LIBRARY

15 November 2012

We, the undersigned civil society organizations, strongly urge the Cambodian authorities to immediately end the ongoing intimidation, threats and harassment of organizers, venue owners and participants involved in civil society events in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh ahead of the 21st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and the 7th East Asia Summit. We strongly urge the Cambodian authorities to respect the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly in accordance with their constitutional and international obligations, in particularly in view of rising concern that it will heighten its crackdown on these fundamental freedoms ahead of the two summits.

22 October 2012

Timber Green employee Ran Boroath was sentenced to two years in prison today for allegedly killing the military police officer that the government claims killed environmental activist Chut Wutty.

Three-quarters of the sentence was suspended, however, and Ran Boroath is due to be released from prison within the next two weeks.

2 October 2012

Venerable Loun Sovath was awarded the 2012 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders on Oct. 2, becoming the first Cambodian ever to win the prestigious honor.

The award, known colloquially as the “Nobel Prize for human rights”, was created in 1993 to honor and protect individuals who demonstrate exceptional courage in defending and promoting human rights. Sovath is the first Buddhist monk and first Southeast Asian to win the award. He was on hand to receive the award during a special ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland.

1 October 2012

We, the undersigned civil society organizations, condemn the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s shocking conviction of independent radio station owner Mam Sonando today, and the draconian 20-year sentence that he received. At age 70, Sonando is likely to die in prison if he serves his full term.

Sonando, the owner of Beehive radio, was arrested on July 12 on charges that he masterminded a so-called “secessionist movement” in Kratie. Several co-defendants were charged with organizing the movement on the ground. They were all convicted as well, though two of the previously identified “ringleaders” had their sentences suspended, echoing the Prime Minister’s public statement that those who confess would be spared punishment.

6 September 2012

In the past three days, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court has ordered the unjustified pre-trial detention of two female land rights advocates in unrelated cases. These two incidents are the latest in a long string of incidents in which the courts have been wielded as a weapon to silence victimized communities.

The two arrested activists have long been struggling to advocate on behalf of powerless residents involved in land disputes with some of Cambodia’s most well-connected and powerful business tycoons.

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.

15 August 2012

We, the undersigned civil society groups, deeply regret the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s decision to pursue politically-motivated charges against outspoken human rights worker Chan Soveth for legitimate actions related to his work.

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.

22 July 2012

This documentary takes a look at the recent campaign to free the 15 imprisoned Boeung Kak lake activists. The fifteen were arrested in late May 2012 during and after a peaceful protest highlighting a long-standing land dispute with Shukaku Inc. company, owned by a Cambodian ruling party senator.

One of the released activists presented this video at the fifth annual Summer Institute in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in Singapore in July 2012.

16 July 2012

The undersigned organizations are deeply disturbed by independent radio station director Mam Sonando's arrest on Sunday, July 15, 2012, and call for his immediate release. Mr. Sonando, who holds both Cambodian and French citizenship, is the owner of Beehive Radio, which is among the few independent radio stations in Cambodia. Sonando is also the founder and president of the Democrat Association.

11 July 2012

Rong Panha of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU) was beaten in front of Wat Botum after a group of 20 CATU workers had marched from Phnom Penh's Freedom Park to a public park nearby the Prime Minister's home to present a petition to his cabinet. The workers are employed by Tai Yang Enterprises, which supplies international clothing giants Levi Strauss, Gap and Old Navy, among others.

11 July 2012

We, the undersigned organizations, condemn the authorities' vicious and unprovoked beating of a union activist today in Phnom Penh, which came after trade union workers peacefully presented a petition to the Prime Minister.

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.

2 July 2012

Outside the Lines, a new report by local urban NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT), proposes a viable and practical solution for the households excluded from the 12.44Ha concession in Boeung Kak. The report shows that the households arbitrarily excluded from the 12.44Ha concession could easily be included in the concession zone, by allowing some households to move inside the area as well as through a small revision of the concession’s boundaries.

We, the undersigned groups, call on the Municipality of Phnom Penh and the Royal Government of Cambodia to heed the community’s calls to physically demarcate the boundaries of the 12.44Ha concession and to enter negotiations with the community to include the excluded households.

27 June 2012

We, the above organizations, welcome the release today of the 13 jailed Boeung Kak (BK) representatives but strongly condemn police violence against BK residents trying to reach the appeal court and regret that the convictions against the 13 were upheld despite the government's failure, again, to present any evidence of the alleged crimes.

21 June 2012

Focusing on the Boeung Kak lake and the Borei Keila cases, this video explores the impact of land grabbing on poor Cambodians and exposes the risks facing housing rights activists. It was shown at the UN Sustainable Development Conference in Rio in June 2012.

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 photo album features photographs and biographies of each of the 15 activists.

31 May 2012

On May 31, the children and grandchildren of "the Boeung Kak 15" - former residents of the Boeung Kak Lake community who have been jailed following a land dispute - gathered outside the Ministry of Justice to sing songs in support of their relatives.

30 May 2012

LICADHO employee Leang Sokchoeun was released from Kandal Provincial Prison yesterday at 11 a.m., after fully serving his two-year sentence on dubious charges.

Leading human rights organizations from around the world - including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture -- condemned Sokchoeun's conviction as fundamentally flawed and a flagrant violation of domestic and international law.

30 May 2012

We, Cambodian and International civil society organizations represented in this statement, condemn the use of armed force and escalating violence against citizens peacefully defending their land, labor and natural resources rights. We are referring to not only the events earlier last week on 22nd May, when dozens of peaceful Boeung Kak Lake (BKL) protesters were violently dispersed and two days later when fifteen (fourteen women and one male) BKL residents were sent to Prey Sar prison and charged and convicted of unfounded criminal offenses, but also the recent shooting incidents-the killings of environmental activist Chut Wutty in Koh Kong province and 14-year old girl Heng Chantha in Kratie province, and the shooting of three young women protesting for better working conditions in Svay Rieng province. These incidents are particularly disturbing because they indicate an increasing readiness on the part of security and military forces to use lethal force against civilians.