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Flash Info | Authorities Violently Push LRSU Unionists
22 July 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
Several unionists from the Labour Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU) were violently pushed to the ground by authorities as they attempted to walk to NagaWorld casino in central Phnom Penh to strike this afternoon.
About 80 strikers, most of whom were women, gathered this afternoon and were met by more than 100 police and mixed security forces near the corner of Samdach Sothearos Boulevard and Preah Sihanouk Boulevard nearby the casino complex. Strikers were violently pushed by security forces as they peacefully moved through barricades blocking the road. Security forces threw several strikers to the ground, with at least one man and one woman suffering cuts to their faces as a result.
Human rights monitors were instructed by authorities to move away from the gathering and stop taking photographs prior to the use of violence.
Media Album | Calls for Justice Six Years on from Kem Ley’s Murder
10 July 2022
Civil society groups and political parties have gathered at multiple events to call for justice for Kem Ley and his family in recent days. Events and ceremonies were held in Phnom Penh and Takeo – Kem Ley’s home province – to mark the sixth anniversary of the political analyst’s murder.
About 70 unionists, youth activists and civil society members gathered this morning outside the Star Mart at the Caltex Bokor service station in central Phnom Penh where Kem Ley was shot dead while drinking his morning coffee on 10 July 2016. Participants laid flowers and held a monk blessing ceremony. The mart was shuttered as commemorators began to gather, while about 20 plainclothes security monitored the event.
Civil society groups continue to call for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry, tasked with conducting an independent, impartial and effective investigation into Kem Ley’s death. The investigation into the killing was widely considered inadequate and failed to identify those beyond the shooter who may have been responsible for the murder.
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Flash Info | Five Ratanakiri Forest Activists Convicted
8 July 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The Ratanakiri Provincial Court today convicted five forest activists, including long-time environmental defender Chhorn Phalla, for allegedly instigating damage to forestland to claim ownership of it on Phnom Art in Samot Kraom village, Seda commune, Lumphat district, Ratanakiri province.
Phalla was sentenced to six years in prison. Sithan Nhan, Kham Masok, Lat Branh and Tvae Hok, who are all Tampuon indigenous people, were sentenced to five years in prison. The charges relate to a meeting the five men attended in 2017 in an effort to protect their forests and land and raise awareness about illegal logging.
The five were convicted under Articles 56(4) and 62(1) of the Law on Natural Protected Areas and Article 28 of the Criminal Code. They were not initially charged as instigators, with the charge added as the judge read the verdict today. There was not sufficient evidence presented during the trial to support the charges.
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Flash Info | Elected Candlelight Commune Chief Arrested over Alleged Robbery from 2002
21 June 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
Recently elected Candlelight commune chief Nhem Sarom was arrested this afternoon and detained in Kampong Thom province for an alleged robbery committed twenty years ago. He is one of four opposition party commune chiefs nationwide who were elected in Cambodia’s commune elections earlier this month.
The alleged robbery occurred in 2002 and Sarom was charged five years later in 2007 under Article 6 of the Law on Aggravating Circumstances of Crimes. An arrest warrant was later issued in 2012. Sarom was convicted in absentia in 2014 alongside three others for allegedly stealing a generator and sentenced to 5 years in prison. The plaintiff had withdrawn her complaint prior to the conviction.
Sarom was elected less than a month ago to become the chief of the Chamna Leu commune council in Stung district, Kampong Thom province and was set to take the position following certification of the election results on 26 June. He previously served as a commune councillor in that commune in 2017 with the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) prior to the party’s dissolution, after which his seat was handed to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
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Flash Info | Tbong Khmum Land Representative Conviction Upheld
15 June 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The Supreme Court this morning upheld the conviction of land community representative Hoeun Sineath from Tbong Khmum province. Sineath was convicted by the Tbong Khmum Provincial Court in December 2020 of intentionally causing damage with aggravating circumstances of acting as a co-perpetrator under Articles 410 and 411(1) of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to two years in prison, a decision upheld by the Tbong Khmum Appeal Court in August 2021 and the Supreme Court this morning.
Multiple communities in Dambe district, Tbong Khmum province have faced a decade-long dispute over community farmland with Harmony Win Investment Co. Ltd., a Chinese-owned rubber company. Sineath, along with eight other villagers who are not in detention, were convicted after they protested the company blocking access to and clearing their land. Sineath was the only one to appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court. He has spent more than 1 year and 10 months in Tbong Khmum prison since his arrest in August 2020.
Sineath was also convicted in a separate case following his arrest. In that case, he was convicted alongside 14 other people for obstructing public officials with aggravating circumstances under Articles 503 and 504 of the Criminal Code after they filmed authorities implementing a court order related to the disputed land. He was sentenced to spend one year in prison and fined 1 million riel (US$250). The other 14 people received fully suspended six-month sentences. Sineath has also appealed that case to the Supreme Court, with proceedings ongoing.
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Article | Court Convicts At Least 51 in CNRP Mass Trial
14 June 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court this morning convicted former leaders, members and supporters of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) of plotting and incitement under Articles 453, 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code.
