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Statement | Keep Media Free: Unrestricted Access to Social Media
7 August 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
We, the undersigned civil society groups, urge Metfone, an Internet service provider (ISP) registered and operating in Cambodia, to issue a full explanation of today’s temporary blocking of Facebook, as well as the ongoing unavailability of the Ki-Media website.
Earlier this morning, at about 9 AM, Metfone users began to report that they were denied access to Facebook. The outage lasted for more than three hours.
Statement | Child Labor on Sugar Plantations in Cambodia is Well Documented
23 July 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The Guardian newspaper recently ran a damning expose of child labor on the KSL Group sugar plantations in Cambodia that supply the sugar giant Tate & Lyle Sugars. Rather than acting quickly to address the abuses, the companies seem to have resorted to a strategy of denial and legal bullying in an attempt to defend their tarnished reputations.
Document | We All Need Voices and Choices: Dear Parliamentary Candidates
7 July 2013
We, the staff and members of the civil society groups listed, and our partners, families and friends, who are registered voters throughout Cambodia, will only consider voting for members of parliament of all political parties that keep the media free at all times.
Statement | Continued Violence Intensifies the Need for Resolution to Ongoing Land Conflicts in Phnom Penh
3 July 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
In the wake of another two days of protests by members of the Boeung Kak community in Phnom Penh, who are demanding just resolution to a long-standing land conflict affecting their community before the national election on 28 July, we the undersigned non-governmental organizations (NGOs) wish to condemn the use of disproportionate force against protesters by the municipal police and other security forces. These protests are just the latest in a series of protests which have resulted in the use of violence or disproportionate force against protesters calling for an end to land disputes.
Statement | We All Need Voices and Choices: Civil Society Urges Government to Keep Media Free
1 July 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
We, the undersigned civil society organizations, welcome the government’s decision to rescind shocking measures issued last week to censor Cambodia’s local news media in the final weeks before the July 28 National Assembly elections, and condemn the decision ever to implement such measures. We remain deeply concerned about an order to ban foreign news reporting of election polling which will come into force five days before the vote.
We condemn this ban in the strongest possible terms and urge the government to remove all restrictions on the news media during this critical pre-election period. We also call for the government to guarantee that it will not repeat its attempts to censor the airwaves or any other media, including social media on the internet.
Flash Info | Government Censors Local Media in Lead-Up to Cambodian Elections
28 June 2013
The government has imposed shocking and expansive measures to censor Cambodia’s local news media ahead of July 28 elections, banning FM radio stations from rebroadcasting “foreignbased programs” in Khmer and from reporting on foreigners who are campaigning “to support or oppose” political parties or candidates.
The ban will stay in place through the July 28 National Assembly election day.
Statement | Ex-Governor’s Slap on Wrist for Shooting a Stark Contrast to Harsh Penalties for Human Rights Defenders
25 June 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
Cambodian Community Legal Education Center (CLEC) and Cambodian League for the Promotion & Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) welcome the conviction of former Bavet governor Chhouk Bandith for shooting three garment workers last year, but condemn the light sentence – one-and-a-half years in prison – for actions that amounted an attempted triple-homicide.
The sentence is little more than a slap on the wrist, and is emblematic of Cambodia’s pervasive culture of impunity for the well-connected elite.
Flash Info | Land Activist Bopha Files Appeal at Supreme Court
18 June 2013
Imprisoned Boeung Kak Lake land activist Yorm Bopha filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on June 17, 2013, in a bid to overturn or reduce her two-year prison sentence. She was convicted for her alleged involvement in a physical assault, but it is widely believed that the charges came in retaliation for her land rights activism.
Bopha was arrested in September 2012 and convicted of “intentional violence” in December; she was originally sentenced to three years imprisonment. The Court of Appeal suspended one year of her sentence on Friday, June 14, meaning she is scheduled for release in September 2014. Both Bopha’s original trial and her appeal were characterized by a stunning lack of evidence
Statement | Cambodia’s Legislature Dismantled on the Eve of the National Elections
10 June 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
Cambodia’s National Assembly – its key legislative organ – has been thrust into a Constitutional crisis less than two months before the country’s national elections. Last week, the National Assembly’s Permanent Committee, which is comprised entirely of ruling Cambodia People’s Party members, stripped all 29 opposition party members of their parliamentary status. Because this expulsion took place within 6 months of a national election, the seats left empty by the purged parliamentarians were effectively terminated and will remain so under until after the election.
