LIBRARY

1 March 2010

* Human Rights Defenders Acquitted of Disinformation * Cambodian Government Formalizes Private Sector Patronage System of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF)

23 February 2010

Since December 24, 2009, LICADHO has been assisting a group of 24 Khmer Krom people after they were deported from Thailand as illegal immigrants. The Khmer Krom are an indigenous ethnic minority living mostly in southern Vietnam and Cambodia in the Mekong Delta area.

The group, which includes seven women and nine children, travelled to Thailand from Vietnam in 2008 in order to seek asylum after they were threatened with imprisonment if they did not stop protesting the confiscation of their land by the government of Vietnam. The farmland in question is located in Svay Torng and Tin Bieng district, Maot Chhrouk Province. The group claim that the Vietnamese authorities deleted their names from a residential list, confiscated their farmland and issued arrest warrants.

5 February 2010

In a touching act of compassion, ten musicians from Switzerland performed in prisons across Cambodia in January, providing a rare diversion and cause for joy among the prisoners. From January 17-30, 2010, the musicians went on a whirlwind tour, performing in 11 prisons throughout the country. The musicians are part of the organization Repris de Justesse which aims to bring music to prisons all over the world. Most of the musicians whom have other jobs and play locally in bars and clubs in Switzerland, paid for their own travel, food, and accommodations.

The objective of the tour was to provide some joy to prisoners who normally have little cause for celebration, and perhaps to alleviate some of the stress and depression that typically accompany prolonged confinement.

1 February 2010

* Human Rights Watch Releases Report on Mistreatment in Cambodian Drug Detention Centers * Opposition Leader Convicted of Racial Incitement * UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Visits Cambodia

29 January 2010

Acid attacks have become an increasingly common form of violence in Cambodia in recent years. This particularly vicious method of attack is generally directed against women, often by their own husbands, or the wives of their lovers, with the most common motive being jealousy or revenge for perceived infidelities. There are, however, countless other motives for such attacks, with male and female perpetrators and victims. The attacks are almost always premeditated, as the perpetrators must take the time to acquire caustic acids. Unfortunately, these chemicals are typically inexpensive and readily available on the open market. Acid is very popular weapon given that it almost invisible to the police and the public.

11 January 2010

The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights ("LICADHO"), has long sought to assist trafficked Cambodian fishermen. The following is a composite story that illustrates some of the hardship and terror that many of those trafficked victims face every day. While the names of certain people and locations have been changed, all of the incidents reflected here did occur, and most of them could be considered typical.

22 December 2009

December 10, 2009, marked the 61st anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. For the fifth year in a row, various NGOs and members of civil society throughout Cambodia celebrated December 10 - International Human Rights Day - by participating in activities and events in 71 separate locations across the country. This year, LICADHO used International Human Rights Day as a platform to focus on incarcerated human rights defenders in Cambodia's prisons. Eighty members of LICADHO staff visited prisoners in Phnom Penh, CC1, CC2, Kampot, Kompong Cham, Kompong Chhnang, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, Takeo, and Kompong Thom provinces.

8 December 2009

The Prey Veng provincial court has found Neak Loeung Secondary School teacher Chin Rithy guilty of defaming the school's principal following a land dispute. The November 11, 2009, decision imposed a fine of 5 million riels (USD$1250) and ordered Chin Rithy to pay 5 million riel in compensation to the principal, Youen Sovuthy.

The defamation charge stemmed from a complaint filed by Chin Rithy to the Provincial Education Department on April 30, 2009, accusing Yoeun Sovuthy of selling school land to fellow teacher Pang Samet. Chin Rithy is director of the Prey Veng Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA), a group which also disputed the land sale.

The 3-hour trial was held on November 5, 2009, and was attended by 15 CITA members, including CITA president, Rong Chhun, and other NGOs supporting Chin Rithy.

27 November 2009

On October 27, 2009, the Siem Reap provincial court convicted Chan Norn and Chang Savoeun of assault and robbery, sentencing the two men to one year imprisonment each and ordering each to pay compensation of 3,000,000 riel (USD$750) to complainants Chey Sovann and Em Sothea. The complaint had stemmed from a long-standing land dispute which turned ugly on March 22, 2009, when police opened fire on a group of protesting villagers, resulting in four villagers being shot. The court acquitted seven other villagers who were facing the same charges.

The trial of the nine villagers, which had been held a week earlier on October 20, 2009, was heavily guarded. Initially 20 military police had been guarding the court; however, after over 120 villagers and supporters came to observe the trial, reinforcements were called in. Shortly after the hearing began at 8am, approximately 150 military police armed with guns, shields and electric batons arrived and surrounded the court compound, ensuring that none of the supporters were able to enter the court and observe the hearing. As the supporters waited outside the court, compound police harassed several villagers, accusing them of forming a demonstration to disturb the hearing and continually demanded that they leave.