Twelve former CNRP leaders were convicted in absentia and handed prison sentences of eight years. Nineteen other members and supporters were each sentenced to six years in prison. The court issued detention warrants for these 31 people this morning.
Livestream | Cambodia’s Commune Elections 2022
3 June 2022
Cambodia’s 2022 Commune Elections on 5 June are held to select commune councilors across the country's 1,652 communes. The vote is taking place amidst a yearslong crackdown on political freedoms and civil society. Join us to follow key human rights updates and events as they happen.
Flash Info | Convictions against ADHOC, NEC staff upheld by Appeal Court
23 May 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court this morning upheld the baseless September 2018 convictions of four current and former ADHOC staffers - Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Yi Soksan, and Lim Mony - and National Election Committee official Ny Chakrya, all of whom were previously imprisoned and convicted on spurious charges of bribery.
Sokha, Vanda, Soksan, and Mony were convicted on 26 September 2018 for bribery of a witness under Article 548 of the Criminal Code. Chakrya, who was serving as deputy secretary-general of the National Election Committee at the time of his arrest, was convicted as an accomplice to bribery of a witness under Articles 29 and 548 of the Criminal Code. The arrests came during a broader crackdown on civil society and the political opposition in Cambodia. All five human rights defenders served 14 months in pre-trial detention before being released on bail in June 2017, and were later sentenced to five years in prison with the remaining time suspended.
Both the defendants and the prosecutor filed appeals, with the defendants seeking to be exonerated and the prosecutor appealing to have the five human rights defenders serve the full five years in prison. The Appeal Court rejected both appeals, upholding the original convictions and suspended sentences of all five defendants.
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Statement | IFC Watchdog Accepts Complaint over Microfinance Abuses in Cambodia
3 May 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has accepted and will move ahead with its review of a complaint alleging human rights violations and violations of IFC performance standards committed by six microfinance institutions and banks that offer microloans in Cambodia.
The complaint was filed on behalf of affected borrowers by Equitable Cambodia (EC) and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO). It details how the IFC failed in its obligation to conduct due diligence and supervise projects to ensure compliance with performance standards. As a result, grave harms resulted from IFC loans and investments in six microfinance institutions (MFIs) and microloan-providing banks in Cambodia – ACLEDA, Hattha Bank, Sathapana, Amret, LOLC, and Prasac – who together hold about 75% of the country’s microloans.
Media Album | Celebrating International Labour Day 2022
1 May 2022
Several events were organised by labour unions and civil society organisations to celebrate International Labour Day 2022 in Phnom Penh on Sunday. There are approximately one thousand of workers participating in this morning celebration.
Document | Open Letter To Mark the Tenth Anniversary of the Murder of Chut Wutty
26 April 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
On the tenth anniversary of his murder, we the undersigned civil society groups, non-governmental organisations, activists and grassroots communities reiterate the call for relevant institutions including the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of National Defense and Koh Kong provincial authorities to undertake a credible and thorough investigation to hold all those responsible for his murder to account.
Statement | Wanchalearm Satsaksit Remains Missing as UN Body Begins Review of Enforced Disappearances in Cambodia
4 April 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
We, the undersigned organisations, remain deeply concerned about Cambodia’s failure to conduct a thorough, independent, transparent, and effective investigation into the suspected enforced disappearance of Thai activist Wanchalearm Satsaksit and the resulting impunity. As the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) prepares for a preliminary review of the situation of enforced disappearances in Cambodia on 5 April 2022, we call on the CED to address Cambodia’s persistent failure to conduct a prompt and thorough search for Wanchalearm to determine his fate and whereabouts or to effectively and transparently investigate his disappearance.
We stand in solidarity with Wanchalearm and his family and all victims of enforced disappearance, and call on Cambodia to address apparent failures of the investigating to date, and to immediately disclose any information they may have about his fate and whereabouts, and to ensure truth, justice and reparations for his family”. We agree with the CED that “the very nature of enforced disappearance [is] a continuous crime” which presents grave risks to the rights to life, liberty, security of person, freedom from secret detention and torture, as well as the right to family life. Families of those disappeared have faced incalculable suffering, while being deprived of the right to obtain redress and have closure.
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Statement | Children and Families Face Irreparable Harm as Cambodia Reopens Intercountry Adoptions
29 March 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
We are deeply alarmed by Cambodia reopening intercountry adoptions and the Italian government’s apparent disclosure that at least nine potential adoptions from Cambodia are being processed by Italian adoption agencies. We fear these decisions will lead to more families being irreparably torn apart by a poorly regulated system that has failed to protect children’s best interests in the past.
Cambodia reports having sent 3,696 children abroad for adoption between 1998 and 2011. The country suspended intercountry adoptions following evidence of fraud and corruption. Cambodian officials forged documents to falsely change some children’s names or ages or claim they were orphaned or abandoned, before children were adopted abroad without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
Statement | Stop Escalating Crackdown on LRSU Strikers
25 March 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
Authorities have alarmingly escalated the use of violence and mass detention of union members in front of NagaWorld casino in recent weeks, as well as increasing restrictions placed on human rights monitors and journalists covering the authorities’ worsening crackdown. We, the undersigned civil society groups, urge the government to de-escalate the situation and stop the repeated intimidation of strikers, including driving them to various areas far from the city center and leaving them stranded there late at night.
