- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 7, 2024
- Event Description
Koet Saray, President of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), was today sent to pre-trial detention at Correctional Centre 1 prison by an investigating judge at the at Phnom Penh Capital Court following charges of “committing a misdemeanour after sentencing for a misdemeanour” and “incitement to commit a felony” under Articles 88, 494, and 495 of the Criminal Code. The charges relate to ongoing land conflicts in Preah Vihear province.
On 6 April at around 3:30pm, police officers confirmed that Saray had been transported to the Phnom Penh Capital Court from the Phnom Penh Police Commissariat, where he had been held overnight following his arrest on 5 April at around 4:00pm by approximately 10 mixed uniformed and plainclothes police officers outside of KSILA’s office in Phnom Penh. Saray’s arrest followed an order issued by the Office of the Prosecutor at Phnom Penh Capital Court on 5 April to bring Saray to Phnom Penh Capital Police for questioning on “incitement to cause serious chaos to social security”.
One monk and around a dozen individuals from various youth groups and civil society organisations had been present at the Phnom Penh Police Commissariat on 6 April to monitor the situation. A few plainclothes police officers had also been deployed nearby, where they took photographs and videos and prevented human rights defenders from bringing food to Saray.
In 2023, the Supreme Court upheld incitement convictions against Saray and nine other activists in relation to peaceful gatherings calling for the release of then-imprisoned union leader Rong Chhun. The lower court had sentenced Saray in October 2021 to 20 months’ imprisonment with six months of his sentence suspended for a period of two years, and fined him 2 million riel (US$500).
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to food, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- NGO staff, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: student leader arrested, investigated
- Date added
- Apr 11, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2024
- Event Description
Koet Saray, President of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), was today sent to pre-trial detention at Correctional Centre 1 prison by an investigating judge at the at Phnom Penh Capital Court following charges of “committing a misdemeanour after sentencing for a misdemeanour” and “incitement to commit a felony” under Articles 88, 494, and 495 of the Criminal Code. The charges relate to ongoing land conflicts in Preah Vihear province.
On 6 April at around 3:30pm, police officers confirmed that Saray had been transported to the Phnom Penh Capital Court from the Phnom Penh Police Commissariat, where he had been held overnight following his arrest on 5 April at around 4:00pm by approximately 10 mixed uniformed and plainclothes police officers outside of KSILA’s office in Phnom Penh. Saray’s arrest followed an order issued by the Office of the Prosecutor at Phnom Penh Capital Court on 5 April to bring Saray to Phnom Penh Capital Police for questioning on “incitement to cause serious chaos to social security”.
One monk and around a dozen individuals from various youth groups and civil society organisations had been present at the Phnom Penh Police Commissariat on 6 April to monitor the situation. A few plainclothes police officers had also been deployed nearby, where they took photographs and videos and prevented human rights defenders from bringing food to Saray.
In 2023, the Supreme Court upheld incitement convictions against Saray and nine other activists in relation to peaceful gatherings calling for the release of then-imprisoned union leader Rong Chhun. The lower court had sentenced Saray in October 2021 to 20 months’ imprisonment with six months of his sentence suspended for a period of two years, and fined him 2 million riel (US$500).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 11, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 4, 2024
- Event Description
Mondulkiri provincial court on Monday questioned NGO rights group Adhoc official and four Bunong natives after land brokers and fellow villagers filed a defamation and incitement complaint against them. The complaint was made after the suspects submitted evidence of chopped trees and encroachment by the plaintiffs, made up of land brokers and a few villagers.
According to the February 3, 2024 court summons, deputy prosecutor Seav Ngy Chhorn ordered the five people, Bi Vanny, Adhoc provincial coordinator, and minority indigenous people Chen Vanna, Sreng San, Rouen Heng, and Ngin Channa, to present themselves at the Mondulkiri provincial court from March 1 to 4, 2024.
The plaintiffs, who made the complaint, consist of Ploeun Pyin, Nhev Mao, and Soeun Sam, where one or two are known to the villagers as they are from the same village.
Vanny, who was in court on Monday, said the prosecutor asked him questions relating to the information and evidence he submitted about the alleged forest crime and land encroachment at the indigenous people’s land in Poulong village of Sen Monorom city’s Romnea commune.
He said community residents had requested his organization’s help to submit the evidence in court to seek justice as they lacked knowledge of the law.
The evidence was submitted in March 2023, following which the court asked him to appear in November that year. At the time, he said, he told the court that he was only doing what the villagers had requested of him.
On November 20, 2023, a week after Vanny appeared in court, the plaintiffs sued him for defamation and incitement to discrimination, which he denied being involved.
Vanny asked the court to drop all charges against him because he was only providing information to the prosecutor and had no intention of violating the plaintiffs’ rights or harming them.
“We ask the prosecutor to investigate the facts of the case. I hope that the court is an independent institution, a place where justice is upheld, to decide if there was an encroachment, and if it’s related to the three individuals who filed the complaint against me and the four indigenous people,” Vanny said.
He urged the court to quickly investigate and fairly decide on the case. “We are going to court because we all want justice,” he said.
Relating his experience, Chen Vanna, who was questioned on Monday, said the prosecutor questioned him about the land encroachment evidence, which was submitted to court. He said the evidence was submitted because they want to prevent deforestation.
“I answered that I want to intervene to protect our natural resources [forest],” he said.
The prosecutor questioned whether the community land had indeed been encroached, to which Vanna replied, “They [plaintiffs] cut it and if the court doesn’t believe, they can go and see it for themselves.”
“I am not the only one, the people of Poulong village have put in a [petition] everywhere to prevent the community land from being cut down and taken over by the [plaintiffs] as their own land. We want it retained as state property, a common property where we have a forest. But when I tried to stop this, they said I defamed them,” Vanna said.
According to him, the plaintiffs are also residents of Poulong village and the purpose of clearing the community land was because it would be included as indigenous people’s land before claiming that it was “an old plantation”.
“I ask people who are competent to help us preserve the forest and natural resources. The area is a public forest, it’s not owned by anyone. I do not want that land [for me], I just want us all to use it together,” he added.
Similarly, another suspect, Bunong native Ngin Channa, felt that the accusation was unfair because the land dispute happened in the community in Poulong village.
She told the court she was not involved in any incitement, but all the people in the Poulong village need to leave the community land so that it can survive.
“Because we, the Bunong people, go in there to collect resin and vegetables. There are also a lot of cattle there,” Channa said. If 500 to 1,000 hectares of the forest are cut down, there will be no forest, she shared. The trees are like fruits to the community, for instance, resin, which is available during dry and rainy seasons.
When the prosecutor asked who confiscated the land brokers’ machine used to cut the trees, she admitted that the community did. The machine was sent to the community representative and the commune forestry administration.
She said the community people volunteered to protect the land from being lost.
“I would like to request the court in Mondulkiri to find the perpetrators, as in who is behind those who dare to do this [clear the land]. There are efforts to prevent [encroachment] [via continuous patrolling], but how can they [land brokers] still do that?” Channa asked.
She requested the government and the relevant authorities to look into the issue, adding that the evidence has been submitted to the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
“Please intervene in this matter so that there is no further encroachment and please drop the charges so that no one is summoned again. Every day we have nothing. We are farmers, so it [the case] disrupts our activity and we cannot do any other work. I’m stuck with a bank loan,” Channa said.
According to Channa, she is now looking for additional evidence to submit to the court, asserting that encroachment is still ongoing.
Mondulkiri provincial deputy governor Cheak Mengheang told CamboJA on Wednesday afternoon that there was daily encroachment, but that it cannot be proven currently. He asked that the information be checked first because it was unclear.
Romnea commune chief Phy Ngouk could not be reached for comment.
NGO rights group Licadho operation director Am Sam Ath believed that citizens who understand and dare to file evidence relating to the protection of collective property, community or state property should be encouraged. They should not be prosecuted for any crime.
But if they are prosecuted, it breaks the spirit of the people who participate in the protection of the environment.
“It is akin to a restriction on the rights of civil society who work to protect the common interests of the forest, natural resources, and the environment,” Sam Ath said. “If this problem persists, no one will dare report problems at the local or community level,” he said.
He also called on the court officials to drop charges against Adhoc’s Vanny and the four local residents who are devoted to protecting the forests.
“I understand that when there is a complaint, the court must summon the people for questioning, but hopefully it will look at all the issues, and the rights and freedom of people,” Sam Ath said.
Deputy prosecutor Seav Ngy Chhorn told CamboJA that the court has yet to decide what is the next procedure after it finished questioning relevant parties involved in the case. The court needs to further question witnesses as both parties have submitted additional evidence.
Early this February, the ruling CPP also filed a lawsuit against outspoken human rights group Adhoc Soeng Senkaruna for allegedly making a comment believed to provoke unrest and incite hatred against them. The comment was also allegedly intended to affect the Senate election on February 25, 2024, according to the complaint published by Fresh News.
In the complaint, CPP asked the court to consider their request to indict and sentence Soeng Senkaruna in accordance with the law. A compensation of two billion riel (approximately $500,000) has also been demanded from him.
Political analyst Em Sovannara opined that in Cambodia today, the “justice system is only available for the influential and the wealthy”. He alleged that “ordinary people, advocates, and those who do social work seem to face the most problems”, which he sees as an unfavorable task for the democratic environment in Cambodia.
“In general, if we look at the characteristics of civil society organizations, advocates, activists and political parties, they seem to be shrinking. There is no space for political freedom and freedom of expression. The Cambodian society lacks a system of justice that gives us confidence,” he said.
In this aspect, he would like to see a return to the principles of democracy prescribed under the Constitution and by the United Nations Charter and Paris Peace Agreements. They clearly state the principles of multi-party liberal democracy where Cambodians can seek justice.
He added that if there is only a theoretical system of the policy, but without practical application, Cambodians would be affected by the injustice in a country that practices democracy.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 22, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 27, 2024
- Event Description
Samrong Tbong Community members this morning reported injuries stemming from an altercation with authorities over the filling-in of the Boeung Tamok lake area in Phnom Penh. The lake has been parcelled off by the state and given away to politically connected institutions and individuals over the past several years.
Members of Samrong Tbong Community gathered at the area yesterday and this morning to protest the state’s excavation of the community’s land. Community members are facing legal complaints in at least four cases that have been opened since 2022 due to their land activism.
The most recent flare-up of the long-running conflict began yesterday, when three excavators accompanied by around 10 security guards were used to attempt to begin clearing land occupied by the community. Community members gathered and halted the work, after which police officers arrived to observe the community. The clearing resumed this morning with a far heavier police presence, as around 200 authorities – including around 50 police officers and the deputy governor of Khan Praek Pnov – arrived at the site to oversee the clearing. Around 100 community members gathered in the area to protest, who were photographed and filmed by police and plainclothes authorities.
Community members reported that at least one child and two women, one of whom is pregnant, were injured as a result of today’s altercation. Some people were sent to a nearby hospital for treatment, while other community members reported being forced to leave the area of the dispute.
This week’s clash followed a notice dated 18 February 2024 from the Praek Pnov district administration, which claimed that the disputed land is state land and instructed community members to cease residential activities and co-operate with the land clearing.
The Samrong Tbong Community and its 76 households have been settled in their current area since 1996. The community has long been at risk of losing their land as the government has parcelled off Boeung Tamok lake to private companies and individuals. So far, the government has given away around 80 parcels of land atop the lake, covering nearly 75% of the total area of what was once the capital’s largest lake.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 22, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 14, 2024
- Event Description
Chea Chan, union leader at the Wing Star Shoes factory, who was just elected into that post, was caught and charged with “conspiracy to commit theft” for an incident that allegedly happened two years ago.
He is said not to be involved in the case. Activists assert that his detention is meant to “pressure” union members to disband the independent union in the factory.
Prior to Chan’s arrest, an election for union board members was held in the factory where he and nine others were voted in, according to a statement by the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Union (CATU).
After Chan informed Wing Star Shoes about forming a union, the company sent warnings to him and the other union leaders, persuading them to cancel the union, but they refused to comply.
On February 14, Chan was detained at work by a group of Kampong Speu provincial police who allegedly failed to produce a summons or any proof to support the arrest.
Yang Sophorn, president of CATU, said the arrest of the union leader was a serious violation of the union rights, along with the absence of evidence or a summons.
“The company conspired with the police and called Chan to the stockroom saying someone wanted to meet him before five policemen caught him. They arrested him without a summons,” said Sophorn.
She said the factory allegedly sued him for conspiring to steal but the charge was allegedly “concocted with the police” as Chan and the others do not know anything about the two-year-old theft at the factory.
The company was not keen on an independent union, hence the reason they discouraged workers from starting one, she added.
“Yesterday, the court charged Chan for conspiring to steal, [an incident] which happened two years ago, not involving Chan. This is the real reason why the company wants to discourage my union leader,” said Sophorn.
In fact, two representatives from Wing Star Shoes met CATU to discuss the union issue as they failed to convince Chan to abort its setting up. “They gave us money to change his mind. When we refused to accept their request, they detained my union leader instead.”
Chan’s wife, Chhay Chanra, 35, told CamboJA that arresting and charging her husband was unfair because her husband did not commit any crime.
“They arrested my husband without a summons, which is a violation of workers’ and union rights. He worked there for almost 10 years. Why did they do that,” she asked.
She is also concerned about her family as they have three children and Chan is the sole breadwinner.
“This is unacceptable. I want the company to withdraw the lawsuit and the court to release him as soon as possible,” said Chanra.
Pheng Siphoan, Chief of Administrative Secretariat and Spokesman of Kampong Speu Provincial Court, said Chan has been sent to Kampong Speu provincial prison after being charged under Articles 29, 353 and 356 of the Penal Code.
According to Article 356 of the Penal Code, theft is punishable by six months to three years in prison and a fine of one million to six million riels.
“The court questioned him on February 17 and sent him to prison yesterday [Sunday],” he told CamboJA.
When asked why the court only questioned Chan two years after the alleged theft, Siphoan replied, “this is the court procedure”.
The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training 2023 annual report stressed that factories should respect the Labor Law and resolve labor conflicts where more than 8,000 cases have been recorded.
Chek Borin, director of the Kampong Speu provincial Department of Labor, said if Chan’s case is related to the violation of worker’s rights, his department will intervene. However, the company sued Chan under the criminal law, so he is not able to get involved.
“Had he [Chan] informed us regarding a labor case, we would have intervened but this is related to a criminal case,” said Borin.
The ministry report also noted that the government is open and encourages the right to organization and unions which is in accordance with the Labor Law and international labor standards.
In 2022, a report by Human Rights Watch mentioned that Cambodia does not have a designated labor court despite the Cambodian labor law stipulating the need for one. Owing to that, the Arbitration Council is the only body tasked to handle alternative dispute resolution for labor-related issues.
Meanwhile, CATU’s Sophorn raised concerns about union rights being trampled on a daily basis. “I can say the condition of union rights now is quite bad, even though we have special protection under the labor law but in reality it is the opposite. Our employees don’t even have the right to negotiate [with factory owners],” she lamented.
CamboJA reached out to Wing Star Shoes for comment via telephone, using a number provided on the company website but the person who picked up said he no longer works with the company.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 21, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2024
- Event Description
Two days after it opened to the public, district authorities ordered Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) to immediately desist their photo exhibition themed “House and Life” in a restaurant in Chbar Ampov on the afternoon of February 25. No reason was given for the shutdown order of the 10-day exhibition planned till March 4.
“The owner of the restaurant told us that the authorities instructed them to dismantle [the exhibits] and stop [the exhibition],” said STT executive director Soeung Saran. “We don’t know what is the reason for the shutdown.”
However, the authorities’ act is a violation of STT’s rights as a civil society organization and an abuse of power by pressuring the restaurant owner to take down the displays, Saran said. The requirement for NGOs to apply for a permit to hold an exhibition is not stipulated by the law.
“I think it affects the freedom of our work, and such impromptu decisions should be fully discussed with stakeholders,” Saran said, adding that he wants to see the authorities “open the door” for civil society organizations to freely organize events.
They should be more understanding towards the common purpose of the work before deciding to stop the exhibition, he remarked.
“Because of this, it affects, firstly, the performance of the institution and, secondly, the reputation of the leadership [Prime Minister Hun Manet] who is trying to reform inaction and persecutions,” he added.
Chbar Ampov district governor Cheng Monyra could not be reached for comment, while Niroth commune chief Tep Prommony claimed that she was busy and in a meeting before hanging up the phone. Prommony did not pick up follow-up calls despite numerous attempts to reach her on Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Niroth commune police chief Hor Sylihov declined to comment as to why the authorities instructed the restaurant owner to stop the exhibition or if they had received any complaints. Instead, he referred the reporter to the restaurant owner.
However, Sorn Bormey, manager of Champei Garden Restaurant, declined to comment.
On February 23, 2024, STT launched a photo exhibition showcasing the life of urban poor communities, which revolved around issues of land insecurity and resettlements, lack of pre-arranged services and infrastructure and forced evictions.
The exhibition also highlighted the present condition of city lakes, where several have been filled up, and the environmental impact as a result of their alleged development by companies and public figures.
The event aimed to create awareness to the public, and enable stakeholders, including urban poor communities and the government, to work together to find solutions and promote the right to affordable housing.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 21, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2024
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court this morning upheld the 2021 decision of the Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court convicting three Lor Peang Community members of “obstruction of public official” and “intentionally causing damage” as part of a long-running land conflict. The three community members are Nhem Nhuen (also known as Snguon Nhuen), Reach Seima and Pul Sorn.
Lor Peang Community has resisted community members’ land being encroached by KDC International, a company owned by Chea Kheng, the wife of former Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem. The charges stem from an incident in 2013, when KDC International began establishing borders over the disputed land in Kampong Chhnang province. Members of Lor Peang Community arrived at the site to protest, during which a temporary security guard hut was destroyed.
Almost eight years later, the provincial court convicted the three Lor Peang Community members under Articles 503 and 410 of the Criminal Code. All received suspended sentences of 2 years and 6 months and were ordered to pay compensation of 2.8 million riel (approximately US$700), a decision that was today upheld by the Appeal Court.
None of the three community members were ordered to pre-trial detention pending final appeal. One of the defendants, Pul Sorn, has since died.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 21, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 29, 2024
- Event Description
The regional Court of Appeal in Battambang province on Thursday questioned three villagers from around Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, who were accused of incitement for allegedly posting an Apsara National Authority notice on social media.
Last year, Apsara authority filed a complaint against three residents Luy Socheat, Phan Salin and Sok Pov for incitement for allegedly posting the notice on the removal of illegal structures in Ampil commune’s Bakorng village last year. The three also urged other villagers to join a protest.
Some 100 villagers traveled by bus to the regional Appeal Court to protest on Thursday, calling court officials to drop all charges against three residents in Bakorng district.
The case against the three is an appeal by Apsara authority after a decision to hold their case by Siem Reap provincial deputy prosecutor Lay Nisay on November 30, according to the court warrant obtained by CamboJA. But, the court did not reveal a specific reason.
Sok Pov told CamboJA that prosecutor Kong Chamkhemrin questioned him regarding the information posted on Facebook in relation to Apsara authory’s notice to remove illegal structures of villagers.
“The court allowed us to return home after questioning, and he [Kong Chankhemrin] said [we] don’t need to be worried about an arrest,” he said. “I didn’t commit what they [Apsara authority] accused me of because I shared the information.”
Battambang Court of Appeal spokesperson Teang Sambo confirmed that three villages were questioned for incitement at the court but declined to comment further. She asked that questions be referred to the spokesperson for prosecutor Ream Chanmony. However, the spokesperson declined to comment.
Chea Kosal, one of villagers who came to support the three, said the accusation by Apsara authority is “unreasonable” as they had only shared information, which is not the same as incitement.
“The accusation is unfair because sharing information isn’t an offense. We are angry, which is why we have come here to support them,” Kosal said.
He called on the Battambang Court of Appeal to uphold the provincial court decision, which had correctly decided to hold the case.
Local NGO Licadho rights supervisor In Kongchet expressed disappointment that Apsara authority took the case to a higher level after the provincial court’s decision.
“They are not guilty of posting the notification letters of Apsara National Authority. It is like sharing information to their community, so it’s not an offense [or] did not commit a felony,” he said.
“[If] Apsara authority continues to sue them, it will cause them to live in fear due to the court process,” Konchet said. “It also affects their livelihood as they have to travel to court.”
He urged Apsara authority to stop suing the villagers and consider settling the issue.
Apsara National Authority deputy director-general Long Kosal could not be reached for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: villagers targeted with criminal charges
- Date added
- Mar 13, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 6, 2024
- Event Description
A group of mixed armed forces including gendarmes and police officers accompanied by forestry administration officials mobilised this morning to secure disputed land in Preah Vihear province, resulting in the use of live ammunition and arrests.
A number of villagers have reportedly been arrested and taken to Preah Vihear provincial capital. Their current location is unknown.
Villagers reported that mixed forces armed with automatic rifles had entered the area shortly before dawn, and were accompanied by tractors to clear the disputed land. Fearful of property destruction and forced evictions, villagers gathered to demand the forces leave the area. A confrontation ensued in which a video captured live ammunition being shot repeatedly by authorities as well as the use of a smoke grenade.
The land dispute in question involves Seladamex Co., Ltd., and impacts families from neighbouring Mrech, Srayang Tboung, and Kdak villages as well as families who have more recently migrated to the area.
Seladamex had been granted an Economic Land Concession in March 2011 in Srayang and Phnum Tbaeng Pir communes in Preah Vihear’s Kuleaen district. The concession led to land conflicts with hundreds of families who were already living in the area. In 2022, representatives of 131 impacted families reported that their belongings and crops had been destroyed by authorities on behalf of the company.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 13, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2024
- Event Description
Twenty-nine people were charged by the Preah Vihear Provincial Court on 8 March 2024 with “clearing forestland and enclosing it to claim for ownership” under Article 97(6) of the Law on Forestry. Four of the 29 people charged were released on bail, and the remaining 25 have been sent to pre-trial detention in Preah Vihear provincial prison. They include 13 men and 12 women.
The group was arrested earlier this month after mixed armed forces accompanied by forestry administration officials entered a disputed area with tractors intended to clear the land. Authorities fired live ammunition, used a smoke grenade, and arrested villagers.
The charges are the latest development in a longstanding land dispute involving Seladamex Co., Ltd., which affects families from Mrech, Srayang Tboung, and Kdak villages as well as families who have more recently migrated to the area. Seladamex was granted an Economic Land Concession in 2011 in Srayang and Phnum Tbaeng Pir communes in Kuleaen district.
- Impact of Event
- 29
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: local residents intimidated by armed forces over disputed land, few arrested
- Date added
- Mar 13, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2024
- Event Description
The Tbong Khmum Appeal Court yesterday suspended a two-year prison sentence given to four Srae Prang Community members, who were accused of intentional damage for blocking a private company from clearing their land.
The four community members are part of group of nine defendants who are alleged to have blocked machinery belonging to Harmony Win Investment Co. Ltd. from clearing their land in 2017 and 2020. They were convicted of intentional damage and sentenced to two years in prison in 2021 by a provincial court. The Tbong Khmum Appeal Court upheld the verdict in 2022, but the Supreme Court sent the case back to the appeal court in August 2023.
On Thursday 15 February 2024, the appeal court upheld the sentences of the four community members and suspended their two-year prison sentences. The community members are Chhork Chhey, Khem Sokcheang, Pum Pich and Veun Ver.
Srae Prang Community in Tbong Khmum has fought a decade-long dispute over their community farmland with Harmony Win Investment, which is a Chinese-owned rubber company. The company has routinely blocked village residents’ access to their farmland and cleared it, leading to frequent protests from community members.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 7, 2024
- Event Description
On 7 February 2024, provincial courts convicted two well-known activists in separate cases, continuing the trend of judicial harassment against human rights advocates in Cambodia.
The Ratanakiri Provincial Court earlier today announced its verdict convicting environmental activist Chhorn Phalla of defamation, insult and incitement to commit a felony under Articles 305, 502 and 495 of the Cambodian Criminal Code. The court sentenced Phalla to one year in prison and imposed a 10 million riel (around US$2,500) fine.
Phalla is an outspoken environmental activist who has been repeatedly prosecuted for his advocacy for the protection of natural resources and monitoring of deforestation. Phalla had been imprisoned since September 2021 for criminal charges arising from two other separate cases. Both cases were also based on his activism. Phalla was finally released from prison in October 2023 after his convictions in the other two cases were overturned, only to be again convicted today.
The Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court also today announced a verdict convicting political opposition official Chao Veasna of incitement to commit a felony and incitement to discriminate under Articles 494, 495 and 496 of the Cambodian Criminal Code. It is unclear at this time which person or group of people Veasna was found to have discriminated against contrary to the Criminal Code.
The court sentenced Veasna to three years in prison, imposed a 6 million riel (around US$1,500) fine, and ordered Veasna to pay 80 million riel (around US$20,000) in compensation. The court also suspended Veasna’s right to vote and his right to stand for election for five years.
Veasna, a Steering Committee member of the opposition Candlelight Party and Poipet District President, was arrested in July 2023 after allegedly posting a photograph of his spoiled National Election ballot on social media. This arrest came shortly after Veasna was released from Correctional Centre 3 (also known as Trapeang Phlong prison) in February 2022, having served a five-year sentence for multiple other convictions related to the exercise of his political rights. Veasna was at that time an elected commune chief and member of the former opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: environmental defender arrested
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 11, 2024
- Event Description
Kuy indigenous community in Bos Village and Preus Ka’ak Village, M’lou Prey II Commune, Chheb District in Preah Vihear Province urge the authorities to help them seek justice after being allegedly assaulted by a group of men. The villagers suspect they are sugarcane plantation workers who destroyed their farmland.
Community representative, Pean Sophat, told CamboJA that on February 11, 2024, villagers came together to stop three tractors known to belong to local Chheang Kong Nov from plowing the area which the villagers had long cultivated.
Sophat said when they arrived at construction site 11 to meet Kong Nov, his people allegedly closed the gate and assaulted the villagers. Three villagers were injured.
Another villager, Soeun Tha, a 30-year-old indigenous man, said Kong Nov “always” plows people’s land, so this was not the first time. Hence, the reason behind the villagers’ decision to stop the activity and get answers. Instead, Kong Nov’s team used violence on the villagers.
“When we arrived at the site, he ordered his team to close the door and use violence against us. He grabbed another villager’s collar and also beat three people,” Tha recounted.
According to Tha, the government allocated the land that was cultivated by the villagers to a Chinese firm in 2011. When the Chinese company collapsed in 2019, the locals continued to cultivate on the land again, they are planting potatoes and rice. But recently, a group of men with Kong Nov started plowing the land to plant potatoes and abused villagers.
“It is wrong and unfair, and the authorities in the province are not making any effort to help us,” said Tha.
In January, five Chinese companies signed 50-year lease contracts over the state land. The Cambodia-registered companies plan to operate sugarcane plantations and other agro-industrial crops on the land measuring 20,179 hectares in total.
However, Tha said those who came did not have a permit or a letter to prove that they had permission to clear the land.
The villagers are not interested in opposing the company, he added. “We just want to negotiate a solution because we have been farming on the land for a long time.”
Chief of M’lou Prey II commune Kan Sovankea told CamboJA that the local authority was aware of the matter, adding that it would be transferred to the district authority for intervention. He could not resolve the issue as it is “beyond his capacity”.
He explained that the people from his commune have been farming on the company’s land known as Hengfu group although the latter stopped planting in 2019. But, he did not know the exact number of families who had been doing that.
“Now I mediate for them [with Kong Nov]. In fact, the villagers have planted crops on the company land and want to continue to do more,” said Sovankea.
The villagers have filed a police report following the attack, said 37-year-old Nab Noeun, adding that they asked the commune authorities to help secure justice for those with land but are now “disturbed by unidentified people”.
“I have filed a complaint but I don’t know the outcome yet. It is unfair because our land has been used for a long time. There are plants there but they have come to plow and destroy our crops,” she added.
While the villagers do not know who the person was, she believed that there must be a “powerful person” behind the attack, as they dared to harm them.
“Maybe there was someone behind him. If not, he would never have dared to do so and the authorities are still silent,” she said.
There are 14 ethnic groups and 155 indigenous communities in Cambodia, according to a study on the demographic and socioeconomic state of indigenous peoples in the country published in 2021 by the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Rural Development.
A new code of environment and natural resources was enacted by the National Assembly in June 2023.
Another resident, Khat Sisophan, hoped that the government would stop giving away land used by the people to plant their crops to private companies, while asking them to withdraw the land from Rui Feng chinese sugarcane company.
He said villagers need farmlands to support their families as their livelihoods are in dire condition and they are in debt.
“The people of this village are facing difficulties and aren’t happy nowadays. It is not fair [that land is being privatized for companies].
“I want to see the new government reform the law and respect human rights, including those who live in remote areas, like us. Without farmlands, we would not be able to live comfortably,” Sisophan said.
Deputy Provincial Governor of Preah Vihear Province Nop Vuthy urged people to file a complaint with the authorities with regards to the violence. That is, “as long as they have evidence,” Vuthy told CamboJA.
He said Preah Vihear provincial authorities made a contract with villagers to “make them understand” that the land had been given to private companies.
The contract also mentioned that they should “stop planting on the investment land” but, “every year and every season”, villagers continue to grow crops on the land.
“We have given it to Chinese companies,” Vuthy said. “[Villagers] always say [it’s their land]. Obviously it’s not like that. The land is already registered as a state land.
“Now, we have a state land commission. We’re investigating the history of the land, whether they really own the land and if they have adequate documents. The provincial authority will take action accordingly.”
According to Article 25 of the Land Law, indigenous community land consists of lands where communities have established settlements and engaged in traditional agriculture. The lands are not only those regularly cultivated, but also those which are reserved for seasonal farming and are recognized by the administrative authorities.
Poek Sophorn, executive director of Ponlok Khmer, said the authorities should help the indigenous people acquire justice and calm the situation as they have been cultivating the land for a long time.
Indigenous communities are protected by the law and possess the right to access land.
“But the authorities don’t seem to care much about the people’s rights and they might lose their right to the land.
“Why not help them to register their land? At least help them secure land ownership for private use, this would be fairer,” said Sophorn.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2024
- Event Description
Four indigenous Kuy residents of M’lou Prey II commune, Chheb district, have been summoned by the Preah Vihear provincial court for questioning on the obstruction of the company’s development, and inciting people to illegally occupy state land.
Last week, three villagers of M’lou Prey II commune were assaulted in a land dispute. The indigenous community is seeking justice from the authority following the assault by the group believed to be sugarcane plantation workers.
Four days after the conflict on February 11, M’lou Prey II community representative, Seun Tha, 31, received the summons issued by the commune police. Tha said he is very disappointed, noting that indigenous people are the victims as they lost their land and survive on low incomes.
In the summons reviewed by CamboJA, four community representatives will be questioned by Preah Vihear court prosecutor on February 27. The summons states that the court will question them for allegedly obstructing the company’s work and for inciting people to illegally occupy state land on January 16, 2024.
The summons did not name the company but people believe that it is the Chinese company which was granted land for development from the government in 2011.
Tha called it an injustice against indigenous peoples, who often suffered abuse by those in power, and the law. He hopes the government will reconsider the plight of indigenous people and that the court would render them justice.
“It is very unfair for indigenous people like us. We just cultivated our land and now we are being issued a summons,” Tha said. “I hope the court will drop the charges against the three of us and other community representatives.”
Nop Vuthy, spokesperson of Preah Vihear province, told CamboJA that the company was suing them, and claimed that the provincial authorities had tried several times to resolve the case out of court. However, the case was beyond the jurisdiction of the provincial authorities, he added.
“We mediated out of court, but now the company sued them. This case is not under the control of the local authorities,” Vuthy said.
Another community member, who is also a Kuy native, Pean Sophat, said they did nothing wrong as the people came to cultivate their land, not the company land.
“We oppose [the summons] because the land that the company is developing is not state land, it is our land which we have been cultivating for a long time,” he added.
The national policy on indigenous peoples’ development in 2009 recognizes the rights of indigenous peoples to land, traditions, culture and customs. The 2001 Land Law recognizes the rights of indigenous communities to their collective use of land.
Although Cambodia has a policy of recognizing the rights of indigenous peoples, there is little protection for their interests. Since 2001, only around five indigenous communities have received collective title deeds.
Preah Vihear provincial court spokesperson, Chum Kaniya could not be reached for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 8, 2024
- Event Description
Ratanakiri Provincial Court has sentenced Theng Savoeun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC), and two associates, Nhel Pheap and Thann Hach, to five years jail for “plotting and incitement”. However, the sentences have been suspended, according to court spokesperson Keo Pheakdey.
Pheakdey, also a deputy prosecutor at the court, said apart from the suspension of the sentence, there was no imposition of fines, adding that the court would give detailed verdicts for each individual later.
“I can tell you that they [Theng Savoeun and his colleagues] were sentenced by the court to five years jail, but their sentences were suspended with no fine for the crime,” he said.
In a quick response, Savoeun said the judgment was “unfair to him”, stating that he would file an appeal against the decision.
“As one of the victims, I will file an appeal with the Tbong Khmum Appeal Court against the verdict of the Ratanakiri Provincial Court,” he said. “The sentence is unfair to all of us because we have no purpose or intention to plot and incite, or cause serious social chaos. We work professionally and abide by the laws of the country.”
On May 18, 2023, Savoeun and 16 other CCFC members were arrested by Kratie provincial police at the behest of the Ratanakiri provincial police.
Nhem Sam Oeun, Ratanakiri governor, previously said Savoeun and his group were arrested for carrying out “suspicious” work in the province. Fourteen individuals were released, but three – Savoeun, Pheap, and Hach – were taken to the Ratanakiri Provincial Court.
Am Sam Ath, LICADHO operations director, who provided lawyers for the defendants, described the decision as a pressure on civil society organizations, adding that while the jail term has been suspended, Savoeun still remained under the court’s pressure.
Expressing frustration over the decision, Sam Ath felt that the government “should stop using the judiciary to place pressure on civil societies, which undermined their right to freedom of expression”.
“This is a pressure on civil society leaders, especially Savoeun, Pheap and Hach,” he remarked. If one were to look at them, one would see that they are working for the people, for the benefit of farmers. Therefore, there is no crime, and there should be no accusations against them, he said. “It’s [the verdict] a bad message for civil society. Even though the sentence was suspended, he [Savoeun] has still been convicted.”
He said the “pressure from the judiciary” also affects the activities of other civil society organizations. The government should drop any charges against civil societies “in whatever form” so that they can do their job transparently and independently.
On May 22, the Ratanakiri Provincial Court placed Savoeun, Pheap and Hach under pre-trial detention on two charges.
The arrests were made after a CCFC training session, attended by 39 staff members, from May 14 to 17 in Ratanakiri. Following the program on May 17, the participants who were heading back to Phnom Penh had their bus stopped by Kratie provincial authorities, allegedly upon the request of the Ratanakiri provincial authorities.
