LIBRARY

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

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.

27 January 2010

The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) calls for an immediate end to the illegal land-clearing and military violence against families in Preah Sihanouk's Prey Nob district. The disputed land is claimed by Chinese-owned Yi Chea Company, a resort company which has enlisted the help of the Cambodian military's Brigade 31 to forcibly clear the land.

The dispute began in early 2009, when Yi Chea Company started clearing a 3,300-hectare land concession within Ream National Park given by the government. But the concession overlapped with the land of 116 families from Ream and Thma Thom villages.

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.

9 December 2009

More than 10,000 Cambodians from communities around the country, including trade unionists,students, farmers, fishermen, musicians, youths, tuk tuk drivers, motorcycle drivers and NGO workers, will celebrate International Human Rights Day (IHRD) in their communities this year.

These celebrations are tied together with the common theme "We All Need Freedom of Expression and Justice!" and a common symbol - the blue Kramar to represent the important role of human rights defenders in Cambodia.

The community initiatives will mark the achievements made in human rights in Cambodia, but also focus on critical issues still facing the country's citizens - including exploitation of land and natural resources; restrictions to the freedoms of expression, association and assembly; and violations of labor rights.

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.

2 December 2009

The first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Cambodia was conducted by the UN Human Rights Council in its Working Group session held on Tuesday 1 December 2009 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The UPR is a new mechanism that allows a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN member States once every four years. During the 3-hour proceedings of yesterday, the Cambodian delegation led by Mr. Ith Rady, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice together with Ambassador Sun Suon of the Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the UN in Geneva, presented the achievements and developments with regard to the human rights situation in the country, extensively focusing on its poverty reduction strategies and plans in particular. The Cambodian delegation, however, attempted much to emphasise ‘its own historical and socioeconomic context’ as a least developed country in a post-conflict setting, rather than recognising the reality of its human rights challenges in a frank and substantive manner.

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.

20 November 2009

I write regarding Cambodia Daily article on the violent standoff over an economic land concession in Kompong Thom province (K. Thom Villagers Torch Vehicles, Vent Rage Over Land Dispute, Wednesday November 18, 2009). Although LICADHO condemns any use of violence in defending legal rights to land, this incident does raise two critical questions regarding the government’s conduct.