LIBRARY

7 November 2024

A community affected by a land conflict in Kratie province camped outside of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction in the capital yesterday to call on authorities to resolve a dispute with Kasekam Youveakchun Svay Rieng Co. Ltd, a company which started clearing their land and crops in June of this year.

Around 30 community members, who represent 252 families in Kratie’s Sambor district, arrived in Phnom Penh on Wednesday and waited outside the ministry’s front gate to request meetings with government officials to submit a petition. Officials from Kratie province, including the deputy governor, met with them in Phnom Penh and asked them to return to the province, but community members insisted on sleeping outside the ministry in a makeshift camp using hammocks, mats and blankets until a solution was found.

6 November 2024

Koet Saray, president of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), was convicted of incitement this morning by the Phnom Penh Capital Court and sentenced to four years in prison for comments he made earlier this year about a violent eviction in Preah Vihear province.

Saray, who was forcibly defrocked by Cambodian authorities in 2021, was arrested outside the association’s office in April 2024 after he spoke to the media about a land conflict in Preah Vihear province during which authorities burned down people’s homes. He was charged with incitement to commit a felony under Article 494 and Article 495 of the Criminal Code. He was also charged for “committing a misdemeanour after sentencing for a misdemeanour” under Article 88 of the code, which allows for a doubling of a defendant’s prison sentence if they have been convicted of the same misdemeanour within five years. This article was applied to Saray’s four-year prison sentence, who will also pay an around US$500 fine.

24 October 2024

Mech Dara, an award-winning journalist, was released on bail from Kandal Provincial Prison today, close to a month after he was arrested and charged with incitement for posting alleged false information on social media.

Dara walked out of prison on Thursday after his lawyer’s submitted another bail application to Phnom Penh Capital Court. On Wednesday, a video of Dara circulated on pro-government media in which he apologised for social media posts in September that were the grounds for his incitement charge.

14 October 2024

The Supreme Court this morning acquitted four members of the Srae Prang community who were convicted for “intentional damage” related to a long-standing land dispute with Harmony Win Investment rubber company in Tbong Khmum province.

Today’s verdict dropped the charges against Chhork Chhey, Khem Sokcheang, Pum Pich and Veun Ver following their appeal hearing on 7 October. Community members have advocated against the Chinese-owned Harmony Win Investment company, which has routinely blocked access to and cleared community farmland. This has resulted in ongoing protests and the imprisonment of at least four other community representatives.

16 September 2024

Since 23 July 2024, more than 100 people have been arrested and more than 60 have been charged and imprisoned for posting on social media, planning to assemble, or expressing opinions about the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA), a 20-year-old trade and cooperation agreement between the three neighboring countries.

The age of those detained and charged ranges between 16 and 70, including four minors under the age of 18. Most of those detained have been charged with “plotting an attack on the state”, which carries a sentence of 5-10 years in prison. Others are facing charges of “incitement to commit a felony”, which carries between 6 months and 2 years in prison, while several others face additional charges. They are being held in prisons across the country, many of which are severely overcrowded and struggling to provide people behind bars with basic services.

16 September 2024

Chhim Sithar, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU), was released from prison early this morning after completing her two-year sentence on charges of incitement related to the ongoing peaceful strike by her union’s members. Sithar was driven home by officials from Correctional Center 2 (CC2) at approximately 4:30am.

Sithar was first violently arrested in January 2022 as she attempted to join hundreds of striking LRSU members in front of the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh. She was released several months later, only to be re-arrested in November 2022 upon returning from a labour rights conference in Australia. Authorities claimed she was re-arrested due to violating judicial supervision conditions, although neither Sithar nor her lawyer had been informed of those conditions.

9 September 2024

The Supreme Court today rejected the appeal of Vorn Pao, President of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA), and upheld his conviction on charges of “instigating intentional acts of violence with aggravating circumstances” under Articles 28 and 218 of the Criminal Code in relation to a 2014 strike action on Phnom Penh’s Veng Sreng Boulevard.

