LIBRARY

1 July 2010

* Supreme Court Trial Upholds Defamation Verdict Against Opposition MP Mu Sochua * Donors Pledge $1.1 Billion in Aid at 2010 Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum * Government Appoints National Anti-Corruption Council * UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Makes Third Visit to Cambodia

21 June 2010

On June 15th, 2010, 350 community representatives from 24 provinces and municipalities - including ethnic minority communities - gathered near Wat Botum pagoda to rally for land rights.

Most of the representatives were engaged in land disputes with companies who had received economic land concessions from the government. Some face eviction, while others are being prevented from entering waters where they normally make their living as fishermen. The rally aimed to draw attention to their plight, and to gather petitions to be delivered to Prime Minister Hun Sen. The representatives gathered three boxes full of petitions.

About 80 of the representatives from Memot Disrict, Kampong Cham, initially gathered in front of Wat Botum on June 14. They were dispersed by about 20 police and authorities and forced to leave Wat Botum. LICADHO and other NGOs provided food, accommodation, and mediated with authorities on their behalf. The authorities ordered them to return home.

18 June 2010

In June 2010, LICADHO helped organized two events to promote the rights of children in Cambodia. International Children's Day was celebrated on June 1st, with the slogan "Community Without Trafficking." The World Day Against Child Labour occurred on June 12th under the theme "I protect the children, do you?"

The two events are celebrated every year to highlight children's rights and promote prevention and elimination of the worst forms of child labor. The aim is also to draw public attention and increase awareness of children's rights violations.

16 June 2010

“When I was putting the soil into the mixing machine, the soil was stuck, so I tried to push it in, suddenly the machine caught my arm inside. After the incident, I returned to hometown to live with my single father and three younger brothers. I need to look after all of them because my father is mentally weak. I am so hopeless and my dreams are also destroyed, as I am disabled and uneducated. I don’t know what I can do besides tending cows every day. I left school when I was in grade 1 before I went to work in the brick factory.”

A 16-year-old boy who lost his left arm while he was working in a brick factory.

LICADHO and World Vision Cambodia will mark World Day Against Child Labour on June 12, 2010, by organizing a street march and local concert in Sangke District, Battambang. The event aims to sensitize the public on the issues of child labour, particularly on child labour in brick factories. The event will take place between 3 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

12 June 2010

In June 2009, LICADHO together with Horizons commenced a national survey of women living with their children in Cambodian prisons. The purpose of the survey was to identify the key problems faced by women and children during their incarceration, particularly in relation to food, clothing, health and hygiene; the extent to which services provided through the Adopt-A-Prison Project has helped to address these problems; and assess the need for educational and recreational programs for children living in prison.

1 June 2010

* Public Screening of "Who Killed Chea Vichea?" Documentary Banned * China Pledges Military Aid to Cambodia * Amnesty International Releases 2010 Human Rights Report * LICADHO Staff Member Arrested for Disinformation

1 June 2010

To mark International Children’s Day this year, LICADHO is promoting the theme of “A community without child trafficking” in Kien Svay district, Kandal province, to promote children’s rights as well as raise awareness of child trafficking and the worst forms of child labor. The program will run from 7.30 am until 11am and will provide children with an opportunity to participate in singing, games, quizzes and awards. Secondary school students, community workers, local and vulnerable children, and the general public are encouraged to attend. Guests at the event include the Kien Svay district deputy-governor, Korky commune chief and LICADHO’s President, Dr. Pung Chhiv Kek.

9 May 2010

Sometimes the most effective defense of human rights begins with the simplest of questions. "Why can't I be here?" "What law did I break?" And sometimes, just: "Why?"

The latter was a question that the Venerable Luon Sovath began asking early in life. The 32-year-old grew up in Cambodia's Siem Reap province and came of age in the midst of Cambodia's vicious civil war. He witnessed horrific violence as the Khmer Rouge attempted to regain control of the country. Growing up, there was rarely a clear answer to the question "why?" The violence was usually senseless; the injustice seemed systematic.

