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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.
Statement | Preparations for the 2013 Cambodian National Election
2 May 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
We, the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) listed below, would like to reiterate our support and appeal for a free, fair and legitimate election that is held with the full confidence of all political parties contesting seats as well as members of the public casting their vote in the 2013 general election.
Media Album | International Labour Day 2013 in Cambodia
1 May 2013
On May 1, 2013, between 6,000 and 7,000 garment workers, union leaders, local communities, motodops, students, NGOs and others gathered in Phnom Penh to mark International Labor Day. The group marched from Freedom Park to the National Assembly in Phnom Penh, calling for living wages, improved working conditions and for justice in the Born Samnang/Sok Sam Oeun and Chhouk Bandith cases. This album contains a selection of photos from the march.
Statement | An Open Letter to International Garment Brands Sourcing from Cambodia
1 May 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
On this International Labor Day, we, the undersigned civil society groups call upon all international garment brands sourcing from Cambodia to publicly denounce two recent baseless judicial decisions related to the garment sector. The first is the recent imprisonment of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun. The two men were scapegoated and wrongly convicted in the 2004 murder of labor leader Chea Vichea. The second is the government’s failure to appropriately prosecute Chhouk Bandith, a well-connected former town governor who shot and severely injured three female garment factory workers.
Briefing | The Yorm Bopha Case
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.
Statement | Denial of Release Pending Appeal Highlights Political Interference in the Cambodian Court System
27 March 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
LICADHO, Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT), Equitable Cambodia (EC), and Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC) express their deep disappointment at the Supreme Court’s failure to release Boeung Kak land rights activist Yorm Bopha on bail. Bopha’s request was heard this morning by the Supreme Court, while some 100 community activists from Boeung Kak and other communities under threat of eviction rallied outside. Bopha’s young son and her husband Lous Sakorn were also among the crowd.
Statement | Appeal Court Orders Release of Mam Sonando, Kan Sovann and Touch Ream
14 March 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
We, the undersigned civil society groups, welcome the Court of Appeal’s long-overdue decision today to release independent radio station owner Mam Sonando and his two co-appellants, Touch Ream and Kan Sovann, but caution that a long road remains to rehabilitate Cambodia’s democracy ahead of National Assembly elections in July.
Video | Police and Security Guards Use Excessive Force to Disperse Peaceful Boeung Kak Protesters
13 March 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
On the morning of March 13, 2013, a group of military police and police officers, accompanied by district security guards, stormed a peaceful protest by the Boeung Kak Lake community. In what turned out to be the most violent crackdown against this community, five citizens were left injured, including broken teeths and bones.
Statement | Police Beat Boeung Kak Protesters, Leaving Five Injured
13 March 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
Authorities’ escalated their ongoing crackdown on the Boeung Kak Lake community today, as police launched a brutal attack on demonstrators who had gathered in a public park outside the Prime Minister’s house.
Three people were detained and five were seriously injured, including Lous Sokorn, the husband of imprisoned Boeung Kak rights activist Yorm Bopha. The demonstrators were calling for the release of Bopha, who has been designated a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International.
Statement | LICADHO highlights alarming increase in female prisoner population to mark International Women’s Day
7 March 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The number of women and girls in Cambodian prisons continues to soar at an alarm-ing rate.
By mid-December 2012 there were 1,270 female inmates in the Cambodian prison system, an increase of 39% since December 2010. Women and girls represent 8% of prisoners in Cambodia but their incarceration rate has been growing four times faster than the male prison population.
Flash Info | Mam Sonando's Appeal Concludes with Request for Change in Charges
6 March 2013
After a full day of testimony and arguments, the Prosecutor began his closing statement today by requesting that secession-related charges against Mam Sonando be changed. According to the Prosecutor, Sonando should be convicted of instigating the crimes of obstruction and interference with local officials, under articles 28, 504 and 609 of the Penal Code. The Prosecutor also asked to add a forestry crime -- the unlawful clearing of forest land -- under article 97.6 of the Forestry Law. The charges against the other two appellants, Touch Ream and Kann Sovann, remained the same. One witness's testimony was, however, abruptly halted when he repeatedly stated that he had mistakenly identified Sovann as being present at an incident that was the basis for the accusations against him. The witness stated that none of the three appellants had been at the incident in question.
The Appeals Court will announce its decision on March 14, 2013 at 8 am.
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Flash Info | Another high profile case reaches Appeals Court; Mam Sonando’s hearing to continue tomorrow
5 March 2013
On the morning of March 5, 2013, the Appeals Court opened a hearing to review the verdict against independent radio owner Mam Sonando and two co-defendants, Touch Ream and Kan Sovann. The court was standing room only for the proceeding, with around 55 people, including numerous international observers, in attendance. The hearing follows the September 2012 trial in Phnom Penh’s lower court which resulted in a widely condemned 20-year-long prison sentence for 72-year-old Sonando. No evidence of Sonando’s involvement in an alleged “secession” in Kratie province was presented during the trial, nor was there any evidence that a secession movement even existed.