Pao was handed a suspended sentence of four years and six months in prison by the Phnom Penh Capital Court in 2014, which was upheld today by the Supreme Court. Pao spent more than four months in prison alongside 21 others in relation to these charges in 2014. He remains at risk of having the suspended sentence implemented if he is convicted on any charges in the next five years.

28 August 2024

The Phnom Penh Capital Court this afternoon convicted Mer Seng Hor, the deputy leader for the Nation Power Party (NPP) in Kampong Cham province, to two and a half years in prison on charges of public insult and incitement to discriminate over a Facebook post that was critical of the government’s democratic track record.

Seng Hor, also known as Kea Visal, was arrested in March 2024, shortly after joining the opposition NPP. He was placed in pre-trial detention in PJ prison in Phnom Penh on charges of public insult and incitement to discriminate under Articles 307, 494 and 496 of the Criminal Code. In addition to prison time, the court today also imposed a 4 million riel (around US$1,000) fine and ordered Seng Hor to pay 20 million riel (around US$5,000) in damages to Mai Hong Sreang, a former opposition official who later joined the ruling party and filed the complaint against Seng Hor.

22 August 2024

The Phnom Penh Appeal Court this morning dropped charges against Chea Chan, a unionist with the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU) who was arrested, charged and imprisoned in February 2024.

On 20 June 2024, the Kampong Speu Provincial Court convicted Chan of being an accomplice to theft contrary to Articles 29 and 356 of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to one year in prison with six months of that time suspended. Chan was released from detention on 19 August ahead of today’s verdict, on account of the suspended portion of his sentence.

16 August 2024

The Phnom Penh Capital Court yesterday convicted nine Samrong Tbong community members of intentional acts of violence and obstruction of a public official with aggravating circumstances under Articles 218 and 504 of the Criminal Code, with 2-year prison sentences that were fully suspended by the judge.

The charges stemmed from an incident on 1 October 2022, when the defendants Kong Tue, Phorn Sokhom, Prak Sophea, Say Sarith, Soeun Chamroeun, Soeun Sreysot, Tav Ny, and Yorn Kimyoeun attempted to reinforce a wooden door at Heng Meang’s home in order to improve security and protect her belongings. During this process, authorities told the defendants to stop, claiming that this activity was in violation of a construction ban. The defendants disagreed, leading to a dispute in which the authorities attempted to take down the door while the community members attempted to keep it up. Despite not being present at the time of the dispute, Heng Meang was convicted and received the same sentence as the other defendants.

15 August 2024

The Battambang Appeal Court this morning upheld the convictions of Ung Thap Reang, a journalist, on charges of public defamation and incitement to commit a felony under Articles 305 and 495 of the Criminal Code.

9 August 2024

The Supreme Court upheld the incitement conviction of Candlelight Party Vice President Thach Setha, who was sentenced to three years in prison by a lower court for a speech he gave to the opposition party’s supporters in South Korea last year.

Setha has now exhausted his appeals after the Supreme Court upheld a Phnom Penh Capital Court verdict from October 2023 that found him guilty of incitement to commit a felony and incitement to discriminate under Articles 494, 495 and 496 of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a four million riel fine (around US$1,000).

7 August 2024

Koet Saray, a former monk and human rights defender, was denied bail by the Supreme Court this morning in a case related to comments he made calling for a resolution to a violent land dispute in Preah Vihear province.

The Supreme Court denied bail to Saray, who is the president of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association, and justified the decision citing the “repeat” nature of Saray’s offence. The bail hearing was conducted on 31 July in the absence of Saray’s lawyers.

31 July 2024

Five opposition party members were arrested across two provinces in the last six days, while a Phnom Penh court confiscated three properties belonging to Candlelight Party President Teav Vannol in relation to his recent defamation conviction.