We are concerned by recent actions from authorities prohibiting human rights monitors and journalists from observing the continued use of violence against peaceful strikers, most of whom are women. On multiple occasions, authorities have barred human rights monitors and journalists from taking photographs or standing near the site of these heavy-handed detentions. Journalists have been threatened with arrest for covering the strike, and in several cases authorities have pushed monitors and journalists away as authorities violently drag strikers onto buses. They have also threatened to detain monitors alongside strikers at Covid-19 quarantine centers.
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Flash Info | Court Convicts 21 in CNRP Mass Trial
17 March 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court this morning sentenced 12 jailed former members of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and one Interior Ministry official to 5 years in prison (with 16 months suspended), meaning the men will serve a total of 3 years and 8 months in prison on charges of incitement and plotting. They are all scheduled to be detained through the national elections in 2023.
Additionally, seven former CNRP leaders – including Sam Rainsy, Mu Sochua and Eng Chai Eang - were convicted in absentia on charges of incitement, plotting, and inciting military personnel to disobedience, and sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison. Warrants for their arrest were also issued.
The “inciting military personnel to disobedience” charge was originally filed against 21 defendants, but was dropped against those currently detained in the country and another man, Hin Chann, who was originally imprisoned alongside the 13 but later released. Chann today was sentenced to five years in prison for incitement and plotting, but had his entire sentence suspended.
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Flash Info | Eight LRSU Unionists Denied Bail at Appeal Court
10 March 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court this morning upheld the lower court’s decision to deny bail to eight union members and leaders from the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU). After the verdict, the eight were returned to Correctional Centre 1 (CC1) and Correctional Centre 2 (CC2) in Phnom Penh, where they are in pre-trial detention on charges of incitement.
The eight were arrested in December 2021 and January 2022 while participating in a strike against NagaWorld casino. They include union leader Chhim Sithar, union secretary Chhim Sokhorn, and unionists Hay Sopheap, Kleang Soben, Ry Sovandy, Sun Srey Pich, and Touch Sereymeas, as well as former union member Sok Narith. The Appeal Court’s decision came one day after a high-level meeting between leaders from the police, courts, and ministries organized by Interior Minister Sar Kheng to discuss the NagaWorld labour dispute.
Three additional LRSU members - Choub Channath, Sao Sambath, and Seng Vannarith – are also in pre-trial detention after being arrested in February 2022 on charges of obstructing enforcement measures under the newly passed Covid-19 law. Despite these arrests, union members have continued their strike to call for NagaWorld to respect labour rights and reinstate improperly dismissed workers, even as the government has arrested the union’s leaders, harassed striking workers, and detained more than one hundred strikers in government quarantine facilities using the new Covid-19 law in recent months.
Statement | Abolish Slave Compounds in Cambodia
10 March 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
We are deeply disturbed by reports of widespread human trafficking into Cambodia leading to forced labour, slavery and torture at compounds across the country. Dozens of media reports and numerous victim accounts collected by local and international organisations suggest that thousands of people, mostly foreign nationals, are entrapped in these situations. We call on the government to take meaningful and coordinated action to respond to these gross human rights violations, and to investigate alleged complicity between some government authorities and the criminal enterprises.
Media Album | Celebrating International Women’s Day 2022
8 March 2022
More than 3,000 people joined events to celebrate International Women’s Day 2022 across 12 provinces and the capital Phnom Penh. Communities, farmers, unionists, informal workers, land activists, youth, civil society members and others joined events and shared speeches about challenges faced by women in their communities. They spoke out for imprisoned unionists to be released, for an end to gender based violence and discrimination, for women to be able to enjoy their rights to expression and assembly, and more. Many communities also marched, released balloons, led question and answer sessions, and shared solidarity lunches.
While most events were celebrated on 8 March, communities began celebration on 6 March and two further events are planned in Banteay Meanchey and Preah Vihear provinces. In Pursat province, an event was cancelled following threats and intimidation by commune authorities and a district governor.
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Video | “We have to be strong and brave”: Women Strikers Speak Out Against Harassment
8 March 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
Women unionists have faced targeted harassment in an attempt to intimidate them into stopping their strike. LICADHO is releasing a video featuring several of these brave women to mark International Women’s Day.
Article | Spotlight on 10 Imprisoned Unionists in Cambodia
7 March 2022![audio available](/images/audio-small.svg)
The 10 human rights defenders (HRDs) whose profiles are outlined below are leaders and members of the Labour Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU). The unionists are all former employees of NagaWorld, a highly profitable, Malaysian-owned casino with an exclusive operating license in Phnom Penh.
These men and women are currently imprisoned in Correctional Center 2 (CC2) and Phnom Penh’s PJ prison.