LIBRARY

30 May 2013

In 2010 and 2012, LICADHO reported on Cambodia’s widespread problem of in absentia appeals hearings. Due to Cambodia’s minimal inmate transportation system, hundreds – if not thousands – of prisoners were being systematically refused the right to attend their criminal appeals. Cambodian law requires the presence of the accused at appeal hearings. After years of delays, prison authorities have finally begun transporting provincial prisoners to their appeals hearings in Phnom Penh, but the failure to offer return transport is threatening to undermine progress.

20 May 2013

We write to you to demand justice for Cambodian garment workers Ms. Bun Chenda, Ms. Keo Nea and Ms. Nuth Sakhorn.

On 20 February 2012, an unidentified male approached a group of around 6,000 workers in Manhattan Special Economic Zone (MSEZ). They were protesting the poverty wages and exploitation that epitomize the Cambodian garment industry. That man shot three young women aged 18 to 23 for requesting a pay increase of 50 cents per day. During the shooting the police did not assist the victims. It was fellow workers who aided them onto motorbikes to be taken to the hospital. Police officers aided the shooter’s escape by running alongside him to a neighbouring factory.

We watched as one of those young women, Ms. Bun Chenda, 21, struggled for her life at Calmette Hospital whilst money was thrown at her to buy her silence.

Signed by 43 NGOs from around the world.

23 April 2013

There has been some recent confusion surrounding the criminal case against Boeung Kak community activist Yorm Bopha. The muddling of the facts causing this confusion has been no accident – it reflects an intentional campaign by the authorities, complete with plausible allegations of payments to counter-protestors and even a disturbing weighing-in by the Prime Minister himself. In reality the facts underlying Bopha’s unwarranted conviction are simple, and reveal beyond any doubt that the authorities have targeted her to create fear and self-censorship among the remaining active members of the beleaguered Boeung Kak community.

18 February 2013

The human rights situation in Cambodia began 2012 teetering on the edge of a precipice, and by the end of the year had fallen off the cliff, according to a new report from LICADHO.

The past year was the most violent year ever documented in terms of the authorities using lethal force against activists, according to the report, “Human Rights 2012: The Year in Review.” The year also saw four deaths related to conflicts over natural resources, a growing atmosphere of fear and intimidation and the mass arrests of activists.

20 December 2012

In early September 2012, 64-year-old Tim Sakmony was called to see tycoon Suy Sophan. Suy Sophan is the owner of Phanimex, the company responsible for forc-ibly evicting Tim Sakmony’s family from their home in Borei Keila and destroying all their belongings.

Suy Sophan had an offer for Tim Sakmony’s son: $1,000 in compensation and a small house at Toul Sambo relocation site, 25 km from Phnom Penh. He refused the offer. A few days later Tim Sakmony was arrested.

20 December 2012

Yorm Bopha has lost count of the number of times she has been threatened by authorities because of her involvement with the Boeung Kak Lake (BKL) campaign.

As a representative of the BKL community, 29-year-old mother Yorm Bopha is an outspoken land rights activist, and a central figure in her community’s long-running campaign against forced eviction. She can-not remember how many times she has been beaten during protests but she clearly remembers being shocked twice by electric stun batons whilst protest-ing peacefully.

9 December 2012

The climate for human rights defenders (HRDs) in Cambodia has soured dramatically since LICADHO's last HRD report in 2009, creating the country's worst human rights environment in more than a decade. Violence against activists is on the rise, key HRDs have been killed with impunity, and the courts have lost even the faintest semblance of impartiality.

The year 2012 has been particularly bad.

30 August 2012

On July 15, 2012, independent Beehive Radio station owner and director Mam Sonando was arrested on suspicion of leading an "insurrectionary movement" in Kratie province. A trial is scheduled for Sept. 11. He faces up to 30 years in prison if he is convicted of all charges.

This paper is summarizes the case and concludes that the charges against Sonando are unjustified and an attempt to suppress free speech. In the continuing absence of credible evidence, Sonando should be released immediately, and the charges against him should be dropped unconditionally.

23 July 2012

Late last year, the Cambodian government quietly released a draft Law on the Management and Use of Agricultural Land that would have serious implications for private landholders. The draft law as currently written could be used as legal cover for land-grabbing and for those who wish to exploit and personally profit from Cambodia's land and resources. Most alarmingly, the law creates felony criminal liability for any actions that violate the law's far reaching provisions. The following aspects of the draft law require immediate scrutiny and substantial revisions.

8 July 2012

Two years after LICADHO first warned that Cambodia's prison population was spiraling out of control, growth has finally slowed - but prisons remain at more than 170% of capacity and the underlying causes of the crisis remain unaddressed.

LICADHO's third annual report on prison overcrowding and criminal justice reform updates an array of statistics on the prison population and reexamines recommendations that were made in previous reports from 2010 and 2011.

The report also details some of the underlying factors driving the overcrowding crisis. Most notably, LICADHO research shows that the number of inmates incarcerated for drug of offenses increased by a whopping 163% in 2011. And in 13 prisons surveyed by LICADHO, the total has nearly quadrupled since 2008.

18 June 2012

In May 2012, 15 activists from the Boeung Kak Lake community in Phnom Penh were arrested in relation to a land dispute that displaced thousands of families. Thirteen of them have been convicted and are now serving prison terms; the remaining two were released from pretrial detention on June 15 but still face charges. This document features photographs and biographies of each of the 15 activists.

9 May 2012

In December 2011, Cambodia enacted a new Law on Prisons, which now serves as the Kingdom's primary legal authority on the prison system.

