Since its establishment in 1992, and in line with its mandate to protect the rights of all Cambodians, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights (LICADHO) has been working to defend and promote the rights of detainees and sentenced prisoners. LICADHO's work in this area includes monitoring the legal status and general conditions of detainees in 18 prisons out of a total of 25 prisons, and conducting advocacy campaigns to reform Cambodia's legal and judicial system, including respect for and strict implementation of existing laws and procedures on pre-trial detention.

LICADHO has found that roughly a third of Cambodia's prisoners are pre-trial detainees, of whom some are incarcerated months or years beyond the statutory limit of six months. Due to challenges to the judicial system, as well as problems with completing investigations within the pre-trial detention period, pre-trial detainees often remain incarcerated months and even years beyond the statutory limit. According to statistics gathered by LICADHO in the 18 prisons it monitors, the number of persons held in pre-trial detention beyond the statutory limit varies however, it has been as high as 225 (September, 2001) and as low as 70 (November, 2003).

As of May 2004, there were 113 persons in excessive pre-trial detention in the 18 prisons monitored by LICADHO. Since 2001, the majority of excessive pre-trial detention cases have been at Banteay Meanchey, CC1 and CC2 prisons. In 2003, a number of cases of excessive pre-trial detention were also found at Takhmao, Kampot, PJ and Sihanoukville prisons. Such excessive pre-trial detention not only violates the rights of detainees but also contributes significantly to prison overcrowding, which has harmful consequences on the health of the inmates.

LICADHO welcomes the action taken by the Committee Strict Laws Enforcement for Human Rights in Cambodia (CSLHRC) to raise the issue of excessive pre-trial detention with the International Criminal Court (ICC). It is essential that this issue be publicized and its effects made known to the public and the Cambodian Government, so that the authorities will resolve the underlying causes of this problem, and provide an adequate remedy for pre-trial detainees who have been imprisoned for a longer time than legislation allows. LICADHO hopes that this issue will also be raised with other existing mechanisms, such as the UN Working Group on Illegal and Arbitrary Detention.

LICADHO again calls on the Cambodian government to ensure respect and implementation of Point 4 of the Cambodian Prison Procedure #34 and Article 21 of the Cambodian Criminal Procedures, which clearly state that detainees should be tried no later than six months after arrest.

LICADHO also would like to take this opportunity to encourage the Cambodian government to further affirm its commitment to the promotion of human rights and the rule of law by addressing this issue through ratification of the first optional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the Royal Government of Cambodia already signed on 27 September 2004.

For more information, please contact:
▪ Dr. Kek Galabru, President of LICADHO at 012 940 645
▪ Mr. Ham Sunrith, Acting Monitoring Coordinator, at 011 951 311

PDF: Download full statement