LIBRARY

6 March 2021

Last September, Khmer Thavrak youth group member Eng Malai was arrested after attending a non-violent protest demanding justice for Rong Chhun after the union leader’s imprisonment.

In prison, Malai faces a daily struggle with disease, injury and stress.

6 March 2021

In August last year, youth activist Chhoeun Daravy was dragged into a van by plainclothes security after taking part in a peaceful demonstration calling for imprisoned unionist Rong Chhun’s release.

Since her arrest, Daravy has shaved her hair and is boycotting some meals to protest her unjust imprisonment.

19 February 2021

We, the undersigned civil society groups, are seriously concerned about the sub-decree on the establishment of the national internet gateway (NIG) issued on Monday, 16 February, and call on the government to immediately repeal this sub-decree.

22 January 2021

More than 70 workers and union leaders gathered outside Phnom Penh’s Wat Langka this morning to demand justice for murdered unionist Chea Vichea, who was gunned down in the street 17 years ago today. The peaceful Buddhist ceremony was shadowed by more than 60 uniformed and plain-clothes police and security forces.

Speaking at the ceremony, Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association president Vorn Pao called for further investigation into the union leader’s murder, as well as demanding justice for those still facing harassment or imprisoned unjustly. Although two innocent men, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeurn, were falsely convicted and imprisoned for five years before their sentences were overturned, Vichea’s real killers have never been brought to justice.

Almost two decades after Vichea, the leader of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, was killed, Cambodia’s pro-worker union leaders continue to face threats to their lives. In February last year, a deputy union leader at a Phnom Penh garment factory was left seriously injured after three masked men on a motorbike beat him on the head with a steel pipe outside his workplace. As in the case of Vichea’s murder, the perpetrators were never arrested.

15 January 2021

Two men have been sent to prison after being arrested by police yesterday morning while peacefully gathering outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court during the ongoing mass trials of more than a hundred people accused of being connected to the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Police seized four men who had gathered outside the court and turned them over to the Tbong Khmum provincial police. The two imprisoned men are believed to have been arrested in connection with a warrant issued by the provincial court accusing them of being an accomplice to incitement to commit a felony under articles 29, 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. They were sent to Tbong Khmum provincial prison this afternoon. The other two men were released yesterday evening after questioning.

The arrests came after dozens of supporters of the former opposition party gathered outside the court to protest a series of mass trials set for the coming days and weeks, in which more than 130 people are facing charges of plotting against the state or incitement to disturb social order. This morning, a group of non-violent demonstrators were barred from gathering outside the court and threatened with arrest unless they dispersed immediately. Both days, security guards attempted to stop journalists and human rights monitors from taking photos outside the court.

Yesterday’s trial, in which 60 people were summonsed to answer charges of incitement and plotting, will continue on January 28. Today, Cambodian Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun appeared in court alongside former CNRP youth activist Sar Kanika, Ton Nimol and Khmer Win Party leader Soung Sophorn, also facing incitement charges. Kanika was one of more than 20 young activists arrested for peaceful demonstrations calling for the release of the imprisoned unionist, who was arrested in July over public comments he gave about border issues shortly after he visited farming communities along the Vietnam border.

22 December 2020

The Siem Reap court today found two rappers, Kea Sokun and Long Putheara, guilty of incitement to commit a felony under Article 495 of the Criminal Code over songs they released addressing social issues. Sokun was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison, of which he must serve 1 year in prison with the remainder suspended. Putheara was sentenced to 5 months in prison, of which he must serve 3 months and 11 days in prison with the remainder suspended.

Sokun, who was 22 at the time of arrest, and Putheara, who was 17, were arrested in September and put into pre-trial detention over lyrics in rap songs they produced that were critical of the government’s response to social issues such as the economy and Cambodian border. The complaints against the two rappers were filed by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.

18 December 2020

The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) today is releasing “The Fight for Freedom: Attacks on Human Rights Defenders, 2018-2020”.“The Fight for Freedom” is not an exhaustive list of all attacks targeting human rights defenders since the beginning of 2018. Instead, it highlights a number of high-profile cases where human rights defenders have been targeted for intimidation, arrest or imprisonment while trying to peacefully exercise their rights to association, assembly and expression as guaranteed both in Cambodia’s constitution and under international law.