So at age 15, Sovath took a different path: He became a monk. His choice allowed him to escape harm during Cambodia's decades-long war, and instilled the virtues of karma, reflection, and justice. Today, he is a human rights defender working amongst the villagers who are victims of land-grabbing dedicating his free time to producing videos documenting the human rights abuses he witnesses. This is his story.

1 May 2010

* US Suspends Delivery of Military Trucks to Cambodia * Jailed Journalist Receives Royal Pardon

2 April 2010

The use of military police by government-affiliated companies and individuals to forcibly evict villagers featured prominently in land grabbing cases in first quarter of 2010, leaving over 2,500 families at risk of losing their homes or livelihood.

LICADHO received 23 complaints of land grabbing between January and March 2010, ten of which involved the violent eviction of individuals following the grant of economic land concessions by government ministers to relatives or elites, and their affiliated companies.

2 April 2010

On 26 March 2010, more than 600 - entangled in a land dispute with Okhna Ly Yong Phat's sugar plantation - villagers gathered on National Road 4, blocking the road for almost two hours, and demanded the release of their two representatives, Khem Vuth and You Tho, who had been arrested two days earlier. This led to heavy traffic congestion and prompted the deputy provincial governor, court officials and provincial police commissioner to talk with villagers. After lengthy negotiations, the villagers agreed to move and discuss the matter at the provincial court.

On 29 March 2010 Mr. You and Mr. Vuthy were released on bail and placed under surveillance.

1 April 2010

* Report on Rape in Cambodia * Anti-Corruption Law Adopted * Royal Government of Cambodia Accepts Recommendation from UN Human Rights Council * Land Grabbing Protest Forces Release of Arrested Community Representatives

25 March 2010

We, the undersigned civil society organizations, condemn the Kompong Speu Provincial Court’s decision yesterday to arrest and detain two community representatives involved in the ongoing Omlaing Commune land dispute. The bogus charges against the two community representatives constitute yet another instance of Cambodia’s rich and powerful using the judicial system as a tool of enrichment and weapon of intimidation. We also condemn the response of mixed police forces to the villagers who came to the provincial court to show their support.

Omlaing Commune Council member You Thou and community leader Khem Vuthy were arrested on charges that they incited villagers to burn two temporary shelters used by construction workers belonging to Ly Yong Phat’s Phnom Penh Sugar Company. The two representatives also stand accused of colluding to set the structures on fire.

11 March 2010

Although the Coalition of Cambodian Civil Society Organizations (hereafter “the Coalition”),comprised of more than 200 local NGOs and Associations, only received a copy of the current Draft of the Anti-Corruption Law “hereafter “the Draft” at the last minute, the Coalition have made a concerted effort to provide several key comments on the Draft in its previous joint statement issued on March 09, 2010 on the eve of the National Assembly Session convened to debate the Law.

The joint and several efforts of the Coalition are aimed at ensuring that the proposed law is good and that it is able to adequately serve Cambodian society and the people well into the new decade through various radio talk shows, press conferences, and the submission of a letter attached to our previous joint statement, requested that the parliamentary debate and adoption of the draft law be deferred until a later date to allow for more time and scope for public input into the discussion now before the National Assembly.

6 March 2010

Over 500 inmates with pending appeals are detained in Cambodia's provinces, some of them hundreds of kilometers away from the nation's only appeals court in Phnom Penh. Due to Cambodia's near total lack of a long-distance inmate transportation network, these inmates are at grave risk of being denied one of the most basic elements of a fair trial: The right to have a conviction and sentence properly reviewed by a higher tribunal.

5 March 2010

We the named organisations, express our deepest concern at the prevention by Dangkar district police of a demonstration by villagers against the alleged seizure of their farmland, the arrest and reported blackmail of villagers who attempted to take part in the demonstration and the deletion of photographs taken by human rights monitors from the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Organisation (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO).

The attempted demonstration in question was set against the all too familiar backdrop of a land dispute. On 1 March 2010, villagers from Proka Village in Dangkor District who are involved in a land dispute with In Samon, the deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior, attempted to hold a demonstration outside the home of Prime Minister Hun Sen in Takhmao.

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