Media Album | Anti Opposition Leader Gathering in Cambodia's Capital
10 June 2013
On the morning of June 9, 2013, a series of well-organized protests occurred throughout Cambodia, at which participants denounced an alleged speech given by opposition party leader Kem Sokha. The Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader allegedly claimed that Khmer Rouge S-21 prison was faked by the Vietnamese. These gatherings followed weeks of relentless attacks on Kem Sokha by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) – mostly coming via CPP-dominated TV stations. Kem Sokha denies the accusation.
Flash Info | Bopha appeal hearing begins; to be continued on June 14
5 June 2013
The appeal hearing of imprisoned Boeung Kak community member Yorm Bopha began today at approximately 2:45 p.m. in Phnom Penh, with hundreds of supporters gathering outside the court’s gates. An additional 30 to 40 members of a pro-government motodop association organized a counter-protest calling for Bopha to remain in prison. The counterprotest itself was not that vocal, but the group used piped-in crowd noise, channeled through a megaphone, in an attempt to drown out the chants of Bopha’s supporters. At least one of the motodop group told a human rights monitor he was paid 30,000 riels to protest.
Inside the court, approximately 40 people from local and international NGOs, foreign embassies, the United Nations, and media observed the hearing. Bopha and her husband both testified.
After three hours, the hearing was adjourned, to be continued on June 14 at 2 p.m.
Statement | Cambodian NGOs allege serious abuses linked to Thai sugar giant, Mitr Phol Sugar Corporation
31 May 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
Two Cambodian NGOs, LICADHO and Equitable Cambodia filed a petition on behalf of 602 complainants about serious human rights violations linked to large sugar concessions held by Thai sugar giant, Mitr Phol Sugar Corporation.
Video | Water Cannons Used against Peaceful Land Protesters in Cambodia's Capital
30 May 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
This morning near Phnom Penh city hall, authorities called in three fire trucks, which used high-pressure water from their hoses to disperse peaceful protesters from the Boeung Kak, Borei Keila and airport communities. Firefighters also targeted some community members who came to rescue colleagues who had fallen down due to the impact of the water. This video was taken at the scene.
Statement | LICADHO to Mark International Children’s Day with Prison Food Distributions
30 May 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
LICADHO and its partner NGOs will mark International Children’s Day today by distributing food and materials to children and pregnant women in 14 of Cambodia’s prisons. The children of prison guards, who often live on or near prison grounds, will also receive gifts.
Briefing Paper | In Absentia 2013: An Update on Inmate Transportation and the Right to Appeal
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.
Video | Free Boeung Kak Activist Yorm Bopha
22 May 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
This year's Mothers Day coincided with the 250th day of imprisonment Yorm Bopha, a key Boeung Kak lake representative. The video highlight some of her activism and call for her release.
Flash Info | Trial of Former Bavet Governor Chhouk Bandith Delayed
21 May 2013
Earlier today, former Bavet Governor Chhouk Bandith - accused of shooting three female factory workers during a factory strike last year - failed to appear to his trial in Svay Rieng province. Following a request by his lawyer, the Svay Rieng court agreed to delay the trial to June 12 in order to "respect the rights of the accused" and insure his presence at the trial. About 60 representatives from unions, NGOs and the united nations were present during today's proceedings.
Bandith has admitted to firing his gun, and a police witness saw him pointing the gun at the crowd. Despite this, Bandith remains a free man.
The new court date is June 12 at 8 a.m., also in Svay Rieng.
Document | Open Letter to Heads of Corporate Social Responsibility of Puma and Others
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.
Media Album | Simultaneous Gatherings in Seoul and Phnom Penh Calling for the Release of Yorm Bopha
8 May 2013
On the morning of May 8, 2013, Boeung Kak community activists gathered in front of the South Korean Embassy in Phnom Penh to call for the release of Boeung Kak activist Yorm Bopha, declared Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International earlier this year. The action was in solidarity with a similar gathering in front of the Cambodian Embassy in Seoul, where South Korean activists were joined by a visiting Boeung Kak community member. The simultaneous gatherings in the two countries each culminated in the supporters submitting letters calling for the release of Yorm Bopha to Embassy officials.
Statement | The Boeung Kak Concession should be a Solution for All Remaining Residents
2 May 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The Boeung Kak community and the undersigned civil society groups call for the inclusion of all remaining families into the 12.44ha concession area by the former lake. A new plan unveiled today by the community shows in detail how this could be achieved in a just and equitable fashion.
On August 11, 2011, Prime Minister Hun Sen signed Sub-Decree No. 183, awarding 12.44ha of the Boeung Kak lake area to the community, which since 2007 has been involved in a land dispute with Shukaku Inc., owned by CPP Senator Lao Meng Khin. Since then, 631 families have received titles for their land. However, over 70 families, whose homes are not located within the confines of the concession zone as outlined in the Sub-Decree, have been excluded.