19 November 2009

On October 9, 2009, homes belonging to over 100 families from Bos village in Oddar Meanchey's Konkriel commune, were burned and bulldozed down by a contingent of approximately 150 police, military police, and hired demolition workers. The forced eviction was part of a long standing land dispute between the evicted residents and the Angkor Sugar Company. The Company is owned by Ly Yong Phat, a member of the ruling Cambodian People's Party and a State Senator who claims ownership over the disputed land.

Forestry Administration officials and RCAF troops from Battalion 42 set up roadblocks at the entrances to the village barring human rights workers and the media from entering the village to observe the eviction.

14 October 2009

On September 30, 2009, more than 30 villagers fought with military police outside Takeo Provincial Court in an attempt to prevent authorities from detaining a community representative from being arrested on groundless disinformation charges.

After several hours of questioning by Takeo Provincial Court Director and Investigating Judge Tith Sothy, Sib Sen and Ny San were charged with disinformation and wrongful damage of property, which stemmed from a 2008 incident where they had removed a fence built by the mosque leaders to cover village land after declaring that it belonged to the community. No reasons were given by court which subsequently released Sib Sen on bail but arrested and detained Ny San.

29 September 2009

On August 27, 2009, the Phnom Penh municipal court sentenced Toch Ly, a village chief from Kompong Chhnang, to 16 months imprisonment after she was found guilty of forging thumbprints in an ongoing land dispute. She was also ordered to pay a fine of 1 million riel (USD$250) and compensation of 5 million riel (USD$1250) to the private company KDC International. Toch Ly was accused of forging a thumbprinted document in which 77 families denied that they sold their land to KDC International. The company is owned by Chea Kheng, the wife of Suy Sem, the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy. Despite testimony from community members supporting the authenticity of the document, the court ruled that some of thumbprints did not belong to the people named on the document, but were instead made by their relatives.

24 August 2009

On July 24, 2009, 30 protestors were arrested in connection with a land dispute in Kbal Spean Village, Poipet Commune, Poipet City, Banteay Meanchey Province. The day before, 50 armed military and police officers had escorted court prosecutor Tan Sei Hak, investigating judge Ang Meal Tei and court officials to enforce an eviction notice by blockading the area and surrounding the houses. In response, residents barricaded their houses and set fire to car tires in attempt to defend their homes. Police managed to break the dead lock by using water cannons and an excavator to level the houses.

9 July 2009

On June 26, 2009, opposition-affiliated Khmer Machach Srok newspaper director Hang Chakra was convicted in absentia of disinformation, sentenced to one year in prison, and fined 9 million riel (USD $2,250). Hours later, Hang Chakra was arrested in Cambodia's Northeast Battambang province and taken to Prey Sar prison.

30 June 2009

I get up at 5:30 a.m. so I can let the dogs out of the house. Then I clean the dog droppings, wash the dishes, and prepare food for the dogs. At around 8 a.m., I have to leave the house to work at the private school that my employer runs. I also bring clothes which need cleaning with me so I can hand-wash them. After I arrive at the school, I have to go to the market, help with the cooking, and prepare lunch for my employer. Then, I do the washing-up and clean the school building and the clothes. In the afternoon I also have to tend to the bikes of the students who study at the school.

This is the story of a 16-year-old domestic worker and the conditions she works and lives in. Her story is shared by thousands of exploited children across Cambodia.

28 May 2009

Staff of a small environmental watchdog organization, the Cambodian Natural Resource Protection Organization (CNRPO), have come under repeated attack in recent months in a bid to deter them from their work to combat illegal logging in Koh Kong province.

On December 21, 2008, six CNRPO staff who were patrolling for illegal loggers in a small boat were shot at by police officers.

2 April 2009

In November 2008, villagers in Preah Neth Preah commune lost farmland which they had used for 30 years when armed soldiers and tanks occupied the land. What was once peaceful fertile farmland is now home to military tanks, which has frightened and impoverished the local people.

2 March 2009

On 24 January, 2009 hundreds of families were forcibly evicted from Dey Krahorm in the heart of Phnom Penh. In the month following the eviction, residents struggled with the poor living conditions at the Damnak Trayeoung relocation site while others mounted protests to demand proper compensation for their stolen land and destroyed houses. However, for three former Dey Krahrom residents the repercussions of their struggle to save their land now includes criminal convictions.

8 February 2009

In the early morning hours of Saturday January 24, 2009 approximately 500 demolition workers escorted by 300 mixed police in full riot gear surrounded the community of Dey Krahorm. Their mission, to forcibly evict the approximately 400 families that were living on the disputed land in the heart of Phnom Penh.

At 6am the police armed with electric and steel batons, wooden sticks, tear gas, water cannons and guns moved towards the remaining Dey Khrahorm families who had erected barricades and stood defiantly in front of their houses. The police were able to brake through the villagers' lines and disburse them with the use of tear gas, water cannons and rubber projectiles.

18 January 2009

On December 31, 2008, the Supreme Court announced the release on bail of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun after 1799 days of wrongful imprisonment, and ordered the Appeal Court to re-investigate their case. The two men were held at PJ prison for almost five years after being wrongly convicted of the assassination of Chea Vichea, leader of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC). Their provisional release signifies an important step towards the resolution of a case dogged by miscarriages of justice.