However, the Ratanakiri court released Savoeun, Pheap and Hach on bail. Later, Savoeun posted a message on his Facebook page which read, “Returning with both responsibility and additional obligations.”
The release by the court occurred after Savoeun issued a letter and video “acknowledging his guilt” on the alleged charge of conducting a “peasant revolution.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: three NGO staff interrogated, arrested
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 31, 2024
- Event Description
More than 100 garment workers at Shengbo Garment Factory Ltd in Kampong Speu province protested on Saturday, demanding the reinstatement of two workers, who were fired after their election as union leaders in the factory.
Seak Thong, vice president of the independent union, called his termination by the factory as unfair. Independent unions protect the interest and rights of workers, and prevent them from being discriminated against by factory owners, he said. “I’m sad that I cannot be with the workers anymore as I have lost my job for no reason.”
Chinese-owned Shengbo Garment, which produces women’s clothing for Spanish brand MNG and Italy’s Calliope for export to Europe, employs over 700 workers. It began operation in March 2023.
This is the second protest in the factory. The first time was on February 2, this year, where nearly 200 workers protested in front of the factory, according to Thong, who
claimed that the factory administration was aware of the election.
He was contacted by the administration, which urged him to “resign” from the independent union and join the factory-managed union with the bosses. He was told that he would enjoy increased benefits from the factory, but he declined the offer.
“I refused them and he [administration] threatened me that if I did not agree, I [might become] unemployed. He could not guarantee [my job] because [he said] if he had known earlier [about the union], he would have ended the contract faster.”
Thon Thy said on January 31, 2024 the assistant of line five told him that the president of the factory called him and Thong to meet at the office and told them “not to renew the employment contract”.
“I can’t accept this because I didn’t do anything wrong. This clearly shows union discrimination in the factory. We had already informed the factory owner about the election but they refused to accept an independent union.”
On January 9, 2024, the elected members directly informed the company of the election result through administration director Am Mony, but it was rejected. The same day, the members informed them again via post.
Two days later, the elected members applied for registration at the Department of Labor Dispute of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training.
However, the company only informed Thy and Thong on January 31 not to renew their employment contract.
Yet, Thy hopes that the factory owner would reinstate them, and not discriminate against local unions in the factory. They also asked relevant ministries to check on the enforcement of the labor law in the factory.
“I hope the ministry and the factory owner will resolve this problem by accepting us and other elected independent union [members] to work in the factory like normal to protect workers’ interests.
“We also urge the factory owner to respect the Kingdom’s labor law and union rights, and not harass the workers.” Mony, administrator of Shengbo factory, told CamboJA on Monday morning that protests will no longer be held. “All workers will return to work as normal.”
He also denied the workers’ allegations of union discrimination. “We don’t discriminate against unions. The termination of the contracts was a result of reduced production. “
When asked to reveal the name of the buyer, which apparently reduced orders, he declined to answer. “I can’t say the name as it’s confidential.”
Touch Soeu, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) said factories commit “serious mistakes by dismissing workers without prior notice”, which is illegal and discriminatory against post-election free trade unions.
Soeu alleged that Shengbo “always terminates workers” when they learn about employees who stand as candidates in union elections to protect workers’ interests. “It isn’t the first time the Shengbo factory threatened [workers] of unions, which aren’t under the factory.”
Ministry spokesman Kata Orn acknowledged that a request to form and register a union was received from Shengbo workers. On January 7, 2024, 10 union members were elected to form a union, in which Thon Thy was elected as union president, Seak Thong vice president and Preng Chealy as secretary.
On January 11,2024, the union submitted a registration form to the Dispute Department. On January 25, 2024, the department received a letter from Shengbo stating that the company was against the registration of a free trade union as the leadership, founder and secretary had “resigned from the union”.
On January 1, 2024, the ministry’s Fourth Labor Dispute Office received a complaint from Thy and Thong, the elected union president and vice president, respectively.
Orn said employers will provide information regarding the issue on February 13, 2024, he said, adding that the case is being processed.
“The ministry mediated and explained the union side and the workers. So far, the workers have not protested and are back to work. Separately, the ministry continues to coordinate and resolve the issues of the two [Thy and Thong].”
Khun Tharo, program manager for the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL), said this was the second time Shengbo factory has persecuted independent unions during nomination and post-election stage.
Due to the continued persecution of workers and suppression of workers’ rights, the new union members initiated the idea of forming an independent union in the factory to protect workers’ interests.
“This is the second time the company has terminated employment contracts after an independent union was formed in the factory. The first was in November 2023 and the worker has not returned to work in the factory yet.”
“It also highlights the discrimination against local unions, which are protected by union privileges, and the factory’s lack of respect for labor rights in the Kingdom,” Tharo said.
In November 2023, ex-union leader Roeun Kolap was fired after she joined the independent union. Her labor dispute over her dismissal is pending at the Kampong Speu Provincial Court, he added.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Event Description
Around 12 youth and environmental activists and a foreign national were taken into custody and questioned for several hours by local Phnom Penh and immigration authorities after peacefully advocating for the preservation of a coastal island in Koh Kong province.
The activists were exercising, holding banners and taking photographs on Phnom Penh riverside this morning while being monitored by non-uniformed security personnel. As they were leaving the area, Daun Penh district security guards forced them onto a truck and took them to the district office for questioning.
The authorities took them in because they were holding banners reading, “Sunday for Koh Kong Island”. All 13 people were held and questioned all afternoon before being released around 6 pm.
Youth and environmental activists have consistently advocated for the Cambodian government to protect the Koh Kong Krao island off the coast of Koh Kong province. The island is slated for development, including a special economic zone developed by ruling party senator Ly Yong Phat.
Environmental activists were harassed, held for one day and blocked from cycling from Koh Kong to Phnom Penh in 2020 as part of their campaign to “Save Koh Kong Krao.”
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 15, 2024
- Event Description
Hundreds of Siem Reap residents marched to the provincial hall this morning to submit a petition asking for intervention from the national government and UNESCO to stop newly enforced restrictions on buildings and repairs implemented by the APSARA Authority, the government agency which oversees the Angkor Archaeological Park.
Around 500 people from Puok district’s Khnat commune and Siem Reap city’s Tuek Vil commune marched with banners to Siem Reap Provincial Hall to submit a petition asking Prime Minister Hun Manet, former Prime Minister Hun Sen, and the United Nations agency UNESCO to stop APSARA from causing fear and preventing any new construction or renovations in Khnat commune, which the petition says is very far from the Angkor structure.
The residents were temporarily blocked by around 20 military police and Puok district governor Sin Chanthol, who wanted only 4 to 5 people to submit the petition, but villagers refused and continued their march to the provincial hall, reaching the hall’s main entrance with their banners. One of the banners held by a community member said, “We must not allow the Apsara Authority to continue to oppress our community.”
The petition, which was accepted by Siem Reap Governor Prak Sophoan, also reads, “From this day forward, we do not recognise APSARA authority, and in addition, all of us do not allow APSARA to come manage us anymore.” Residents left the provincial hall after submitting the petition.
The Apsara Authority, in conjunction with various government ministries, have overseen the mass eviction of at least ten thousand people living in the Angkor Archaeological Park since 2022, relocating them to underdeveloped and inadequate relocation sites where families are provided little to no services or employment opportunities.
The government claims the evictions have been spurred by UNESCO and has said that UNESCO spoke of revoking the temple complex’s heritage status if park residents were allowed to remain on the site. UNESCO has claimed in response to research published by Amnesty International that it has not called for “population displacements,” but also did not acknowledge the government's actions as forced evictions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 5, 2024
- Event Description
Former Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party on Monday sued the spokesperson of human rights group ADHOC, accusing him of defamation in his recent criticism of the ruling party’s legal actions toward a leading opposition figure.
Party lawyers demanded 2 billion riel (US$500,000) in damages in the lawsuit against Soeng Senkaruna filed in Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
The complaint signed by three lawyers for the Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP, said that Senkaruna commented last week to The Cambodia Daily that the party has used its influence with the courts to put pressure on its political opponents.
The lawsuit is the latest to target a critic of powerful Cambodian politicians. In November, a Banteay Meanchey man was sentenced to three years in prison for comments he made on Facebook over the CPP’s inability to prevent illegal immigration from Vietnam and drug use.
Last year, the Supreme Court upheld a US$1 million defamation judgment against Son Chhay, the vice president of the opposition Candlelight Party.
A lower court in 2022 ordered Son Chhay to pay the amount to the CPP and the National Election Committee following comments he made about local commune elections, which he said was marred by irregularities.
According to the lawsuit, Senkaruna told The Cambodia Daily that the CPP should seek to compete with opposition politicians in the political realm, such as through free and fair elections, rather than through court complaints.
The Cambodia Daily newspaper closed in Phnom Penh in 2017. It has since been relaunched as a Khmer- and English-language online news outlet based in the United States.
The outlet cited Senkaruna's paraphrased comments in a Khmer-language article on Friday. He was not directly quoted.
Hun Sen’s online threat
The lawsuit claims that Senkaruna's remarks seriously damaged the CPP's reputation and deliberately harmed the upcoming Feb. 25 Senate election.
It was filed the day after Hun Sen made remarks on Facebook threatening to sue Senkaruna for commenting on the Son Chhay case. After stepping down as prime minister in August, Hun Sen was named president of the CPP.
Senkaruna declined to comment about the CPP’s lawsuit when contacted by Radio Free Asia.
However, on Facebook he said his comments in the article were aimed at promoting “respect for human rights, law, social justice and democracy” without serving any particular political party.
“Any paraphrasing of my words to add or leave out [the meaning] in order to attack directly on the name of a political party was not my intention and goal,” he wrote on Facebook.
Senkaruna has been actively involved in the promotion of human rights in Cambodia for more than 20 years, Am Sam Ath of human rights group Licadho told RFA.
“He is always active in helping people with land grabbing and other rights violations, and in asking the relevant authorities to intervene to find a solution for the people,” he said.
On Facebook, Senkaruna added a note of thanks to friends and supporters.
“Thank you very much for the kind words, greetings and concerns from my family, friends, media, civil society, international partners and foreign diplomatic friends for my safety,” he wrote. “I’m fine.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 20, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 5, 2024
- Event Description
The Cambodian authorities should drop all charges against Ny Nak, an outspoken critic of the government who was arrested on January 5, 2024, in response to comments he posted on Facebook, and immediately release him, Human Rights Watch said today. Nak is being held in pretrial detention on politically motivated charges of incitement to discriminate and criminal defamation concerning his criticism of Cambodian Minister of Labor Heng Sour.
“Cambodia’s new government has picked up where the previous government left off in its persecution of government critics,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should respect the right to free expression and immediately and unconditionally release Ny Nak.”
Nak said that his recent arrest is related to comments he made on December 17, 2023 on his Facebook page, in which he referenced the government’s decision to grant 91 hectares of land in Kampot province to the labor minister. He had written: “What achievements has Heng Sour done for the Khmer nation, that the government gave him forest land as his personal property? RIP Khmer forests.”
Nak is well-known for his criticism of the previous government of Prime Minister Hun Sen. He served 18 months in prison on charges of incitement to discrimination and public insult for a satirical post that the authorities alleged was an offense for mocking a speech by Hun Sen. He was released in June 2023 after he completed his sentence.
Human Rights Watch previously reported on an assault against Nak on September 12, 2023 when men with metal batons viciously attacked him and his wife in broad daylight in Phnom Penh. He was hospitalized with serious wounds to his head and extremities. Nak alleged that two days before the attack, on the evening of September 10, members of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party approached him to join their party and warned him to not be so publicly critical of the government. The authorities failed to seriously investigate the attack or to make progress in identifying those responsible.
Sok Synet, Nak’s wife, posted on Facebook on January 13 that her husband’s health is “now weak. He has headaches, dizziness, and itchy hands and feet.”
The attack shared similarities with assaults reported earlier in 2023 against members of the opposition Candlelight Party, which the authorities also never seriously investigated.
“Prime Minister Hun Manet is continuing down the same rights-abusing path as his father, and outspoken dissidents like Ny Nak will bear the brunt of that abuse,” Robertson said. “Cambodia’s aid and trade partners should ensure that their future engagement with the government is based on tangible and systematic improvements in human rights.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 14, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 19, 2023
- Event Description
The Preah Sihanouk Appeal Court this morning upheld the defamation convictions of two Koh Kong land activists, Phav Nheung and Seng Lin, under Article 305 of the Criminal Code. The court also dropped incitement charges under Articles 494 and 495 against them, partially upholding the decision of the Koh Kong Provincial Court from August.
Nheung and Lin were the target of a complaint launched by Chhay Vy, a former community representative whom the women had accused in 2019 of seizing land. The activists were each fined 4 million riel (approximately US$1,000) and ordered to pay 40 million riel (approximately $10,000) in compensation to Vy.
Both Nheung and Lin were jailed in pre-trial detention between 30 June and 6 October this year over the incitement charges, with Nheung detained alongside her infant son.
The prosecutor argued in favour of dropping the incitement charges during the appeal trial, making a further appeal to the Supreme Court from the prosecution unlikely.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: three land rights WHRDs convicted
- Date added
- Jan 30, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 5, 2023
- Event Description
Another two villagers were allowed to return after being questioned on Tuesday by the Siem Reap provincial court following a lawsuit by APSARA authority on villagers, accused of inciting others to commit felony and obstruct public work.
A total of nine villagers, including a commune police level officer, have been questioned so far in relation to APSARA’s legal case against the locals, which was reported by CamboJA.
Siem Reap Court spokesperson Yin Srang confirmed that siblings Kert Reachkol and Kert Yan have been allowed to return home.
According to Hang Touch TV online video which was live, some 100 villagers gathered in front of the provincial court to support their neighbors who showed up for questioning at the court on December 5.
In the footage, some villagers were seen lighting incense and praying to Buddha, a religious practice among Cambodians, hoping that the court would drop the charges against the villagers and not destroy their dwelling.
“I told the court that I didn’t incite [anyone],” Reachkol told CamboJA on Wednesday. “In my opinion, I shouldn’t be accused [of it] because I did not commit any act of incitement and obstruct public work,” he said.
He explained that in 2022, he fixed an additional iron front structure, and changed the roof from tarpaulin to zinc to protect the house when it rains but APSARA ordered him to remove it.
The authority came to remove it in June but was unsuccessful as the villagers gathered around and protested. “We begged them not to remove it as it would affect our livelihood,” Reachkol said.
APSARA National Authority spokesperson Long Koksal said the authority decided to file a lawsuit as the villagers refused to remove their construction, which was illegally built around Angkor heritage sites.
“When there was no cooperation [to demolish them] after we tried our best to resolve the issue [previously], we had no choice but to go with this method [lawsuit],” he said.
He said when APSARA Authority saw the illegal constructions, their officers informed house owners that they had illegally built them on the Angkor site.
“We gave them time to remove [the structures] depending on the timeframe they requested – one, two or three weeks – and reminded them when they didn’t follow the first notice,” Kosal said.
Prasat Bakong district administrative chief Din Dong said he was not aware that villagers were summoned for questioning but said that villagers had built additional front structures, and made a roof for parking which is prohibited by APSARA.
“Local authorities have compromised but importantly the area is under the control of APSARA authority,” Dong said, noting that there are six communes in Prasat Bakong where villagers live within the APSARA authority jurisdiction.
NGO rights group at Licadho Banteay Meanchey coordinator Phun Chhin urged APSARA to be more considerate of the villagers’ livelihood instead of taking legal action on them.
“He did not build a huge construction. He just fixed [a front structure] which is needed to support his daily livelihood but we are seeing a restriction by APSARA authority,” he said.
He felt that APSARA should not file a complaint against people who were fixing small things. “Accusing someone of incitement is a serious offense for villagers,” Phhin said. “We noticed that APSARA filed the complaint as a deterrent to other villagers who dare to come out and protest against their [APSARA] work.”
Previously, APSARA spokesperson told CamboJA that some 10,000 families, who volunteered to move to relocation sites of Run Ta Ek and Peak Sneng, remain under construction.
The Cambodian government is working to clear settlements around Angkor Archeological Park in an effort to retain the temple’s UNESCO World Heritage status. While thousands of people inside the Angkor Archaeological Park have been displaced on conservation grounds, communities have been allowed to stay but with restrictions. Apsara authority prohibits them from expanding their houses.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: villagers targeted with criminal charges
- Date added
- Jan 2, 2024
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 22, 2023
- Event Description
A Cambodian man who criticized the country’s longtime ruling party on Facebook over its inability to prevent illegal immigration from Vietnam and drug use was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison.
Kang Saran told Radio Free Asia that he was convicted by the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court on charges of defamation, incitement and insulting the king.
“I ask the Royal Government or government leaders to fully respect the rights and freedoms of the people and the right to life and movement. Don’t just send [people] to go to Prey Sar prison like this,” he told RFA.
“Why can’t people express their opinions? Why do you always use arrests and charges like this, even though I have no political affiliation at all?” he said, addressing his comments toward court officials across Cambodia who have charged numerous government critics in recent years.
Kang Saran’s remarks about the Cambodian People’s Party came in a Facebook live video on July 2, just three weeks before the CPP won a sweeping victory in the general election.
In the video, he asked whether the CPP would do anything after the election to stop the flow of Vietnamese immigrants into the country – a sensitive political issue in Cambodia for many years.
He also noted that drug use, government corruption and economic insecurity remain society-wide problems in the country.
Banteay Meanchey authorities arrested Kang Saran within hours and held him for 10 days. He was released on bail on July 11.
Phon Chhin, the Banteay Meanchey coordinator for human rights group Licadho, said the court should carefully consider whether Kang Saran should be sent to prison to serve his sentence.
“Kang Saran tried to defend himself in court proceedings,” he said. “He asserted that he had no such intention as charged.”
Kang Saran said he was not immediately re-arrested following Wednesday’s verdict. He told RFA he has no plans to flee the country and insisted that he did nothing wrong in making the comments.
RFA wasn’t able to contact Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court spokesman Roeun Lina on Wednesday to ask about the case.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 19, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 24, 2023
- Event Description
Siem Reap Provincial Court questioned four villagers, including a commune police officer for allegedly obstructing public work, and for intentionally causing damage and violence.
Provincial court spokesperson Yin Srang confirmed that the four people have been allowed to return home after questioning.
“They have just been questioned by the prosecutor, and we don’t know what the next procedure is yet,” he said, declining to comment further.
In August, APSARA National Authority filed two separate lawsuits against six villagers and a commune police chief. While one of the summonses was against the four villagers including the policeman, another was issued to the villagers for allegedly inciting other villagers.
The lawsuits were brought by APSARA after hundreds of villagers protested against its attempt to demolish illegal structures on August 8, following a notice that was issued in Prasat Bakong district’s Meanchey commune.
Villagers in the second summons for incitement had already been questioned on October 23, and now await the next procedure in court.
About 100 villagers gathered outside the court to support their neighbors on Friday.
Suong Seak, one of four villagers who was questioned, called on court officials to drop the charges against him because he did not obstruct public work or cause any violence against the authority.
“The court asked [me] about the use of violence against APSARA authority, but I did not use any violence,” he asserted.
“I don’t agree with what they have accused me of because I did nothing,” Seak said. He added that APSARA failed to demolish his tent and a front structure measuring four by six meters when he and other villagers protested against them in August.
“The additional front structure for my house was built to prevent leakage when it rains, otherwise what do I do [when it rains]?” Seak said.
Rolous commune police chief Rai Vanna declined to elaborate after being questioned by the court on Friday.
“It is just normal questioning but I can’t tell you because the leader is not allowed to provide information to you [the media],” he said. “I am not concerned because I didn’t commit what they have charged [me with].”
Two other villagers, Var Chamnab and Klork Kuyba, who were named in the lawsuit, could not be reached for comment.
APSARA National Authority spokesperson Long Kosa declined to comment on the court case as court officials are working the procedure.
“I don’t have any comment relating to the court procedure because the court is an independent institution and we have to respect its jurisdiction,” he said.
“[According to] our principle any construction or building which is illegal is a topic for demolition,” Kosal said, when asked how APSARA would resolve the issue involving the construction of the structures by the villagers.
NGO rights group Licadho coordinator for the northern province Ing Kongchet said the court should drop the charges because the villagers did not commit any violence against the authorities.
“According to my interview with them, they claimed to not have committed those offenses because they were just gathered there to voice their opinion and request the authority to help fix old roofs or tents.
“They didn’t use violence or damage the properties of the authorities. APSARA authority angered hundreds of villagers, who were gathered there to protest which stopped [the authority] from carrying out its work,” Kongchet said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: villagers targeted with criminal charges
- Date added
- Dec 19, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 8, 2023
- Event Description
Over 10 employees had their contracts terminated for allegedly protesting against irregular wage payments by ML Intimate Apparel (Cambodia) Ltd in O’Neang Special Economic Zone in Banteay Meanchey province on November 08, 2023.
ML Intimate Apparel produces for global brands, such as RougeGorge (France), Hunkemöller (the Netherlands) and Damart (UK), according to NGO Central.
Chea Chanthy, a single mother of a two-year-old, who was among the full-time employees whose contract was terminated on November 13, told CamboJA that she found it difficult to believe the reason given by the company for her termination, which was that there were no orders from buyers.
She said many other full-time and short contract employees are still working there but she and her colleagues, who have worked for the company for about eight years, were terminated after they joined the protest and held placards.
“It is not possible for there to be a problem with no orders because people are still working there,” she said. “I think, because we were holding the [protest] placards, they terminated us. We have been working for eight years and even though the economy is declining, we can [still] do [manufacture] a little.”
Chanthy lamented that due to her lack of knowledge of the law, she did not know how to decline the “instruction to resign” from work.
“When we entered the [employer’s] room, they told us to put our thumbprint and we did what they asked. We could not say anything,” she said.
“They said they will allow us to sue them and that [they] are waiting to receive [our complaint]. But we don’t know the law, and we don’t have any money to sue them.” “ We [know] we will not win, so we took the little compensation they gave us. We are not happy to put our thumbprint. We feel like crying because we want to work so that we’d at least have a small salary for daily expenses.”
Chanthy said she is applying for a job at another place but has not received any answer. In the meantime, the $1,140 compensation she received from the company has almost been spent for her toddler’s milk, water and electricity, and a private loan.
Another worker, Lonh Sary, who also held banners with Chanthy, charged that her termination was a result of her participation in the protest, and not due to an alleged drop in her work performance for “several months in a row” as claimed by the company.
She said for about two months, every worker was doing the same work but there were times, when many of the workers had nothing to do for almost 20 minutes in an hour due to the lack of raw material.
“In fact, there has been a problem of no luggage for more than two months in the factory, so the workload was low for everyone,” Sary said, reiterating that the termination was due to the protest. “It’s because all those who protested were named.”
Although Sary does not want her job back with ML Intimate Apparel, she wants them to justify the $1,140 compensation paid to her.
“I don’t want to go back but I want to ask the company where I worked at for almost seven years why they only paid me $1,140, which includes my salary and annual salary. I want to know if it is in line with the law or not. I just want to know that.”
According to a worker, who declined to be named, irregular salary payments have occurred since the company was established and workers have carried out protests several times.
But each time protests are organized, there is always termination. “Around 400 workers protested this time, and more than 10 workers including full time and short contract employees were terminated after that,” the worker added.
When contacted, ML Intimate Apparel administration chief Ngoun Syvutha denied that the termination was due to the protest, rather it was a result of declining orders. He said the company needed to reduce the number of workers so that it can continue operating.
“As an administration, we see the reality … in November and December, the orders are really declining. For instance, this November, we only have 60,000 orders [..] on the factory side, we have a strategy to keep [operations] going, otherwise the factory won’t be able to sustain and this would affect workers. This is in accordance with the fixed duration contract [FDC] and undetermined duration contract [of the Labour Law].”
Regarding the consistent delay of wage payments, Syvutha said it was due to the global economy and late payments made by their customers to ML Intimate Apparel’s head office in Hong Kong.
He added that the compensation of $1,140 dollars was in accordance with the law, and that around 20 workers had been laid off as of November.
There are currently 551 employees, including administrative staff and garment workers in ML intimate Apparel, which produces women’s undergarments for export to the US and Europe.
Meanwhile, Khun Tharo, labor program manager for Central, told CamboJA that the factory had allegedly violated workers’ rights by forcing them to work overtime, delaying the payroll for a whole month without prior notice, requiring pregnant workers to work for eight hours like other employees, and restricting workers’ freedom of association.
“This factory has a history of persecuting and discriminating against unions. It has very bad working conditions in relation to the usage of FDC to dismiss workers,” Tharo said, adding that going by the labor law, the employer was wrong in delaying the payroll.
He shared that workers who joined protests to demand for regular salaries are “always targeted” for dismissal by employers, even though they possess undetermined duration contracts. Two of the workers who were dismissed had worked there since 2017.
According to Cambodia’s labor law, employment contracts should not extend beyond two years. If they do, they are automatically converted to UDCs.
Tharo pointed to Article 74, paragraph two of the law, which stated that “no dismissal can occur without a valid reason related to the worker’s aptitude or behavior, or the needs of the enterprise, establishment or group.”
After a complaint was filed with the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, a union was established in the company but the workers were still “persecuted” and dismissed without proper solutions, Tharo alleged.
“The company does not have a proper way to resolve the problem, and continues to violate the rights of workers,” he said. “The inspection by the labor department has not compelled the employer to abide by the law.”
Noun Sina, director of the Labor Department in Banteay Meanchey, told CamboJA on Monday that he only just received information regarding the termination of an employee by ML Intimate Apparel, and had instructed an inspector from his department to visit the company on Tuesday.
He explained that he was not able to provide any information as yet or determine which party had wronged, suggesting that the press wait while the unit conducts an investigation.
“The department has already assigned an inspector to investigate the case. In relation to this dismissal case, we don’t know yet whether the company or the workers are wrong. Thus, regarding his [the worker] dismissal, we have not determined whether the company fired him illegally.
“We also need to investigate whether the dismissal is related to the economy or not because we know that due to the economy, some enterprises are facing declining orders [which] caused them to reduce the number of workers,” Sina said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 19, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 23, 2023
- Event Description
Cabinet officials rejected a new petition brought by former NagaWorld employees Thursday, stating that the petition did not meet administrative requirements. Protesters were hopeful that Prime Minister Hun Manet and his new government might solve the dispute that has dragged on for nearly two years.
Kim Sokha, 35, worked at NagaWorld as a card dealer for over 10 years before being laid off by the company in 2021. As many previous petitions filed before the July elections were unsuccessful, he said this new petition was an attempt to see if Prime Minister Hun Manet would help them find a solution.
“I want him [Hun Manet] to know about the suffering of the workers. He is like a parent who knows the suffering of his children,” he said. “I want him to know that Nagaworld’s workers were unfairly dismissed which violates the law of Cambodia.”
Around 30 members of the Labour Rights Supported Union (LRSU) of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld gathered at Wat Botum Park Thursday morning, as district workers prepared decorations for the upcoming Water Festival. After entering the nearby Cabinet building, an official refused to accept the petition, claiming that it did not meet certain specifications, such as listing the names of the certain officials and the union members involved in the dispute.
“If what I said is not followed, I cannot do anything,” the Cabinet official told the group.
Around 1300 workers began their strike in December 2021 following mass layoffs without full severance pay at the Phnom Penh casino. The company claimed the Covid-19 economic downturn necessitated the layoffs. But rights groups like the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (Central) and Human Rights Watch have said the layoffs were an attempt to quash NagaWorld’s independent union.
The strikers have faced detention, threats and violence. One striker said she had a miscarriage last year because of rough handling by authorities who rounded strikers onto a bus. A NagaCorp chief CEO’s son was accused of throwing a traffic cone at protestors and chucking a union member’s phone to the ground.
The president of NagaWorld’s union Chhim Sithar was found guilty in May and sentenced to two years in prison for inciting social unrest, while other convicted members have been handed suspended sentences. In October, the Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s verdict for Sithor.
Strikers say that the Labor Ministry has unfairly sided with the company and supported its interests, while the government has suppressed union members’ right to strike.
LRSU Vice President Chhim Sokhorn said he was disappointed when the petition was rejected based on an administrative issue instead of getting a substantive response to their request.
“I request that he [Hun Manet] help us regarding our criminal lawsuit and our leader who is also now in prison,” he said. “Even though we follow all the procedures, we all suffer and the government has not taken action on this issue.”
Labor Ministry spokesperson Katta Orn said the company was forced to lay off the 1300 workers due to the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that a majority of the workers have already accepted compensation offered by the company.
“We observe that only 22 to 30 people are on strike. If the workers really want to end the dispute, they should contact the ministry to continue finding a solution,” he said.
Government spokesperson Pen Bona declined to comment.
The workers have suffered “all forms of intimidation, all forms of violence,” said Central’s program manager Khun Tharo. He added that the government has used Covid-19 restrictions to prevent protests and the judicial system to combat the workers’ cause.
If the new government creates judicial reform, this could help the workers seek justice, he said, but only if these reforms help ”real victims” and not “perpetrators of violence.”
“We see the new government has visited garment factories, while the NagaWorld workers continue their strike and are seeking the solution after being laid off,” he said.
Sokha, the union member at the protest, said the former NagaWorld employees’ strike is within their legal rights.
“We strike in accordance with the Constitution and follow all legal procedures. If what we have been doing is illegal, we would not be here now” said Sokha.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 19, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Event Description
A 20-year-old Cambodian man who was thrown out of a state-run school because he was too short has again been assaulted by security forces as he staged another protest against his expulsion.
Keo Sovannrith told Radio Free Asia that he was demonstrating alone in front of the Ministry of Education on Monday when local authorities in civilian uniforms pulled him into a car and beat him, leaving him with a torn shirt.
“I am very upset for a society with such authority,” he told RFA. “I was slapped in the face. I was dizzy. I could not get up.”
Keo Sovannrith gained admission to the National Institute of Physical Education last November despite standing 162 centimeters (5 foot 4 inches) tall, under the 165 centimeter (5 foot 5 inch) minimum requirement for applicants.
But in December, shortly after participating in an entrance ceremony at a Phnom Penh stadium, he was removed from enrollment with no explanation, along with 11 other prospective students.
In July and August, Keo Sovannrith and several others protested each Monday in front of the ministry to demand readmission to the teacher training program. They said the institute’s enrollment requirements were too opaque and randomly applied.
Police surrounded and beat them on Aug. 21. Video of the incident was widely viewed on Facebook.
Plans to sue authorities
On Monday, Keo Sovannrith said he protested alone at the Ministry of Education because the other 11 former students are either too afraid to demonstrate or can’t afford to travel to Phnom Penh.
He added that the Ministry of Education recently offered him a government job so that he would stop protesting. He told RFA that he turned them down because he prefers to be a physical education trainer and wants justice for his expulsion.
“I understand that violence is against the law. I will sue them,” referring to the officials in the Phnom Penh district of Daun Penh who assaulted him.
RFA wasn’t able to reach Daun Penh district Inspector Teang Chansar and Ministry of Education spokesman Kan Puthy for comment on Monday. Daun Penh district Gov. Chea Khema told RFA he was too busy to answer questions.
Monday’s beating of Keo Sovannrith is just the latest example of Cambodian authorities using violence against non-violent protesters, said Am Sam Ath of human rights group Licadho.
“We as civil society organizations do not support any act of violence, no matter which side it is on,” he said. “Authorities should especially be tolerant in all these matters.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to education, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 24, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 28, 2023
- Event Description
A lawsuit has been filed by APSARA National Authority against seven villagers, including a commune police chief, who live around Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for allegedly inciting and obstructing public work in August.
Two separate court summons issued against the villagers were obtained by CamboJA One summon was against four villagers, including the local police officer, who allegedly obstructed public work and intentionally caused damage and violence. Another summon was issued to the villagers for allegedly inciting other villagers.
On August 8, hundreds of villagers protested against an attempt by APSARA to demolish allegedly illegal structures after issuing a notice in Prasat Bakong district’s Meanchey commune.
Although the authority failed to demolish the structures, the villagers have been restricted by APSARA from constructing additional structures in front of their house or fixing their roofs.
“I don’t know why they have filed a suit [against me]. I only went to see [the protest],” said 38-year-old Var Chamnab, who is being sued along with three other villagers by APSARA.
“I wasn’t the only one [there] on that day … hundreds of people protested,” he said, adding that he was aware that villagers do not have permission to build, but that they had sought for permission several times but were denied.
Rolous commune police chief Rai Vanna said he cannot offer any details or comment as yet as he has not testified in court as to what he witnessed during the protest. He was supposed to give evidence on October 18 but it was postponed.
He said he had gone to the protest to monitor the situation and ensure public order.
“On behalf of the authorities, we have to give evidence on the case – villagers who were protesting – but the questioning has been deferred. So, I can’t say more as I am an official and I need to get approval from my boss before I can say anything,” Vanna said.
A villager, 36-year-old Sok Pov, was accused of incitement for allegedly posting APSARA’s notice on the removal of “illegal” structures in Bangkorng village on August 14 and 15. He is alleged to have asked villagers living inside and outside the village to “please join the protest”.
“I just posted [the notice] to inform people to come and appeal against the demolition,” he told the court when questioned on October 23, before being allowed to return home.
“I think it [the legal suit] was unreasonable. It is like restricting our freedom of expression when [all we did was] post the notice,” Pov said.
He said villagers living in Zone 2, which is a world heritage site, are not allowed to build new structures and extend the front portion of their house as it would impact the Angkor temples.
“There are a lot of difficulties [restrictions] … we can’t fix our house roof or build any extension in front. Within the authorities’ land, there are a lot of restrictions.
“They require us to seek permission [for construction] but when we request, they do not give us permission,” Pov said.
Earlier, a letter was sent by APSARA to village chiefs and representatives to inform them about the demolition of illegal structures, such as new shelters or cottages and new additions to front portions of old houses, from August 14 to 15, 2023.
APSARA spokesperson Long Kosal confirmed that his officials had “demolished” several illegal structures and houses but he could not specifically identify which ones needed to be removed.
“[New] constructions are not allowed within the world heritage site and they would need to get permission to build them. When it’s built without permission, it is [an] illegal [structure],” Kosal said.
“But, it doesn’t mean that when you apply for permission you will get an approval,” Kosal said, adding that there are legal requirements and conditions that should be satisfied when applications are reviewed.
Before the authority removed the structures, APSARA issued a notice in advance, he confirmed, but denied that there were restrictions on the rights of people who live within the world heritage sites.
“I think that some of our people have different levels of knowledge about the law. We can review how many people are living at the world heritage site, who are allowed to to fix houses or remove old houses and build new houses,” he said.
“We have to review the situation as a whole, not by looking on a case by case basis,” Kosal said.
NGO Licadho rights coordinator Ing Kongchet, who investigated the issue, called on the court officials to drop the charges against the villagers. He also urged UNESCO to intervene to protect the fundamental rights of the villagers and improve their living conditions.