10 December 2020

Family members of at least five imprisoned human rights defenders called for their loved ones’ release today, as communities across Cambodia were forced to turn to social media to celebrate Human Rights Day. With a number of local authorities refusing to allow grassroots communities to gather together to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, citing the threat of a potential COVID-19 outbreak, more than two dozen communities chose instead to launch social media campaigns calling for their fundamental freedoms to be respected.

For the first time in 27 years, Cambodians were unable to celebrate human rights day as a public holiday after the government stripped it from the calendar last year. Despite this, dozens of communities across the country organised events bringing together hundreds of farmers, workers and grassroots groups to speak out about land grabbing, workers’ rights and ongoing human rights violations facing their communities. With Cambodia experiencing its first case of COVID-19 community transmission barely two weeks before the planned celebrations, many groups turned to social media, promising an online campaign stretching until December 25. A handful of people from one community in Koh Kong province who launched their digital campaign by filming themselves posing with a banner were observed by a large group of local police.

20 October 2020

Every year, communities all over the world come together to celebrate World Habitat Day and the right to shelter. For many Cambodians, the right to adequate housing remains unfulfilled. Land conflicts with large corporations rob families of their farmland. Lack of essential infrastructure such as roads, schools and health centres keep communities from accessing the basic services they need to live secure and dignified lives. Year after year, these communities have joined together in peaceful demonstrations to call on authorities to ensure that these fundamental rights to life and livelihood are respected.

9 September 2020

We, the undersigned civil society groups, condemn the arrests of seven young activists over the past few days, and call for all charges against those imprisoned to be dropped immediately. We urge the government to end its campaign of fear and repression against peaceful youth and environmental human rights defenders, and ensure the rights of the Cambodian people to peacefully advocate for themselves, their families and their communities are respected.

6 September 2020

Authorities on Sunday charged three youth environmental activists with incitement and ordered them to pre-trial detention over the trio’s peaceful activism calling attention to the government’s filling in of Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tamok lake.

The three environmental activists - Thun Ratha, a 28-year-old man, Long Kunthea, a 22-year-old woman, and Phuong Keorasmey, a 19-year-old woman – are members of the Mother Nature Cambodia movement and were charged on Sunday over their organising of a planned peaceful march from Wat Phnom to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house by Kunthea to express her concerns regarding the filling and construction inside Boeung Tamok.

4 September 2020

A 49-year-old woman was rushed to hospital this morning after being hurled to the ground by district security guards while peacefully calling for the release of her imprisoned husband.

18 August 2020

We, the undersigned civil society groups, strongly condemn the Cambodian authorities' use of violence against peaceful demonstrators and the recent arrests of more than a dozen activists.

Over the past few weeks, authorities have waged an increasingly brutal crackdown on peaceful protests that began after the arrest and imprisonment of union leader Rong Chhun at the start of August. Since Chhun’s arrest, six more individuals have been sent to pre-trial detention after advocating for his release. Authorities have also beaten and arrested relatives, most of whom are women, of former members of the dissolved opposition party who were protesting against their family members’ arrests.

3 August 2020

We, the undersigned civil society groups, strongly condemn the nighttime arrest of Rong Chhun and call on the Royal Government of Cambodia and the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to immediately drop all charges against the union leader and release him from pre-trial detention.

Cambodian Confederation of Unions president Rong Chhun was arrested by police at his home late on Friday night after the government’s Cambodia Border Affairs Committee publicly called on authorities to take action against the unionist for his comments following a visit to the Cambodia-Vietnam border on July 20. Chhun – a member of the non-governmental Cambodia Watchdog Council – had given a radio interview just hours before his arrest denying that he had been spreading false information about alleged community land loss along the border in a public statement the week before.

31 July 2020

Today, Cambodian plaintiffs representing more than 700 farming families won a landmark appeal allowing them to move forward with their class action against Asia’s largest sugar producer, Mitr Phol.

