LIBRARY

10 April 2009

This report was prepared for the forthcoming Universal Periodic Review of Cambodia's human rights record to be conducted by the UN Human Rights Council, scheduled to be held in Geneva , Switzerland, in November-December 2009.

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.

27 March 2009

LICADHO today called upon the Royal Cambodian Government to take urgent action in response to the unjustified violence by authorities against villagers involved in a land dispute in Chi Kreng district of Siem Reap province last weekend.

"This was extremely serious violence against villagers committed by government armed forces, and it demands a strong response by the government," said LICADHO president Kek Galabru. "The police and other officials who committed this violence must be punished, and there must be a fair resolution to this land dispute."

Four villagers were wounded when members of a joint force - including police, military police, border police and soldiers - opened fire on a crowd of farmers in Anlong Samnor commune on Sunday, March 22.

22 March 2009

LICADHO condemns the Kampong Thom Provincial Court's conviction of former Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) commune chief Tuot Saron on a charge of kidnapping and illegal confinement. This prosecution and conviction is baseless and politically-motivated, LICADHO believes.

On Friday, March 20, Tuot Saron was convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment. Three other provincial SRP officials, who have all fled and are in hiding, were convicted in absentia of the same charge; two of them, Men Vannak and Hour Sarath, were also sentenced to three years' imprisonment, while the third, Thorn Rithy, was sentenced to five years in prison.

6 March 2009

Women and children are suffering immensely from Cambodia's epidemic of evictions, LICADHO said today, International Women's Day.

"Sadly, there is nothing special about this day for the many Cambodian women who are struggling to feed their families because they have been evicted from their homes or are living in fear of eviction,” said LICADHO president Kek Galabru. “It is just another day of hardship and suffering.”

6 March 2009

This report aims to profile female prisoners and their experiences in the prison system and to provide an insight into the crimes they committed and the conditions they live in. Each case study is based on true accounts from prisoners, where names and details have been changed to protect the identity of the prisoners. This report also provides supplementary statistical information for relevant issues collected over the period 2007 and 2008.

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.

19 February 2009

750 ethnic minority families in Kratie Province, Cambodia are embroiled in a land dispute over farming land, that the provincial authorities say they have leased to a private company for a rubber plantation. In October 2008 the bulldozers came into clear the land and the villagers were there to stop them.

(Music courtesy of the Messengers Band)

18 February 2009

LICADHO deplores today's decision by the Appeal Court to uphold the murder conviction of Thach Saveth, also known as Chan Sopheak. This verdict is yet another example of the injustices that Cambodia's judiciary continues to perpetuate on a regular basis.

Thach Saveth is serving a 15-year prison sentence for the 2004 murder of trade union official Ros Sovannareth, despite a lack of credible evidence against him. He was convicted on the basis of written statements, prepared by the police, from witnesses to the murder who allegedly identified him. These witnesses never testified in court or were interviewed by any court official. One of these witnesses was present at last week's Appeal Court hearing, at the request of the defense lawyers, but the court refused to allow him to testify.

11 February 2009

LICADHO urges the Court of Appeal to provide justice to Chan Sopheak, the man convicted of the murder of trade unionist Ros Sovannareth despite a lack of credible evidence against him, by releasing him from prison as soon as possible. The Appeal Court held a hearing on the case this morning and will issue its verdict on February 18.

There are remarkable similitaries between the case of Chan Sopheak, who is also known as Thach Saveth, and that of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, the two men who were unjustly convicted of killing another trade unionist, Chea Vichea. The Supreme Court, acknowledging the lack of evidence against them and the need for further investigation, ordered the release on bail of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun on December 31, 2008.

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.

30 January 2009

LICADHO once more calls upon the government and the 7NG company to urgently ensure adequate compensation for all the families who were brutally evicted from Dey Krahorm on January 24.

LICADHO is deeply concerned that 7NG continues to refuse to provide cash compensation to an estimated 144 evicted house owners, insisting that instead it will only provide some (and not all) of them with apartments at the Damnak Trayeoung relocation site outside of Phnom Penh city. 7NG has imposed a deadline of January 31 for 85 of the house owners to register to accept apartments or they will receive nothing at all.

"7NG needs to get serious about providing adequate compensation to these evicted home owners, instead of imposing arbitrary deadlines and issuing threats that these people will receive nothing," said LICADHO director Naly Pilorge. "It is long overdue that 7NG starts to do the right thing, instead of continuing its thuggish behavior.

27 January 2009

This video is a compilation of footage captured by human rights monitors on January 24, 2009 during the violent eviction at Dey Krahorm. Video footage courtesy of Platapus, LICADHO, LICADHO Canada, Bridges Across Borders, and Karl Bille.

25 January 2009

On Saturday, January 24, 2009, hundreds of police and military police helped a private company into forcefully evicting Dey Krahorm community in central Phnom Penh.

24 January 2009

We strongly condemn the forced eviction of Dey Krahorm residents which began at 6 a.m. on Saturday 24 January, 2009. This was carried out by over 300 police officers and up to 500 breakers hired by the private company 7NG. It is yet another example of the violent evictions taking place across Cambodia which are in danger of destabilizing the country.

Today's eviction was marked by excessive use of force endangering the lives of Dey Krahorm residents, and resulting in over 18 injuries ‐ 5 of which were serious. It also saw the systematic destruction of private property, while the police and breakers hired by 7NG blocked attempts by human rights observers and the press to monitor and report on the event.

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.

17 January 2009

LICADHO condemns the actions of military police officers who have committed violence, including shooting two people, while assisting a private company to unlawfully grab villagers' land in Kandal Stung district of Kandal province.

Over the past few days, police and military police have been deployed to help workers from the Heng Development Company to try to confiscate villagers' farmland - in violation of a 2006 court verdict which upheld the villagers' right to the land.

On Friday, January 16, two villagers were shot by military police during the community's attempts to prevent bulldozers owned by the company from encroaching on their land. According to a LICADHO doctor who saw the victims, one of the men was shot in the arm and also had bullet fragments removed from his stomach. The other suffered a deep wound from a bullet fragment which struck his waist. Both men, aged 23 and 28, remain hospitalized.

19 December 2008

The Borei Keila social land concession: the Government's commitment to housing Phnom Penh's urban poor - new apartments for families in exchange for land given to commercial developers. Borei Keila was the first of four social land concessions in Phnom Penh and was meant to be the model alternative to the eviction and off-site relocation of the city's urban poor. Now over 5 years later, only 3 out of 10 apartment buildings have been completed and only 30% of families have received their promised apartments while the remaining families continue to live in squalid conditions awaiting the construction and allocation of their apartments.

11 December 2008

In February 2007 the Municipality of Phnom Penh entered into a 99-year lease agreement for US$79 million for 133 hectares, including Boeung Kok lake and surrounding land, with a private developer, Shukaku Inc, owned by a ruling party senator. According to the government, the company will turn the area into "pleasant, trade, and service places for domestic and international tourists," including by filling in 90% of the lake.

On 26 August 2008 a company began filling the lake, which has worsened flooding and caused the destruction of some houses. The development will lead to the eviction of almost 4,000 families, despite many of the affected families having strong legal claims to the land under the Land Law.

10 December 2008

To commemorate International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2008 and the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Right, LICADHO launched and released this Human Rights Day Booklet. The booklet explains three key human rights guaranteed by the Declaration of Human Rights and the Cambodian Constitution: “Freedom of Movement, Freedom of Expression and Speech and Freedom of Assembly and Association”. The booklet cites cases that occurred during 2008 when these rights have not been respected by the government and it also provides practical tips on what to do when the government attempts to restrict them.