Two Candlelight and two Khmer Will Party members from Kampong Speu’s Basedth district were arrested between 26 and 30 July and sent to pretrial detention. Ouk Sovanchhorn, a Candlelight commune councillor; Tok Dara, Candlelight’s Basedth district chief; and Boun Sarom and Chaem Savoeun, both Khmer Will district councillors, were charged under various articles of the Criminal Code for conducting routine party work.

25 July 2024

Candlelight Party President Teav Vannol was convicted of defamation this morning and ordered to pay US$1.5 million in damages to the government for comments he made to the media in February 2024.

The presiding judge at the Phnom Penh Capital Court found Vannol, who was previously a senator with the Sam Rainsy Party, guilty of defamation under Article 305 of the Criminal Code. He was ordered to pay the Cambodian government 6 billion riel ($1.5 million) in compensation and 10 million riel (around $2,500) in fines.

20 July 2024

Chea Chantha, a local leader of the informal worker group Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA), was sent to pre-trial detention by the Svay Rieng Provincial Court on Friday evening after he was arrested on 16 July while talking to workers about accessing the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

Chantha attended a workshop on Tuesday discussing climate change and social protections in Bavet, Svay Rieng. Later, he met with workers and was talking about the NSSF, a government social service, when police arrested him.

18 July 2024

The Siem Reap Provincial Court this morning convicted three Kuy community members as part of a long-standing dispute with the Ministry of Environment and military over land within the Chub Saom Community Protected Area (CPA) inside the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary.

In August 2023, Ministry of Environment officials, accompanied by local authorities and military officials, destroyed trees at the mango farm of two land activists, San Sre and Breng. The incident was live streamed by Sre’s brother, San Seth. A few weeks later, all three family members — who are Kuy and have been actively advocating for roughly 250 families’ land rights amid growing pressure from authorities — were told that criminal charges had been filed against them.

16 July 2024

A monk in Battambang province was expelled from his pagoda yesterday, several days after he participated in a peaceful march to mark the 8th anniversary of Kem Ley’s death.

Venerable Sang Rithy was expelled by the pagoda committee of Battambang city’s Wat Damrei Sorwas on the evening of 15 July. The monk is currently residing at another pagoda in the city.

Venerable Rithy participated in a march with other monks and youth activists on 10 July to mark the anniversary of the 2016 shooting of social researcher and commentator Kem Ley. The group held banners of Kem Ley and other prominent murdered activists and called for the release of the recently imprisoned Mother Nature environmental activists. Authorities initially attempted to block the peaceful assembly, but participants continued the march, ending at the Independence Monument in the center of the city.

10 July 2024

Youth activists, monks, civil society members and family members of imprisoned activists marched together in Phnom Penh today to mark the 8-year anniversary of the killing of political analyst Kem Ley, calling for justice for him and for the release of imprisoned student movement and environmental activists.

After marches through the capital, at around 9 am the groups gathered at the Caltex Bokor gas station where Kem Ley was murdered on 10 July 2016, shot as he was drinking his morning coffee. The subsequent investigation was inadequate and civil society continues to demand a credible and independent investigation into the murder, while authorities have at times cracked down on attempts to commemorate the anniversary of his death.

3 July 2024

The five Mother Nature activists arrested yesterday after being sentenced to 6-8 years in prison have been sent to five different prisons, some hundreds of kilometres from their residences and families. Splitting up activists to ensure they are detained far from each other and their families is a cruel and unusual punishment that has no precedent in Cambodia.

Thun Ratha was sent to Correctional Center 3 in Tbong Khmum province; Ly Chandaravuth to Kandal prison; Phuon Keoraksmey to Pursat provincial prison; Yim Leanghy to Kampong Speu prison; and Long Kunthea to Preah Vihear prison.

Sending people to prisons far away from their families and lawyers has been recognised as an infringement of people’s human rights by the United Nations. It is also a clear violation of the “Nelson Mandela Rules” for the humane treatment of prisoners, which calls for people in prison to be close to their homes.