The transboundary class action Hoy Mai & Others vs. Mitr Phol Co. Ltd. is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. It was filed under Thai laws permitting a class action to be brought by foreign plaintiffs for abuses committed by a Thai company overseas.

10 July 2020

Four years after political analyst Kem Ley was shot dead while drinking his morning coffee, the Star Mart at Caltex Bokor service station stood empty behind sealed shutters. But despite the authorities’ attempts to restrict all public commemoration of the popular commentator’s murder, former friends, colleagues and human rights defenders gathered in Phnom Penh and Takeo in the days leading up to the anniversary to pay tribute to his memory.

On Wednesday July 8, a group of monks and young activists were physically barred from holding a peaceful prayer ceremony at the site of Kem Ley’s shooting by a human chain of security forces. One young man wearing a t-shirt showing Kem Ley’s face was immediately arrested and made to sign a contract by district police.

The next day, a group of youth activists were blocked from travelling to Kem Ley’s family home in Takeo by heavily armed security forces. And today, scores of military police and security forces were deployed to block a convoy of monks, activists and supporters of the slain commentator from peacefully processing along the same route. Undaunted, they continued their journey on foot.

Rights groups continue to call on Cambodian authorities to create an independent Commission of Inquiry to fully investigate Kem Ley’s murder, and urge authorities to cease all intimidation and harassment of people peacefully commemorating his death.

8 July 2020

A youth activist has been arrested for trying to peacefully commemorate the four-year anniversary of Kem Ley’s murder as a group of monks and activists were physically barred by a mix of district police and paramilitary security forces from praying at the site of the popular analyst’s shooting.

The activist, who was wearing a t-shirt with Kem Ley’s face on it, was seized by police as soon as he arrived at the planned memorial. He was later released after signing a contract with local authorities.

Mixed security forces formed a human chain to block participants from holding a prayer ceremony at Phnom Penh’s Caltex Bokor service station, where the political commentator was shot dead while drinking his morning coffee on 10 July 2016.

4 June 2020

A group of young environmental activists who were harassed by authorities for more than a day have been released from police questioning this afternoon. The activists were stopped by police while cycling from Koh Kong province to Phnom Penh as part of their “Save Koh Kong Krao Island” campaign in a clear attempt to intimidate the young Cambodians.

The group, which included members of environmental movement Mother Nature, were repeatedly accused by local authorities of being part of the dissolved opposition party. Police are refusing to return the activists’ bicycles until after World Environment Day on June 5, effectively cutting short their peaceful campaign to the nation’s capital.

Provincial police seized the young Cambodians’ bicycles yesterday to prevent the group from cycling to Phnom Penh to submit a petition calling for Cambodia’s largest island to be designated as a protected national park. When the group tried to continue to the capital on foot, they were stopped in the middle of the night by government officials, who pressured them to stop their journey and hand over their petition directly.

18 May 2020

We, the undersigned civil society groups, urgently call on the government to drop all charges against imprisoned journalists Sok Oudom and Sovann Rithy and to halt all harassment of other journalists in Cambodia facing prosecution for their critical reporting. We also urge the government to immediately restore the broadcasting licenses of all media outlets revoked before and during this latest assault on press freedom.

Police arrested local radio station owner Sok Oudom in Kampong Chhnang province on Wednesday on charges of “incitement to commit a felony”. Oudom regularly reported on longstanding land disputes between local farming communities and powerful district officials. The day before Oudom’s arrest, the Ministry of Information revoked the media license of his Rithysen Radio Station and its website, despite the fact that Oudom had yet to be charged with any crime. He remains in pre-trial detention.

10 May 2020

Six members of Cambodian youth group Khmer Thavrak including human rights activist Hun Vannak were arrested in Battambang last night while returning from a peaceful protest calling on banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to suspend loan repayments amid the economic crisis caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Five monks who joined the protest were also threatened with expulsion from their pagodas unless they thumb-printed an agreement pledging to stop their activism on behalf of Cambodian borrowers.