“It is an issue that violates human rights. We appeal to APSARA and UNESCO to reconsider this case. APSARA has restricted people’s rights in requesting to fix or build houses.
“We support conservation but people’s livelihoods are important as well. People need security and safety. If their houses have no gates or toilets, and their roofs leak when it rains, they should give permission to fix it,” Kongchet said.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson with the UNESCO World Heritage Center asserted that UNESCO has “never requested, supported, or was a party to the relocation program” and that any questions relating to it should be conveyed to the national authority.
In response to CamboJA’s questions via email on Friday evening, the spokesperson said for all the sites in the world, UNESCO underscores that conservation measures decided by the authorities “must necessarily involve, take into account the opinion and respect the rights of local communities, and comply with human rights”.
The importance of the inclusion of local communities has been officially included in the World Heritage Convention’s Operational Guidelines since 2015.
According to the spokesperson, the center has already conveyed the concerns raised by international NGOs regarding the relocation program to the Cambodian state party and the World Heritage Committee, a 21-member intergovernmental body. (A state party is a country, in this case Cambodia, which has adhered to the World Heritage Convention).
At its last session in September 2023, the committee requested the state party to “take into consideration the living conditions and the rights of local communities and inhabitants affected by these relocations”, the spokesperson mentioned.
The state party was also requested to submit an updated report on the state of conservation of the property demonstrating the implementation of its suggestions to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, by December 1, 2024.
The spokesperson reminded that despite UNESCO’s resolute commitment to rights-based management of World Heritage Sites including the inclusion of rights holders and local communities in the conservation strategies of the properties, it does not have the mandate to impose measures on member states. “The conservation and management of World Heritage Properties are under the sole authority of the concerned state parties, which are sovereign over their territories.”
In the meantime, Siem Reap provincial court spokesperson Yin Srang confirmed that the court has postponed the questioning of the four villagers, including the policeman and that the next date has not been fixed yet.
Srang claimed that he does not know who the prosecutor of the case is, when asked to comment on those who have been questioned.
Last week, CamboJA reported that 700 villagers from seven villages in Pouk district and Siem Reap City protested against APSARA for attempting to demolish the illegal structures.
Kosal said there are about 10,000 families who voluntarily moved to relocation sites, while the Peak Sneng site remains under construction.
Update: This story was updated on November 4 at 10:40 a.m. ICT to include comments received from UNESCO World Heritage Center after publication.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to property, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 20, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 1, 2023
- Event Description
The activists, dressed in clothes made of plastic bags and carrying signs emblazoned with environmentalist slogans, marched to the rallying point where they would submit their petition to Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment.
It was supposed to be a peaceful march to urge the government to raise taxes on plastic bags and charge customers more for using them, in a bid to protect Cambodia’s environment.
But plainclothes officers blocked the way of the 20 marchers, pushed them, snatched their phones, and attempted to confiscate their banners.
“They didn’t listen to us. We are holding banners to request the government to listen to our two requests,” Ream SreyMech Rathana, one of the marchers, told Radio Free Asia.
“Where is democracy? [We are] people [just] walking on the streets who speak their mind but they outlaw us and the authorities are resorting to violence and unethical behavior,” said Ream SreyMech Rathana.
The authorities choose violence as their response, regardless of what the activists are asking for, said Hum Sok Keang, another activist.
“We have observed that authorities don’t allow us to work freely even though our work is beneficial to the country but they think we are polluting the society,” Hum Sok Keang said.
After the encounter, a representative from the Ministry of Environment accepted their petition.
To combat plastic pollution, the Ministry of Environment in 2016 issued a sub decree ordering provincial, city and district authorities to properly handle trash. But critics say authorities have failed to resolve the trash issues, forcing the people to pick up plastic litter from public places.
RFA attempted to reach the ministry’s spokesperson Phai Bun Chhoeun and the Phnom Penh police spokesperson Sam Vicheaca, but neither could be reached for comment.
Plastic pollution pollutes the environment and will discourage tourists from visiting Cambodia, said Chhin Chorvin, another activist.
“Plastic affects humans and animals and pollutes water,” he said. “When we use too much plastic, we burn it and it pollutes the atmosphere.”
- Impact of Event
- 20
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 19, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 2, 2023
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Court has blocked three environmental activists, currently on probation for convictions related to their advocacy, from leaving the country to receive a prestigious international award.
In a letter published on Monday, the court’s prosecutor Chroeng Khmao stated that the trip was “not necessary” and that the activists were “not allowed to go abroad.”
Last week, Thon Ratha, Long Kunthea and Phoun Keoreaksmey with the Cambodian environmental activist group Mother Nature received an invitation to a November ceremony in Sweden to accept the Right Livelihood Award, known as the Alternative Nobel. The group has worked to expose environmental destruction in the country over the last ten years, including logging and sand mining.
“Undeterred by threats, harassment and arrests, Mother Nature Cambodia has emerged as a powerful voice for environmental preservation and democracy in Cambodia,” a press release from Right Livelihood states.
The three activists were arrested in 2020 and convicted with incitement for their involvement in planning a one-woman march to raise awareness of the impact of filling in lakes for development. They were released in 2021 after serving 14 months in prison, but are still under court supervision until 2025.
They were also handed a new charge of ‘plotting’ in 2021 in connection with an ongoing case concerning the documentation of sewage being released into the Tonle Sap River.
“This is a cruel thing for the judiciary in Cambodia to deny us as young people working on the protection of natural resources and the environment,” said Ratha, one of the award winners. “The reason that the prosecutor gave, ‘not necessary,’ that’s a ridiculous reason because we were going to go abroad to get a global award that is not easy for any group or individual or country to get.”
He believes the decision will give the international community the impression that Prime Minister Hun Manet is following in the footsteps of his father, and will negatively impact Cambodia. While “liberal countries” are getting along with the new government now, he said this could change when restrictions on freedoms continue.
“The case against us as Mother Nature is clearly a political issue,” he said “It is a restriction on the rights and freedoms of young people who dare to tell the truth, dare to be angry with their own national wealth, dare to expose corruption and the inactivity of officials on the extraction of natural resources.”
Appearing on stage to receive the award could have been a source of inspiration for young Cambodians, he said, showing that people from a small country can do great things. The activists plan to have representatives accept the award in person on their behalf.
“Right Livelihood awards, supports and honours Laureates regardless of whether they can attend the Award Presentation,” said Sydney Nelson, a communications officer for the organization.
Soeng Senkaruna, the human rights group Adhoc’s senior investigator, said Adhoc was very sorry to see the court’s rejection of the request and still insists that the court should be more open-minded.
“This decision is one that discourages young people who love natural resources and actively participate in their defense,” he said. “We are all Cambodians, but we do not value the Cambodian youth who protect all natural resources.” Y Rin and Plang Sophal, spokespeople for Phnom Penh Municipal Court, both declined to comment.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 31, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 19, 2023
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court today upheld the convictions of eight current and former unionists from the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU).
Nine activists, including union President Chhim Sithar, were convicted of incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in May 2023. Eight of the activists appealed the verdict. They included Sithar, who received the maximum sentence of two years in prison; Chhim Sokhorn, Hay Sopheap, Kleang Soben, Sun Srey Pich and Touch Sereymeas, who were sentenced to 18 months in prison; and Sok Narith and Ry Sovandy, who received one-year suspended sentences.
The Appeal Court trial started this morning. The court announced its verdict upholding the lower court’s judgment in full this afternoon after deliberating for 30 minutes. Sok Kongkea, who was also convicted by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and received a suspended sentence, did not appeal the lower court’s verdict.
LRSU members have been on strike since December 2021, after the NagaWorld casino laid off the entire LRSU leadership and many of its members. The unionists were arrested in December 2021 and January 2022, and held in pre-trial detention until March 2022. Sithar was arrested again in November 2022 for allegedly violating judicial supervision conditions. She has since been detained in Prey Sar’s Correctional Centre 2. The other activists will remain under judicial supervision until all appeal avenues are exhausted.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 20, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2023
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court today announced its verdict upholding criminal charges against four out of 10 people who were arrested in front of Phnom Penh's Yak Jin garment factory on 2 January 2014, one day before the violence that took place along Veng Sreng Boulevard in January 2014. The strike was notoriously shut down on 3 January 2014 when mixed government forces opened fire on the striking workers.
The 10 workers were convicted by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in 2014 of instigating intentional acts of violence with aggravating circumstances, contrary to Articles 28 and 218 of the Criminal Code. Out of the 10 defendants, only four (Chan Puthisak, a Boeung Kak Lake land activist; Theng Savoeun, President of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC); Sokun Sambath Piseth, a former staff member at Center for Labor Rights of Cambodia; and Vorn Pao, President of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA)) appealed their sentences.
The Appeal Court upheld the Municipal Court’s decision to sentence Theng Savoeun to four years’ imprisonment, as well as its sentences of four years and six months for Chan Puthisak, Sokun Sambath Piseth, and Vorn Pao, all of which were suspended by the lower court. All four had already spent between 3 January and 30 May 2014 in prison. The Appeal Court also dropped the 8 million riel fine (around US $2,000) imposed by the lower court on all four defendants.
In the violence on Veng Sreng Boulevard in 2014, mixed government forces shot dead at least four civilians, wounded at least 38 others, and arrested 23 workers and human rights defenders. Khem Sophath, a 15-year-old garment worker, was tragically wounded and then disappeared from Veng Sreng Boulevard. Sophath remains missing to this day, and civil society continues to call for accountability for the violence and his disappearance. To date, the government has failed to provide any kind of thorough, independent and impartial investigation. Arrests of other workers have also been met with farcical appeals in recent years.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Labour rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 12, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 15, 2023
- Event Description
Independent online news outlet CamboJA removed the name of a government minister from an article about a public beating of a government critic after the Ministry of Agriculture threatened it with legal action, the outlet’s executive director told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.
CamboJA – short for Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association – reported on Thursday that agricultural expert Ny Nak criticized Minister of Agriculture Dith Tina on Facebook over the minister’s handling of a report on rice prices.
The Facebook post doesn’t mention the minister’s name. It went live the day before the Sept. 12 assault, which left Ny Nak initially unconscious and bleeding from the head after several unidentified men beat him with metal batons.
The ministry responded to the article in a letter to CamboJA on Friday that said their reporting “speculates that the attack on Ny Nak was politically motivated based on his recent baseless posts criticizing government officials and institutions.”
The article also includes the minister’s name “even though the minister has never been mentioned by name in any of Ny Nak’s recent Facebook posts,” the letter said.
The ministry urged CamboJA “to rectify these serious breaches of journalistic ethics by removing unsubstantiated claims and speculations” that hurt the reputations of ministry officials.
It also demanded that the publication remove the minister’s name from the article and that it “ensure that such malicious intentions and defamatory speculations do not recur in the future which would result in legal actions that could lead to the same outcome” of Voice of Democracy, an independent media outlet that was closed by the government in February.
Posting under a pseudonym
CamboJA, a network formed by former reporters of The Cambodia Daily and Phnom Penh Post, deleted the minister’s name from the article and added an editor’s note on Monday.
It also added the name of Associate Editor Jack Brook as a contributor to the article and corrected the spelling of the name of an investigator for human rights group Adhoc who was quoted in the article.
“We think the Ministry of Agriculture’s request is acceptable and we’ve removed [ the minister’s] name because Ny Nak's Facebook posting didn’t mention the minister by name, only his picture,” CamboJA Executive Director Nop Vy told RFA.
Ny Nak was recently released from an 18-month jail term for criticizing Cambodia’s COVID-19 restrictions. Since his release, he has posted comments critical of the government on Facebook under the pseudonym IMAN-KH.
His post last week about the minister came a day after he said he was approached by two members of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party asking him to join the party. He said he had refused the invitation, saying he is “neither a member of the ruling party or the opposition.”
He was traveling with his wife Sok Sinet in Phnom Penh on Sept. 12 when a motorbike crashed into them and unidentified men began beating them.
Ny Nak was taken to a local hospital and pledged on Friday to join the CPP – but only if Prime Minister Hun Manet can arrest his attackers.
On Monday, Minister of Interior Touch Sokhak told Voice of America that the suspects were probably using the accident as a pretext to rob Ny Nak and his wife.
“Until we arrest them we will see what they will answer about their intentions. We will know what this case is all about,” he told VOA. “But for the preliminary [assessment] this is a violent action and intended to rob the victim’s motorbike.
‘Ny Nak won’t run away’
Sok Sinet denied that her husband’s attack was a robbery.
“To me, I observed their actions. They intended to kill my husband,” she said. “It was an assassination attempt. I didn’t lose any handbag, money, phones or a motorbike.”
RFA was unable to reach Touch Sokhak for comment on Tuesday.
Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Tuesday that the attack “shares similarities with assaults reported earlier in 2023 against members of the opposition Candlelight Party, which were never seriously investigated.”
Ny Nak said on Facebook on Monday that he will be released from the hospital soon, and he promised not to run away from Cambodia.
“This is my part as a Cambodian. I will continue to help the country until I die,” he wrote. “Ny Nak won’t run away, doesn’t hide, sell out or seek asylum in a third country but will continue to stay with Cambodian farmers forever.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 6, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 12, 2023
- Event Description
Phnom Penh police say they are investigating a brutal assault against a vocal critic of government policies, as civil society groups say the incident is the latest in an ongoing crackdown on critical voices.
Baton-wielding assailants attacked Ny Nak on Tuesday afternoon as he and his wife Sok Sreynet were driving their motorbike along street 369 from their organic fertilizer warehouse in Chbar Ampov district’s Prek Pra commune on Tuesday, Sreynet said.
Around 1:10 p.m., a group of three or four men in black uniforms and helmets rode their motorbike into Nak’s motorbike and began beating him with a baton until he was “bleeding from his head,” his wife says.
“It was a case of attempted murder, it is not a coincidence,” she said. “My husband and I have never had any argument with anyone.”
The style of assault echoed a series of attacks against opposition Candlelight Party activists documented by Human Rights Watch in the months leading up to July elections earlier this year.
Nak was released from prison in June last year after being incarcerated for 18 months on charges of incitement after making a satirical post criticizing then-Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Covid-19 restrictions.
Nak remains bruised and bed-ridden in a private hospital and his wife said she filed a complaint to authorities on Thursday.
“Commune police told me that they have seen camera security, there are eight people [suspects] with four motorbikes, and they will follow the procedure of the investigation,” Sreynet said. “I hope they can arrest suspects and provide justice to my husband.”
Chbar Ampov District Police Chief Mao Soeut and Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Chuon Narin both said police are working on the case.
“We are not leaving the case, we are continuing to arrest perpetrators. Please take a look at the situation, currently there are a lot of gangsters taking their motorbikes to beat [others]. Let the police investigate,” said Narin, before hanging up the phone.
Nak, a fertilizer producer and fruit tree seller, has frequently criticized the Agriculture Ministry on his Facebook page IMan-KH, which has 413,000 followers. His wife denied he had any political ties.
On Monday, Nak wrote on his Facebook: “Agriculture is my breath…I am not silent about agriculture officials who have just work to get a salary. Ny Nak will always be in competition with agriculture officials.”
In the hours before he was assaulted on Tuesday, Nak made a Facebook post directly criticizing the current Agriculture Minister.
“As the minister has more than 60 secretaries of state and uses drones for surveillance, but can not find a secretary to make official documents and notes are handwritten like this, who knows who wrote it? Which factory miller? Which company? They do not have, so they only write on Facebook,” Nak posted.
“We were saddened by the news, to be honest, when we heard it we were shocked by the attack,” Agriculture Ministry spokesperson Im Rachna told CamboJA. “As you may know, the Cambodian government highly respects the freedom of expression and we believe it is the core value of democracy. We wish him well.”
“I do not comment on speculation,” Rachna said, when asked if there was any connection between Nak’s critical comments on the minister and the assault. The current Agriculture Minister could not be reached for comment.
Government spokesperson Pen Bona also denied that the assault was a signal of broader repression against free speech.
But Soeng Senkaruna, a senior investigator at rights group Adhoc, said that the assault appeared to be tied to Nak’s critical public statements.
“We can say it came from expression of opinion,” Senkaruna said. “The beating is a crack down on spirits who dare to exercise their opinion to criticize the government’s institutions.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 22, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 17, 2023
- Event Description
After an indigenous Bunong community publicly voiced concerns about a World Bank-funded project repurposing their customary forest and burial grounds, authorities convened a meeting last Thursday between communal and provincial authorities — but the community members were excluded.
The meeting was held in Mondulkiri province’s capital, Senmonorom, to discuss Social Land Concessions under the World Bank’s $93 million LASED III Project across three districts — Koh Nheak, Pech Chreada and O’Reang — according to an invitation letter obtained by CamboJA.
In July, the Roya Leu Bunong community in Koh Nheak previously showed a LASED III consultant that the project’s plans to allocate land to poor families overlapped with more than half of their 6,000 hectare community forest and multiple ancestral burial grounds, CamboJA reported earlier this month.
Lin Lan, a Roya Leu resident, and other community members say they have repeatedly expressed concerns ever since LASED III signs were posted near the community in March last year with no further explanation. But the project had already been greenlit in 2021, despite the World Bank’s stringent policies to prevent negative impacts on indigenous communities.
Lan, who has been active in defending the community forest, said she and other community members heard about the meeting and tried to attend, but authorities prevented them from entering when they arrived at Senmonorom. The community is seeking a communal land title to gain legal recognition of their customary use of the forest and culturally significant sites.
“We went to the provincial capital in order to attend the meeting because we wanted to know what it was about, yet we were not allowed to get in,” Lan said. “We want the authorities to hold a meeting with us, so that we can meet face to face for solutions.”
Phleouk Phearum, another Bunong activist who attempted to attend the meeting, which also planned to discuss a land conflict in her community, said she was barred from attending.
“If they discuss with their own officials, and do not allow people to attend like this, how can people know what they do or what solutions should be sought between us, how can conflicts be solved?” Phearum said. “Before they discuss with their officials, they had better discuss with us.”
The LASED III project is funded by the World Bank but implemented by the Ministry of Land Management. Ministry official Thol Dina was made the new project director for LASED III last week. He told CamboJA he had not heard about the meeting nor had he met with the community or any authority on the ground over this issue.
Former LASED III project director Roth Hok, Under Secretary of State for the Land Management Ministry was no longer in the position as of last week.
Lan said she submitted her latest letter seeking a resolution to the land conflict with the provincial department for the Ministry of Rural Development on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9. In response, the ministry promised to send an official to better understand the situation on August 25, Lan says.
“We are not sure whether the ministry will grant us the legal collective title, nonetheless, they have promised to appraise our land on site,” Lan said. “We put our faith in them after their promise. Our community has strived so hard.”
Ministry of Rural Development spokesperson Chan Darong did not respond to requests for comment. The Ministry was not listed on the invitation letter.
Nuon Monichenda, the head of the ethnic minority development department within the Rural Development Ministry, said via Telegram on Monday that the provincial ministry “might work on it.”
“The authorities talked about the case and now they are working on it to study it in depth for more information,” said Roya commune chief Pil Deth.
He did not specify a timeframe for the investigation, and confirmed no Roya Leu community members were invited. He declined to provide further information but said the best way forward was to find a resolution with the Land Management Ministry.
The meeting also addressed a completed survey of social land concessions in relation to Bunong communities’ land claims and several ongoing land conflicts.
Memom village chief Chan Moeun, who is Bunong and has jurisdiction over Roya Leu attended the meeting. But Roya Leu community members have pointed out that he does not live in the Roya Leu community and four residents told CamboJA they believe Moeun is selling the community’s land for personal profit, though he has vehemently denied these accusations.
World Bank spokesperson Saroeun Bou referred CamboJA to the Ministry of Land Management but did issue a brief statement over email reiterating the goals of the LASED III project.
“The project’s goal is to support land titling support to 15 Indigenous Communities (ICs). The project implementation team has posted signs in Mondulkiri province to communicate dates associated with project implementation,” stated Saroun, indicating implementation was ongoing. It remains unclear how the concessions will affect the Roya Leu communities’ ongoing attempt to obtain a communal land title.
“I hope the government helps our community and we get the solution soon after the officials study the effect [of LASED III],” Lan said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 6, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 14, 2023
- Event Description
After the bus company Giant Ibis Transport delayed concluding negotiations with 30 laid off union employees, the workers continued protests at the company’s Sen Sok district station in Phnom Penh on Monday.
Giant Ibis has repeatedly delayed the deadlines to complete negotiations, which were initially set to conclude in late May.
The union members estimate they are collectively owed more than $100,000 by the company, according to the labor law, or around $7,000 to $8,000 per person, union leader Siem Morady says.
However, the company delayed negotiations three times since the originally agreed-upon date in late May, provoking the union to resume its protests to demand long-standing benefits after being suspended from work in April 2020, Morady says.
“We came here to maintain our stance requesting the company take us back to work, settle full payment of our long-standing severance and seniority benefits and we also urge the company to stop intimidating our union,” Morady told CamboJA.
Morady also appealed to tycoon Kith Meng, whose conglomerate Royal Group launched Giant Ibis Transport without indicating any sale or change in ownership status, according to Royal Group’s website.
Kith Meng and the Royal Group did not respond to requests for comment.
During the protest, Giant Ibis Transport representative Ou Phanny — who signed agreements on behalf of the company at the negotiation at the Labour Ministry, allegedly shouted and behaved aggressively towards the union members, Morady says.
“He ranted with offensive remarks to our union members,” Morady claims. “He completely crossed the line.”
Giant Ibis Transport and Ou Phanny, the company’s representative in the negotiations, did not respond to requests for comment.
The Labor Ministry, which had been mediating the negotiations, asked the union in June to wait until after the July 23 national elections to resolve the negotiations, but no solution has been reached since, Morady says.
“A person who acts on the company’s behalf did not have the competence to make a definitive resolution for use,” said Morady, who said he has grown wary of what he considers the company’s ploy to indefinitely delay negotiations.
“We do not have any other ability to confront the company since we already have done so based on the law,” he said. “We can merely keep protesting in vain.”
The union has been protesting on and off since April, but has struggled to fund their gatherings as many workers are unable to stay inside the city and are surviving on temporary construction jobs and other day labor in their home provinces. A few share food or stay at Morady’s small home in Phnom Penh
“Everyone has taken other side jobs to survive, so the protest can only take place only on the weekends,” Morady said.
Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, which helped the Giant Ibis employees unionize in 2020, said that the company’s claims of repeatedly miscalculating the severance and seniority payments for laid-off employees was becoming a tired excuse. The problem, he said, was “not hard to solve.”
“The Labour ministry must work to reinforce the law and if a company makes an excuse to avoid settlement, the ministry has the capacity to hold them accountable,” he said. “Otherwise it indicates that the labor law has been diminished.”
Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour did not respond to requests for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 30
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 5, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2023
- Event Description
The Koh Kong Provincial Court this afternoon convicted 10 Koh Kong land activists of malicious denunciation and incitement to disturb social security, including three activists who have been detained in prison since June on separate cases. Around 60 community members from 197 Land Community and 955 Land Community gathered outside the court in support of the activists as the verdict was read.
The 10 convicted activists are Chhan Chheurn, Det Huor, Erb Vy, Erp Teung, Heng Chey, Inn Thou, Kert Nov, Kong Men, Puo Houn, and Sok Chey. All 10 were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and ordered to collectively pay 40 million riel (approximately US$9,600) in compensation to tycoon Heng Huy. Erb Vy’s sentence was fully suspended, while the remaining nine intend to appeal the verdict.
Det Huor, Heng Chey and Sok Chey were already detained in Koh Kong Provincial Prison as a result of separate cases, and were transported to the court in a blacked out police van. They will remain in prison on those separate charges, while no arrest warrants were issued for the six other activists whose sentences were not suspended, indicating they will remain out of prison pending appeal.
These convictions follow other convictions of Koh Kong land activists in recent weeks. On 4 August, the Supreme Court upheld additional convictions of malicious denunciation and defamation against Det Huor. On 2 August, the provincial court found two women activists, Phav Nheung and Seng Lin, guilty of defamation and incitement to disturb social security. Both were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and ordered to pay 40 million riel (approximately US$9,600) in compensation. In addition to this arrest warrant from 2 August, another warrant was issued on 29 June sentencing Nheung and Lin to pre-trial detention.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: three land rights WHRDs convicted
- Date added
- Aug 22, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2023
- Event Description
Three Koh Kong land activists were this week found guilty of criminal charges including defamation, incitement, and malicious denunciation for their peaceful activism in defence of their communities’ land rights.
On 2 August 2023, the Koh Kong Provincial Court found two women activists guilty of defamation and incitement to disturb social security. Phav Nheung and Seng Lin were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment each and ordered to pay 40 million riel (approximately US $9,600) in compensation to the plaintiff. Both were the target of a complaint launched by former community representative Chhay Vy, whom the women had accused in 2019 of having seized land. The charges were dropped against a third woman, Khorn Phun.
In a separate case this morning, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the Sihanoukville Appeal Court against a third land activist from Koh Kong, Det Huor. Huor was convicted of malicious denunciation and defamation following a complaint made by tycoon Heng Huy about Huor’s Facebook post dated September 2021. Huor was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and a 2 million riel fine (approximately US $500), which was reduced to 6 months’ imprisonment and a 1 million riel fine both suspended by the Sihanoukville Appeal Court in October 2022. The Supreme Court’s judgment upholds this decision.
Huor and Nheung have been in pre-trial detention since 29 June 2023 – Nheung alongside her 18-month-old son – after being charged with incitement in a separate case alongside nine other land community members. The charges followed their attempt to peacefully travel to Phnom Penh to submit a petition to the Ministry of Justice.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: land rights WHRD sentenced to jail
- Date added
- Aug 13, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 12, 2023
- Event Description
The government ordered internet service providers to block the websites and social media pages of several independent media outlets and a public database in a July 12 document obtained by CamboJA on Monday.
The Telecommunications Regulator of Cambodia-issued document sought to cut off access inside the country to the Cambodia Daily, Radio Free Asia and the newly launched public database Kamnotra, run by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM).
The media and database had “broadcast information to make confusion, affect the government’s honor and prestige, and failed to fulfill the operating conditions of the Information Ministry,” an unofficial translation of the document stated.
Service providers were told to block access to the Instagram and Twitter accounts of the Cambodia Daily, the Twitter account of Kamnotra, and the Youtube channel of the Cambodia Daily.
The document also referenced a July 11 letter from the Information Ministry, whose spokesperson Meas Sophorn confirmed to CamboJA over Telegram that the ministry had initiated the order.
Regarding Kamnotra, Sophorn stated that “[We] found that this website operated as a newspaper but did not fulfill its obligations in accordance with legal procedures and legal documents as a news agency.”
He did not elaborate further or respond to additional requests for comment or phone calls.
Following Kamnotra’s launch, the Information Ministry claimed that Kamnotra did not have an authorized media license.
CCIM media director Ith Sotheouth denied the database was a news outlet, explaining it was intended to compile existing public information, such as documents released in the Royal Gazette such as land grants, honorific titles and analysis of election data.
“Through our observation, some news websites which are critical of the government are blocked for the election, but unfortunately, even though Kamnotra’s sole purpose is to compile all the public records for everyone to access, it was still blocked,” Sotheouth said. “It is a loss to the benefit of the public.”
“Our goal at CCIM is to provide the Cambodian people with the information they need to make informed decisions,” Kamnotra stated on its website.
On Monday, Kamnotra released a statement on Twitter stating that the platform could not be accessed by some users, noting that the organization is “looking into the issue and working on ways for you to get data and insights from Kamnotra soon.”
CCIM launched Kamnotra at the end of June, after CCIM’s Khmer and English language news outlet Voice of Democracy (VOD) had its license revoked in February.
After VOD’s shutdown in February, the Telecommunications Regulator of Cambodia swiftly ordered all internet service providers to block access to the English and Khmer language sites. But internet service providers lagged to comply with the order, leading to sporadic access depending on the service provider. This appears to be the case with accessing Kamnotra and other sites as of Monday afternoon.
In March, three Khmer language news websites also had their license revoked for alleging land fraud connected to government officials.
In June, a former government official turned social media commentator issued death threats via his Facebook page against a Cambodia Daily reporter.
Major internet service providers such as Metfone, Sinet, Cellcard, WiCam, and Smart did not respond to requests for comment.
Post and Telecommunications Minister Chea Vandeth told CamboJA he was busy and could not answer questions.
The Secretary of State for the Ministry of Post and Communication received questions sent by CamboJA via Telegram but did not respond.
Telecommunications Regulator of Cambodia spokesperson Sithy Sieng did not respond to requests for comment.
RFA and 17 other media had their websites temporarily blocked before the 2018 elections. The Cambodia Daily was forced to close due to a large tax bill in 2017.
“RFA condemns the order from the government of Cambodia for internet service providers to block RFA content on online platforms – which is in clear violation of Cambodian law and an attempt to censor the free flow of information ahead of the July 23 election,” said Radio Free Asia Chief Communication Officer Rohit Mahajan.
Governments across Southeast Asia have sought to block websites, posts and individuals to stifle “critical dissent,” notes Dhevy Sivaprakasam, Senior Policy Counsel at digital rights NGO Access Now.
“In these cases, blocking these sources of independent information not only denies members of the public their rights to access such information, associate and participate in political discussion — it creates an air of trepidation, where people start to self-censor to protect themselves from any negative repercussions,” she said. “Even if groups jump to other platforms to continue their work, they lose time and followers — all while having to look over their back in their operations.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 4, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 15, 2023
- Event Description
Thirteen employees at a Puma-supplying factory have lost their jobs after participating in a union election earlier this year.
The Kandal province-based supplier, Eastcrown Footwear Industries, has repeatedly engaged in union-busting practices and harassment of workers, say labor rights activists and union members.
“I think this is union discrimination, not a layoff following labor law,” said the union’s president, Soeng Votum.
Elected to be the union’s president in February, Votum was not rehired by the factory when her short-term, three-month contract expired on May 15. Since April, 13 of the factory’s 16 union members have not had their short-term contracts renewed.
Nine of the union members, including Votum, had previously lost their jobs at the factory last year when they tried to form a union in August.
“The first time and the second time, they dismissed us. They are still persecuting us,” Votum said. “I think if [Puma’s] customers pressure the company, they will bring us back.”
Last year, the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (Central) appealed to German footwear brand Puma, which led to Votum and her colleagues regaining their jobs in early January.
Cambodia’s Trade Union Law expressly prohibits “discrimination on ground of union activities” including as “an employment renewal condition.”
The use of short-term contracts has been identified by Human Rights Watch and labor rights groups as a key way for garment factories to exercise control over workers, including as a threat against union organizing and advocacy.
Ann YouSa, a vice union leader, first lost her job in October last year and then failed to have her contract renewed on April 11. She and her husband, the factory’s elected union treasurer Em Sambath, came back to their hometown in Prey Veng province. YouSa has returned to farming and Sambath has taken jobs as a truck driver, but their combined pay is still not enough to support them.
“I did not earn any money because I was at home,” she said. “And my husband has been transporting dirt for a week, but he did not get any tasks to do because it was raining.”
On May 5, Votum said the union members met with the company and the Labor Ministry but no solution was reached. Votum said she has little faith that the Labor Ministry’s efforts to facilitate negotiations will lead her to get rehired by the company. She remains in Phnom Penh and said without work she has difficulty paying rent.
Union members also say they have faced harassment in the months after they formed the union. According to worker reports compiled by Central, union members have been closely monitored by other staff members at the factory, including being filmed, photographed and followed to their homes. Other union workers report they were restricted from working overtime.
One staff member has reportedly shouted at union members, yelling insults such as “cheap woman” and “useless woman.” Votum and another union member allege that staff members have pushed and physically assaulted Votum and snatched union documents from her hands.
Central’s program manager Khun Tharo said that the elected union leaders and founders are entitled to special protection from being dismissed before, during and after the union election. He added that the conduct of the staff who have harassed the union members is considered serious misconduct and that those employees should be terminated according to Cambodia labor law.
“Central demands that those persons who were involved in threats, intimidation and harassment against the elected union leaders/founders shall be held accountable with concrete actions to be taken immediately,” Tharo said.
Eastcrown’s management attended a 2021 workshop facilitated by Puma and the U.N.’s Better Factories Cambodia, which covered “the rights and obligations of employers, unions and worker representatives and workplace relations,” a Puma representative told CamboJA in an email.
Van E Hong, an Eastcrown Footwear Industries administrator, denied allegations that the factory was discriminating against union members. He said the dismissals were due to downturns in the global economy leading to mass layoffs across the garment industry.
“This is the accusation of the plaintiff, but in fact, the company has announced that the company is facing a global economic crisis,” Hong said. “So, based on the contract, the person who reaches the end of their contract, we do not continue to give him [employment].”
He added that if the factory receives good orders then the company will rehire the workers.
“If there are goods to make, we will call experienced workers. The company will still need [them],” he said.
As for the report of physical assault from Votum, Hong said the company handed the matter over to the police.
Neng Sotheany, a commune police officer, said that he did not follow up on the report of the alleged assault because union workers did not file any complaint to him.
Votom said she chose not to file a complaint with the police because she believes the alleged assault fell within the purview of the Ministry of Labor and should be dealt with by the ministry, not the police.
Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour did not respond to requests for comment.
Kerstin Neuber, Puma’s senior head of communications, told CamboJA via email that since April the brand has received the factory’s retrenchment plan indicating anticipated job losses, interviewed three trade union leaders and conducted an on-site visit.
“The selection of workers for retrenchment [lay-offs] was based on employment contract expiry date, however Better Factory [sic] Cambodia conducted an assessment early May and the results are still being discussed with factory management,” Neuber wrote.
Neuber said the Labor Ministry is aware of the union members’ request for reinstatement and that the ministry’s report on the dispute was expected to be finished by late June.
The factory’s owner, Chinese conglomerate Xinlong Group, “remains a key partner” for Puma and “Cambodia remains a key production country,” Neuber said.
Votum, the union leader, said the union members would continue to fight for reinstatement even if the Labor Ministry and Puma did not help them get their jobs back.
“We will continue to file a complaint without giving up,” she said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 14, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 3, 2023
- Event Description
A Boeng Tamok resident received a summons to appear in a Phnom Penh court on Monday following a clash with district authorities over a community bridge.
The Phnom Penh deputy prosecutor summoned Am Phoeun in response to a criminal complaint that she had illegally appropriated private property and used violence against rightful real estate owners. The court names the plaintiffs as Thai Ouy, Tang Kim and Ngoun Mong — whom Phoeun said she did not know.
Phoeun said she believed the summons was a response to a May altercation with authorities. Phoeun said she and her neighbors blocked dozens of Prek Pnov district government-employed security guards when they came to dismantle a small bridge Boeng Tamok residents had built to improve their access to fishing locations.
The residents successfully prevented the security guards from destroying the bridge by gathering around 100 people to block them, Phoeun said, claiming no violence had been used by protestors.
“I am not guilty of anything, but they came to sue me for using violence on their property, even though I was the owner of the land,” she said.
