Latest Press Releases

September 1, 2010 - In June 2009, Khmer Machas Srok newspaper editor-in-chief Hang Chakra was accused of creating political instability and charged with disinformation after publishing articles about alleged corruption in the government. At a preliminary hearing, the court pressured Chakra to reveal his sources inside the government. He refused, explaining that the Press Law of 1995 guaranteed the protection of his sources.

“You are the court,” he told the judge, “and you have to uphold the law.”

On June 26, Chakra was tried in absentia, convicted and sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of nine million riel (USD$2,250).

The case of Hang Chakra was perhaps the most publicized threat to Cambodia’s human rights defenders (HDRs) in 2008 and 2009. But it was by no means the only one. Chakra’s case was one among 66 serious abuses against HRDs investigated and documented by The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO). These cases are featured in LICADHO’s latest report, “Attacks & Threats Against Human Rights Defenders in Cambodia January 1, 2008- December 31, 2009,” which will be released on September 1, 2010.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)

September 1, 2010 - The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) condemns the conviction on disinformation charges of LICADHO employee Mr. Leang Sokchouen. This politically-motivated decision has no basis in fact or law, and underscores the dire state of Cambodia’s judiciary. The disproportionate two-year prison sentence also sends a disturbing message to members of Cambodian civil society.

Sokchouen was accused of distributing anti-government fliers in Takeo Province on January 4, 2010. Sokchouen was a longtime acquaintance of co-defendant Tach Khong Phoung, but consistently testified that he had no knowledge on the flier incident. The so-called evidence provided by the police against Sokchouen consisted of a simple list of phone numbers claiming Sokchouen and Tach Khong Phoung had called each other.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)

August 8, 2010 - The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) strongly condemns the violent dispersal and forced removal of about fourty-five villagers from Phnom Penh by the municipal and district police, and security guards. The villagers had peacefully assembled at a distance of a hundred meters from Prime Minister Hun Sen’s villa in central Phnom Penh earlier this morning.

The group of villagers, composed of men, women, and children, including babies, had reached the capital either one or two days earlier. The trip was organized to raise awareness about a longstanding land dispute between the villagers and local authorities, including members of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. This dispute involves over 400 families in the Doun Ba commune, Koas Krolar district, in Battambang.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)

We, the undersigned organizations, would like to salute the courage and determination of union members from the Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC) and Cambodian National Confederation (CNC) who took part in a peaceful rally in front of the National Assembly on the morning of July 25, 2010, despite initial restrictions by Phnom Penh authorities. Between 3,500 and 4,500 union members gathered to demand a minimum wage increase that would meet minimum standards of living. We also welcome the late change of mind by the Phnom Penh police this morning to tolerate this peaceful assembly of workers.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)

June 12, 2010 - “When I was putting the soil into the mixing machine, the soil was stuck, so I tried to push it in, suddenly the machine caught my arm inside. After the incident, I returned to hometown to live with my single father and three younger brothers. I need to look after all of them because my father is mentally weak. I am so hopeless and my dreams are also destroyed, as I am disabled and uneducated. I don’t know what I can do besides tending cows every day. I left school when I was in grade 1 before I went to work in the brick factory.”

A 16-year-old boy who lost his left arm while he was working in a brick factory.

LICADHO and World Vision Cambodia will mark World Day Against Child Labour on June 12, 2010, by organizing a street march and local concert in Sangke District, Battambang. The event aims to sensitize the public on the issues of child labour, particularly on child labour in brick factories. The event will take place between 3 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)

June 1, 2010 - To mark International Children’s Day this year, LICADHO is promoting the theme of “A community without child trafficking” in Kien Svay district, Kandal province, to promote children’s rights as well as raise awareness of child trafficking and the worst forms of child labor. The program will run from 7.30 am until 11am and will provide children with an opportunity to participate in singing, games, quizzes and awards. Secondary school students, community workers, local and vulnerable children, and the general public are encouraged to attend. Guests at the event include the Kien Svay district deputy-governor, Korky commune chief and LICADHO’s President, Dr. Pung Chhiv Kek.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)

March 25, 2010 - We, the undersigned civil society organizations, condemn the Kompong Speu Provincial Court’s decision yesterday to arrest and detain two community representatives involved in the ongoing Omlaing Commune land dispute. The bogus charges against the two community representatives constitute yet another instance of Cambodia’s rich and powerful using the judicial system as a tool of enrichment and weapon of intimidation. We also condemn the response of mixed police forces to the villagers who came to the provincial court to show their support.

Omlaing Commune Council member You Thou and community leader Khem Vuthy were arrested on charges that they incited villagers to burn two temporary shelters used by construction workers belonging to Ly Yong Phat’s Phnom Penh Sugar Company. The two representatives also stand accused of colluding to set the structures on fire.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)

March 11, 2010 - Although the Coalition of Cambodian Civil Society Organizations (hereafter “the Coalition”),comprised of more than 200 local NGOs and Associations, only received a copy of the current Draft of the Anti-Corruption Law “hereafter “the Draft” at the last minute, the Coalition have made a concerted effort to provide several key comments on the Draft in its previous joint statement issued on March 09, 2010 on the eve of the National Assembly Session convened to debate the Law.

