A woman instructs her 13-year-old son to throw a bottle of acid on her husband’s mistress, permanently blinding and disfiguring the victim.

A man chases his wife with a gun and throws acid on her, because she had tried to divorce him after he had beaten her and raped a village girl.

A man creeps up on his neighbor’s house at night, to throw acid at his neighbor because of a dispute over a bicycle, but hits the wrong person by mistake.

Stronger action is needed to punish and prevent the horrific use of acid in attacks such as these, before they become even more common, according to a LICADHO report issued today.

“Throwing acid is one of the worst crimes that a person can commit,” states the report, Living in the Shadows: Acid Attacks in Cambodia. “The perpetrator usually does not want to kill the victim, but to do something worse than murder - make the victim suffer forever.”

The report is the first such publication on acid violence in Cambodia. It documents the number of attacks in recent years, based on figures collated from newspaper reports. Through interviews with victims, their families, doctors and others, it also highlights the huge physical, mental, social and economic consequences which victims suffer.

At least 44 acid attacks were reported in Cambodian newspapers in the three years between December 1999 and November 2002, the period covered by the report. The attacks injured 60 people and killed three.

Disturbingly, reported acid attacks have increased since the original research for the report was done. From December 2002 to November 2003, LICADHO recorded a further 21 attacks - compared to the 44 recorded over the previous three years - from newspaper reports. Those attacks injured 29 people and killed at least one.

“The time to act against acid attacks is now,” the report says, warning that attacks will likely increase in future years unless stronger prevention and punishment measures are taken.

The report also advocates greater compassion for victims, and medical, psychological and other services to help them rebuild their lives. Acid is usually thrown at the faces of victims, who suffer permanent disfigurement and may be blinded. Victims often suffer long-lasting psychological problems and economic hardships, and a lifetime of discrimination.

“Acid attacks are one of the most horrific forms of torture, with unimaginable consequences for victims,” said Kek Galabru, president of LICADHO. “Some victims say they would rather be dead than have to live with the results of this crime.”

Both men and women commit acid attacks, according to the report. The targets of attacks are mainly women, but men are also deliberately attacked. Because acid is a clumsy weapon, many people - men, women and children - are often injured accidentally as well as the intended victims. Nearly a third of the people hurt in acid attacks are accidental victims; the youngest victim mentioned in the LICADHO report is a 4-year-old girl injured when a woman threw acid at her husband during a child’s birthday party.

Acid throwing is usually motivated by jealousy or hatred because of a personal relationship problem such as a broken love affair or marriage, unfaithfulness or rejection. Acid has also been used as a weapon for robbery, or as a result of disputes between neighbors.

The LICADHO report cites the example of Bangladesh, where impunity for perpetrators has been blamed for a large increase in acid throwing in recent years, to urge stronger action against the problem in Cambodia. Previously, acid was nearly always thrown only at girls or women by jealous or angry men in Bangladesh, the report notes, but the types of victims and motives for attacks grew more varied as acid violence became more common. Now, more than 30% of victims are men and land disputes are one of the biggest reasons for attacks.

The report recommends:

- Better laws against acid throwing, including strengthening a provision in the draft law against domestic violence which deals with acid attacks.
- Stricter controls on the sale of undiluted acid, and prosecutions of sellers who violate them.
- Public education to promote compassion for victims.
- Public condemnation of acid attacks by government and other influential figures.
- Improved medical, psychological and other support services for victims.

For more information, please contact:
▪ Jason Barber, LICADHO Project Against Torture Consultant, 011-815-502
▪ Naly Pilorge, LICADHO Director, 012-803-650

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