She said after the incident she did not file any complaint to the police or higher authorities as she thought there was no one who wanted to help her community.
The summons was delivered to Phoeun on Sunday afternoon by a district police officer, Phoeun said. She requested a delay because did not yet have a lawyer to represent her.
Phoeun, a 54-year-old mother of four, said this was the third court summons she had received.
In February, nine other Boeng Tamok residents faced charges for protesting when authorities allegedly prevented them from repairing their homes.
The areas’ current residents like Phoeun lack nationally-recognized land titles and are slated for eviction as the development projects spread out around the Boeng Tamok lake.
Residents of Phoeun’s village of Samrong Tbong in Prek Pnov district support themselves by fishing, even as the lake around them is being filled in as numerous plots of land given to well-connected individuals.
There are around 200 families and 77 houses at Boeng Tamok lake, Phoeun said. They have been seeking land titles or alternative places to live and 31 families have been resettled by the government.
“As a victim, I propose [to the court] to drop all charges [against me] and I ask [the government] for living and development on the spot,” Phoeun said.
Court spokespersons Plang Sophal could not be reached and Y Rin declined to comment. Deputy prosecutor Sorn Mony could not be reached.
Licadho operations director Am Sam Ath urged for authorities to handle the matter peacefully and with empathy towards the residents at Boeng Tamok.
“I feel that there is still no solution for the people living in Boeng Tamok,” he said. “Therefore, as a civil society organization, we want to insist and ask for a peaceful and sustainable settlement.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 14, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 29, 2023
- Event Description
At least nine land activists from four communities in Koh Kong province were arrested on 29 June 2023 and charged with incitement under Articles 494 to 495 of the Criminal Code for attempting to submit a petition to the Ministry of Justice.
On 29 June 2023, authorities blocked land community members in Sre Ambel district from travelling to Phnom Penh to deliver their petition. Community representatives from four land communities were questioned, after which 11 of the activists remained in custody and were transferred to Koh Kong provincial police station in Khemarak Phoumin town. The land activists were held overnight, in addition to the six-year-old child and 18-month-old baby of two of the activists, both of whom slept at the police station alongside their mothers. The six-year-old child’s father was called to collect the child this morning, when the 11 activists were transferred to the Koh Kong provincial court. Ten were ordered to be held in pre-trial detention in Koh Kong prison. Other community members were prevented from gathering outside the court in support of their representatives.
Around 100 community members had planned to travel to the capital yesterday to submit a petition asking Minister of Justice Koeut Rith to intervene for charges to be dropped against 30 land activists from five communities. Four vans were initially prevented by police from travelling that morning, with only one van able to continue to Phnom Penh.
Police threatened to arrest around 20 community members who gathered in front of the provincial police station to support their representatives this morning. Police were also deployed between Tani village to Praek Chik village, where the community members live. Other community members reported difficulties travelling to Koh Kong province. The reasons for questioning the land activists are currently unclear.
- Impact of Event
- 11
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 7, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 6, 2023
- Event Description
Three Bunong indigenous family members were arrested by Mondulkiri provincial police on Sunday over a land dispute in Chamkar Te Village, Spean Thmor Commune. They were sent to Mondulkiri provincial court for questioning on Tuesday afternoon, according to the human rights organization ADHOC.
Police first contacted the Bunong relatives on Wednesday, when the Mondulkiri provincial police commissioner issued a summons to Nhev Mloeung, and his family members Meung Sotek and Kreuk Try. The police asked them to come to the Office of Minor Criminal Police in Mondulkiri to discuss a complaint filed by Non Phally. Phally alleged that the Bunong relatives had destroyed and stolen fence posts on his land.
Mloeung said the 12-hectare piece of land has belonged to his family since 1979, but until now it has not been registered with the government. In order to prevent cattle from entering the farmland, Mloeung said he built a fence around the land in early April.
“I received a summons [on Wednesday] and I agreed to go to the police and make a record of the land. I described the story of my ancestral land that was left to the next generation to take care of,” he said. “The police said both sides have no right to do anything on the disputed land, wait for a solution.”
But, according to Mloeung, people who claimed the land was theirs did not listen to the police and instead continued to destroy the fence and clear the land on Sunday.
“I came in and forbade them to continue, but they filed a complaint,” he said. “The police came to arrest my grandfather, brother and sister and sent them to the Mondulkiri provincial police commissioner immediately. ”
Even though he himself was not arrested, Mloeung said police officials forced him to be fingerprinted and sign an agreement to end the conflict; they told him if he did not agree he would have to go to court.
The forcible and warrantless arrests were unjust, Mloeung said.
“I am a victim, it is not fair for us, I did nothing wrong, just go and see peacefully. Why did the owner of the land get arrested and put in a car to the provincial commissioner?” he said. “And why is the person who came to encroach on our land not wrong?”
CamboJA did not reach Non Phally for comment in time for publication of this story.
So Sovann, Mondulkiri provincial police deputy, told CamboJA that the three relatives were sent to the police because they were the ones who destroyed and stole the fence posts. He said the land title belonged to someone else, not the arrested family members.
The police will release the three indigenous people after they accept the truth that the land does not belong to them, Sovann said.
“After they [the Bunong family members] agree to give the land to the owner’s who have the [land title] documents, and after we finish the negotiation, they can go back home,” he said.
Kroeung Tola, ADHOC monitoring officer in Mondulkiri Province, said the three indigenous people had tried to stop others from clearing their land on Sunday. They wanted to settle the disagreement peacefully, and did not do anything violent or illegal, he said.
“They just wanted to negotiate a proper solution and ask them to stop clearing their burial land, but another group said they had the land title and all the documents. But the indigenous people did not agree to give up their land or have it cleared by others,” he said. “Then the person who claimed he was the landowner called the police to catch [the Bunong family members].”
The 12-hectare piece of land includes a plantation and burial grounds of the Bunong ethnic group, according to Tola.
“[Bunong people] protected this land since 1979, but during Pol Pot’s regime they were taken to another place,” he said. “After the war ended, they came back in 1983 and continued to protect the land until today, but the land title is with other people.”
Arresting people without a warrant is wrong and this case is not a criminal offense, he said. He added that the authorities should deal with this situation in accordance with Cambodian law, whether these three individuals are right or wrong about the land belonging to them.
Am Sam Ath, operations manager with the NGO LICADHO, said that the authorities should have properly investigated this case before making the arrests.
“If there is a directive from the authorities, both sides should wait for a peaceful settlement and should not touch the disputed land,” Samath said. “But if only one party goes to record the actions of the other party peacefully, and then there are arrests, it is a violation of their rights and unreasonable.”
Mloeung hopes that Mondulkiri authorities help to intervene in this land dispute and that his relatives will be let go immediately.
“I urge the authorities, relevant officials at all levels and the Ministry of Justice to help resolve the land issue and release my three relatives,” he said. “We, the indigenous people, are very alarmed when family members are arrested.”
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 14, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 30, 2023
- Event Description
The Interior Ministry issued a statement warning that it would take action against the Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies (CPSC) right before the organization was going to hold a conference in Siem Reap on May 30 and 31.
The title of the event was “Review of Current Humanitarian efforts, and seeking effective ways forward.”
The Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies (CPSC) is an NGO based in Siem Reap that focuses on peacebuilding and conflict resolution in Asia.
The ministry’s statement said the CPSC’s conference would be “an unjustifiable intervention” in ASEAN member states and would go against the ASEAN Charter. The charter was adopted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2007 and outlines the purpose and principles of the intergovernmental organization.
The ministry’s statement said the meeting would also violate “the rules of associations and non-government organization” in Cambodia according to requirements of the Interior Ministry.
CPSC issued a statement on May 30 confirming that the meeting “would be called off to comply with the ministry’s letter.”
When CamboJA called CPSC, the person who answered declined to comment on the issue before hanging up. The NGO did not respond to further requests for comment.
Am Sam Arth, operations director for Cambodian human rights NGO Licadho, said it is not illegal for these organizations to hold meetings as part of their work.
“For me, I think the Interior Ministry made such a fast decision to stop their meeting,” he said. “They should have considered the main purpose [of NGOs].”
He added that Cambodian NGOs already have to register with the Interior Ministry, and international NGOs must sign the memorandum of understanding with the Foreign Affairs Ministry. CPSC did not do anything wrong, he said.
“The government must provide protection, respect and appreciation for the work NGOs are doing in developing our nation,” he said. “They are good partners with the government that help fulfill certain criteria and address shortcomings.”
Interior Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak claimed in an interview with CamboJA that CPSC admitted that it was wrong to hold the meeting and that what they did was against the ASEAN regulations.
“[CPSC] did activities that are against the ASEAN charter,” he said. “This is the work of ASEAN, they [NGOs] cannot intervene in the internal affairs.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 6, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 31, 2023
- Event Description
The Supreme Court this morning rejected the appeals of nine current and former political, social, and youth activists. The court upheld the incitement convictions against current and former Khmer Thavrak activists Chhoeun Daravy, Hun Vannak, Tha Lavy and Eng Malai; Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA) activists Koet Saray, Moung Sopheak and Mean Prummony; and former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) members Chhour Pheng (also known as Chhou Pheng) and Chum Puthy (also known as Tum Vuthy, or Chhum Vuthy).
The Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s sentencing of the activists to 20 months in prison with between five to six months of their sentences suspended. Daravy, Vannak, Pheng and Puthy were sentenced to serve 15 months in prison, while Saray, Sopheak, Prummony, Lavy and Malai were sentenced to serve 14 months. All nine defendants were also each fined 2 million riel (US$500).
The activists were arrested in August and September 2020 and held in pre-trial detention, which was credited to their sentences. All nine activists were released from prison in early November 2021, but remain under a two-year probation period with restrictive conditions until November 2023.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted the nine activists, along with five other co-defendants, of incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code on 26 October 2021. Ten of the defendants appealed their convictions, which were upheld by the Phnom Penh Appeal Court on 22 August 2022. Nine defendants subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, as reflected in today’s verdict. The criminal charges were brought against all the activists in relation to peaceful demonstrations following the July 2020 arrest of former union leader and labour rights activist Rong Chhun.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 6, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 24, 2023
- Event Description
The Ministry of Environment condemned the environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia after its youth activists delivered a petition Monday to halt state land grants to private companies in Kirirom national park, according to a statement.
Mother Nature activist Thoun Sreypov, 21, said the petition had urged the government to stop granting land to private companies in Kirirom National Park, a popular tourist destination in Kampong Speu province.
On June 27 last year, a state sub-decree granted a private company, One More Ltd, 221.94 hectares of forest land within Kirirom. One of the company’s directors is Choeung Sokuntheavy, daughter of tycoon Choeung Sopheap, whose husband is senator Lao Meng Khin.
The activists’ petition requested the government “withdraw the licenses from private companies” in the national park and return the land to the state.
The Ministry of Environment said that the group had been committing “illegal acts” and was not an officially recognized NGO. The Ministry’s statement added that anyone who participated in the movement would be held “accountable” and that the group’s activities were “against the interests of Cambodian society.”
“There is nothing illegal whatsoever about young Cambodian citizens exercising their rights and participating in peaceful public events,” said Mother Nature’s co-founder, Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported in 2015.
Ministry of Environment spokesperson Neth Pheaktra declined to comment further.
When asked whether the group’s petitioners would face legal consequences, National police spokesperson Chhay Kim Khoeun said “Why did you ask me this question?”
“Any organization or anyone doing illegal activities will face arrests,” he said. “Do not ask me like this, now I am busy.” He hung up the phone.
The Ministry of Environment established a new government-supported NGO, also called Mother Nature, in February. A range of prominent environmental activists have publicly aligned themselves with the ruling CPP in the past months, as July elections approach.
Sreypov, the activist, said she thought the Ministry of Environment should focus on responding to the social and environmental issues raised by her group rather than attempting to discredit the activists.
“This is real intimidation and the threats thwart youth involvement with us,” she said. “They are violating our freedom of speech to raise concerns in society, while using the law to attack us.”
“We voice what we see that is wrong,” she added. “They must not stop our activities.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Land rights defender, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 30, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 22, 2023
- Event Description
After withholding years-worth of owed wages from employees, the bus company Giant Ibis Transport reached an agreement earlier this month to comply with the labor law and pay compensation to 30 laid off union workers who have been protesting for months.
But the company has since failed to deliver the compensation by the agreed upon May 22 deadline following an agreement signed by the company on May 13, according to union leader Siem Morady and documents seen by CamboJA.
“The company was due to pay us laid off workers by May 22,” Morady says. “However, the company now seems in total silence.”
The 30 Giant Ibis Transport union members say they are legally owed severance and seniority payments — allegedly amounting to well over $100,000 — which have not been provided since 80 employees were laid off in April 2020.
In negotiations, Giant Ibis Transport representative Ou Phanny — who signed the agreement on behalf of the company — told the laid off union members they would receive their withheld wages but would not be reinstated, Morady said.
Phanny allegedly shouted and behaved aggressively towards the union representatives during the negotiation process at the Labor Ministry, Morady said.
“He ranted and threatened to provoke violence against employees,” Morady said. “This image looks brutal in Cambodia. He did not care, while he leaned on power from the powerful person.”
Morady referred to tycoon Kith Meng, whose conglomerate Royal Group launched Giant Ibis Transport. Morady and others say Meng is the company’s real owner, even though the connection between Royal Group and the bus company is not identified in public records.
Royal Group did not respond to requests for comment. Kith Meng could not be reached.
Morady and other union members accuse Giant Ibis Transport of effectively engaging in union-busting behavior. The company has also been actively recruiting new workers instead of rehiring the laid off union drivers, Morady added.
“We have urged the company to take us back to work, but the company’s representatives failed to do so,” he said. “This is real discrimination against union members”.
Ou Phanny, who identified himself as a Giant Ibis Bus manager, denied the company was discriminating against union members and said he had not acted aggressively.
“Who said I used violence?” Phanny said, laughing. “It is not like that.”
The company claimed this week that it had miscalculated the payments owed to workers and needed more time, pushing back the deadline until June 7 which the union reluctantly agreed to, Morady said.
Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, which helped the Giant Ibis employees unionize in 2020, said that miscalculating the severance and seniority payment to laid-off employees was an excuse.
“This is real intimidation,” Thorn said. “The workers have agreed to take the money, although they are not taken back to normal work.”
“If the company claims that they need to calculate again, why do they take so long to just recalculate?” he added.
While non-union members have already been accepted back into the workforce, the union members have been required to renounce their legally owed benefits to resume working at the company, Morady said.
The exact payment for workers was not specified in the agreements, but Morady, a bus driver with the company, said the 30 workers are each owed around $7,000 to $8,000 including back pay since their suspension.
Cambodian labor law states that suspensions more than two months require permission from the Labor Ministry. The Labor Ministry did not respond to requests for comment as to whether this permission had been granted.
“The Labor Ministry works as a specialist to solve problems related to labor disputes, so if the company said they are unable to calculate, what about the ministry?” Ath Thorn said. “Unless they are biased towards the employer”.
Morady said he and representatives met with the Labor Ministry and the company on Thursday to discuss the payments workers were owed.
“The company is transparently seen to be holding out on this negotiation for their own benefit,” Morady said. “They said they need to project the total payback for the settlement with us. It’s just a company ploy.”
A letter shared with CamboJA shows that, as part of the negotiations, workers are prevented from protesting until the settlement was concluded.
More than a dozen other workers were unable to sign their names because they remained at their homes in the provinces and could not afford to travel to the city, Morady said.
“Now the negotiation is pushed back to June 7 and we do not know what will happen,” Morady added. “It has not come to an end yet. If they still do not comply, we will continue to protest.”
- Impact of Event
- 30
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 30, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 25, 2023
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court this morning issued incitement convictions for nine current and former union activists from the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU), including imprisoned union President Chhim Sithar. The convictions under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code are related to the union’s ongoing peaceful strike.
The court sentenced Sithar to the maximum prison sentence of two years and she was immediately detained following the verdict. Sithar and the other unionists were previously arrested and imprisoned in December and January 2022, before being bailed in March 2022. Sithar was re-arrested and imprisoned on 26 November 2022 for allegedly violating judicial supervision conditions, despite the fact that neither she nor her lawyers were ever informed of any conditions.
Five other LRSU unionists – Chhim Sokhorn, Hay Sopheap, Kleang Soben, Sun Srey Pich, and Touch Sereymeas – were each sentenced to one year and six months in prison, but the five women will remain out of prison and under judicial supervision until all appeal routes are exhausted.
The remaining three defendants – Sok Narith, Sok Kongkea, and Ry Sovandy – received one-year sentences that were suspended. The court provided no reasoning in its judgment.
LRSU members have been on strike since December 2021 following mass layoffs at the NagaWorld casino, which included LRSU’s entire leadership and a significant number of its members. Members have faced judicial harassment, physical attacks, and sexual assaults by authorities during the course of their peaceful strike.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 30, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 23, 2023
- Event Description
Independent researcher Chan Vibol has been charged with plotting and incitement after participating in a May workshop run by the land rights group Coalition of Cambodian Farmers Community (CCFC), according to a Tuesday evening statement from the Ratanakiri provincial court.
Vibol, who is not a CCFC employee, is the fourth person to face charges for attending the multi-day workshop in Ratanakiri. The court has issued a warrant for Vibol’s arrest, according to court spokesperson Keo Pisoth, Ratanakiri court spokesperson.
After reviewing the evidence, the prosecutor described the workshop as a “secret gathering which discussed political issues to cause incitement in farmers to rise up and cause turmoil in society, leading to the overthrow of the government,” according to an unofficial translation of the court’s Tuesday statement.
“The investigating judge is further investigating their computers and some documents,” Pisoth said. But he declined to share further information about the specific evidence underpinning the court’s allegations.
The several dozen CCFC workshop attendees had their phones collected and put in a box of drinking water bottles, while a security camera was turned away to avoid recording the workshop’s activities, according to the court’s statement.
On Monday, the court brought the same charges of plotting and incitement against CCFC president Theng Savoeun and two colleagues, who have been in custody since May 17 and were placed in pretrial detention earlier this week.
Last week, Interior Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak accused workshop participants of plotting a “peasant revolution” which CCFC representatives and supporters have repeatedly denied.
The charges for the four detained workshop participants are under articles 453, 494 and 495 of Cambodia’s criminal code. Plotting carries a five to 10 year prison sentence and a 4 million riel fine — approximately $972.
Senior investigator for human rights group Adhoc, Soeng Sankaruna, said he was disturbed by the court’s characterization of CCFC’s workshop as a “secret” gathering as opposed to a routine internal discussion.
“It is very concerning because usually civil society groups have cooperated together in monitoring and training citizens on their rights,” he said. “In general meetings, they don’t want to reveal what they are discussing to the public and I believe other institutions who have a meeting also don’t want everybody to know about their meetings too.”
“It will make other civil society groups concerned about organizing assemblies as any accusation might happen,” he added.
Vibol earned a PhD in political science from the Royal Academy of Cambodia in 2013.
As a freelance researcher, Vibol has produced reports that include surveying the Kingdom’s NGO operations and providing recommendations for improving civil society work in the Kingdom.
Vibol could not be reached for comment.
Vibol wrote on his Linkedin that he is “envisioning to see all live in peace and dignity.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: three NGO staff interrogated, arrested
- Date added
- May 30, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 19, 2023
- Event Description
Members of land communities from Koh Kong, Preah Sihanouk, Svay Rieng, Kampong Speu, and Kandal provinces gathered to demand the release of three Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC) staffers who were arrested on 18 May.
Theng Savoeun, the association’s president; Nhel Pheap, senior organizing officer; and Thann Hach, community facilitator officer, were charged by the Ratanakiri Provincial Court with plotting against the nation and incitement under Articles 453 and 494-495 of the Criminal Code, respectively. Say Kouhav, the investigating judge, sent all three CCFC staff members to pre-trial detention in Ratanakiri prison at approximately 6:30 pm today. If convicted, they face between 5 and 10 years in prison.
While hundreds of community members gathered outside the Ministry of Interior to demand the three men’s release, many others were blocked by authorities from travelling to the capital. On 19 May 2023, community members from Koh Kong province were blocked by local authorities at 2 am as they attempted to drive to Phnom Penh. They were stopped for around two hours and threatened with arrest if they continued their journey. After they returned home, authorities warned community representatives that any further efforts by community members to gather in Phnom Penh would be met with arrests.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: three NGO staff interrogated, arrested
- Date added
- May 30, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 17, 2023
- Event Description
Three staffers at the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC) have been arrested and are expected to be sent to court, a day after police in Kratie province stopped a bus carrying 37 people and detained several people for questioning overnight.
This morning, police formally arrested Theng Savoeun, CCFC president; Nhil Pheap, a senior officer at the NGO; and Thann Hach, a project officer. Reasons for stopping the bus and the arrests are not clear. The three were among those detained overnight, while the remaining 34 people left the police station in their own bus this morning.
Authorities confiscated computers, mobile phones, and written documents from the group, and the Ministry of Interior’s Anti Cyber Crime Department were seen entering the police station following the staffers’ detention.
CCFC is a membership-based organisation established in 2011 to address land rights and issues affecting Cambodia’s farmers. Savoeun was previously arrested alongside other NGO staffers and community members in January 2014 following a violent crackdown on demonstrators in Phnom Penh, and spent five months in prison prior to receiving a largely suspended sentence of four years.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Land rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 19, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 25, 2023
- Event Description
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday threatened to fire the relatives of a popular Cambodian online activist based in France who has been highly critical of the longtime leader and the government.
Thousands of viewers watch Sorn Dara’s talk shows on Facebook during which he routinely attacks Hun Sen and calls for his removal from office. His father is a military officer and a longtime supporter of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and and his sister-in-law works at the Ministry of Interior.
“You want to try me if your parents don’t teach you lessons. I will fire your parents – including your relatives – from their jobs,” Hun Sen said at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh. “You are so rude. I will invite your father and your sister-in-law to learn some lessons and don’t complain that I am taking your relatives as hostages,” an apparent reference to firing them.
Sorn Dara lives in exile in France and is seeking asylum there. He most recently criticized Hun Sen for promising free admission to people and participants during the upcoming Southeast Asia Games, which are being held in Cambodia next month.
The move has been criticized as a way to curry favor with voters ahead of July’s parliamentary election.
Following his threats on Tuesday, Hun Sen posted videos of Sorn Dara’s mother and brother on Telegram saying they were disappointed that Sorn Dara hasn’t joined the CPP.
‘You insult your parents’
Hun Sen also spoke publicly about Sorn Dara in February, saying that he wasn’t a good son because he didn’t listen to his parents.
“You insult your parents to whom you owe gratitude saying they have less education than you,” he said. “Your parents gave birth to you. You still look down on them. How about the regular people? If you don’t recognize your parents, then you are not human.”
Sorn Dara is a former official of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November 2017. He said his father disowned him that same year because he had refused to join the CPP.
Sorn Dara’s father, Col. Sok Sunnareth, deputy chief of staff of the Kampong Speu Provincial Operations Area and a ruling party working group official, publicly implored his son on Feb. 22 to stop criticizing Hun Sen and his government, according to a Khmer Times report.
On Tuesday, Sorn Dara responded to Hun Sen’s latest angry threat with a Facebook post that said the prime minister should act in a more mature manner and lead the country with dignity.
Speaking to Radio Free Asia, Sorn Dara noted that Hun Sen has recently been using threats and tricks against political opponents as the election looms.
“I don’t want to be associated with my family. They are different from me,” he said. “No one can stop me from doing something.”
‘I will try to advise my brother’
Sorn Dara’s parents appeared in a short video in February posted by the pro-government Fresh News, saying they had severed ties with their son.
His brother, Sorn Saratt, told RFA on Tuesday that he has also cut ties with him. But he said he will try to convince his brother to defect from the opposition party and join the CPP.
“I will try to advise my brother to stop attacking the King, the government and Samdech [Hun Sen], to stay away from traitors and return to the family and the country,” he said.
Ros Sotha, executive director of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, told RFA that Hun Sen’s threat isn’t legitimate. He urged the prime minister to be patient and to avoid violating human rights and the law.
“As a leader, he shouldn’t be afraid of being criticized,” he said. “There is no law that [Sorn Dara’s relatives] will be fired because they are related to members of the opposition party.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation, Right to work
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 26, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 16, 2023
- Event Description
The Information Ministry revoked the licenses of three media outlets on Thursday after they published reports exposing a senior government official’s role in land fraud.
The Ministry stated that online Khmer language media outlets Federation of Cambodia-ASEAN Journalists, Raksmey Kampong Cham and Dumnong Knong Srok had “committed serious violations of journalistic ethics” and “not followed the instruction of the ministry.”
Chea Lyheang, president and publisher of the Federation of Cambodia-ASEAN Journalists, expressed disappointment that the Ministry revoked his outlet’s license without clear explanation.
“We regret this, please show the exact issue and what mistake we have made,” Lyheang told CamboJA.
Lyheang said the Information Ministry had called him for a meeting in February and requested that he remove articles alleging that government officials had forged documents in a land dispute and, in another case, involved in the extortion of poor families.
One report, published in all three outlets, revealed that senior ruling CPP National Assembly member Sar Chamrong, former deputy governor of Banteay Meanchey, allegedly forged documents to gain more than 60 hectares of land in Banteay Meanchey.
“After seeing forged documents and thumb prints, I have published this information and Sar Chamrong has complained to the Information Ministry,” Lyheang said.
Chamrong heads the National Assembly’s Commission on Human Rights, Complaints and Investigations. In February 2020, Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith led a delegation to pay respects at the funeral of Chamrong’s mother.
Chamrong could not be reached for comment by CamboJA.
The Information Ministry claimed the articles damaged the honor of the officials named in the report, according to Lyheang.
“I replied that I cannot remove the information because it is real information, especially a lie to Prime Minister Hun Sen,” Lyheang said.
Another article published in the three outlets revealed that a Takeo provincial deputy prosecutor had seized property from three families who bought it from Ratanakiri province and demanded they pay him money to get it back.
Chea Saren, publisher of Dumnong Knong Srok, published the same reports into land disputes and land fraud this year, including in a video segment receiving more than 169,000 views on Facebook. He said the Information Ministry requested he remove the articles, which he refused to do.
“They [Information Ministry] had requested to remove those two articles but I didn’t follow [their request] because we have enough documents and are interviewing villagers,” he said. “We have published the real information of villagers, which might have impacted other people’s interests.”
Information Ministry spokesperson Meas Sophorn denied the Ministry had asked the media outlets to remove articles.
“It isn’t true,” Sophorn said. “The decision to revoke licenses came because those media outlets have broadcasted disinformation with no verification of sources from relevant parties related to information they have published, and they didn’t make a correction to disinformation they had published.”
The spokesperson claimed that the land dispute in Banteay Meanchey province was already resolved and so there was no need to report further on it. He added the outlets had “violated journalistic professional ethics…stated in the Press Law.”
The Press Law states that anybody who believes they have been subject to a false report damaging them may file a civil suit to resolve the matter in court.
“For me, I want to see a thorough investigation of the cases before closing [the publications],” said Nop Vy, executive director of Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association (CamboJA).
Press freedom in Cambodia has worsened as a result of the closure of these outlets, he said.
“From my perspective, if [the closure of media outlets] continues, it will not be a good image for our society, it could have a lot of impacts, especially impacting the push for transparency and [ability] to root out corruption in our society,” Vy said.
The government has previously censored the media for reporting information that it deems to damage the reputation of officials.
In February, the government shut down independent media VOD and blocked access to its website for a report alleging the Prime Minister’s son Hun Manet had signed a document in place of his father to provide aid to Turkey.
“It is a lesson learned for other media institutions,” Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said on his Facebook page after the announcement of VOD’s closure. “The media institutions that do not agree to publish clarifications, [they] will face the revocation of their licenses.”
The revocation of VOD’s license was condemned by a range of foreign embassies, the United Nations and human rights groups. But Prime Minister Hun Sen brushed off those concerns and said VOD’s shut down strengthened the Kingdom’s journalism by punishing what he claimed to be unprofessional reporting.
Following the loss of its license, outlet Dumnong Knong Srok posted a goodbye to followers on its Facebook page.
“Farewell to the professional journalists all over the Kingdom of Cambodia who are in love with the field of journalism,” Dumnong Knong Srok said in a Friday post. “Wish them good health and continue to spread true information to the society for the motherland.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 19, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 9, 2023
- Event Description
Venerable Soy Sat was arrested on 9 March 2023 in Battambang province and detained overnight at the provincial police station. The monk was defrocked and released on the evening of 10 March, and consequently forced back into civilian life.
The arrest occurred during Venerable Soy Sat’s ongoing religious march, which started on 1 March 2023 in the capital and was set to end roughly 350 kilometres away in the border city of Poipet.
Venerable Soy Sat marched to highlight seven demands, including calling for monks who join social actions to not be expelled from pagodas; for courts to not be improperly used against activists; for respect for all citizens’ freedom of expression; for the fair resolution of land conflicts; and for the release of politicians, civil society members, and youths currently detained in prison.
The arrest in Battambang followed an earlier disruption on 7 March 2023, when authorities from neighbouring Pursat province briefly stopped the activist monk and questioned him.
This is the second time this year that Venerable Soy Sat took part in a national march across multiple provinces. In late January, the monk joined a march headed by then-union leader Rong Chhun, who is now a Vice President of the Candlelight Party. Upon returning to his home in Plaoch pagoda in Kampong Speu, Venerable Soy Sat was told he could no longer reside there. He has been living in a nearby forested area since.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 19, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2023
- Event Description
Nine Boeng Tamok lake residents face charges of “intentional acts of violence and obstruction of public officials” and were placed under court supervision following a February 21 warrant issued by the Phnom Penh Municipal court.
The residents received the warrant in the morning and were ordered to appear in court by the afternoon. They did not attend because their lawyer from human rights NGO Licadho was unavailable, they said.
Court spokesperson Y Rin said there was no further information to share and Lim Sokuntheara, the judge who issued the warrant, could not be reached for comment.
For years, the outspoken residents of Samraong Tboung village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh have protested the filling-in of Boeng Tamok, one of the capital’s last remaining natural lakes. They are also on the verge of being evicted from their homes and losing their livelihoods fishing and harvesting vegetation from the lake as a series of land giveaways to well-connected elites and developers transform the landscape.
Prak Sophea, a prominent activist and resident of Samraong Tboung village along the lake, denied the allegations. She said the charges likely arose after an altercation between authorities and residents in October last year.
Local authorities had barred residents from making home repairs on the grounds they were illegal squatters and gave them packs of noodles as compensation. A group of frustrated villagers later burned the donated gifts in front of village security officers, who kicked the embers at them. In response, the villagers threw rice. The embers burned Sophea and forced her to visit the hospital for treatment, she said.
“Should we stand for the authorities to beat us, can we not defend ourselves?” said Sophea, a 43-year-old mother of three. “Does the law allow us to protect ourselves or let the authorities beat people?”
Committing an “intentional act of violence” carries a maximum of three years imprisonment and a six million riel fine, while “obstruction of public officials” could lead to a one year prison sentence and two million riel fine, according to the Cambodian criminal code.
Sophea and at least 10 villagers have already been ordered to appear in court a combined three times since 2022.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court previously issued a court summons in August 2022 for seven representatives of Samraong Tboung village, including Sophea. The Prek Pnov district head of security claimed the residents had committed obstruction of public officials, incitement and public disorder.
Soeun Sreysoth, 32, said herself, her husband and her brother were named in the most recent court summons. She added that she is disappointed as they had merely sought to raise their voices to secure legal land ownership of property they have occupied for years.
“It is injustice for citizens because we are just advocating, fighting for our housing rights, but the authorities issued a warrant to threaten us,” she said.
According to urban poor NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT), at least 2,244.45 hectares of the lake’s 3,239.69 hectares have been filled in with sand, following a 2016 sub-decree allowing the government to rent or sell land in and around the lake.
In recent years, filled-in areas around Boeng Tamok lake have been distributed to wealthy and powerful individuals and companies. Recipients include ruling party CPP senator Kok An, Chea Sophalen, the daughter of Land Minister Chea Sophara, military commanders Vong Pisen and Sao Sokha and the famous singer Preap Sovath.
Out of many companies, the director of Orkide Villa, Nuth Ton also received 67 hectares of Boeng Tamok lake in September last year. Orkide is chaired by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s daughter Hun Mana, while his other daughter Hun Maly and daughter-in-law Pich Chanmony are also directors in Orkide-brand firms.
Samraong Tboung villagers have not received any land titles or been classified as legal residents but they have always been able to vote for elections, they say.
Soeung Saran, STT’s executive director, said he appreciated development around Phnom Penh but not without consideration of its impact.
“Before developing, we should think about the long-term impact on society and the environment,” he said. “I would like to see more assessments of the social, economic, and environmental impacts before making a decision to modify the land.”
Am Phoeun, a mother of four named in the August 2022 court summons, said that while she has making a living fishing from the lake since 2007, she is now preparing to migrate to Thailand to find another source of income.
“Due to the development and landfill of the lake, We don’t have an income except to decide to migrate,” she said. “We used to depend on fishing, but when the authorities landfill the lake, my family and I got a big effect from it.”
Sophea, she asked the government to find justice for citizens and to let them live where they are because she thought that she would get enough income by living here, such as by selling drinking water.
“We have lost income from development, so we want to live in the development area,” she said. “We can do business [there].”
“We are deeply hurt and frustrated by the authorities,” she continued. “It is one of the most unfair things that the people of the lake have no right to live there while only high officials, companies and institutions have the right to live there.”
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: seven WHRDs summoned for protesting evictions
- Date added
- Mar 6, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2023
- Event Description
Following a BBC profile of prominent VOD reporter Mech Dara titled “Cambodia: ‘Every newsroom I worked in gets silenced’”, Dara’s former employer The Phnom Penh Post sought to undermine Dara’s credibility by negatively portraying his mental health..
In a February 17 editorial titled “The Post: “Shut down” and “silenced”?” The Post claimed they had not had the right to reply to BBC and disputed the characterization that Dara had left because the paper had changed ownership to a PR firm with close ties to the government in 2018.
But they also included a section titled “about Dara’s personality” where the unsigned editorial described Dara as a “coward”, “mentally impacted” with “prominent personality flaws.”
Dara declined to comment.
“All this probably seems childish to a global audience and is highly unlikely to negatively impact Dara’s glowing reputation abroad,” wrote J. Daniel Sims, Cambodia director for anti-trafficking NGO International Justice Mission, in a Twitter thread. “However, coordinated attacks like this carry serious weight locally and have the potential to dramatically alter public opinion about him.”
Sims noted that Dara had been one of the VOD reporters leading the publication’s sustained exposé into Cambodia’s human trafficking and scam industry.