The joint and several efforts of the Coalition are aimed at ensuring that the proposed law is good and that it is able to adequately serve Cambodian society and the people well into the new decade through various radio talk shows, press conferences, and the submission of a letter attached to our previous joint statement, requested that the parliamentary debate and adoption of the draft law be deferred until a later date to allow for more time and scope for public input into the discussion now before the National Assembly.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)

March 5, 2010 - We the named organisations, express our deepest concern at the prevention by Dangkar district police of a demonstration by villagers against the alleged seizure of their farmland, the arrest and reported blackmail of villagers who attempted to take part in the demonstration and the deletion of photographs taken by human rights monitors from the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Organisation (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO).

The attempted demonstration in question was set against the all too familiar backdrop of a land dispute. On 1 March 2010, villagers from Proka Village in Dangkor District who are involved in a land dispute with In Samon, the deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior, attempted to hold a demonstration outside the home of Prime Minister Hun Sen in Takhmao.

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January 27, 2010 - The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) calls for an immediate end to the illegal land-clearing and military violence against families in Preah Sihanouk's Prey Nob district. The disputed land is claimed by Chinese-owned Yi Chea Company, a resort company which has enlisted the help of the Cambodian military's Brigade 31 to forcibly clear the land.

The dispute began in early 2009, when Yi Chea Company started clearing a 3,300-hectare land concession within Ream National Park given by the government. But the concession overlapped with the land of 116 families from Ream and Thma Thom villages.

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December 9, 2009 - More than 10,000 Cambodians from communities around the country, including trade unionists,students, farmers, fishermen, musicians, youths, tuk tuk drivers, motorcycle drivers and NGO workers, will celebrate International Human Rights Day (IHRD) in their communities this year.

These celebrations are tied together with the common theme “We All Need Freedom of Expression and Justice!” and a common symbol - the blue Kramar to represent the important role of human rights defenders in Cambodia.

The community initiatives will mark the achievements made in human rights in Cambodia, but also focus on critical issues still facing the country’s citizens - including exploitation of land and natural resources; restrictions to the freedoms of expression, association and assembly; and violations of labor rights.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)

December 2, 2009 - The first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Cambodia was conducted by the UN Human Rights Council in its Working Group session held on Tuesday 1 December 2009 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The UPR is a new mechanism that allows a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN member States once every four years. During the 3-hour proceedings of yesterday, the Cambodian delegation led by Mr. Ith Rady, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice together with Ambassador Sun Suon of the Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the UN in Geneva, presented the achievements and developments with regard to the human rights situation in the country, extensively focusing on its poverty reduction strategies and plans in particular. The Cambodian delegation, however, attempted much to emphasise ‘its own historical and socioeconomic context’ as a least developed country in a post-conflict setting, rather than recognising the reality of its human rights challenges in a frank and substantive manner.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)

November 16, 2009 - We, the undersigned members of Cambodian civil society, condemn the lifting of parliamentary immunity from Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) President Sam Rainsy by the National Assembly on November 16, 2009. The Assembly's action is yet another blow to Cambodia's faltering democracy, and continues the government's disturbing trend of using the courts to intimidate and weaken political opponents.

Rainsy is the third SRP member to be stripped of parliamentary immunity - the second time this year only - in the past five months. Fellow SRP Parliamentarians Mu Sochua and Ho Vann were stripped of their immunity by the National Assembly on June 22, 2009. The latter was acquitted by the Phnom Penh court on September 22, 2009; yet, the National Assembly has failed to restore his parliamentary immunity back.

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September 2, 2009 - The Cambodian League for Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) and the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) jointly condemn the decision by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to acquit former National Military Police Deputy Chief of Staff General Chea Ratha and her accomplices accused of an acid attack on Ya Soknim. The August 31 verdict, issued by judges Sin Visal, Din Sivuthy and Sem Sakola came after several inexplicable delays in the case over the past months.

Human rights activists believe the attack on Ya Soknim, that left her severely mutilated, was an act of revenge against her and her niece, the TV celebrity In Solyda, who has been estranged from Chea Ratha since early 2008.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)

August 4, 2009 - LICADHO condemns this morning's court verdict convicting opposition MP Mu Sochua of defamation and ordering her to pay a total of 16.5 million riel (US$4100) in fines and compensation.

"This verdict is a significant blow to freedom of expression and will have serious ramifications on the ability of National Assembly members to publicly speak their minds," said LICADHO director Naly Pilorge. "It is yet another example of the perilous state of democratic freedoms in Cambodia."

Mu Sochua, a Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) MP for Kampot province, was convicted by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen and ordered to pay 8.5 million riel in fines and 8 million riel in compensation to Hun Sen. Mu Sochua was tried on July 24 but the verdict was delayed until today.

The Prime Minister filed a defamation lawsuit against Mu Sochua in response to her attempting to sue him for defamation for comments he made during a public speech in April. The court threw out Mu Sochua's lawsuit against the Prime Minister but proceeded with his counter-suit against her.

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មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF;Khmer)