LICADHO and others urged the National Assembly to amend Article 71, a provision in the law which permitted private firms to employ prisoners as employees, but it was ultimately passed without changes.

Three months after the passage of the law, the Royal Government of Cambodia has taken a modest step toward correcting the flaws in Article 71 of the prison law. On March 19, 2012, the government issued an "Inter-ministerial Prakas on the Prohibition of Using Prison Labor for Producing Export Goods."

23 April 2012

In 2010, LICADHO reported on an epidemic of in absentia criminal appeals trials in Cambodia. Hundreds of inmates were stranded in provincial prisons, unable to attend their hearings in Phnom Penh due to lack of transportation funding, poor organization between the prisons and courts and, more generally, an indifference to their plight. Two years later, the problem remains unaddressed.

As of February 2012, nearly 800 inmates with pending appeals were held in 11 provincial prisons surveyed by LICADHO. As was the case in 2010, the General Department of Prisons (GDP) still has no means to transport these prisoners to their appeal hearings in Phnom Penh. The prison system lacks the vehicles, gasoline, staffing and funding necessary for a comprehensive long-distance inmate transportation network. This report examines the scope of the problem and possible solutions

15 December 2011

On Dec. 12, 2011, the Royal Cambodian Government released the fourth draft of its proposed Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (LANGO). The release comes almost exactly one year after the first draft was introduced in mid-December 2010.

The contents of the three earlier drafts provoked extensive criticism from local and international civil society organizations, donor governments, and legal analysts. Twice previously the government has acknowledged these criticisms and promised to come up with a better draft. Twice previously they have failed.

With the fourth draft (Khmer language, English language), they have failed again.

Although the law has shrunk by more than 20 articles and contains some notable improvements, it is also now more confusing than ever. Several key provisions raise more questions than they
answer, both in terms of the law's application and the intent of the government.

The law assures, for example, that domestic associations and non-governmental associations (NGOs) can be "freely established" without prior permission from the government, but then denies unregistered groups the legal status that could be essential to their operations. Is registration truly optional?

26 October 2011

Five Cambodian laws proposed or enacted since 2008 include dangerously vague or oppressive provisions that undermine freedom of expression, according to a new report from LICADHO.

This report analyzes provisions in five laws that improperly restrict - or threaten to restrict - fundamental expressive freedoms: the new Penal Code, the Anti-Corruption Law, the Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO), the Law on Peaceful Assembly (the Demonstrations Law), and the Law on Unions of Enterprises (the Trade Union Law). The report also offers dozens of examples of how the laws have been misapplied and abused in the past year.

19 October 2011

The National Assembly is preparing to vote on the Cambodia's new Law on Prisons, which will serve as the Kingdom's primary legal authority on the prison system . Cambodia's prisons have previously operated without a proper prisons code, though an assortment of prakas, sub-decrees and internal guidelines do exist.

LICADHO has reviewed a draft of the law, and believes that it is a positive step toward imposing stability and uniformity in Cambodia's prison system. However, LICADHO also believes that the law falls short in several key areas. This briefing paper summarizes LICADHO's most serious concerns, and is meant to serve as a guide for the National Assembly as it debates the law this week.

31 August 2011

The newly-enacted Sub-Decree on "the Management of the Sending of Cambodian Workers Abroad through Private Recruitment Agencies" (hereinafter Sub-Decree 190) is a dismal failure from the perspective of migrant worker rights. It not only fails to expand legal protections for Cambodians who migrate overseas to work, it actually marks a regression. When compared to the law it superseded, Sub-Decree 57 of 1997, worker protections have been rolled back in many key areas.

1 August 2011

On July 29, 2011, the government released a third draft of its widely criticized Law on Associations and on-Governmental Organizations (NGO Law), once again claiming that the newest draft addresses the litany of concerns that have been raised by civil society. One needs look no further than the first chapter of the law, however, to discredit the government's reassurances. Registration is still mandatory, meaning Cambodians cannot exercise their fundamental rights of assembly, expression and association without navigating complex registration procedures and securing the blessing of government officials, who would be given absolute power to create or dissolve civil society groups.

The majority of LICADHO's comments in its briefing papers discussing the first and second drafts of the law are still relevant. As with the second draft, the remaining changes in the third draft are almost entirely cosmetic. The third draft does, however, make one significant improvement in that it expressly mentions a right to appeal a denial of registration. This welcome addition is not without its own issues - namely the lack of a timeline and legal standards for assessing an appeal - but it is an important reflection of the impact that advocacy efforts have had to date.

4 July 2011

Cambodia's prison population is in the midst of an unprecedented population boom. Just seven years ago, the 18 prisons monitored by LICADHO were at roughly 100% of their collective capacity. Today, they are filled to roughly 180% of their capacity, making Cambodia's prison system among the 25 most overcrowded in the world.

This report provides an overview of the prison overcrowding crisis - its causes, its effects, and detailed statistics concerning the growing number of prisoners in Cambodia.

Click here to reach additional website supplement to the report.

5 April 2011

The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) is an international organization that provides technical assistance, research, and education to support the development of appropriate laws and regulatory systems for civil society in countries around the world. ICNL has worked on civil society law reform projects in over one hundred countries; in Asia, ICNL has worked in China, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Lao P.D.R., Mongolia and Vietnam. ICNL has worked with the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Volunteers, the Community of Democracies Working Group on Enabling and Protecting Civil Society, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the United States Agency for International Development, New Zealand AID, the Swedish International Development Agency, human rights groups, private foundations, and scores of in-country colleagues.