“This is the most pernicious and dangerous form of propaganda as it effectively reduces the net political cost of any potential violence against him [Dara],” Sims added. “In a context like this one, the risks of such a horrifying outcome are anything but theoretical.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: leading independent news got licence revoked
- Date added
- Feb 27, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2023
- Event Description
Following the government-ordered shutdown of VOD last week, the outlet has been the subject of vulgar social media memes and its reporters continue to face personal attacks online and in government-aligned media.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has stated the VOD report which led him to revoke the outlet’s license last week was “fake news” and a political attack on the government.
“This is not the first time, and this time is too serious,” Hun Sen said Monday. “They intentionally attack both father [him] and son [Hun Manet] and destroy the government, you are trying to destroy me, it should be enough.”
Amidst the framing of VOD as fake news, Adhoc spokesperson Soeng Senkaruna said that there are few remaining media in Cambodia willing to report on negative issues. Freedom of press had been on the decline since the dissolution of the CNRP in 2017, he added.
“Now we see that the situation has gone backwards, which is worrying,” he said. “We do not want to see images of restrictions on the press and civil society in a democratic society, and this event has made journalists fearful of fulfilling their role to serve society and the people.”
PM defends sexual harassment of journalist
On Monday, Hun Sen rebuked a group of more than 40 civil society organizations after they released a joint-statement last week condemning the sexual harassment of a female VOD reporter on social media.
The letter was addressed to the Minister of Information, Minister of Women’s Affairs, Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, and the Minister of Post and Telecommunications, urging the ministries to take action against social media personality Pheng Vannak for verbally attacking a female reporter.
The letter stated that Pheng Vannak, who runs a self-titled social media news page, wielded misogynistic language against a female VOD reporter and demanded he apologize and attend gender sensitivity training. But the Prime Minister appeared to downplay Vannak’s comments.
“These NGOs were established only to oppose the government and not to do anything to protect women’s equality,” Hun Sen said during a February 20 speech to Phnom Penh university students. “When my sister [sister-in-law] died, she was insulted, my wife was insulted, my family was insulted, but you [NGOs] did not come out to defend, so next time don’t talk about double standards with me.”
Regarding the insults, Hun Sen was likely referring to statements made by exiled opposition figure Sam Rainsy, who mocked the death of the Prime Minister’s sister-in-law in early February.
“I am waiting to see if all civil society organizations are taking action to protect my family as well,” Hun Sen said, warning he could order investigations into the NGOs’ financing.
“If it is necessary to audit [the NGOs] to find out where the money came from, we have the right to do so and the Ministry of Interior or the Anti-Corruption Unit could investigate,” he added.
While no other ministry responded directly to the civil society statement as of Monday, the Ministry of Women’s affairs released a statement Monday which urged civil society organizations to remain neutral and not pursue political interests.
“We call on civil society organizations to adhere to professional ethics and display impartiality in the conduct of their work, avoiding the application of biased and double standards,” the statement read.
Chim Channeang, secretary general of the Cambodian NGO Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, signed the statement. She said the aims of the organizations signing the statement were not political.
“The role of civil society organizations is that we work in line with the government, our job is to work together as a government partner, and our role is to monitor the government,” she said. “For political parties, we do not interfere.”
Channeang said civil society organizations often receive money from abroad because Cambodia is a developing country with limited resources. She noted some government ministries also receive funding from foreign institutions.
“It does not mean…doing daily activities to serve foreign interests or doing whatever the foreigner wants, we bring that money just to contribute to the government and it helps develop the country and benefit the poor or minority groups in our community,” she said.
She said that condemning the harassment of the female VOD journalist was not a political act but was intended to promote greater protection of women.
“We are not taking sides, but the fact is that the girl who reported the news was insulted, and it is such a serious threat to make,” Channeang said. “It destroys her reputation, especially it affects her mental health.”
Backlash against VOD reporters
While international media, foreign embassies and numerous Cambodians mourned and condemned the closure of VOD in a series of articles, editorials and social media posts, VOD staff came under attack on social media and in government-aligned news outlets.
The day VOD’s license was revoked on February ,13 a series of Twitter users — many appearing to be fake accounts — began posting identical cartoons and messages applauding VOD’s closure with the hashtag #VODshithead.
The Twitter accounts shared cartoons which portrayed VOD as a tool of foreign agents such as “foreign embassies” and “NGO[s]”.
In one cartoon branded with the vulgar hashtag, a figure resembling the American icon Uncle Sam, in a tophat with the VOD logo, has a thought bubble attached reading “You must adhere to the strategies I have established” while painting Cambodia with paint labeled “human right” and “democracy.”
A group of white journalists stands watching and one says “Each of us must follow our boss’s instructions regarding fake reports. Our boss gives us money and protects us.”
Few of the comments received more than 100 views, according to Twitter.
The attacks on VOD reporters extended to government-aligned media.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: leading independent news got licence revoked
- Date added
- Feb 27, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 21, 2023
- Event Description
NagaWorld union leader Chhim Sithar and eight co-defendants appeared for their first day of trial in Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday. Sithar and all her colleagues, except for one, denied the incitement charges against them.
Prosecutors claim that Sithar and her fellow union members are guilty of incitement to disturb security for leading a union strike for more than a year after Phnom Penh authorities declared the labor movement illegal.
Over the course of the three and a half hour hearing, Presiding judge Soeung Chakriya focused on questioning Sithar about the union’s funding, especially from international donors.
Sithar acknowledged she had requested and received funds to support the union’s activities from three international donors: U.S.-based non-profit East West Management Institute (EWMI), feminist NGO JASS and North American union Unite Here.
The three organizations could not be reached for comment.
Sithar said the union received $10,000 from EWMI, $15,000 from JASS and $5,000 from Unite Here as “humanitarian funds” to aid members laid off during Covid-19.
“I made proposals for receiving funds to support the union’s operations and humanitarian funds in helping members during COVID-19, and layoff jobs,” Sithar said.
Deputy prosecutor Seng Heang said that Sithar had led the illegal protest without permission from Phnom Penh municipal authorities and that international funds support the union’s illegal activities.
“I have observed they [workers] have protested [from] morning till evening with no other job [to support their livelihood],” he said.
“They’re volunteers who come [to strike] and they’re willing to do so,” Sithar replied.
She said the strike was peaceful, legal and protected by the Cambodian constitution’s right to freedom expression.
Approximately 1,300 workers initiated the strike on December 18, 2021 to demand the reinstatement of 365 laid off NagaWorld employees following mass lay-offs and lack of full severance pay. More than one year later, 100 employees still protest their lay-offs.
Sithar, president of the Labour Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employee of NagaWorld (LRSU), has stated the union has followed all legal protocol for the strike. The union has said it only launched a strike after all viable efforts at mediation were exhausted.
But Sithar and her eight fellow union members — Chhim Sokhorn, Hay Sopheap, Kleang Soben, Ry Sovandy, Sok Kongkea, Sok Narith, Sun Sreypich, and Touch Sereymeas — were arrested in January last year and placed in pre-trial detention. They were released from Prey Sar prison on bail in March.
Sithar was re-arrested in November last year and detained for allegedly violating bail.
Only one defendant, Kongkea, accepted the charges of incitement in court but later declined to speak with reporters.
Senior Adhoc investigator Yi Soksan said the government, Ministry of Labor and NagaWorld had unfairly dismissed efforts to resolve the strikers demands by instead handing the issue to the system.
“I see that the Royal Government as well as the Ministry of Labor does not seem to care about this labor dispute, they are [Nagaworld staff] laid off unfairly by the company and then the court charges with accusing them of inciting unrest and undermining social security.”
Ministry of Labor spokesperson Heng Sour said in a Telegram message to CamboJA that labor conflicts between former employees of NagaWorld have been settled at the court stage.
“However, he ministry will continue to mediate through the mechanism of the strike and demonstration commission at the request of the conflicting parties,” he said.
NagaWorld could not be reached for comment.
President of Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions Yang Sophorn attended the trial and said she believed LRSU members had legitimate reasons and legal cause to strike but this was ignored by the court.
“Prosecutor questioned tried to place blame, it isn’t about finding justice for Sithar only protecting the interests of the company,” Sophorn told CamboJA News. “[The court] does not mean to find justice for parties involved.”
“I think that the incitement charge was exaggerated because Sithar has tried to explain the root cause of striking and workers’ demands that they have a right to disagree with the employer,” Sophorn added.
Laid off NagaWorld union member Nop Tithboravy and around 100 fellow union members protested outside the court on the day of the hearing.
Tithboravy said she and her colleagues had received numerous threats from the government and struggled to support their families financially after more than one year of striking, refusing to accept the company’s terms.
“I hope the court will bring justice to everyone because we are doing a strike to seek freedom at our workplace and want to go back to work,” she said. “ We don’t have income to support our family, we want to go back to work.”
Tithboravy said the strikers would not end their strike unless the company reinstated all workers and the court dropped all charges against the union members.
The trial is scheduled to resume on February 28.
Outside the court following the hearing, Sithar’s younger brother Chhim Pros said his sister had only followed the law in leading the strike.
“[Sithar] has always helped people from a young age,” he said. “She is just an ordinary girl, she has no ability to destroy the peace in our country.”
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 27, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2023
- Event Description
The government this morning revoked the media operating licence of the Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM), parent of the bilingual outlet Voice of Democracy (VOD), one of Cambodia’s few remaining independent media outlets.
The Ministry of Information revoked the licence after Prime Minister Hun Sen and his son, army commander Hun Manet, took issue with a 9 February VOD article that featured reactions from various people. This included a comment from government spokesperson Phay Siphan regarding the claim that Hun Manet had signed an agreement providing financial assistance to Türkiye. Both Manet and the prime minister later took to social media to deny that Manet had signed the document.
On 11 February, Hun Sen wrote on his Facebook page that VOD had 72 hours to apologise to the government and Hun Manet, or else he would direct the Ministry of Information to revoke VOD’s media operating licence. He later shortened this arbitrary deadline to expire on 10am on 13 February. Article 10 of the Press Law specifies the right of public figures who believe media have published false allegations with malicious intent to demand a retraction and sue in court to demand retractions, compensation, or both.
Following a meeting with Ministry of Information officials on 12 February, CCIM issued a letter addressed to Hun Sen expressing VOD’s “regret” and requesting “forgiveness [for] any unintentional wrongdoing”. VOD Khmer also published an article that evening outlining Hun Sen and Hun Manet’s denials.
Hun Sen rejected the apology via a Facebook post, stating that he was unable to accept the words “regret” and “forgiveness” in place of the word “apologise”, and ordered the Ministry of Information to revoke VOD’s licence. CCIM issued an additional letter of apology. Hun Sen again rejected the apology on Facebook in the early morning of 13 February. Several internet service providers had blocked access to VOD’s websites as of this morning.
VOD has become one of the most important independent media outlets in the country in recent years, publishing in Khmer and English. VOD journalists have written more than 60 stories over more than a year documenting widespread slave compounds where trafficked people are forced to conduct cyberscams. In August last year, five VOD journalists were detained and one was struck by the prime minister’s bodyguard unit while reporting on the recently deforested Phnom Tamao forest. The outlet also published dozens of stories from across the country documenting the repressive political space in the lead-up to the 2022 Commune Elections.
The shutdown of an independent media outlet is similar to the crackdown on journalists ahead of the last national election in 2018. In late 2017, the Cambodia Daily was shuttered over an arbitrary tax bill and in 2018 the Phnom Penh Post was sold to a firm with links to the government while facing pressure following a similar arbitrary tax bill. The government also shuttered dozens of radio frequencies carrying broadcasts of Radio Free Asia (RFA), Voice of America (VOA) and VOD.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 13, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 6, 2023
- Event Description
Around 900 workers at a Phnom Penh factory said the owner won’t let them resume work after a two-month suspension and alleged most of the suspended workers support a pro-worker union.
Of the around 1,700 workers at Zhen Tai factory in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district, around 900 were affected by a factory-requested suspension because there was a drop in orders, said Kim Sophen, president of the Workers’ Spirit Union at the factory.
Sophen said workers were paid $30 a month for the two months and returned to work on Monday but were not allowed into the factory nor were they told if the suspension was extended. They protested outside the factory and demanded to return to work, suggesting a rotation policy with workers still working at the factory.
“If there is no order or work, the factory should allow workers who have been suspended for two months to resume their work and move those who are working to relax in order to help everyone survive,” he said.
Mech Seanghai, deputy president of the union, said she had worked at the factory for 11 years and alleged that most of the suspended workers were supportive of the union.
She said the curtailed pay given to suspended workers was making it hard to live.
“The cost of renting a room alone is between $40 and $100. And the cost of food is also increasing. Therefore, $30 is definitely hard for us to make a living. We also need money to spend on our children’s studies and to pay back our debt to the bank,” she said.
Sin Thy, the factory’s deputy director of administration, declined to comment and directed questions to head of administration Oun Sophea, who could not be reached.
Vong Sovann, the Labor Ministry’s deputy director for dispute resolution, said the ministry had yet to hear from the factory but it was his understanding that the factory would continue the suspensions.
“I looked at the suspension document, the factory said it will suspend work until February 6. So, we will wait and see. We contacted the factory but they have not responded yet,” he said.
According to Sophen, Zhen Tai previously threatened the union when it sought to protect workers’ benefits when the suspensions were first announced, suing three union representatives. An investigating judge at Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued a summons calling Sophen, Kum Vandeth, secretary of the union, and Seanghai, for questioning on December 19, 2022.
The summons accused the three union representatives of leading workers to protest and asked for $37,500 in damages.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 12, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 1, 2023
- Event Description
A small march vaguely calling for “morality” in the country’s politics faced obstacles within the first day of its planned 10-day trek from Phnom Penh to Pursat as authorities blocked them from sleeping at a pagoda.
Around 50 people gathered near Phnom Penh’s Wat Phnom on Wednesday to begin the nationalist march, as participants waved Cambodian and Buddhist flags.
The march was organized by the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association, an opposition-aligned body formerly led by union leader Rong Chhun, who recently joined the Candlelight Party.
The association’s current director, Ouk Chhayavy, said at the start of the march that ethics among both the rich and poor were declining in Cambodia, and the country was headed toward “ethical disaster.”
But all the examples and demands of such immorality she and the protesters raised were political.
“We do this pilgrimage because we have seen society facing a huge immorality crisis, including the top person — the prime minister has also used abusive language,” Chhayavy said. “We want to see all ranks of people unite and use good and sweet language to each other.”
Unionist Chhun, known for racially tinged anti-Vietnamese comments, called for the release of political prisoners.
“We have to end this kind of culture of considering all Khmer as enemies. We must unite to lift up this poor country and make it as glorious as other countries,” Chhun said.
He said on Thursday that the group was unable to sleep at a pagoda in Kandal’s Ponhea Leu overnight as the pagoda chief asked them to get permission from the commune chief, who told them to ask the district governor, who refused. They stayed in villagers’ homes instead, he said.
In the afternoon, he said the group was now in Kampong Chhnang and could again face difficulties finding a place to sleep.
The group has issued four demands: political reconciliation, end of political harassment, release of political prisoners, and for Cambodians to stop taking sides in politics.
Cambodian Institute for Democracy president Pa Chanroeun said the public might be sympathetic to the march as many people in the country remained Buddhist.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak, however, said last month that in his opinion, he didn’t think the pilgrimage would bring any good to society, and questioned how the association was assessing a decline in ethics.
“If they based this pilgrimage like they said in the letter on society’s ethics declining, what measurement did they use? What did they base it on? What kind of scale did they use? Generally when we say something, we need to speak reasonably. Going down?” Sopheak said. “This is just my own opinion, but I don’t think it benefits anything.”
The warning came after the prominent teachers’ union announced it would be holding a 10-day march from Phnom Penh to Kandal, Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang, and Pursat provinces starting February 10 to raise attention to issues of injustice.
In response, the ministry said only 50 participants would be permitted to join and also said that a December demonstration at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park calling for the release of political prisoners violated an order by the Phnom Penh municipality banning their marches.
The same letter said that the association would need to send documentation outlining its bank accounts and financial activities over the past year.
“In case the association does not implement the spirit of the letter above, the Ministry of Interior will take legal measures according to the law,” it continued.
Yearly financial reports are required under the Law on Association and Non-governmental Organization (LANGO), a controversial law passed in 2015 that rights groups and many legal experts say is aimed at stifling NGO activity.
Uk Chhayavy, president of CITA, told CamboJA that the ministry’s letter is intended to threaten the group in response to its efforts to raise awareness of rights abuses by the government.
“This is an image to threaten us for being scary, but for me, I am not afraid because what I have done follows the law,” she said.
“We will submit [our records] to the Interior Ministry, but our association does not have funds, and has no money in its bank account,” Chhayavy said.
However, she said that her association is preparing its report and will be submitting to the ministry by its deadline. Chhayavy added that donors had stopped providing funds to the association about six years ago, and the association now survives from membership fees and personal volunteers.
She also defended the previous demonstration, noting that it followed the Law on Peaceful Assembly, which requires only that authorities be informed of a planned demonstration.
Ny Sokha, president of rights group Adhoc, said that while the Interior Ministry’s request for financial reports followed the law, the larger aim of such laws was to pressure NGOs.
“Generally, the nature of LANGO is to put restrictions on the rights and freedom,” he said.
Vorn Pao, president of Independent Democratic of Informal Economic Association, said that the letter appeared intended to serve as pressure to scare away the public from joining the planned February march.
“I think that the state [Interior Ministry] should not issue the letter asking for a financial report, while they have already allowed the association to hold the gathering,” he said.
“It has added more pressure on the association and emotional pressure on them and a strategy to show the public not to join that event,” Pao said.
The planned February 10 march will see teachers, students, and others gathering at Wat Phnom before setting off on National Road 5. The final destination is in Pursat province, at a statue of Khleang Moeung — a sixteenth century military leader who has gained mythical status as a guardian spirit.
Interior Ministry spokesperson, Khieu Sopheak, said that the letter contained no threats, and only outlined the legal situation.
“It is their business whatever they want to say, and how can we threaten, it is just a small association,” he said.
“We have not seen their reports, that is the reason we tell them to submit it,” Sopheak said. “We want to know what bank account they have been using right now,” he said.
Sopheak added that the ministry has allowed only 50 participants to march and they need to cooperate with authorities and police in each province.
“We have allowed only 50 participants in the meeting. Note that if there are more, [we] we will take action,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 5, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 30, 2023
- Event Description
Three hundred Tuol Sangke market vendors gathered outside the Interior Ministry this week to support three fellow vendors who were being questioned for alleged incitement for protesting new market rental rates.
The market vendors from Phsar Samhan market in Russei Keo district’s Tuol Sangke commune said they gathered outside the ministry on Monday to monitor the questioning of three other vendors who were being accused of incitement for participating in a protest against the doubling of market fees.
Voth Ravy, one of the 300 vendors, said the new market owner, Kim Chhay, wanted the vendors to pay $3,000 for a two-year contract to sell at the market, more than doubling the $1,500 the old owners charged for a three-year contract.
The vendors decided to protest against the move, which is when Chhay accused the three of incitement.
“We had never protested against anything before this new owner came in; we protested because he oppressed us too hard,” he said.
“Just think about it — Covid has just ended! And the business is not going well at all. How can we have enough to pay $2,000 to $3,000 for one shop?”
Srun Phy, one of the three people summoned, said he never incited other vendors and did not try to harm the new owners. Protests broke out only because the new owner was being hard on them, Phy said.
“About this incitement thing, I refuse it all because what we did was unite. We did it together. I did not call or ask them to join me,” Phy said.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak said only that people had left the ministry after the questioning and that the ministry was still assessing the complaint.
VOD could not reach Chhay, the new market owner.
Last year, vendors at Phnom Penh’s O’Russei Market also protested when they were asked to pay a 10% increase in market fees for a new contract lasting 20 years. The vendors said they were still recovering from the pandemic and refused to pay the increase in fees.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 5, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 19, 2023
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court this morning denied bail to Chhim Sithar, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of Nagaworld (LRSU), ordering her to remain in pre-trial detention in Correctional Center 2 prison. No reason was given for the denial.
Sithar was first arrested in January 2022 and spent two months in pre-trial detention after being charged with incitement alongside other members of her union. She was released on bail in March 2022, but she was again arrested in November by immigration police at the Phnom Penh International Airport while returning from a labour rights conference in Australia.
Authorities accused Sithar of violating bail conditions by leaving the country, despite neither Sithar nor her lawyers ever being informed of such conditions. She has been detained at Correctional Center 2 prison since 26 November 2022.
LRSU members have been striking since December 2021 following mass layoffs at the NagaWorld casino that included the union’s entire leadership and a significant number of members.
Sithar and 8 fellow LRSU leaders and members face up to two years in prison if they are convicted of incitement. Another six LRSU members were charged in February under the 2021 Covid-19 Law. In October, at least 18 additional union members were slapped with charges of breaking and entering; intentionally causing damage with aggravating circumstances; and unlawful arrest, detention and confinement, in a criminal case that also references more than 100 unnamed "followers".
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: union leader arrested again upon returning from abroad (Update), Cambodia: union leader bail denied (Update)
- Date added
- Jan 27, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 13, 2022
- Event Description
NagaWorld union members are alleging that ABA Bank blocked three transactions to their accounts from an overseas donor while giving various explanations about negative news of the union in the press or anti-money laundering measures.
The Labor Rights Supported Union of NagaWorld casino has been in dispute with the gambling corporation over the termination of 1,300 workers in 2021, out of which fewer than 200 workers are holding out for reinstatement. The protests have often taken a violent turn when district security guards and police officers use force to break up gatherings.
Three NagaWorld union members said they were expecting transfers from an overseas sender in October to support protesters without jobs or with babies, but were separately informed by a person saying they were from ABA Bank that the transfers were blocked.
Chhim Sokhorn and Klaing Soben told VOD they were expecting $5,050 each to be transferred into their ABA accounts. The two NagaWorld casino workers said they did not know where the money was coming from as union president Chhim Sithar was handling the grant application.
Sithar has been in pretrial detention since November when she was rearrested for allegedly breaking her bail conditions. Sithar, who was at a bail hearing at a Phnom Penh court last week, told VOD the grant was from the Urgent Action Fund in Australia, a feminist group in Australia that supports movements led by women and nonbinary activists.
VOD was unable to interview Sithar further in court.
Sokhorn and Soben both said they were separately contacted by an ABA staffer in October who questioned them on what they would do with the $5,050 transfers and raised the union’s ongoing dispute as the reason why the transactions had been blocked.
Sokhorn said an ABA employee named Sroy Mengty first contacted her on messaging application Telegram on October 13 and then on two other occasions on the 14th and 26th of the same month.
According to text and audio messages between the two of them on Telegram, Mengty informs Sokhorn on October 13 that the transfers will not be processed because of the “negative news about NagaWorld.” When he asks what the money will be used for, Sokhorn tells him it was to assist unemployed union members and for workers with children.
Mengty further says on the 14th: “The reason is because you don’t have proper documents for the money and have negative news about NagaWorld.”
Sokhorn continues to ask Mengty why the money was blocked, whether it was being sent back to the sender in Australia, and if her account had been frozen. He doesn’t reply until the 26th.
“It is because of the policy of the bank in case there is money laundering,” Mengty informs Sokhorn in a message on the 26th.
“From ABA, the money has been returned back. But I don’t know if an intermediary bank is involved. So it is out of our hands,” he adds, then stops replying to subsequent messages.
Sokhorn said she felt it was suspicious that the bank staffer would message her on Telegram, and not give her a single clear reason for blocking the money.
“The grant was to support protesting workers who don’t have jobs and those with babies. It was not for the protests but for those without jobs,” she said.
Soben, who was elected union treasurer last year, received similar text and voice messages from Mengty starting October 19. He asks her what the money is going to be used for, saying he needs to know before he can allow the “frozen” transaction to proceed.
“He said he needs to check if nothing bad will happen [with the money] and only then can he send it through,” Soben said in December.
Soben was first worried that her account would be frozen — a frequent conduit for small donations the union gets for supporting terminated workers. A week later, Mengty tells her that the money has been permanently blocked and sent back to the sender, but that her account is still active.
The two workers said they were unsure if the restrictions on their account were potentially because of bail conditions imposed on them following arrests related to the ongoing strike. Lawyers for Sithar have argued in court that jailed workers released on bail were not told the full conditions for their release.
VOD contacted Igor Zimarev, ABA’s chief marketing officer, and Khuon Pinoch, public relations supervisor, over the last two weeks, but they did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Emails sent to the Urgent Action Fund in Australia also went unanswered this week.
Terminated workers at the NagaWorld casino and represented by the union have said they are facing financial hardships as part of the prolonged labor action against the casino corporation.
The union’s registration has yet to be renewed by the Labor Ministry after elections last year for senior leadership because the ministry says the elected leaders, like Sithar, Sokhorn and Soben, are no longer employees of the casino. Soben said the union’s official bank account with Acleda bank had been frozen because the union’s registration was not renewed.
Separately, to raise funds for workers, Nop Tithboravy, a union member, started a $1 campaign encouraging donations to her personal Acleda bank account to support workers who were holding out against NagaWorld.
Last August, supporters of the union in Australia tried to transfer around $1,000 to her Acleda account but were unable to send the money. Tithboravy decided to ask Acleda why the transfers were blocked.
“The [senders] recommended I ask the bank and I went to ask them. But the banker said nothing was wrong with the back account. It was still running as normal,” Tithboravy said.
Unlike her colleagues, the bank staff did not ask about her union affiliation or why the money was being transferred. She was left confused because she had previously received transfers from overseas and continues to get domestic donations.
She also rued the lost opportunity to get support for workers.
“When people tried to send the money to support us again and again they couldn’t send it. So they also felt less interest to keep supporting us,” she said.
In Channy, the president of Acleda, asked the NagaWorld workers to contact bank staff because he cannot discuss these issues publicly.
“She should come to meet,” he said. “For these kinds of cases, we can’t put [the information] in public. She should come and they will explain it to her.”
ABA touts itself as one of the top three commercial banks in the country and has 2.1 million customers. The bank is also popular for the omnipresence of its branded QR codes that have become synonymous for bank transfers. ABA was also among a number of banks that last year blocked transfer attempts out of Cambodia to support the fighting in Ukraine.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to access to funding, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 27, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 18, 2023
- Event Description
Snguon Nhoeun, a Kampong Chhnang land activist, said he was detained for two hours by police after taking photos of a protest outside the provincial court.
Around 50 protesters were lighting incense and praying outside the court on January 18 when he was pushed into a car and had three phones seized, Nhoeun said. Police asked him to delete the images and sign a contract, he said.
“They said I took pictures without permission,” he said. “My arrest is very unfair for me because I was only shooting in public and they arrested me. I think the court has something to hide from me.”
Nhoeun added that he worked as a citizen journalist to cover the activities. Nhoeun is part of the Lor Peang community, which has long been in dispute with KDC International, a company owned by Energy Minister Suy Sem’s wife and accused of bulldozing people’s homes.
“This is a serious threat to me. This act threatens not only me … it threatens other citizens who want to photograph in front of the court,” he said.
Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court spokesperson Hak Kimhong denied that any arrests had been made. He said that authorities had only held him to explain some problems. He said the reason why the police detained and confiscated the phone was because Nhoeun was broadcasting live in front of the court without permission so the prosecutor ordered a temporary confiscation.
“I would like to deny his arrest. It is not true. We just explained to him where to shoot and where not to shoot.”
Kampong Chhnang Provincial Police spokesperson Ear Bunthoeun declined to comment on the case, saying the order to detain Nhoeun was made by the prosecutor’s office.
Lawyers for Chea Kheng, Energy Minister Sem’s wife, told The Cambodia Daily in 2010 to not mention the minister in articles about the Lor Peang-KDC International land dispute or they would sue for spreading “disinformation.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 27, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 13, 2023
- Event Description
Youth environmental activists advocating against the development of a Koh Kong island say they are facing threats and surveillance after authorities blocked an advocacy push at a Royal University of Phnom Penh event earlier this month.
A group of about 50 young activists organized a stall at an RUPP event in mid-January selling coconuts, providing leaflets and talks on the potential development of Koh Kong Krao island in Koh Kong province. Activists from Mother Nature and Khmer Thavrak have advocated for the government to refrain from leasing the island for development.
The stall — which was set up during the 63rd anniversary celebrations of the university — was shut down by district officials and university staff who considered it against university policies, activists said.
Since then, the activists allege they have faced surveillance from local authorities.
Phuon Keoreaksmey, a fourth-year university student and a Mother Nature activist, said the group was initially allowed to set up the stall in the university premises during the anniversary celebrations hosted from January 13th to 15th.
But on the first day of the event, local authorities and the university’s rector summoned them for a meeting and said they had to close down the stall and were banned from distributing any leaflets with messages about Koh Kong Krao island.
“They dare not to follow their own decision and work based on the advice of another person,” she said.
Kim Chilin, a Mother Nature activist and RUPP student, said authorities were monitoring his residence and even following him since then. He said this was a threat and aimed at affecting the morale of activists advocating for environmental rights.
“Me and my friends were followed by authorities to our homes. This is a kind of threat. For me, I think that it should not have happened to me,” he said.
Last month, activists also distributed pamphlets and held banners at the university’s Institute for Foreign Languages, urging authorities to not allow the development of the island. The Environment Ministry in 2020 said it was assessing whether to allow for development of the island, which was granted to notorious tycoon Ly Yong Phat, who got the development rights to the island in 2019.
Men Sreydav, another activist who was part of the advocacy effort, said authorities began following members of the group as soon as they distributed the leaflets.
“Generally, they followed us to our houses after our dissemination activities. I am worried about my safety because I always come out to do activities,” he said.
VOD could not reach Phnom Penh City Hall spokesperson Met Measpheakdey and Tuol Kork deputy district governor Teav Sam Oeun denied the accusations.
“I would like to deny that authority did not threaten them,” he said. “Whenever they have proper permission, we will cooperate immediately.”
The government has routinely blocked youth and environmental activists for advocating for their issues, even arresting and jailing them.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 27, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 9, 2023
- Event Description
A right group’s head has been questioned by cybercrime police over the NGO’s involvement in releasing a rap video commemorating the ninth anniversary of bloody clashes between security personnel and garment workers.
Am Sam Ath, operations director at Licadho, was questioned by the cybercrime unit of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police on Monday. Sam Ath said he was asked where the NGO got the images and videos for the music video, and that police officials asked the NGO to take down the video.
He said the video was not meant to incite and that the NGO does not want violence like what was seen in 2014 to be repeated.
“We don’t support violent events. That is why we ask for it to be prevented from happening anymore, meaning we don’t support violence no matter which party does it,” he said.
Sam Ath added that only Licadho’s management committee as a whole could decide to take down the video.
Licadho and labor rights NGO Central released the video, sung by rapper Kea Sokun, on January 3, marking nine years since violence erupted on Phnom Penh’s Veng Sreng Boulevard, when workers were on general strike demanding an increase to the minimum wage.
The video is titled “Workers Blood” and uses visuals of the violence, including images of workers being beaten by security personnel. The video also uses clips from media outlets like Radio Free Asia, showing military police in riot gear marching into factory and housing premises on Veng Sreng Boulevard while bleeding workers are carried away by their peers.
“For the past nine years they have been left with pain and sorrow and sadness by gestures full of blood,” Sokun says in the song.
“There is no information and they do not know where they have drifted away. There is no one who knows, and they have been waiting for justice for the past nine years, waiting so long but there is no one held responsible.”
At least four civilians were killed, another 38 were injured, and one 15-year-old boy went missing and is believed to be dead.
Sokun previously was arrested and convicted in 2020 for another rap song with nationalist lyrics like “stand up,” “I’m opposed to the dictator,” and “the other race is encroaching.”
Apart from Sam Ath, VOD has seen summon letters for three other civil society leaders: Moeun Tola, who heads Central; Vorn Pov, president of informal worker association IDEA; and Theng Savoeun, leader of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community.
Tola and Pov are summoned on Tuesday, and Savoeun is scheduled to be questioned on Wednesday.
Tola said he would present himself on Tuesday but was unsure what questions the police would have for him.
“It is remembering nine years since the violence happened. … I will wait and see what the police want to know about it,” he said in brief comments.
San Sokseyha, a Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesperson, said the Culture Ministry had asked the police to look into the video because of its incendiary lyrics. He confirmed four people had been summoned.
“We just summoned, questioned and advised him about this issue to avoid [problems] as stated by the ministry that [the video] can provoke and incite, which could affect security and public order,” he said.
Last week, the Culture Ministry asked the National Police to restrict access to the video.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 6, 2023
- Event Description
Kampong Speu residents accused soldiers of threatening to use violence against a monk trying to protect the community’s Metta forest, confiscating his phone to stop him from taking photos of their activities.
Teok Mao, a member of the Metta forest community in Oral district, said soldiers threatened violence against the monk, who lives in the forest and was taking photos of soldiers plowing land that was previously part of the forest.
The soldiers grabbed the monk’s phone during the incident on Friday to stop him taking photos, Mao said.
It was not the first violent incident in the forest dispute, he pointed out, referring to previous gunshots amid confrontations between community members and soldiers.
“We have to keep all of this evidence and not allow them to go further,” he said. “They destroyed the forest and destroyed all the evidence.”
In 2021, a government sub-decree granted 262 hectares of forest land to the military’s armored vehicle military unit. The land is part of the Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary and has traditionally been used by about 253 families, according to rights group Licadho.
Another community member, Khorn Sarith, said the soldiers had been active in the cleared parts of the forest, dredging for sand and digging boundaries.
“They plow and place marker poles. When community members stop them, they leave, but when we return home, they come to do it again. They do this almost every day.”
Pen Sarin, who villagers said was the soldier leading the clearing of Metta forest, denied any threats and said soldiers were only clearing the land the government had given them.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2023
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 31, 2022
- Event Description
In the span of three days, 23-year-old Phon Sao went from forming a union to unemployed.
The Bright Flushing factory worker in Takeo province contested the union’s first election on October 29, but saw two unknown people at the election taking photographs and decided to withdraw.
Two days later she was signing resignation documents under duress.
“I asked them for a reason. But they didn’t tell me the reason,” she said on Thursday.
The case of Sao and Workers’ Rights Protection Union of Bright Flushing at the Takeo factory was documented by labor rights NGO Central to illustrate long-held concerns over the formation of new unions on the factory floor, including use of the controversial Law on Trade Unions to install potential bureaucratic hurdles.
In the past 14 months, at least seven factory-level unions have reported obstacles in registering new unions under law. Union leaders say they have been fired or their contracts not renewed to block union formation, and in some cases the Labor Ministry has dragged its feet on processing registration documents.
These concerns are exacerbated, say unions and labor advocates, when one takes into account alleged union-busting attempts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic at both NagaWorld casino and other industries.
The union at Bright Flushing was formed to advocate against working on holidays and weekends, said Sao. But since her departure from the factory, a number of founding members have quit the union.
Central provided VOD with documentation of the case — which includes intimidation of union founding members, alleged forced resignations of the union president and other members — and increased harassment after staff from sports brand Puma met with the workers to discuss issues with union formation.