The hearing is expected to end tomorrow.
Flash Info | Appeals Court Cements Lesser Charge Against Bandith, Orders Trial
4 March 2013
This afternoon, the Appeals Court's Investigation Chamber charged ex-Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith with causing involuntary bodily harm under article 236 of the Penal Code, and sent the case file back to the Svay Rieng court for trial. The Appeals Court apparently did not consider a more serious accusation than the one originally submitted against Bandith to loud public outcry. This decision follows a two-day long closed hearing in which Bandith admitted to shooting his weapon during the worker's protest that resulted in serious gun shot injuries to three women, but denied knowing where the bullets went. A key witness who testified during the hearing, a commune police deputy chief, said that he believed Bandith was the shooter, as he saw Bandith pointing his handgun at workers seconds after the shooting. No evidence has been reported related to potential alternate shooters.
The Appeals Court did not order pre-trial detention for Bandith. The charge carries a prison sentence of six months to two years.
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Flash Info | Appeals Court Concludes Hearing for Former Bavet Governor; Verdict due March 4
1 March 2013
The appeal hearing for former Bavet city governor Chhouk Bandith, which began on Feb. 27, concluded yesterday after a full day of testimony from witnesses. The hearing was called to determine whether to reopen criminal charges against Bandith for allegedly shooting three protesting garment workers in February 2012. Charges against Bandith were dropped in December.
During the hearing, Bandith reportedly acknowledged firing his gun, while police witnesses reportedly testified that Bandith brandished a gun at the protest and fired shots. One key witness -- a commune deputy police chief -- said that he believed Bandith was the shooter.
The court will announce its decision on March 4.
Flash Info | Appeals Court Hears Case for Reinstating Charges against Former Bavet Governor
27 February 2013
Former Bavet city governor Chhouk Bandith appeared at the Court of Appeals in Phnom Penh today for a hearing examining an investigating judge’s decision in December to drop criminal charges against him.
The former governor was accused of firing his gun during a demonstration by garment workers in February 2012. Three workers -- whose factory supplies Puma, among others -- were injured by gunfire. Bandith actually admitted firing his gun, and was originally charged in the case, but the charges were inexplicably dropped in December.
The hearing was closed to the public, but outside the court, a group of union members, workers and other supporters gathered to call on the court to reinstate the charges.
Media Album | The Yorm Bopha Protests: 176 Days of Solidarity in Cambodia
26 February 2013
Today is Yorm Bopha’s 176th day in Correctional Center 2, a prison on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
Bopha is a human rights defender from the Boeung Kak community who played an active role in the movement calling for the release of the Boeung Kak 13, a group of women who were imprisoned in May 2012 for defending their land rights. The 13 were released on June 27, but Bopha was arrested on Sept. 4, 2012, and accused of beating of a man in Boeung Kak. Though she maintains her innocence, Bopha was convicted on Dec. 26, 2012, and sentenced to three years in prison.
Since Bopha’s arrest, Boeung Kak residents and other supporters have staged approximately a dozen major protests calling for her release. This photo album documents some of these events.
Report | Human Rights 2012, The Year in Review
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.
Article | 2012 in Review: Crackdown on Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Assembly
15 February 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The most shocking attack on freedom of expression in 2012 came in September, when muckraking journalist Hang Serei Oudom was murdered. His battered body, hacked at least six times with an axe, was found in the trunk of his car. Oudom’s work had focused on exposing illegal logging and forest crimes involving the local elite.
Meanwhile, as Cambodia’s ASEAN chairmanship unfolded and the 2012 commune election approached, the government demonstrated increased intolerance for peaceful assembly and expression.
Article | 2012 in Review: The Judiciary, a Useful Weapon to Silence Critics
14 February 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
Authorities continue to resort to the judicial system to silence those who assert their rights or question entrenched interests. Throughout 2012, court summonses and the threat of arrest were increasingly used to intimidate human rights defenders.
Article | 2012 in Review: Use of Force Against Peaceful Protests
13 February 2013![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
As the frequency of land grabs has grown, so has the sense of desperation for Cambodians faced with eviction. The perpetrators of land grabs – from business leaders to police to hired hands who carry out actual evictions – operate with near complete impunity. Recourse to the notoriously corrupt judiciary is not an option. For the average Cambodian, the only avenue that offers the prospect of success is civil disobedience, namely public protest and individual action.
The government has become increasingly aggressive in attempting to shut down this avenue as well, despite the fact the vast majority of citizen protests documented by LICADHO during 2012 have been peaceful. Violence is often the government’s tactic of choice.