accurately describe the increase in the number of women and children in prison.
For more information, please contact:
▪ Am Sam Ath, LICADHO Monitoring Deputy Director. Signal: +85510327770 (Khmer)
▪ Naly Pilorge, LICADHO Director. Signal: +85512214454 (English)
PDF: Download full statement in English - Download full statement in Khmer
MP3: Listen to audio version in Khmer