Yum Oun, who was voted union secretary at Bright Flushing, said the union was formed to make sure workers got sick leave and because the factory was routinely violating the Labor Law by terminating workers.
“A lot of staff were fired. They have no job. I don’t when they can return back to work,” she said.
Central also documented six other cases of union formation in the last 14 months, all showing instances of bureaucratic delays, intimidation of workers and termination of union leaders and found members. Below are two examples showing similar patterns in the union formation process at I Tao Pet Supplies and ML Intimate Apparel.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 30, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 4, 2022
- Event Description
Commune authorities in Pursat province allegedly barred a celebration in the lead up to the United Nations’ Human Rights Day on Sunday, according to environmental activist Kuch Veng, the event’s would-be organizer.
“They don’t want me to hold an anniversary because they are afraid of us understanding our rights and they are afraid their reputations will be affected for having failed to respect human rights issues,” said Veng, 58.
Veng, 58, said commune authorities, police and security guards blocked the gate of Ratanak Raingsei pagoda in Krakor district’s Kbal Trach commune, where he had planned to hold a celebratory event in commemoration of the 76th anniversary of Human Rights Day on December 10.
Veng said he had planned to celebrate the anniversary early because he would be harvesting his rice paddy the following week. After being barred from the pagoda, the approximately 40 participants held the event at a community member’s home.
Met Samol, Kbal Trach commune deputy commune chief, said the commune had not banned Veng from holding an event related to Human Rights Day. She said the commune asked Veng to first gain approval from district authorities.
“We have asked him to get permission from the district governor, but he didn’t go,” she said. “The commune level is low and officials dare not give permission.”
Another Kbal Trach commune resident, Loun Sivy, who planned to attend the event, said getting approval from district authorities was unnecessary.
“We are saddened that authorities prevented us from holding a human rights celebration [at the pagoda], it seemed like authorities discriminate against us,” she said. “We have done nothing wrong, and we have already informed the commune authorities, we do not need permission from district officials.”
Krakor district governor Liv Senghim and the Ratanak Raingsei pagoda chief monk could not be reached for comment.
Nguon Sarun, a commune clerk, said that the district authorities instructed Veng to invite commune officials to attend any events related to Human Rights Day but complained they had not been invited.
“If he [Veng] holds an event, please allow commune officials to join because we are the parents of the villagers,” he said.
Sarun said the commune had also requested all the event participants identify themselves in advance of the event but Veng had failed to provide this information.
“He [Veng] has a stubborn character and refused [to invite] commune officials to attend the event,” Sarun said. “He doesn’t cooperate well with the commune.”
Am Sam Ath, operations director for human rights group Licadho, said he was disappointed local authorities prohibited a community from holding a celebration of international human rights.
“The prevention does not show a good image and threatens and restricts the freedom of the community,” he said.
He added Cambodia had made no progress on improving human rights this year, even as international observers and national human rights groups called on the government to restore democratic norms and civic freedoms.
Katta Orn, spokesperson for the government-run Cambodian Human Rights Committee, said the Pursat authorities’ actions were justified because the event’s organizers had allegedly not followed proper protocol.
“The prevention does not mean to restrict citizens’ fundamental right to freedom of assembly,” he said. “The community had not correctly requested [the event].”
Chak Sopheap, executive director at the NGO Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said the Pursat authorities violated the fundamental right to freedom of assembly enshrined in the Cambodian Constitution.“The authorities are reminded that citizens are not required to request the authorities’ permission, but only to notify them of assemblies,” she said. “Critical voices continue to face intimidation, threats, judicial harassment, and sometimes physical attacks for expressing their opinions both offline and online.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 16, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 5, 2022
- Event Description
Chhim Sithar will remain in pretrial detention for incitement after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court turned down the casino union leader’s appeal for bail, a rights group said.
Sithar was arrested late last month after returning from an overseas labor conference.
Initially arrested in January over ongoing worker protests against NagaWorld, she was released on bail after promising she would stop participating.
Licadho, a local human rights NGO, said on Monday that its lawyer, who was part of Sithar’s legal team, had received a notice from the court today that she would remain in detention.
Sithar was rearrested at the Phnom Penh airport after returning from Australia. Authorities said she had been banned from traveling as part of her earlier bail conditions, but her defense has said they had not been told of the restriction.
Another of her lawyers, Sam Chamroeun, said he was busy Monday afternoon and could not immediately comment.
NagaCorp laid off 1,300 workers amid Covid-19 and is accused of union-busting for targeting labor leaders who the workers say should have been protected from termination.
More than 100 workers continue to resist their terminations as the protests against the Phnom Penh casino reach almost one year.
Dozens of protesters stood outside NagaWorld in orange prison jumpsuit-like outfits on Monday in support of Sithar, a live video by worker Mam Sovathin showed.
In addition to several union leaders like Sithar who still face incitement charges, some others have been questioned over an unclear NagaCorp court complaint about alleged breaking and entering. Unionists have also been summoned to testify over the company’s request for a court ruling on the protracted labor dispute.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: 16 more labour rights defenders arrested, including union president, Cambodia: union leader arrested again upon returning from abroad (Update)
- Date added
- Dec 16, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 13, 2022
- Event Description
Another NagaWorld worker was questioned by a Phnom Penh court on Tuesday in a case filed by the casino corporation, where very little has been made public about the events leading to the charges.
NagaWorld workers have been protesting against the casino corporation for firing more than 1,300 workers last year, with little more than 100 workers refusing to accept termination compensation. After months of strikes and protests, the casino corporation filed a court complaint against at least nine workers alleging breaking and entering, intentional damage and illegal confinement.
But workers say they are unclear what incident the charges are based on. Several workers who have already been questioned in the case said they were only shown photos of them standing outside the casino complex protesting.
Seak Panha, 32, appeared in court on Tuesday and was questioned for around 90 minutes. She was asked about her participation in the protests and if anyone ordered her to join the labor action. She said the investigating judge repeated these questions even though she gave the same answers.
She was also shown the photos of the protesters outside the casino on August 19 and 20 but said that she was not in any of the photos.
“The questions are to pressure the workers. For me, it is mental pressure,” she said after her questioning. “Taking the court procedures forward is like a mental threat to us to stop protesting against the Naga company.”
Unionist Nop Tithboravy said seven workers had been questioned in the case and two others were scheduled to be questioned on December 15 and 27, respectively.
Apart from the criminal charges, NagaCorp has also filed a civil suit to get a court to enforce its compensation package for workers. While most workers have accepted compensation, the Ministry of Labor said 124 have yet to take severance packages.
The court is still investigating charges against around a dozen NagaWorld union leaders and members, with union leader Chhim Sithar, who was on bail, arrested at the Phnom Penh Airport for allegedly violating her bail conditions. She had traveled to Australia for a labor conference but the court said she was not allowed to leave the country, as per her bail conditions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 16, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 23, 2022
- Event Description
Journalists and environmental activists in Cambodia are criticizing authorities’ filing of charges against three reporters accused of taking bribes to cover up illegal logging in a northern province, saying the loggers themselves should also be charged.
Mom Vibal, 44, Tin Try, 29, and Tin Sitha, 27 — reporters for online and television news outlets in Preah Vihear province — were taken into custody on Nov. 23 and charged with extortion following a lawsuit filed by Vietnamese logging company PNT.
The three are accused of demanding that U.S.$4,000 be paid to a group of four, including the three now under arrest, in exchange for blocking information on illegal purchases of timber by PNT, according to local media accounts.
Company representatives then offered the group U.S.$2,000 and invited the journalists to a meeting where they were taken into custody by provincial police, media reports said. The name of the fourth person suspected of involvement in the extortion attempt was not reported.
Speaking to RFA, Tin Chamroeun — a brother-in-law of Tin Try and Tin Sitha — said that they had not committed the alleged crimes, and that they had never received the money offered to them in bribes.
“The illegal trader was freed, but the journalists were put in jail,” he said. “I want to see equal justice granted by the court.”
Attempt to deter reporting?
Local journalists called the group’s arrest an attempt to deter other journalists from looking into the illegal logging trade.
“Some journalists are afraid of being arrested if they report on illegal logging,” said Try Sophal, a reporter for Preah Vihear’s Hang Meas TV.
The fact that the reporters were taken into custody while the timber traders escaped charges shows that Cambodia’s laws are unequally applied, he added.
Srey Thai, a member of Preah Vihear’s Prey Lang Forest protection network, said that provincial authorities have consistently failed to take action against forest crimes committed in Prey Lang, an officially protected area, by PNT and other companies.
“The reporters were definitely in the wrong if they accepted bribes, but the loggers also broke the law, so both sides should be held equally accountable,” he said.
Nop Vy, executive cirector at the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association, or CamboJA, called on provincial and court authorities to carefully investigate the case.
“The crimes that reporters have revealed have never been investigated, which has only encouraged further illegal logging,” he said.
A CCJ report for 2021 says that nearly 100 journalists faced harassment during the year, including 49 cases of physical assault, threats of violence, arrests and torture. Others were hit with lawsuits, and 37 journalists were jailed on charges of “incitement,” “extortion” and other crimes.
Attempts to reach Preah Vihear Provincial Prosecutor Ty Sovinthal and Sat Nak, a representative of the Vietnamese company PNT, were unsuccessful Thursday.
‘Traditions destroyed’
Illegal deforestation and government restrictions on forest access are undermining the spiritual practices, land rights, and livelihoods of one of Cambodia’s largest indigenous groups, according to a report by Amnesty International issued in early January.
The report, “’Our Traditions Are Being Destroyed’: Illegal Logging, Repression, and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Violations in Cambodia’s Protected Forests,” says illegal logging has been particularly damaging to the Kuy people in the Prey Lang and Prey Preah Roka rainforests, which contain protected wildlife sanctuaries.
The Prey Lang Forest runs through Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Kratie and Stung Treng provinces in northern Cambodia, while Prey Preah Roka is in Preah Vihear province.
Cambodia’s rate of deforestation is among the world’s fastest, and a survey published in 2020 by U.S. and EU monitors showed that Prey Lang lost more than one football pitch, or 1.76 acres, of woodlands to illegal logging every hour of 2019.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 5, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 28, 2022
- Event Description
Some 200 unions and federations have accused two prominent independent labor organizations of inciting its members to leave and establish a new union. The claim was denied by one of organizations, which said it has never trained members of any of the signatories — many of whom are affiliated with the government or ruling Cambodian People’s Party.
Two separate letters were sent on Monday, November 28 to the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) and the Center for Alliance and Human Rights (CENTRAL) accusing the labor groups of breaking solidarity among their union members. In the letter, the signatories claimed that during trainings hosted by CENTRAL and ACILS, union representatives were urged to leave their unions and create new ones, and were promised technical and financial support.
“We are closely continuing to monitor the activity of CENTRAL, and if there is no stop to the ill-intention, we will take thorough measures by complaining to the relevant ministry and authority,” reads the petition, which goes on to say the defections weaken union power and impact employee protections.
Soung Hout, president of the National Union Alliance Chambers Cambodia (NACC), which signed the petition, told CamboJA that the letter was intended to serve: “just as a warning for reconsideration,” he said.
He declined to provide evidence that the groups had encouraged defections, saying unions were still gathering proof to share with the public.
“I’m not able to provide this yet. But for the documents and evidence, we have found it in hand while the team is still collecting more,” Hout said.
Tep Kimvannary, president of signatory Cambodia Confederation of Trade Union, echoed Huot’s comments saying that the training courses organized by ACILS and CENTRAL regularly lead to a rupture among unionists.
“I do not know how much [people were lobbied] I do not know. But most of the time, as they said, after [unionists] come back from the training, there is a problem of disunity.”
She said did not know how many people were lobbied to form a new union, or when such lobbying took place, adding that she only knew that there was a rift after they returned from training.
Moeun Tola, CENTRAL executive director, denied the accusation, saying they would never incite people to form their own union and had never even trained members of any of the 200 signatory groups.
“We do not have a principle to split up any unions, so the accusation is entirely wrong,” he said.
“We do not work with unions who are under influence by the political party [CPP], so for that reason we have no projects and activity to work with those unions,” he said.
He noted that the accusations had been made only by CPP-affiliated unions, and were doubtless politically motivated and intended to hamper the work of independent rights organizations.
“The accusation that staffers at CENTRAL lobbied their members to create a new union, — I have found nothing true in it,” Tola said.
“I have seen that it is intentionally a political tactic to threaten and persecute the organization and association that has worked to serve society and worker’s interest and human rights protection,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government mouthpiece Fresh News published an article on Thursday saying the tactics outlined in the signed union letter were the same as those used by Kem Sokha, who formed rights group CCHR, the Human Rights Party, and the merged opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party — which the article claims tried to foment a color revolution.
The article also claimed CENTRAL was helping NagaWorld strikers receive funding from foreign sources.
Last week, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sent NagaWorld unionist Chhim Sithar to pre-trial detention, saying she had violated the terms of her court-ordered supervision, a court official said.
Sithar, who heads the Labor Rights Supported Union, was arrested on Saturday at the Phnom Penh International Airport after returning from a labor conference in Australia.
Sithar was originally arrested in January and released on bail in March. She and seven other union leaders face charges of incitement related to the NagaWorld protests — which have been ongoing since mass layoffs in 2021.
Leaders from independent unions said they believed the media reports and complaint letters were unwarranted.
Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said he believed that the accusations against CENTRAL were related to their advocacy on behalf of striking NagaWorld workers.
“First I think it is related to support in advocacy of NagaWorld employees, and second because CENTRAL has some activities related to union members,” he said.
“In my view, the organizations should carry out their work related to organization jobs, like providing legal assistance, but activities to collect and inform [union] members let unions do it instead,” Thorn said.
Yang Sophorn, the president of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Union, expressed that the actions that led to such a petition could not have happened without the go-ahead from someone in power.
“And if they have the right evidence, as I mentioned earlier, if there is the right evidence, it must be clear which companies the two institutions incited,” she said.
“They are not an independent union defending the rights of workers, they are a union that supports the interests of employers or the government, to put it bluntly. Even in the past, their work has never supported [workers],” she added.
Ou Tep Phallin, the president of the Cambodian Food and Service Workers Federation, said that those involved in defending workers’ rights are often subjected to such harassment.
“For us, we are not surprised. Because we are defending the rights of workers, we have to suffer from those who are unhappy, because we are going to snatch their interests, we are going to increase the power of the workers, the power of those who are already in power.” she said.
Am Sam Ath, operations director of Licadho, urged unions and confederations to find a peaceful resolution and avoid taking any legal measures.
“It is not the right way to confront others who work to serve the worker’s interest… The public will see no good image of alliance between people who have worked to serve society as unions, organization,” he said.
William Conklin, executive director at ACILS, could not be reached for comment.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly implied both organizations had responded to claims made in the letter.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, NGO
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 5, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 16, 2022
- Event Description
Footwear unionists in Takeo were summoned and questioned by military police after attending a Women’s Crisis Center training in Phnom Penh, saying officers asked who was behind them and warned them of illegal protests.
Union leaders from Tram Kak district’s Shoe Premier II, which has supplied boots to the U.S., attended a training course on November 16 on rights in the workplace, gender issues and sexual harassment, said Chhan Samoeun, president for the Workers’ Movement Union at the factory.
But once they returned, Takeo military police called them in for questioning, Samoeun said.
“We joined the training to gain experience and [to learn] to teach other workers to understand sexual harassment and gender,” he said.
Nget Rem, secretary for another union at Shoe Premier II, the Free Trade Union, said she had not even attended the Phnom Penh training hosted by the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center but was summoned for questioning anyway.
Military police questioned her about what demands they had at the factory, whether there were previous labor disputes there, and if any NGOs were behind their union. Officers reminded her that the military police would stop them from holding any illegal protests at Shoe Premier II, Rem said.
“They said we just do whatever we want, but if there is any issue, who is going to take responsibility? They said this in a manner like they don’t want us to protest in this factory. They wanted it to mean that,” she said.
Takeo military police commander La Lai could not be reached for comment, but the unit issued a statement acknowledging that the force had called in representatives from three unions at Shoe Premier II: the Workers’ Movement Union, Free Trade Union and Cambodian Hope Workers’ Union.
Pav Sina, president of Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said the questioning was a threat and serious intimidation against the registered unionists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 28, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 21, 2022
- Event Description
An association that informs tuk-tuk drivers of labor rights says local officials won’t allow it to put up its logo outside a Poipet branch office.
Prom Bunthorn, president of the Cambodia Development People Life Association, said he had submitted letters to Banteay Meanchey provincial police and Poipet city administration on Monday, but the city authorities said the association would not be allowed without another letter from the property owner.
The group trains informal workers such as tuk-tuk drivers on labor rights in Poipet and Siem Reap, informs rural residents about their human rights, and conducts agricultural training with other NGOs, Bunthorn said.
The Phnom Penh-headquartered association is registered with the Interior Ministry and has offices in Kampong Speu, Kandal, Takeo and Siem Reap, and should only need to inform authorities about signage rather than seek permission, he said.
“I think the fact that local authorities require more complicated procedures is a kind of restriction against the freedoms of civil society, especially for my association in serving members in Poipet city,” Bunthorn said on Thursday.
Poipet city governor Keat Hul said he had not received any information about the incident, and did not see why there should be any problem putting up the association’s logo.
“I don’t know about this case, but generally, if he has proper legal standing, there’s nothing to ban,” Hul said. “Firstly, he has proper legal standing. Secondly, he is putting up a logo on his private land. So there’s nothing to ban.”
Human rights group Licadho’s spokesperson Am Sam Ath said denying a registered association from putting up signs would be unacceptable.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 28, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 26, 2022
- Event Description
NagaWorld union leader Chhim Sithar was questioned at the Phnom Penh International Airport today and has been sent to prison, with a police official saying she violated her bail conditions.
Phnom Penh Police spokesperson San Sokseyha said the immigration police had arrested Sithar at the airport because the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant for the union leader.
He said this was because she had traveled overseas, which was against her bail conditions. He added that she had been taken to court.
“This morning the Phnom Penh police cooperated with [immigration at] the airport because of an arrest warrant of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for failure to comply with the court decision on March 14, 2022,” he said, referring to the day Sithar was released on bail.
“Sithar doesn’t have a right to leave Cambodia unless the court decides for her.”
Sithar and 10 others are on bail, but it was unclear whether they were prevented from traveling overseas, and whether there were restrictions on reasons she could leave the country.
Licadho, which represents some of the charged NagaWorld workers, said Sithar had been moved to Prey Sar prison this afternoon.
The rights group added that Sithar’s lawyers were not aware or informed of “any judicial supervision or probation conditions, such as travel restrictions.”
According to information from labor rights group Central, the union leader was returning from a labor conference in Australia when immigration officers at the international airport scanned her passport and then escorted her away for questioning.
Central added that Sithar was arrested at around 10 a.m. Saturday morning and that rights groups and her lawyers have not been able to reach the prominent union leader since.
Sithar was violently arrested near the National Assembly in January and jailed with at least 10 other union colleagues earlier this year. They were released in March after signing letters requesting the Labor ministry for bail and agreeing to suspend the strike to enable negotiations.
The union went on strike last December after NagaCorp terminated more than 1,300 workers. The nearly yearlong protest started off strong but has since withered down to less than 200 protesters, who have attempted to continue their protest on a weekly basis in the face of violence from the police.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: 16 more labour rights defenders arrested, including union president, Cambodia: labour union leaders targeted with collective lay off
- Date added
- Nov 28, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 13, 2022
- Event Description
Media advocacy organizations decried officials’ unexplained decision to ban reporters from news outlets VOD and VOA from Prime Minister Hun Sen’s press conference following the Asean Summit on Sunday.
After four days of diplomatic meetings during the Asean Summit at Sokha Hotel — with media access limited or thwarted by technical errors — Hun Sen invited foreign and local reporters to the Peace Palace for a two-hour press conference to ask questions about the summit and Cambodia’s Asean chairmanship.
Reporters from Phnom Penh-based news outlets VOD and VOA registered with Information Ministry officials for passes to attend on Sunday. Two hours before the speech’s scheduled start, they were told that a “supervisor” would not allow access to reporters from the two outlets, according to a statement from three media advocacy organizations, including VOD’s parent organization, the Cambodian Center for Independent Media.
“We call on the ministry to explain this apparent discrimination against journalists for certain news outlets. However, we see no justifiable reason for denying any professional journalists the opportunity to openly access public officials and institutions, and report news in the public interest,” the statement said.
The reporters from VOD and VOA have been issued Information Ministry press cards — a condition also required for attending the Asean Summit.
Information Ministry spokesperson Meas Sophoan on Monday referred questions to the ministry’s general director Phos Sovann.
When asked by VOD why a reporter was banned on Sunday, Sovann responded he “wasn’t sure about this procedure.” He could not be reached on Monday.
However, Sovann defended the ban to the pro-government news outlet Khmer Times, saying that reporters from the two news outlets never attend these press conferences, and when they do they “cut only a few points” from a speech to publish.
Reporters are regularly blocked from covering speeches, said Sun Narin, a reporter for the U.S. government-funded news outlet VOA who was not allowed into Hun Sen’s speech. However, this time the event was on the international stage.
“We see that type of discrimination still happening, especially for journalists who dare to speak about social issues, which isn’t a good image for the country [that says it has] open access and freedom of information,” he said.
Pa Sokheng, a reporter for VOD Khmer who covered the entire Asean Summit, said she was disappointed to be banned from Hun Sen’s press conference, adding that this violates Cambodia’s constitutional protection of freedom of information and expression.
“Journalists aren’t an enemy to the government, and democracy requires transparency to reflect on issues and solutions,” she said. “[The government] also answers to the people through the press.”
CCIM’s media director Ith Sothoeuth noted that this ban on VOD and VOA appears to be an act of discrimination against independent media, and diminishes Cambodian citizens’ right to receive information.
“Freedom of information is a fundamental freedom that is guaranteed by the Press Law and the Cambodian Constitution. [This act] also undermines the right of the general public to access independent information,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 20, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 12, 2022
- Event Description
Activists this week sought the attention of world leaders attending the Asean summit in Phnom Penh, while authorities on Saturday surrounded the home of a protester who has long campaigned for the release of her husband and other jailed opposition members.
As U.S. President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arrived in Phnom Penh to attend the Asean summit, some 20 uniformed officers and state security guards were surveilling the home of Prum Chantha, a leader of the Friday Women of Cambodia group, which has for months petitioned foreign embassies for support.
“They come to monitor me because they are afraid I will lead a protest during the arrival of President Joe Biden,” Chantha said.
Her husband Kak Komphear, a former commune councilor in Phnom Penh, was arrested in 2020 and sentenced to six years in prison on incitement and plotting charges in relation to his support for the outlawed opposition CNRP.
Uniformed district security guards were gathered 5 meters from her house in Meanchey district’s Boeng Tompun II commune beginning at 6 a.m., Chantha said. By about 5:30 p.m. several officers were still lingering outside her home, and one told her they would be there until Sunday morning.
“However, I have no plan to protest because I have been protesting for one year and [the U.S. government] already knows our issue,” she said. “Forces are only gathered at my house because I am a group leader.”
Chantha, who stayed home all day, said the surveillance restricted activists’ rights and freedom of movement.
“They are afraid our protesting will lead to a bad country image during the Asean summit,” she said.
Phin Phal, Boeng Tompun II commune police chief, acknowledged that some police and state security guards were deployed to prevent activists from disturbing public order during the summit.
“It does not matter that we have deployed to ensure security because we are afraid they will go anywhere [to protest],” he said. “I just follow the instructions of my superiors.”
Phnom Penh municipal police spokesperson San Sokseyha said during the Asean summit, authorities were focused on ensuring the safety of visiting world leaders — as well as Cambodia’s public image.
“We have focused on the security, safety and the reputation of our country,” he said, before declining to comment further.
Phnom Penh police chief Sar Thet could not be reached.
Am Sam Ath, operations director at human rights group Licadho, said his organization was monitoring police officials’ surveillance of activists, noting that it violated people’s rights and freedom of movement.
Authorities’ claims that their monitoring of activists was to ensure public order was “unreasonable,” Sam Ath said.
Mu Sochua, vice president of the dissolved opposition CNRP, posted photos of uniformed authorities outside Chantha’s house, noting that the surveillance was occurring as Biden arrived in Phnom Penh.
Sochua, a dual Cambodian-American citizen, also said on Twitter that Biden should meet with Friday Women activists as well as striking NagaWorld unionists.
On Friday, strikers outside the NagaWorld casino carried large posters calling for the Malaysian Embassy in Phnom Penh to accept their petition, after the embassy early this year declined to receive it, and urging Asean nations not to trample on rights to freedom of association like the NagaWorld CEO, a Malaysian national.
“I wear traditional clothes and carry these banners to show other countries that come to the Asean summit to help intervene and find a solution for us,” said unionist Chan Sreyroth, who worked at the casino for four years before she was fired last year.
Union members have been protesting for their jobs back for nearly a year, alleging the company behind the only licensed casino in Phnom Penh had targeted unionists in mass layoffs.
Members of advocacy group Khmer Thavrak also sought the attention of visiting world leaders, including Biden, this week.
The group began a weeklong hunger strike on Monday to call for the release of Cambodian-American lawyer Seng Theary, who has been imprisoned for nearly five months, after being sentenced to six years in prison over her opposition activism.
Hun Vannak, a Khmer Thavrak member, told CamboJA he hopes news of the group’s campaign will reach Biden and the U.S. will raise the issue of human rights during the summit.
“After a statement from the U.S. State Department [mentioning concern over Theary’s conviction], we are increasingly hopeful that President Joe Biden will discuss human rights issues related to Seng Theary and other political prisoners with [Prime Minister] Hun Sen,” Vannak said.
Their hunger strike this week was made more difficult by authorities monitoring them while they campaigned at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park, he said. One Khmer Thavrak member was hospitalized, while another experienced stomach illness.
Vannak said he did not expect their campaign to have immediate results, but the action could raise awareness among the public and leaders from the U.S. and Asean nations.
“We do not expect the government to provide us with a solution any time soon, but what we are doing now is expected to have a positive impact in our society,” he said.
In a letter addressed to Biden and dated Wednesday, opposition Candlelight Party president Teav Vannol appealed to the U.S. president to urge the Cambodian government to “stop all kinds of political persecutions, harassments, [and] intimidations,” release “prisoners of conscience without conditions” and “revive democracy” ahead of next year’s national elections.
Thach Setha, Candlelight’s vice president, told CamboJA that party leaders had no plans to meet Biden during his visit to Cambodia, but said the U.S. should leverage its position as a world power and signatory of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement to “uphold democracy.”
“I hope that after the Asean summit, there will be a change in the situation in our Cambodia,” Setha said.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters prior to Biden’s arrival on Saturday that the U.S. president was “engaging” with Hun Sen because the prime minister is the host of the Asean summit, just as Biden was meeting with the presidents of Egypt and Indonesia at summits in those countries, before and after his visit to Cambodia.
“He’s going to engage across the board in service of America’s interests and to advance America’s strategic position and our values,” the adviser said.
Sullivan said Biden will discuss with Asean leaders the “need for freedom of navigation,” a reference to the U.S. position on the South China Sea, “lawful, unimpeded commerce,” and coordination in imposing costs and raising pressure on the Myanmar junta.
Biden met with Hun Sen on Saturday afternoon and raised concerns about Ream Naval Base, underscoring the “importance of full transparency” regarding activities by the Chinese military at the base, according to a White House statement.
Both China and Cambodia have repeatedly denied U.S. claims of a secret deal between China and Cambodia that granted China’s military exclusive access to parts of the base.
Asean summit spokesperson Kung Phoak told reporters late Saturday that Cambodia had already answered questions about Ream many times.
“We never hide,” he said. “We already allowed the U.S. to visit the location.”
In June 2021, the U.S. military attaché visited Ream, but said the Cambodian military did not grant U.S. officials “full access” — a charge Cambodian officials denied.
Biden also urged Hun Sen to “reopen civic and political space” before the 2023 elections, and “called for the release of activists detained on politically motivated charges,” including Theary, the White House said.
Phoak said if political activists abuse the law, they must face consequences for their actions.
“When we talk about extending democratic space, and at the same time we allow political activists to do whatever they want, even if it is illegal, I don’t think this democracy will last forever,” he said.
“Democracy in Cambodia is moving step by step, which reflects the real situation of the country and we never go backwards. We push the democratic space more open,” he added.
During a summit speech in Phnom Penh on Saturday, the U.S. president called Asean the “heart” of his administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, and said the U.S. was committed to Asean centrality and working with nations in the region to tackle threats against the climate, health security, the rule of law and a rule-based order, and address challenges in Myanmar and the South China Sea.
Earlier in his brief remarks, Biden mistakenly referred to Hun Sen as the prime minister of Colombia.
“I want to thank the prime minister of, from Colombia’s leadership, and as Asean chair, and for hosting all of us,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 20, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 18, 2022
- Event Description
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld convictions against four human rights officials and an election body staffer — who previously worked at the same rights group — in a case related to a love scandal involving opposition leader Kem Sokha.
The five were arrested in 2016 when four Adhoc staffers, Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Yi Soksan and Lim Mony, assisted a woman who was accused of having a relationship with Kem Sokha. Ny Chakrya, who previously worked at Adhoc, was also involved in the case.
The five — who are known by the moniker “Adhoc 5” — were jailed and released in 2017. They were convicted in September 2018 for bribery. The woman received financial assistance from Adhoc when she approached the group because she had been summoned by the anti-terrorism police for questioning.
They were sentenced to five years in prison but had to serve suspended terms of 14 months. The Appeal Court then upheld the municipal court’s verdict in 2022.
The Supreme Court on Friday brought the case to conclusion by upholding the lower court’s verdict, with judge Nil Nonn rejecting an Appeal Court prosecutor’s demand that the five serve their entire sentences and by dismissing a motion from the defense to drop the charges.
Soeng Senkaruna, an Adhoc rights monitor, said all three levels of the judiciary could not find justice for the five defendants and said they had made a credible defense against the charges.
“It is a shame of the judicial system,” he said.
The case also ensnared Sokha and two other opposition officials who were charged for procuring prostitution for allegedly taking the woman to Bangkok, Thailand. Sokha spent months holed up at the Cambodia National Rescue Party headquarters and was convicted and pardoned in the case.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: 4 ADHOC staffers and two human rights defenders charged for 'bribing a witness', Cambodia: conviction of 5 NGO workers upheld, Cambodia: wrongful conviction of Cambodian human rights defenders
- Date added
- Nov 20, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 14, 2022
- Event Description
Siem Reap families set up camp on disputed land this week in protest of their former farms being used to resettle Angkor park evictees, but have left under threat from authorities, the residents said.
Authorities have this year asked around 10,000 families living within the Angkor Archaeological Park to relocate from the historical area, saying their presence could lead to the loss of Unesco world heritage status. Officials have warned residents that they would get no compensation if they didn’t agree to move.
One resettlement site designated for those families is Run Ta Ek, an area about 25 km northeast of Angkor Wat.
But last month, around 200 families near the resettlement site took issue with the plan, saying the state had taken the Run Ta Ek land away from them in 2005 without compensation. They had put up with the dispossession believing the land would be used by the state, but they could not accept their former farms simply being handed to other people, they have said.
Protester Sam Mom said the disputants had met with district officials and the Apsara Authority on Monday seeking compensation, but no agreement could be reached.
In response, about one member from each of the 200 families set up camp in Run Ta Ek that evening, Mom said.
Around 10 p.m., authorities arrived and threatened to remove them with force if they didn’t leave, he said.
“Last night we slept on our land at Run Ta Ek village, but village guards came and asked the people not to camp,” Mom said, referring to the resettlement site.
Another protester, Ran Ra, said the 200 families no longer had enough farmland. Officials were asking them for documents, including land titles, that they had never issued for them, he added.
Penh Pren, a village chief who participated in the protest, said compensation of $500-$700 per hectare had been promised in 2005, but the residents never received it.
“This is an injustice because I am the real landowner. They took my land and gave it to illegal Angkor residents. I am not happy,” Pren said.
Prasat Bakorng deputy district governor Nin Sovann denied that authorities made threats to the campers, saying they had only negotiated with them to remove their tents.
Officials would meet with the residents again on Friday to try to reach an agreement on the land, Sovann said.
A village chief in Siem Reap province has been fired after he joined a protest with around 210 families protesting the use of their former farms to resettle Angkor evictees.
Penh Pren, a village chief in Balaing commune in Prasat Bakorng district, told VOD Thursday that he was removed from his position after attempting to protest overnight at Run Ta Ek relocation site earlier this week. Run Ta Ek is located about 25 km north of the park and is one of the sites tagged for resettling around 4,000 people who are being forced out.
The village chief claimed that in 2005, the Apsara Authority — which oversees the park — had taken villagers’ farmland and promised them between $500 to 700$ in compensation per hectare. Now in 2022, villagers including him are still waiting for compensation and are outraged to see the same land promised to other people.
“I’ll tell you the truth. People were really disappointed after I was removed from my position, but for me, I’m not disappointed by those who removed me,” he said. “For the people, I am not scared, because they did nothing wrong, only those who encroach on people’s land and promised compensation for people.”
Sam Mom, a villager who joined the protest, said that Pren has always tried to protect the villagers in land disputes and that firing him was a threat to stop protesting the Apsara Authority’s decisions.
“He also has the land in the area. He tried to help people because people lost their land in Run Ta Ek and he wanted to help to get their farmland back,” Mom said.
Balaing commune chief Lem Nath said Pren was removed from the position for multiple “mistakes” dating back to when he assumed the role in 2019, accusing the village chief of taking people’s money and insulting monks and top leaders.
“He made a lot of mistakes in public service,” she said. “I received complaints from the villagers.”
After a Monday meeting with district officials about the conflict yielded no solution, one member each from about 200 families camped out at Run Ta Ek. Around 10 p.m. that night, they were ordered to leave or face removal by force.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest, Right to work
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 20, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 14, 2022
- Event Description
Two NagaWorld unionists have been questioned in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over breaking and entering, intentional damage and unlawful confinement — but they still don’t know what the casino company is accusing them of, they said.
Protesters Sok Sothavuth and Net Chakriya appeared at the court for questioning on Monday, Sothavuth in the morning and Chakriya in the afternoon, as around 40 casino protesters stood outside in support.
NagaWorld workers have protested since December over mass layoffs that they say targeted union members and leaders, facing arrest and violence over 10 months of labor action. What began as large rallies outside the Phnom Penh casino have mostly dwindled into small protests of fewer than 100 participants.
Sothavuth said she received her summons last week, and spent around 30 minutes during the morning being questioned by a prosecutor.
She was shown “evidence” of her crime from August 19 and 20: printed-out photographs showing her standing outside the NagaWorld casino building with other protesters.
“There are pictures, but nothing aside from us striking in front of Naga. It’s like a picture of us standing over there every day,” Sothavuth said.
She said the prosecutor had asked her whether she had committed each of the three charges of breaking and entering, intentional damage and illegal confinement on those days.
She had answered she did not, and was asked this repeatedly over half an hour, she said, adding that the court action would not dissuade her from continuing to protest.
“Even though I face this case, I will still keep coming until we can find a solution,” she said, referring to around 200 unionists who are seeking reinstatement from the mass layoffs. She was told she would need to wait to see if NagaCorp continues with its lawsuit, she said.
Ros Bunleng, a manager at NagaWorld, could not be reached on Monday. NagaCorp has not clarified what the court case is about.
Chakriya, who was questioned in the afternoon, said a court clerk and prosecutor questioned her in succession, but neither had presented any photos of her. They simply asked what happened on August 19, she said.
Chakriya said she had replied it was a normal protest: The strikers stood in front of NagaWorld with banners, then went home.
One more protester is set to be questioned tomorrow. At least seven in total have received summonses.
A third NagaWorld protester was questioned in court on Tuesday over alleged breaking and entering in a case that remains unclear.
Choub Sophorn said she was questioned during the afternoon at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, with a prosecutor showing her printouts of photographs of protesters outside the NagaWorld casino.
The prosecutor asked whether she had yelled at the company on August 19 and 20.
“I didn’t shout and yell. I only held a banner demanding a solution,” she said.
Workers have been protesting for 11 months following mass layoffs that they said targeted unionists.
At least seven workers have been summoned for questioning based on a complaint from NagaCorp alleging breaking and entering, intentional damage and illegal confinement. Two others were questioned on Monday, but said they were unable to get clarity on what they were accused of.
“They also asked when I want to stop striking,” Sophorn said.
Unionist Nop Tithboravy said another worker had received a summons for November 22. All of them asked for a delay on their initial summonses.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 20, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 10, 2022
- Event Description
A small group of protesters camping out at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park say they have been told they must leave and continue their hunger strike in support of a jailed opposition activist at home.
Khmer Thavrak, an activist group that has advocated for a range of social and nationalist causes, arrived at the park on Wednesday as part of a weeklong hunger strike calling for the release of Cambodian-American lawyer and activist Seng Chan Theary.
Chan Theary is imprisoned in Preah Vihear province, serving a six-year sentence for incitement and plotting following a mass trial against opposition activists that human rights experts have denounced as politically motivated.
Khmer Thavrak’s Hun Vannak said officers had told the group this morning that its protest was illegal due to the need to maintain “public order” during the Asean Summit, which is scheduled to bring world leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Phnom Penh.
The officers told the activists that they should continue their hunger strike at home instead, Vannak said.
“We replied to them that we have two choices: one is that we request to stay here expressing our freedom — all five of us. Nothing will happen, we will just skip eating. But if they don’t agree, the other is that we would go to every embassy attending the meeting.”
The group is only drinking water, milk and Royal-D electrolytes, they said. One activist dropped out of the strike after three days.
Around 20 plainclothes officers sat nearby under a large tent. One told reporters that the activists couldn’t stay due to public order, but would not say what action authorities would take.
Russei Keo district governor Ek Khun Doeun declined to answer questions via phone, instead advising a reporter to invite the Khmer Thavrak activists to camp outside the VOD newsroom as they were “disturbing public order” at Freedom Park.
“If you are Khmer you should tell them that if they want to do a hunger strike they should go to VOD. It will be easy to do a livestream,” Khun Doeun said.
The Khmer Thavrak activists began their hunger strike in Preah Vihear on Monday, and plan to continue until the upcoming Monday.
Update 5:30 p.m.: One of the protesters, Chhoeun Daravy, said in a social media post Thursday afternoon that another of the five remaining hunger strikers was taken to hospital after fainting. “Her health couldn’t take the hunger strike for that many days. It gave her a headache and she couldn’t breathe,” Daravy wrote.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 17, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 12, 2022
- Event Description
A small group of hunger strikers was down to only one activist — fasting at home — due to security concerns and exhaustion by the time their protest action ended along with the Asean Summit.
Members of activist group Khmer Thavrak, which has advocated for a range of nationalist and social issues, began the hunger strike on November 7 in support of jailed opposition member Seng Chan Theary.
Chan Theary was convicted of plotting and incitement alongside 30 others in an opposition mass trial in June, and sentenced to six years in prison. She is a Cambodian-American lawyer, and the U.S. White House named her in a statement on Saturday as American President Joe Biden visited the country for the Asean Summit. The statement called for “the release of activists detained on politically motivated charges.”
Khmer Thavrak’s Chhoeun Daravy was the last participant left when the hunger strike ended on Sunday.
The group began their action with six participants in Preah Vihear, but was down to five by the time they moved to Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Wednesday.
Two were taken to hospital in the coming days, and on Saturday two more left the strike.
Hun Vannak, who left on Saturday, said he was exhausted, and he had heard that police were looking for him and colleague Svay Samnang at Samnang’s house. Samnang also left on Saturday. Vannak said police were acting on purported allegations from two women he claimed he didn’t know. It was still unclear what the alleged crime was and why police did not come to the public protest at Freedom Park.
“At the end there was only Daravy. Our group got overtaxed one by one. I was exhausted too,” Vannak said.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesperson San Sokseyha declined to answer questions.
Daravy added that once she was alone, she felt unsafe and continued the hunger strike at home — but authorities had still stood watch outside.
“It’s overly restrictive by authorities against people when we are exercising our fundamental freedoms. But it’s the threat we all face,” she said.
Rights group Licadho’s spokesperson Am Sam Ath agreed that surveillance at home was too much.
“Protecting public order is one thing, but monitoring them at home is too much of a threat and it’s intimidation. They shouldn’t do this. This is a suppression of the people,” Sam Ath said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: youth intimidated during peaceful strike
- Date added
- Nov 17, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 27, 2022
- Event Description
A seventh NagaWorld worker was summoned to court on Thursday in relation to a complaint filed by the casino corporation alleging a raft of crimes.
At least six NagaWorld workers have previously been summoned by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for questioning after NagaWorld filed a complaint with the charges of breaking and entering, intentional damage and even illegal confinement. There has been no clarity on what the workers actually did.
Mam Sovathin, another laid-off NagaWorld worker, said she went to court on Thursday after receiving a summons dated October 22. She submitted a letter asking for a delay because she did not have a lawyer.
“The court didn’t say anything, just took my document for a delay,” she said.
Sovathin said another worker had been called by the police and informed to appear in court for questioning but had not received an official summons letter. She did not recollect the worker’s name.
NagaCorp laid off more than 1,300 workers last year, igniting protests which have often turned violent when district security guards and police have attempted to block them. After months of being stopped at barricades on Sothearos Blvd. — after which they would be bused around the city and dropped off on the outskirts — they have been allowed to resume their protest outside NagaWorld 1.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 30, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 11, 2022
- Event Description
Seven garment workers had contracts terminated at Puma supplier Eastcrown Footwear Industries in Phnom Penh after they tried to form a union.
Factory management denied the workers’ removals were related to the union activity, but would not elaborate.
An Yousa said this week that she had been dismissed from Eastcrown after five months working there. She was among 10 workers who moved to start a union at the factory as she had experienced what she considered to be exploitation and violation of workers’ rights.
Workers were forced to work overtime, denied requests to take leave, and made to sit through meetings during break periods, Yousa said.
The factory tried to get the unionists to join the factory’s own company union instead, but when the workers declined, their contracts were terminated on October 11, she said.
“They dismissed us because we formed a union at the factory. The factory didn’t continue our contract. They said if we resigned from our union and joined their union they would continue our work contract.”
Duong Sokna, another of the removed unionists, said the factory’s company union never helped the workers.
“They discriminated against the union. I want a real union representing the workers, not a union representing the factory,” Sokna said, adding that the dismissed workers had lodged a complaint with the Labor Ministry.
The seven unionizing workers who lost their contracts are Yousa, Sokna, Eam Sambath, Duong Soknang, Matt Vy, Sarem Tharim and Suong Sarin. The three others who tried to union have not yet reached the end of their contract periods.
Eastcrown administrative director Hy Hong said the factory’s reason for laying off the workers was not because they had formed a union, but would not elaborate.
Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said the ministry was looking into the issue.
Ry Sethyneth, president of the Independent Trade Union Confederation, said the case showed discrimination against union workers and violated labor rights.
“If the Ministry of Labor uses the mechanism of the Labor Inspectorate effectively and promotes the implementation of the law, then union discrimination will no longer exist,” Sethyneth said. He considered union-busting to be a human rights abuse, he said.
Eastcrown Footwear Industries has about 3,000 workers, according to the dismissed unionists, and U.S. bills of lading show it has supplied shipments to Puma North America.
Earlier this year, the Coalition of Cambodia Apparel Workers Democratic Union said about 1,400 union leaders and active members have been laid off in cases of alleged union-busting in the last five years.
Workers fired from a Puma supplier after trying to start a union say two more colleagues have had contracts terminated since the weekend, and don’t know about a visit or settlement as claimed by the German athletics brand.
After seven garment workers spoke of alleged union-busting at Phnom Penh’s Eastcrown Footwear Industries, Puma’s corporate communications head Robert-Jan Bartunek said on Friday that an agreement had already been reached and overtime violations were not found as alleged.
“When PUMA learned about this case, we immediately engaged with the factory management. As of today, the factory management and the concerned workers reached an agreement on a financial settlement,” Bartunek said. “We have had no indication of unvoluntary overtime work through our social audit, grievance mechanism and our factory visit last week.”
However, two of the previously terminated unionists said on Monday that they didn’t know of any Puma visit nor a financial settlement.
Duong Sokna, 20, treasurer for the newly-created union, said she knew of an upcoming meeting at the Labor Ministry on Tuesday. But she didn’t know of any visit by Puma representatives or the brand’s mediation in the dispute.
Furthermore, two more workers who had tried to help form the union, Duong Tola and Horn Srey Neang, had received termination letters: Srey Neang on Saturday and Tola on Monday. They would lose their jobs at the end of their contracts, Sokna said.
“The factory strongly discriminated against the union and they still discriminate, and, frankly, in relation to those who were involved with voting for the independent union, all will be fired.”
Another unionist, Suong Sarin, 24, said only one of the 10 founding union members still had a job. Initially, 16 had joined to form the union, but six had withdrawn in the face of threats, Sarin said.
All the unionists would go to the Labor Ministry on Tuesday — some to attend a mediated meeting, and others to file a complaint.
Sarin said he also didn’t know about any Puma visit or settlement reached.
“I will still continue to do the union work because there is a lot of pressure on the workers inside the factory,” Sarin said, including being pushed to work overtime, and meetings held before work or during breaks. “No matter what the result will be, I will try my best to help our Cambodian workers.”
Eastcrown administrative director Hy Hong said last week that the factory’s reason for laying off the workers was not because they had formed a union, but would not elaborate.
Bartunek, the Puma communications official, said on Friday that the brand had started working with Eastcrown in March this year.
Puma has “multiple channels for factory workers to raise any concern directly with our sustainability team,” he said, and the company had “zero tolerance for freedom of association breaches, and it may lead to the termination of the business relationship with the factory.”
“PUMA commits to the right to freedom of association, to organize or join unions and to collective bargaining,” Bartunek said.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 30, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 30, 2022
- Event Description
A son of casino firm NagaCorp’s billionaire senior CEO has been accused by unionists of snatching and throwing to the ground a phone belonging to a striking employee of the company’s NagaWorld casino, with video also showing the identified executive lobbing a traffic cone at union protesters.
Chen Yiy Hwuan, an adult son of NagaCorp founder and senior CEO Chen Lip Keong, grabbed and chucked the phone belonging to striking NagaWorld worker Lex Choulay last Friday outside an entrance to the Phnom Penh casino, according to videos of the incident and four current and former NagaWorld employees, including Chhim Sithar, president of Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU).
Choulay was using his phone to film fellow union members sitting on the street, blocking a black van from exiting the casino, when a man walks toward him and snatches Choulay’s phone, a video posted on Facebook by another LRSU member shows. In a second video included in the same post, the man, identified by unionists as Yiy Hwuan, hurls the phone to the pavement.
“The screen was broken at the front. He has no right to crack my phone,” said Choulay, who has worked as a cashier at NagaWorld, Phnom Penh’s only licensed casino, for five years. Choulay said he purchased the Samsung Galaxy S10 phone for $600.
After smashing the phone, the man identified as Yiy Hwuan is also seen on video tossing an orange traffic cone at strikers before a security guard leads him away. Choulay appears to pick up his phone and continues filming the scene, including directing his phone at the man who had thrown it. The man then gets into the van and leaves the scene after security guards forcibly lift and carry away several protesters.
Yiy Hwuan was appointed CEO of NagaCorp’s hotels on April 5, according to a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing. Two of Yiy Hwuan’s brothers, Chen Yiy Fon and Chen Cherchi, were also appointed to NagaCorp CEO roles—operations CEO and finance and treasury CEO, respectively. Lip Keong shifted to the role of senior CEO.
“The four (4) of them shall work together as a team to lead and manage the Group to bring the Group to the next level of success,” the filing says.
A fourth son of Lip Keong, Chen Yepern, serves as a managing director in the CEO cabinet and heads NagaCorp’s environmental, social and governance activities, it says.
Yiy Hwuan, 42, is also employed as CEO of Nagacorp subsidiary, NagaFarm Limited, an agricultural company. He was paid a basic salary of $176,000 in 2021, the filing says.
Lip Keong, 74, established a family trust for his five sons for “purposes of succession planning,” according to another Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing from July. The NagaCorp head transferred nearly 70% of NagaCorp shares to the trust, making Lip Keong and his sons the controlling shareholders of the company.
“My boss’s son is the person who destroyed the striker’s phone,” said LRSU president Sithar, who like striker Choulay, said she recognized Yiy Hwuan from working at the casino for years.
“We also attended our boss’s birthday celebration where he introduced his kid to the staff,” she said.
Two other LRSU members said Yiy Hwuan was the man seen throwing the phone and traffic cone in the video. They recalled seeing and interacting with Yiy Hwuan over their years working in the casino.
“Most of the time I saw him come to drink coffee and observe the staff working. I am sure that he is the eldest son of our boss,” said Mam Sovathen, a union member who was present at the strike site on Friday.
Sovathen later posted videos of the incident on her personal Facebook account, where one video received more than 218,000 views as of Thursday morning.
NagaCorp did not respond to emailed requests for comment. A person who answered a call to a number listed for a NagaCorp spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday. Asked about Yiy Hwuan, she said, “He is out of town.”
When a reporter called a phone number listed for Chen Yiy Hwuan, chairperson of Tikto Asia Co. Ltd., in the Commerce Ministry’s business registry, a man answered and acknowledged the number belonged to Tikto but declined to identify himself.
Asked if the man in the video throwing the phone was Yiy Hwuan, he said, “We can’t confirm or deny,” and declined to comment further.
NagaCorp’s code of conduct says: “Management must set an example concerning individual responsibility and integrity because, ultimately our actions are more important than mere words,” according to the firm’s website.
Casino employees involved in the incident could lodge a police complaint, said Phnom Penh City Hall spokesperson Met Measpheakdey.
“If the phone was broken and they have convincing evidence, they can sue—it is their right,” he said.
Choulay, the casino worker whose phone was damaged, said he is considering pressing charges against Yiy Hwuan but “we will discuss with our union first.”
LRSU president Sithar said the union was still deciding whether to take legal action on Choulay’s behalf.
“What we see, this is an act of hatred toward local workers, especially when the striker is demonstrating to protect their labor rights at the workplace,” she said.
LRSU has led NagaWorld casino employees in a strike since December 2021, following mass layoffs which they say targeted union leaders and did not properly compensate workers.
Last week, 17 unions and civil society organizations called on the company to reinstate laid-off workers, pay seniority benefits and comply with the labor law.
Union member Sovathen said she hoped the videos would prompt action.
“I hope the head of the government, especially Samdech Techo [Prime Minister Hun Sen], will not allow NagaWorld to violate the laws of our country, as we see the character of the son of our boss who despises Khmer workers,” she said. “If [Hun Sen] does not intervene, it is the saddest thing.”
“We simply seek justice and a return to work,” she added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 21, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 16, 2022
- Event Description
A land activist from Tbong Khmum province was allegedly beaten in Phnom Penh on Sunday while attending a seminar in the capital.
Hoeun Sineat is a land activist for the Sre Praing community in Tbong Khmum’s Dambe district. He was in the capital attending a seminar and went to buy some food with two other people when he was beaten by unidentified assailants in Chamkarmon district, Sineat said on Monday.
The activist said he saw three men riding on two motorcycles in Boeng Trabek commune and they attacked him, leaving him with a gash on his left cheek and other injuries to his head.
“When they rode close to me, they got off the motorbike and attacked and got on the motorbike and returned without saying anything,” he said.
Sineat said he did not know the assailants and did not have any disputes with people, and had filed a complaint with the Phsar Doeum Thkov commune on October 17.
So Samban, Phsar Doeum Thkov police chief, said he was unaware of the complaint but if Sineat had told officers about the incident then they will not ignore it.
There has been a spate of violence against at least 30 activists and opposition party members in the last five years. A Candlelight official was hit on the head with a knife near the party’s Pur Senchey office in July. A former CNRP youth activist was killed last year in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changvar, with police officials saying the murder was a result of a personal dispute.
Theng Savoeun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community, was the organizer of the workshop and said Sineat was an active advocate for the land rights of people in his community. Savoeun said a company had been given a concession on land used by the community.
“We don’t want to see any use of violence against people,” he added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 21, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 18, 2022
- Event Description
The latest NagaWorld protester to be summoned to court was active during rallies, beating a wooden drum as workers sang labor anthems.
Sang Sophal, who received her summons this week, turned up to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday morning to ask for a delay. However, she was supposed to appear on Tuesday morning, though she had only received the summons later that evening. So the court said they could not accept her request for a delay, but would contact her about the next step, according to Sophal.
Sophal is the last among six NagaWorld protesters known to have been summoned to court over three charges: breaking and entering, intentional damage, and confinement. The last charge can carry prison sentences of up to 10 years.
Protests against the Phnom Penh casino began last December in response to mass layoffs of more than 1,400 workers that targeted union leaders and activists, which the protesters allege amounts to union busting.
Sophal said she had been active during the long-running protests, speaking on loudspeakers and beating drums during rallies.
Like the other five who have been summoned, Sophal said she had no idea what NagaCorp was accusing her of. A company representative on Wednesday hung up on a reporter when asked about the case.
The accusation of confinement was especially puzzling, she said, pointing out how protesters had been repeatedly forced onto buses and taken away from the casino site to a quarantine center on the outskirts of the city.
“During these 10 months the company has treated us badly and detained us at the quarantine center at Prek Pnov without providing food or water,” she said. “Who detained whom?”
The protesters are set to return to the casino on Friday. Their near-daily rallies have reduced to only Fridays and weekends, though authorities are now allowing them to stand in front of the casino rather than block them with barricades or remove them on buses.
Sophal said she would continue to seek the reinstatement of around 200 people, including top union leaders, who rejected last year’s layoffs.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 21, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 11, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities shoved and struck unionists with walkie-talkies as members of eight unions attempted to submit a petition against union-busting to the Labor Ministry and the Council of Ministers office.
Around 400 participants from eight unions and two civil society groups submitted a petition to the Labor Ministry and Council of Ministers on Sunday highlighting 31 cases of union-busting that occurred during the pandemic, particularly affecting garment unions and a casino workers’ union at NagaWorld casino.
The workers were blocked and faced violence from security personnel as they walked from the Labor Ministry to the Council of Ministers. Seak Panha, a member of the NagaWorld union, said at least two of their members lost consciousness and others were injured when authorities tried to stop the group.
Panha said they first attempted to submit the petition to the Labor Ministry but when no one from the ministry came to receive the letter they decided to walk to the Council of Ministers building.
Authorities met them at the intersection near the Institute of Technology of Cambodia and began shoving and hitting some members, she said.
“When we arrived under the [overpass] bridge, they came to stop us and hit us. They even hit us with walkie talkies. Two of our friends lost consciousness,” she said, saying they passed out while being shoved by the authorities.
A livestream from labor rights group Central showed unionists walking away from the melee with red marks on their faces.
NagaWorld workers have clashed with police and security guards as they have protested the firing of more than 1,300 workers by the casino corporation last year.
Phnom Penh Police spokesperson San Sokseyha denied any violent actions by the police and instead blamed the unionists for the violence.
“We never violate those illegal protestors who are always planning incitement, yelling and making inappropriate actions to the authorities, while the authorities try to stop them from clashing with each other,” he said.
The petition does not provide details of the 31 cases but lists federation members affected by union-busting, such as the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and Independent Trade Union Federation. Unions have told VOD of union-busting tactics used during the pandemic.
Cambodia Tourism Workers’ Union Federation president Touch Kosal added one of his local unions has also seen its union leadership laid off.
“We have seen that the solutions [so far] aren’t enough. We want to see the Ministry of Labor take action for union leaders to get back to work,” he said. “The Ministry of Labor is our parent and has to compromise for the solution.”
Ou Tepphalin, president of the Cambodia Food and Service Workers Federation, said the unions had collected data on attempts to dissolve different unions and realized unions across industries were facing similar problems.
She wasn’t confident that the Labor Ministry would respond, but added that it’s important to raise the busting of unions with officials.
“At least we are trying to demand for our freedoms as a group of unions,” she said.
Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour did not respond to a request for comment, and government spokesperson Phay Siphan said the Council of Ministers couldn’t address the issue of union-busting.
“If the Ministry of Labor couldn’t solve it, the union should file a complaint to the court. Because the court can make a judgment, and the Council of Ministers only does administrative procedures,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 18, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities pressured and prevented dozens of members of communities embroiled in land conflicts from travelling to Phnom Penh this morning to join with more than 800 other land community members delivering petitions to government ministries.
Around 500 people from Koh Kong province and some 360 more from Kampong Speu province rallied in the capital to demand the government resolve longstanding land disputes and deliver land titles and/or fair compensation to communities left waiting for years. Representatives of six Koh Kong communities and three Kampong Speu communities delivered petitions to the ministries of justice, interior and land management as well as Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet on Tuesday amid a heavy police presence.
En route to Phnom Penh, police stopped dozens of members of Kampong Speu’s Amleang Land Community and compelled community representatives to sign agreements not to cause “social insecurity” in Phnom Penh before allowing seven of their eight vehicles to continue, claiming some vans were overloaded with passengers.
Later, police in Kampong Chhnang province pressured and appeared to target dozens of Amleang community members by threatening to fine drivers under the traffic law unless community members turned around and went home. Only five of the seven remaining vehicles continued to Phnom Penh, after paying fines of 1.2 million riel (about US$300) per vehicle.
Police also arbitrarily stopped three vehicles carrying members of Raksmey Samaki Land Community, and asked for drivers’ identification and other documents. Only one of the vehicles were allowed to continue to the capital. Authorities stopped another 12 vehicles with members of Trapeang Chour Land Community, but allowed all of them to travel on to Phnom Penh.
The three Kampong Speu communities have land conflicts dating as far back as 2010 with Phnom Penh Sugar Company, owned by okhna Ly Yong Phat. The Koh Kong communities also have land disputes with companies owned by Ly Long Phat and okhna Heng Huy.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 11, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 21, 2022
- Event Description
A journalist in Preah Vihear province says he was beaten up by an army commander after he accidentally witnessed what he suspected to be the illegal transportation of timber.
Sou Senghak, 60, a journalist at Samarakot News, told CamboJA he was attending a friend’s party opposite the Battalion 394 barracks in Choam Ksan district on Sunday night when he happened to see a tractor transporting about 2 cubic meters of wood.
Lieutenant Colonel Yoeung Se, the battalion’s commander, was on the tractor accompanied by a timber broker, according to Senghak.
Senghak said he was about to call out to the tractor to stop, so that he could investigate what was going on, but before he could do so the commander jumped off the tractor and hit him, as well as his wife who’d gone with him to the party.
“They stopped, (Lieutenant Colonel) Se jumped off and beat me and my wife,” Senghak said, adding that his nose was bleeding.
Senghak said he immediately filed a complaint with the gendarmerie, but the commander phoned him today asking that they settle the matter out of court.
“They called me to mediate, but I found it very difficult to accept because he hit me so hard,” he said.
He told CamboJA that he thinks there has been wood stored at that barracks for some time, though it’s unclear who it belongs to. He says he’s been barred from entering the barracks even when he’s needed to go there to report on unrelated stories.
“I do not know who owns the timber. We just know there is wood there, but we cannot enter this place,” he said.
Illegal logging and timber transportation is rife in the area, he said, adding that most of it is from the Preah Roka forest and no action has been taken to prevent the criminal activity.
Si Vuthea, editor-in-chief of Samarakot News, said his reporter had called the military police in Choam Ksan District shortly after the incident, at around 10 PM on Sunday night, and a military police officer told him to file a complaint.
However, on Monday evening, August 22, both parties agreed to end the lawsuit, he said. The newspaper also agreed to remove an article published this morning about the incident.
Vuthea said the commander had explained his behavior by saying he had mistaken Senghak for another journalist accused of extortion, which is why he attacked him.
“He (Mr. Se) heard that a journalist had extorted money from a wild boar seller, and he thought that it was Mr. Senghak. So when he saw Mr. Senghak, he beat him,” Vuthea said.
Contacted for comment, Lieutenant Colonel Se, declined to comment.
Him Khortieth, research and advocacy manager at CamboJA, said that journalists should not be victims of violence.
“The assault of journalists reporting on issues in the public interest is a gross violation of press freedom. All journalists must be able to carry out their work safely and securely. I condemn this violence against Mr. Sou Senghak and call on authorities to bring the perpetrator to justice,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 28, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 22, 2022
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court this afternoon upheld incitement convictions of 10 political and social activists, leaving most under court probation until late 2023.
The court denied appeals from Chhoeun Daravy, Hun Vannak, Tha Lavy and Eng Malai from social justice group Khmer Thavrak; Koet Saray, Moung Sopheak and Mean Prommony from Khmer Student Intelligent League Association; and Kong Sam An, Chhour Pheng and Chum Puthy, former members of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court had sentenced the 10 activists to 20 months in prison, with five to six months suspended, and fined them 2 million riel each (US$500) on charges of incitement in October 2021.
Daravy and Vannak, of Khmer Thavrak, and ex-CNRP members Pheng and Puthy were each sentenced to serve 15 months in prison, while Sam An, Saray, Sopheak, Prummony, Lavy and Malai were sentenced to serve 14 months. They were arrested in August and September 2020 for peacefully gathering around the court to call for the release of then-jailed unionist Rong Chhun.
Nine of the activists were released from prison in November 2021. They were placed on probation for two years, requiring them to alert the court if they move, change jobs or want to leave the country, among other conditions.
Sam An, who was sentenced to seven years in prison on treason charges in a separate case, has been jailed since September 2020.
Daravy and Vannak were among four Khmer Thavrak activists who were detained last week by officers from the prime minister's bodyguard unit in Phnom Tamao forest.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, NGO staff, Student, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: detained youth convicted on incitement charges (Update), Cambodia: six youth arrested for protesting the detention of labour leader
- Date added
- Aug 28, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 16, 2022
- Event Description
Police in Cambodia’s Takeo province on Tuesday released a group of young environmental activists and journalists after they were allegedly violently detained earlier in the day by bodyguards of Prime Minister Hun Sen as they tried to inspect an area of a protected forest where trees had been cleared.
The Phnom Tamao forest, located roughly 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Phnom Penh, is home to many rare and endangered species, and is the only forested eco-destination anywhere near the capital. It encompasses an area of more than 6,000 acres (2,450 hectares) and is home to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, established in 1995.
In April, media reported that the government had agreed to sell more than 1,200 acres (500 hectares) of the protected forest to Leng Navatra, a real estate company, and two other businesses said to be close to Hun Sen’s family. Later reports suggested the entire area had been earmarked by the government for development, excluding the 1,000 acres (400 hectares) that contain the wildlife center.
In a rare move this month, Hun Sen ordered an end to the clearance of the Tamao forest adjacent to the country’s largest zoo, following multiple appeals by environmental groups and members of the public.
The group of activists who were released on Tuesday said Hun Sen’s bodyguards assaulted them after they tried to inspect the area and ask local residents to sign petitions seeking clarification from local authorities regarding a fenced off 600 hectare (1482 acre) plot of cleared land that the prime minister had ordered to be replanted.
The bodyguards claimed that the activists and journalists were trespassing. They said they steered clear of off-limits areas and were on the way to a pagoda from which they could view the clearing.
Hun Vannak, one of the activists, told RFA’s Khmer Service that the bodyguards kicked him and hit him in the face. He said that a group of about 10 bodyguards forced the group into cars and took them to a nearby military camp. He said they were not told why they were being detained.
"We didn't dare to say anything because they took us to their camp,” Vannak said. “No one could help us. I felt we were with wild people, they didn't consider the law, they used only violence. They detained and assaulted us arbitrarily."
Also among the group was Hy Chhay, a journalist for the local independent news outlet VOD who, according to Vannak, was slapped in the face by the bodyguards.
The group was transferred to a police facility in Takeo’s Bati district after which they were released.
RFA was unable to reach Bati district Police Chief Chhay Keomoni for comment on Tuesday.
The bodyguards violated the constitutional rights of the activists and journalists, Nop Vy, director of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association, told RFA.
"I have observed that [authorities] respect only their orders, [not the law],” Nop Vy said. “It is wrong. Restrictions on the youths and journalists are contrary to Hun Sen's decision to replant the trees.”
The violence against the group must be investigated, according to Soeung Sengkaruna, spokesman for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, a local
rights group.
“This is a serious human rights violation,” he said.
The activists told RFA they plan to file a complaint against the bodyguards.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Media Worker, NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 22, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 4, 2022
- Event Description
A prominent union leader has been warned for allegedly forcing NagaWorld casino workers to continue their protests, with the Labor Ministry letter threatening “punishment” if she continued her “illegal activities.”
NagaWorld workers have been protesting since December 2021 after more than 1,300 workers were laid off by the casino corporation, of which only around 200 are continuing their collective action to push for reinstatement.
In recent weeks prominent union leaders have lent their support to NagaWorld workers, and routinely monitored the protests. Yang Sophorn, the head of garment worker union CATU, has even suggested she will get garment workers to join the protests.
The Labor Ministry letter warned Sophorn on Thursday to stop acting beyond the purview of her profession and to stop forcing the workers to continue their strikes. It does not provide any details about how Sophorn was allegedly doing this.
The letter points to three articles in the controversial Law on Trade Unions. The letter cites Article 81 for working beyond the “geographical, occupational and sectoral scope” and includes an around $1,250 fine.
Article 89 deals with “coercion to strike” and carries a $1,250 fine, and Article 65 for unfair labor practices by a union.
The Labor Ministry did not detail what kind of “punishment” they would initiate against Sophorn and demanded she not engage with the NagaWorld protests anymore.
Sophorn was unfazed by the letter on Friday, and said she would continue her support for the fired casino workers.
“I feel normal. I have no problems [with] the ministry’s warning letter. I don’t know based on what case they are accusing me, I have not committed anything wrong,” Sophorn said.
She had the right to support other unions and their advocacy for labor rights, and was unsure how she had violated any laws.
Sophorn again was unable to give a date for when she and other unions planned to join the NagaWorld workers. The union leader has previously stated that she would get garment factory workers to protest in support of the NagaWorld strike, with other unions also pledging their support for the proposed event.
The workers have continued their strike this week, with Mam Sovathin, one of the protesting workers, saying only 90 people were present on Friday because many were sick after they were caught in heavy rains on Thursday.
She said the letter about Sophorn showed that authorities were now accusing everyone of illegal acts. She added that workers took responsibility for their collective actions and were not being coerced by anyone.
“We so regret that as a worker, we are trying to find a solution from the Labor Ministry but they have no ability. Instead, they try to accuse others; it’s so regretful,” Sovathin said.
Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour said the warning would continue if the violations did not end.
“If the violation continues intentionally, the Labor Disputes Department will take the individual to court,” Sour said.
“The Department of Labor Disputes hopes that the letter of warning or reminder will enable stakeholders to reconsider the law. Sometimes as human beings we can forget or not pay attention. That is why the department issued a warning letter or reminder to her. When she receives the letter, she will read the relevant article again and be able to understand and adjust her actions. Ministries or professional officials do not want to see any stakeholders getting punished unknowingly by acting illegally or improperly.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 14, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 11, 2022
- Event Description
A union striker was punched in the face by a uniformed officer, and left briefly unconscious and bleeding from a gash on her nose, after authorities violently stopped around 80 strikers from walking to the front of NagaWorld casino this afternoon.
The violence occurred as strikers from the Labour Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU) sought to move past metal barricades that authorities set up to block them from accessing the area in front of the casino. Around 80 police and mixed security forces then began violently hitting, kicking, stomping on and shoving back the mostly women union members to stop them from passing the barricades.
Less than three weeks ago, on 22 July, authorities violently pushed several protesting LRSU unionists to the ground in the same area of central Phnom Penh as strikers attempted to walk to the NagaWorld casino.
LRSU members have been regularly protesting near the casino complex since December 2021 to call for the reinstatement of unjustly fired unionists and fair severance for other dismissed workers. Protesting union members have faced arrest, imprisonment, fines, violence and sexual harassment by authorities over the past seven months. Eleven union members spent up to more than two months in pre-trial detention before being released in March 2022, and continue to face years in prison if convicted of spurious charges.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 14, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 29, 2022
- Event Description
The Supreme Court today upheld incitement convictions of prominent unionist Rong Chhun and activists Sar Kanika and Ton Nimol, who remain under restrictive probation.
Chhun, who has spent years defending labour rights in Cambodia, was arrested after making a statement about the Cambodia-Vietnam border in 2020. His detention triggered a wave of further arrests of activists in Cambodia, including of Kanika and Nimol who were jailed after joining peaceful demonstrations in August and October 2020 respectively. The three were released in November 2021 and given three years of probation with a range of conditions limiting their freedoms.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court had convicted the three activists of incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code in August 2021. The Phnom Penh Appeal Court suspended parts of their sentences in November 2021, ordering them to serve from over 14 months to over 15 months in prison and to pay 2 million riel (US$500) each in fines as well as jointly pay 400 million riel (US$100,000) in damages.
The Supreme Court upheld all elements of the Appeal Court’s earlier judgement this morning. Chhun, Kanika and Nimol were not present in the courtroom as the verdict was read.
In a separate case, the Supreme Court this morning also upheld incitement convictions against former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) activists Ton Nimol, Lim San, Yoy Mom, Sat Pha, Pai Ren, San Chan Sreyneat and Hong An. The charges followed their participation in a peaceful protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh in October 2020.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: detained labour rights leader, youth denied bail (Update), Cambodia: union leader arrested for criticising the Government
- Date added
- Jul 31, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 20, 2022
- Event Description
A Koh Kong resident in dispute with a sugar plantation was sentenced to a year in prison on Wednesday for malicious denunciation, but remains free for now with no arrest warrant issued by the court.
The Koh Kong Provincial Court issued the verdict against Deth Huor, a community representative in Sre Ambel district’s Chi Khor Loeu commune, for malicious denunciation and defamation charges that have arisen out of a land dispute with oknha Heng Huy.
Huy has filed multiple court complaints against protesters who say they are losing land to Huy’s sugar plantation. The dispute dates back more than a decade, and has involved hundreds of local families.
Huor, who was also fined 2 million riel (about $500), told VOD on Wednesday that she believed the verdict was unfair and would appeal the court’s decision.
“I feel really hurt that the court believed Mr. Heng Huy while hundreds of families lost their land because of Heng Huy’s encroachment,” Huor said. “When we lose land or lose something unfairly, why can’t we protest, and talk about that?”
According to Huor, the defamation part of the case related to a photo of Huy she posted on Facebook alongside criticism of him encroaching on people’s land.
Protesters from around 200 families in Chi Khor Loeu and Chi Khor Krom have also visited Phnom Penh to press their case, and in 2019 the Land Ministry rejected their appeal and called for legal action against their representatives for inciting the group to protest.
The charge of malicious denunciation refers to sending an accusation known to be false to authorities to take action. It is punishable by one month to one year in jail.
Her lawyer, Sam Chamroeun, said no arrest warrant had been issued for Huor despite the prison sentence.
“For this case, the court did not issue the arrest warrant. So in this case, [we] will file an appeal and we are on bail as normal … just waiting for the final verdict of the Appeal Court and Supreme Court,” Chamroeun said. “According to the procedure, for a sentence from one year up, the court has the right to issue an arrest warrant but the court also might not issue the arrest warrant.”
Huy, the tycoon, could not be reached on Wednesday, but last year told VOD that his company had legal rights to the disputed area and denied it was encroaching on people’s land.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 24, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 8, 2022
- Event Description
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.
Phalla has been imprisoned in Ratanakiri prison since his arrest in September 2021. He is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in a separate case, in which he was convicted last November without substantial evidence by the Ratanakiri Provincial Court of clearing forestland and enclosing it to claim ownership. The judge did not order the arrest of the other four today and each of the activists are permitted to appeal the verdict before the judgement is final.
Phalla has spent more than ten years defending forests and monitoring natural resource destruction in Ratanakiri.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 17, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 9, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities’ seizure of two overweight grain trucks carrying Cambodian produce over the Thai border sparked protest by hundreds of farmers and the arrest of four alleged instigators.
The two trucks were shipping Cambodian grain out of the country from Battambang province on Saturday when authorities found they were overweight, according to Phnom Proek district governor Song Sopheak.
Authorities fined the two Thai drivers and confiscated the trucks to be taken off the roads for a year, Sopheak said.
But news of the seizure quickly spread online and local farmers began to gather in protest, fearing that Thai grain trucks would stop coming to their area to buy their produce, the district governor said.
“More and more people came to gather, and the working group could not bring the truck to its destination on the 9th. People mobilized after they heard this or that information — more and more — so the working group pulled back,” Sopheak said.
There were around 500 people obstructing and confronting police and military police officers from several districts who were trying to maintain security, he said.
“They came to intervene and prevent violence from happening. It was night, and there were few officers, and some of [the protesters] had removed air from tires and cut fuel pipes.”
He added that one of the Thai drivers had also escaped during the seizure.
The following morning, provincial authorities arrived to take away the trucks and arrest four instigators for the protest, he said.
“Some people were speaking the true thing, that brothers and sisters should come to protest to prevent authorities from taking the truck. And some people were providing water so that they could keep protesting for longer. I have seen that these were the people who have been taken,” Sopheak added.
Duong Saron, spokesperson for the Battambang court’s prosecution office, said four people, including one woman, had been arrested for obstructing authorities and mobilizing people.
“The authorities are questioning them, and they are in the hands of the authorities,” Saron said.
Farmer Sothan Borey said over the weekend, before the arrests, that locals in the border area were worried about losing markets for their produce. They were currently producing thousands of tons of corn a day to export to Thailand, he said.
His family had borrowed $30,000 to invest in their corn, cassava and mango production, he said.
“Farmers recognize that this truck was overweight. But if transported at the set standard weight, it lowers the price of corn,” he said, adding that the impact on farmers would be severe. “Firstly, the risk of double debt, because the farming of Cambodian farmers is dependent on bank loans. Secondly, farmers’ corn will be damaged because corn is now being harvested and cannot be stored for long.”
Another farmer in Phnom Proek district, Seng Han, said he was also thousands of dollars in debt. “If Thailand does not come to buy from our farmers, we face difficulties,” he said. “We live on this border. We depend on the Thai market.”
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 17, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 30, 2022
- Event Description
An appellate court in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh upheld a lower court’s decision not to return the passport of Yeang Sothearin, citing an ongoing investigation into the former RFA editor and reporter, he told RFA.
Yeang Sothearin, who also worked as a news anchor for RFA’s Khmer Service, was taken into custody in November 2017 along with Uon Chhin, who was an RFA photographer and videographer.
They were charged with “illegally collecting information for a foreign source” after RFA closed its bureau in the capital in September that year amid a government crackdown on independent media. They have since been charged with additional crimes.
If convicted of the first charge, they could face a jail term of between seven and 15 years. They remain out on bail but in legal limbo after a series of appeals have been rejected by courts.
Yeang Sothearin said the court’s decision would prevent him from visiting his ailing father, an ethnic Cambodian living in southern Vietnam, or participating in NGO activities outside of Cambodia.
“I told the court that it has been five years, it is a long time and I don’t know when it will end,” Yeang Sothearin told RFA’s Khmer Service.
“There is no indication from the judge of when the investigation will end and they won’t tell me when my passport will be returned, so how can I live? I will use my rights to demand [my passport],” he said.
He said that he will appeal again by taking the case to Cambodia’s Supreme Court.
The decision not to return the passport violates Yeang Sothearin’s rights because the case has been delayed for many years and has not yet reached conclusion, Ny Sokha, president of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc) told RFA.
He said the delay affects both Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin.
“We don’t see any indication that they want to avoid the court or flee overseas. They have houses here and they want the freedom to travel to make a living. I don’t see any reason to restrict their freedom,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: Two former Radio Free Asia journalists detained in Cambodia, Cambodia: Two journalists subject to unnecessary restrictions on their freedoms (Update)
- Date added
- Jul 10, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 8, 2022
- Event Description
Seven women protesting evictions from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Tamok lake have been summoned to court for incitement and obstruction based on a complaint by the district security chief.
The northern lake has been divvied up among powerful interests and is being rapidly filled with sand for development. Dozens of families living in shacks along its shore have protested as they face resettlement.
The seven court summonses, delivered by police to the protesters on Friday, said the recipients must appear at the municipal court on August 3.
The seven women were accused of “obstruction and incitement to cause chaos on a public road” by complainant Meas Sambo, one of the summonses said.
According to Prak Sophea, who is one of the protesters summoned, Sambo is head of the Prek Pnov district security guards, the unit that has clashed with residents during rallies.
The protesters have been active in recent weeks, submitting petitions to the prime minister’s cabinet, Land Ministry, Council of Ministers and National Assembly. They say they have already complained to the commune, district and city.
Other protesters who received summonses on Friday include Kong Toeu, Tan Khney, Phorn Sokhom and Khen Sa Ay.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 10, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 1, 2022
- Event Description
Three groups of protesters crisscrossed Phnom Penh Friday morning over longstanding labor, land and political issues, submitting petitions to various government institutions and the E.U.
Around 70 people representing families facing eviction on the northern Boeng Tamok lake visited the Land Management Ministry, near the lake, then moved onto the central Council of Ministers building, then further south to the National Assembly.
A protester, Prak Sophea, said the group had already complained to the commune, district, municipality and prime minister’s cabinet but there was no action.
The large Boeng Tamok lake has been privatized and divvied up among connected individuals and state institutions, and is now being rapidly filled up for development. Families who live in shacks along the lake’s shore are being told to resettle elsewhere.
“We have no more trust in the district hall, we don’t have trust in City Hall nor the prime minister’s cabinet, so we have to put the petition everywhere, especially the big institutions, in order for them to know and not for them to have a reason to later say that they didn’t know about this,” Sophea said. “We don’t care if we lose income from doing this. We want our petition to be everywhere and for our problem to be heard.”
The district has said that it had offered the families plots of land away from the lake, but they were now living illegally by the water.
Meanwhile, around 100 NagaWorld casino strikers returned to the prime minister’s cabinet representative office at Wat Botum and the National Assembly to seek action on petitions filed there last month.
Chhim Sokhom, the casino union’s vice president, said she had heard nothing from those institutions. “We want to ask them — have they received or checked the petition? And how can they resolve this?”
Around 200 unionists from the casino have been protesting mass layoffs last year that they say targeted the union’s leaders and active members. Sokhom said last month’s petition had thumbprints from 674 union members, and the protesters would keep returning until they got a response.
“How many more days do they need? We want clear information. It is easy for us to follow up.”
Finally, a group of political protesters known as the Friday Women visited the E.U. delegation building on Norodom Blvd. to submit a petition over the jailing of their husbands, who are largely opposition political activists. Some of the husbands were sentenced to jail as part of mass-trial verdicts handed down last month.
On Friday morning, Daun Penh district police blocked the Friday Women protesters, who normally protest weekly outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, as they held up banners outside the E.U. building.
“This is not the court. You are here to submit the petition, not to hold up a banner like this,” one officer told the protesters. One of the banners features Seng Chan Theary, a Cambodian-American lawyer jailed last month as part of the mass trials.
Protester Prum Chantha, whose husband Kak Komphear was sentenced to six years in jail, said E.U. representatives had told her they would follow up on the case.
“We come here today to find a solution and justice for our husbands who have been sentenced to jail for three to six years with no reason. We don’t accept this. We are the victims,” Chantha said. “Where is your ‘Thank you, peace’ when you are hurting people and arresting people and putting them all in jail like this?” she said, referring to the government’s ubiquitous slogan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 4, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 29, 2022
- Event Description
The Koh Kong Provincial Court placed seven Botum Sakor residents under court supervision for alleged incitement and occupying state land, after the group returned to land they used to live on before it was given to a sugar plantation.
The court summoned seven people — Pheap Teng, Noy Sok, Ton Lay, Touch Ngann, Khung Roch, Long Moeun and Chhorm Nern — on Wednesday and placed them under court supervision, according to court documents. Only the first five attended the hearing.
They are facing charges of incitement, under articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code, and infringement of state property related to articles 17 and 259 of the Land Law.
The group returned to land in Botum Sakor’s Kandol commune in January, which was given in 2006 to a sugar plantation owned by business tycoon Ly Yong Phat. The group said they had not received compensation for the land and were reclaiming it by building small shelters.
The court order states that investigating judge Lor Krem placed them on bail to ensure they would not interfere in the investigation, would attend future hearings and would not change their address without informing the court.
Pheap Teng, a village representative and one of the seven people, said the court’s decision was an attempt to thwart their protests, and was a biased decision.
“I think that the court makes decisions with a bias for the powerful and rich person, because we are victims and really lost the land and they use the judicial system to pressure us,” she said. “Especially when our community heard that they were being sued in court, they worried. They don’t dare to protest even though they unfairly lost their land.”
Koh Kong court spokesperson Vei Phirum could not be reached for comment.
Botum Sakor district governor Hak Leng said officials had repeatedly said they would not find a solution for the group, but the residents kept protesting.
Noy Sok, who is also under court supervision, said authorities had not helped them with a resolution. The disputants were given no compensation and have instead been threatened with violence, he said.
“They said if I dared to protest on that land, they would shoot, they would arrest and imprison [me]. So our people dare not to protest,” she said.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to property
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 4, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 27, 2022
- Event Description
NagaWorld protestors were met with violence by security personnel on the streets of Phnom Penh Monday afternoon, after weeks of their protests proceeding relatively subdued.
Police and district guards pulled and shoved about 100 workers Monday afternoon at the intersection of Sothearos and Sihanouk boulevards, as they attempted to make their way to NagaWorld casino to resume their protests.
The workers walked north on Sothearos Boulevard, arms locked together, when they were met with dozens of police officers and security guards. The protestors resisted as police tried to break through the workers, only managing to pull away one or two at a time. They were shoved into waiting city buses, according to Facebook livestreams taken by the workers.
“I am a woman, I have nothing. We are all women, we have nothing,” one of the workers could be heard saying.
Police continued to pull at the workers and shove them, with people in plain clothes and deputy Phnom Penh governor Mean Chanyada yelling orders at security personnel. In the background of the livestream, district security guards could be seen blocking U.N. observers.
The police officers and city officials could be seen pointing to the pavement and asking the workers to move off the street.
Suddenly, the plainclothes officials ordered police and security guards to retreat behind a barricade and after a few minutes the bus that was being filled with workers was also driven away empty.
The worker stayed behind the barriers, chanting slogans and calling out to Hun Sen to intervene in the case. They left just before 5 p.m. and said they would continue the protest on Tuesday.
The workers have been protesting since December 2021, with recent protests seeing workers reach the casino complex and compliantly board buses. The buses normally drive around the city before workers are let off at the new Freedom Park in Russei Keo.
Keut Chhe, Phnom Penh municipality spokesperson, denied officials used violence against the protestors. He said it was illegal to protest on the streets because it caused traffic and that protestors had been asked to continue their protest at Freedom Park.
Authorities have regularly blocked traffic with barriers to seal off the major intersections to apprehend the protestors, often closing the major roadway for hours at a time.
“The authorities never [used] violence with protestors. But the protestors did not listen to the authorities’ orders,” Chhe said. “The authorities also got small injuries too and lost some of their equipment as well.”
Sin Sreynich, one of the workers, said plainclothes officials were the ones hitting and shoving workers, and were reluctant to listen to the workers.
“They were not listening to us. We tried to compromise with them and talk kindly,” she said.
Has Rithyratana, another worker at the protest, said she was scared but that the workers were united in continuing the strike.
The union, Labor Ministry and NagaWorld have gone through multiple rounds of negotiations, all ending in no resolution. The union’s key demand is for reinstatement of about 200 workers who have refused to accept compensation. The casino company has been more willing to negotiate other demands.
Workers were terminated last year sparking near-daily protests in the capital. Nine union leaders and workers were arrested earlier this year but released on court supervision.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 2, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 15, 2022
- Event Description
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.
Around 30 members of Tbong Khmum’s Sre Prang community travelled to Phnom Penh and gathered outside the Supreme Court in support of Sineath during the trial hearing last Wednesday. Daun Penh security guards blocked them from gathering in front of the court and from walking to the National Assembly to follow up on a petition they had previously submitted.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 18, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 14, 2022
- Event Description
The Kampong Thom Provincial Court has put an indigenous Kuy community representative in pretrial detention for violence against a property owner following a complaint from a local company.
Heng Phen, second deputy of the local Kuy community in Sandan district, was arrested on Tuesday and charged under the Land Law with committing violence against a property owner for alleged illegal encroachment on the company’s land, said provincial court spokesman Say Veasna.
The community has long been in dispute with Sambath Platinum, which received nearly 2,500 hectares in 2011 for a rubber plantation in Boeng Per Wildlife Sanctuary.
Hean Hiek, first deputy of the Kbet Changho Khnar community, rejected the accusations against Phen.
“She has done nothing wrong. She did not do anything affecting the company’s benefit, and her arrest violated the rights of indigenous people because there was no clear reason,” Hiek said, adding that they had seen no arrest warrant.
Hiek said that the company had begun clearing the community’s farmland in 2011. In 2014, the provincial administration told the company to cut off 130 hectares of its concession for the community and stay 100 meters away from a canal they used. But, according to Hiek, the company had not complied. The community alleges the company has cleared about 700 of 1,000 hectares of the community’s land.
A letter issued by the Kampong Thom land management department in August last year ordered Sambath Platinum to stop planting boundary poles, clearing crops, and removing the community’s markers. It also ordered the company to compensate the community for crop damage.
Another community member, Um Bunthorn, alleged that on May 18, eight armed officers had used violence against residents and confiscated their tractors. Now, the company had unfairly filed a court complaint against them, he argued.
“Our indigenous people would like to appeal to the court and national authorities to intervene for the release of Heng Phen,” Bunthorn said.
Chheng Phann, a company representative and the case’s plaintiff, could not be reached on Thursday.
Ngoan commune chief Seth Phouy said the dispute was long-standing, but the matter was resolved.
“Previously, the people feared using land within the map of the company, forests that they had used for many years. [But] the company has never done anything to affect the people,” Phouy said.
Ngoan’s commune police chief, who only gave his name as Sopheak, said he had also not received a court order for the arrest, and instructions had come down from higher levels.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 18, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 6, 2022
- Event Description
The residence of a monk living in a Kampong Speu has been burned down amid a land dispute with soldiers.
Prom Thomacheat, living in Oral district’s Metta forest, said the small hut where he had slept was burned to the ground on Monday. It followed a pattern of violence from soldiers laying claim to the land, he said.
“They’ve fired shots over my head” in the past, he said. “If I die, I die. What can I do in this situation? … People ask me to leave and no one would hurt me. But I won’t go.”
Community members say they were protecting Metta forest for years before the state handed the land to soldiers in August last year. The transfer sparked protests of hundreds and locals camping out in the forest to protect the woods, which is part of the Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary.
But satellite imagery shows land clearing ramping up in the past two months, leaving broad scars through the forest. Residents have said they can no longer approach the clearings due to incidences of violence.
A community member, Khorn Khern, said she believed it was soldiers who had burned the monk’s hut, though she provided no evidence.
“Soldiers are now clearing and cutting the forest of the monk,” Khon said. “This is not right. This forest is a place that people and monks have been protecting for a long time. Now the sound of machines cutting down trees is close to the big pagoda.”
Trapeang Chhour commune chief Tep Nem said he had not received any report or information about the burning of the monk’s hut.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: land rights activists threatened with bullets
- Date added
- Jun 11, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 7, 2022
- Event Description
The Mondulkiri Provincial Court questioned four Bunong environmentalists for several hours on Tuesday over alleged defamation and incitement based on a developer’s complaint.
Kroeung Tola, Ploek Phyrom, Ploek Nary and Kloeung Tum were summoned to appear on allegations leveled by Kak Ratana, director of Villa Development, according to one of the accused.
Phyrom said the case was a result of the foursome earlier filing a complaint against the company for deforestation, clearing state land and destroying resin trees in the Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary. The area of forest in question, in Sen Monorom’s Sokdum commune, had been used by the local indigenous community for a long time before the company brought in heavy machinery to clear it, she said.
On Tuesday, court officials questioned them for several hours but they made no immediate decision on the case and let them go home, Phyrom said. The accused requested that the case be dropped, she added.
The company director, Ratana, could not be reached on Tuesday.
“We are protecting our land. They are planning to clear 100 hectares,” Phyrom previously said after receiving the court summons. “We make a living on that land.”
The community had already lost around 1,000 resin trees in the area, she said. “If we lose all of them, what can we do?”
Tola, another of the accused, is a prominent activist and coordinator for the Mondulkiri Indigenous People Network. He has faced previous legal actions against him, including fines for defamation.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 11, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 31, 2022
- Event Description
Police briefly arrested three union representatives amid a demonstration of more than 1,000 shoe-factory workers in Kampong Chhnang, saying workers should be only allowed to submit letters, not protest.
At least 5,600 workers at Can Sports Shoe, a supplier for Adidas, gave thumbprints supporting a strike about 35 demands that have accumulated over several years, according to workers and labor rights groups.
Only a few hundred went into work on Tuesday as more than 1,000 workers gathered outside the factory in Samakki Meanchey district’s Sethei commune and blocked a road, they said.
Deputy provincial police chief Ear Bunthoeun said three union leaders had been arrested, but released after they agreed to stop organizing chaos.
“If workers want to demand benefits, just let them do it and submit letters. But we can’t allow inciters to provoke demonstrations and work stoppages,” Bunthoeun said.
Public order could be disrupted by demonstrations, he said. The workers had blocked National Road 5, which could suffer traffic jams even with short disruptions, he added.
Noem Sokhoeun, one of the arrested union leaders, said he had been accused of incitement to commit a felony.
“I think it’s a violation of my rights,” Sokhoeun said, adding that he had not organized the protest himself.
The contract he signed on Tuesday says he promises not to gather workers for protests or demonstrations that cause chaos in the factory, and not to commit any acts in the factory against the law.
According to labor rights group Central, the two other union leaders are Sean Sokleab and Pen Sophorn.
Patrick Lee, legal consultant at Central, said: “My view is that these union leaders have been arrested for the sole purpose of attempting to restrict workers’ fundamental right to peacefully strike. The authorities should be acting as mediators and not use their power to restrict workers’ rights and freedoms.”
A list of 35 demands from the workers details accumulated grievances related to payment schedules and methods, medical facilities at the factory, and the availability of food vendors and allowances.
Factory worker Kan Savy said more than 1,000 workers had protested on Tuesday, while another worker, Nou Sitouch, estimated that most of around 8,000 striking workers at the factory gathered outside from around 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Yang Sophorn, the president of Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, said Can Sports Shoe had more than 10,000 workers in total, and some grievances stretched back two decades.
Two of the union leaders had been arrested Monday evening even before the protest was held, Sophorn added.
“It’s inappropriate as the authorities have the duty to give justice to people and workers,” she said, adding that the factory union had informed the employer about the peaceful demonstration.
“This is a means of threatening workers who are just peacefully exercising their legal rights as stated in the law.”
A woman who picked up on a number listed with the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia for the factory denied she was part of factory management.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 4, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 1, 2022
- Event Description
Around 100 indigenous residents gathered outside the Preah Vihear Provincial Court on Wednesday as five community members were questioned by court prosecutors for alleged threats to kill and damage property.
The five village residents — Thon Sot, Son Savon, Ngorn Him, Thab Sokkey and Rourng Khan — were summoned to court for questioning on Wednesday after Ly Kimsreng, who they have a land dispute with, filed a complaint.
Residents of the Preah Vihear’s Tbeng Meanchey commune have faced persistent issues with their traditional farmlands, first from five Chinese sugarcane companies that were granted around 40,000 hectares of the land in four provinces, often referred to together as Rui Feng. More recently, residents said they had reclaimed their land only to be harassed by alleged representatives of the company and newcomers who were claiming land in the district.
Village residents alleged Kimsreng had been trying to clear their land earlier this year and they only attempted to stop the destruction of their crops.
Savon said all five attended the court hearing and denied all the accusations. He said Kimsreng was attempting to scare the village residents away.
“Where should we do farming?” he said. “We request the court to end these charges against us. This is an injustice for us.”
Savon said he wouldn’t stop fighting for their land even if local authorities got involved in the case.
Am Sam Ath, from rights group Licadho, said the case was another example of the rich and well-connected using the courts to harass people and undermine their rights.
VOD could not reach Kimsreng on Wednesday.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to property
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 4, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 1, 2022
- Event Description
A factory refusing a Labor Ministry order to reinstate fired unionists has dismissed 10 more union members this week.
SYHJ Garment, a Chinese-owned factory in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district, fired three leaders of a newly emerging union in April, leading to a Labor Ministry directive that the terminations violated Trade Union Law protections for shop steward and union leaders. But the factory has remained defiant.
Hul Sokhim, president of the new union — one of the three fired in the initial round of terminations — said on Wednesday that 10 other workers had been laid off this week. She said it was illegal union busting.
“The owner dismissed them without clear reason. They were voters who supported those who stood as my union’s representatives,” she said. “Frankly speaking, those who were involved with me … were dismissed.”
Ny Mao, one of the 10 workers fired this week, said the termination was unreasonable. He worked overtime and weekends like other workers, and had committed no transgressions of company policies, he said.
“During work, they called me to dismiss me. I did nothing wrong,” Mao said. “I don’t understand how my work was lacking?”
Prum Kosal, an executive assistant at SYHJ, said the factory had dismissed workers because they violated the company’s internal rules on several points. He said the company was not concerned about the union’s complaints.
“The company dismissed them because they had issues with our internal rules, including that they did not cooperate much and did not pay attention to the company’s work.”
Independent Trade Union Federation president Ry Sithinet said his federation would help the factory’s workers file a complaint to the Labor Ministry requesting reinstatement.
“[We] are translating them to English. When we are ready, we will submit them to buyers. We have found that three brands are involved with the factory SYHJ,” but the federation had yet to ascertain who they were, Sithinet said. On Thursday, Sithinet said the brands were Mango and Inditex’s Bershka, both Spanish, and Sinsay, from Poland.
The federation said in a statement that a similar case was ongoing at Walmart shoe supplier Qi Ming Xin, also in Kandal province. The factory had fired five union leaders earlier this year, and the Labor Ministry issued an order on March 16 to reinstate and compensate them. The company had not complied, the statement said.
Around 350 union leaders and active members have been unfairly dismissed since the start of 2020, the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union has estimated.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 4, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 11, 2022
- Event Description
Twenty-five members of a youth group who are marking World Environment Day with a 600-kilometer cycling campaign, say that although local authorities allowed the event to go ahead they were questioned and monitored, which some took as a form of intimidation.
The campaign, which started on May 10 and ends on Friday, saw the cyclists ride all the way from Kampong Thom to Preah Vihear province. In each commune along the way, through four provinces, the participants say they were stopped by authorities who questioned them about their activities and camped out with them overnight.
Authorities say their interest was only intended to keep the cyclists safe on their journey, but one of the campaigners, Out Latin, a project coordinator with the advocacy group Cambodian Youth Network, said their interest meant the activists hadn’t been able to speak freely.
“I think it is a challenge that the authorities always come to interrogate and sleep with us under the pretext of security. What the authorities are doing is hurting our ability to debate on social issues and make our next plan.”
However, he noted that in the past, authorities have been more interfering, even stopping village meetings. This time they were allowed to go ahead, he believes, because they don’t want trouble ahead of the commune elections next month.
After the youths arrived in Preah Vihear, city authorities led by Deputy Governor Khiev Ban and accompanied by about 10 plainclothes police officers came to inquire about their activities, took down their names, and took photos. In Promer commune, Tbeng Meanchey district, police did the same.
Latin said they asked where the group had got its funding for the campaign, which mainly came from civil society organizations abroad. The campaign was meant to promote forest conservation, he said, and teach communities to protect natural resources.
“Through this campaign, we are demanding that the government, especially the Ministry of Environment, allow local communities to participate in protecting the last remaining natural resources, such as in Prey Lang and Prey Preah Roka,” he said.
San Mala, another member of the Cambodian Youth Network who took part in the event, said he didn’t think the real reason the authorities monitored the cyclists activity was in order to guarantee their safety. Instead, he said he thought it was a way of monitoring them.
“The authorities there have said that their actions are only for the safety and security of the youth,” he told CamboJA. “Especially at our rest stops, the authorities always sent police and village security to guard the youth group.”
However, he noted that in the past it’s been very difficult for youth to pass through protected forest areas, but this time it was easy. He thinks the authorities facilitated this because the government doesn’t want trouble ahead of elections, and also because the ASEAN Summit was being held in the US at the same time and they didn’t want negative press.
Mala said he hoped the campaign would encourage the Ministry of Environment to allow citizens to participate in forest protection, because in Prey Lang in the past well-known environmental activists have been arrested for organizing patrols against illegal logging.
“In the last two years, authorities, especially officials from the Ministry of Environment, have been restricting communities and civil society organizations from working in forest areas… The absence of environmental activists monitoring or patrolling has resulted in a major surge in deforestation,” he said.
“There may be collusion between local authorities and traders,” he added.
Koet Saray, president of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), said some authorities seemed pleased to see youth and civil society campaigning for environmental protection, and that they were mainly allowed to conduct their campaign unhindered. However he said, despite the group having widely publicized the event in the press, the authorities hadn’t been aware of it or what was about.
During their 600 km cycle, the group saw several deforested sites in Prey Lang forest in Kratie and Kampong Thom, according to Out Latin, each ranging between 5 and 50 hectares.
Sar Seng Leang, deputy chief of Achen village, Kampong Cham commune, Sambor district, Kratie province, said that as a village authority, it was his duty to welcome and protect the cyclists passing through and that he welcomed the environmental advocacy campaign..
Khiev Ban, Deputy Governor of Preah Vihear City, agreed that the cycling campaign was a good way of making people aware of environmental issues. He told CamboJA that the authorities only questioned the participants so they knew which direction they were going and could protect them.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 28, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 23, 2022
- Event Description
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.
The five human rights defenders were all current and former staff of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) at the time of their arrest. They were accused of paying a woman to make false statements regarding another case linked to then-opposition leader Kem Sokha.
None of the witnesses named in the case appeared for the lower court proceedings, during which no credible evidence was presented by the prosecution. Requests by the defence to summons witnesses at the Appeal Court hearing were denied, as was a request to delay the hearing.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 28, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 17, 2022
- Event Description
A Kandal factory is continuing to refuse to reinstate workers whom it fired as they were trying to start a union despite instructions from the Labor Ministry, as workers said they now want to take up the issue with the factory’s international clients.
In two separate orders issued May 4 and May 17, the Labor Ministry said the SYHJ Garment factory in Ang Snuol district should take back Prak Tola, Ny Tola and Hul Sokhim, saying their dismissals were illegal under articles 43 and 67 of the Union Law.
Those articles say workers standing to lead a union are protected from dismissal unless there is authorization from a labor inspector.
It is the same argument the NagaWorld casino union has been making to contest the layoffs of its union leaders last year.
A manager at SYHJ, Prum Kosal, said in a message that the factory could not take back the three workers as they had made serious mistakes that violated the company’s internal regulations. He also alleged they had damaged thousands of dollars of company property.
“At the moment, the company has no association with the union. Please tell them that before they complain, they should look at the law — which articles, which paragraph,” Kosal said. “Ask if they know the law. … If the union wants to sue, it’s their right.”
Sokhim, one of the fired workers, said she was head of the packaging department and was due to become the new union’s head.
“They said to sue them,” she said. “They said they don’t care where we complain.”
Independent Trade Union Confederation president Ry Sethynet said he would help the SYHJ workers find the factory’s international buyers and file a complaint to them for intervention to get the three prospective union leaders back to work.
The Labor Ministry orders, issued by the labor disputes department, said factory owners must reaccept the workers who had been laid off and pay them wages from the day they were fired. A department official, when asked about enforcement, previously told VOD that both sides had two months to appeal the decision.
Ministry spokeperson Heng Sour did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union has estimated that roughly 350 union leaders and active members were dismissed under the guise of Covid-19 — around a quarter of about 1,400 cases of alleged union-busting since 2015.
According to maps, the factory is next-door to similarly named SYSG Garment, a Chinese-owned T-shirt producer registered with the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 28, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 11, 2022
- Event Description
NagaWorld labor negotiations remained at a stalemate as fired union workers continued to attempt to protest outside the casino complex.
Workers have continued their protests in Phnom Penh and have been met with severe police action, including protesters getting kicked while being shoved onto buses outside the NagaWorld 2 casino on Wednesday. Around 130 workers were again confronted by police, terminated worker Mam Sovathin said.
Kong Sokhom, another protesting worker who still works at the casino, said she was initially shocked when a police official pinched her hard and had to be pulled away by his colleagues.
“I laughed after that. He pinched me and then pushed me on the bus. And some authorities had to pull him out,” she said.
Sokhom said protestors were returning to the casino almost every day, only taking short breaks to rest. The authorities continued to take them on buses near Phnom Penh Safari park and then dropping them off at the new Freedom Park in Russei Keo district.
At the same time, five union representatives met with NagaWorld and the Labor Ministry on Wednesday, the eighth negotiation meeting to end without a resolution.
Union president Chhim Sithar, who was recently re-elected to head the union, was not optimistic heading into the meeting, saying there was no compromise in sight. Her outlook had not changed after the meeting ended Wednesday evening.
“It is like before. The company still rejects all of our requests. There was no result,” she said.
The union has asked NagaWorld to find jobs for 200-odd terminated workers, a demand workers say the casino has refused during the negotiations.
The union also delivered the results of its 10-day leadership election to the Labor Ministry on Monday. The ministry will now have to re-register the union, and Heng Sour, a ministry spokesperson, did not respond to requests for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 17, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 17, 2022
- Event Description
Land rights activist Sat Pha, who was convicted of incitement last August in relation to a protest one year earlier outside the Chinese embassy, has fled Cambodia saying a death threat was posted on her door in Phnom Penh.
Pha was released in November with several other activists after serving a year in pre-trial detention and prison. Since her release, the former prisoner of conscience had been active in protesting the charges against Cambodian-American lawyer Seng Theary. Theary, an activist, is one of 139 supporters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party who are being tried, en masse, for plotting to overthrow the government — charges rights monitors maintain are politically motivated.
“Upon my release from prison, I continue to struggle to fight injustice and have received verbal threats, including a death threat posted on my front door,” she told CamboJA via text message.
Pha said that she left Phnom Penh on Sunday and entered Thailand through an illegal crossing in Banteay Meanchey province.
“I am worried about my personal security if I remain in Cambodia,” she said. She added that she hopes the UN Refugee Agency can provide her with asylum status and find a third country for resettlement as she may face security threats in Thailand too.
A photo shared by Pha showed a note reading: “If you are still strong, be careful of disappearing.”
Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said he knew nothing of the death threat and suggested that perhaps the activist had forged the note.
“We do not know if it is true or not, related to the note posted,” he said.
“There are no death threats, and what would she have been threatened for because she wasn’t involved to commit or impact [national] security,” Sopheak said, noting that she already had been convicted and imprisoned.
“It might be her trick that she has posted herself to seek political asylum,” he said.
Pha denied the allegation, saying it was unsurprising a ruling party official would suggest it.
“I believe that because he is a CPP official, he will say that because he has never accepted their mistake.”
Am Sam Ath, operation director at rights group Licadho, called on the authorities to thoroughly investigate the threat.
“We beg authorities to investigate and find out the truth for the victim to avoid an accusation of politically motivation or political discrimination,” he said.
He noted that harassment of former opposition activists and supporters is not uncommon and that authorities rarely investigate.
In August 2021, Pha was sentenced to 12 months in prison along with nine others who protested outside the Chinese embassy in October 2020, calling for the Cambodian government to respect the Paris Peace Agreement and oppose a Chinese military presence.
A longtime activist, Pha was among the thousands of families evicted from the Boeung Kak lake area to make way for the development project of Shukaku Inc.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 2, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 26, 2022
- Event Description
Five people from three activist groups were prevented from riding bicycles in Phnom Penh on Tuesday to commemorate the 10th death anniversary of prominent environmentalist Chut Wutty.
Wutty was shot dead 10 years ago while showing journalists forest destruction in the western province of Koh Kong. The activists planned to ride bicycles from Independence Monument to the ministries of justice and environment.
They were first followed by district security guards and police officers to Wat Botum park in central Phnom Penh, and then prevented from starting the bicycle ride.
The activists are Khmer Thavrak’s Chhoeun Daravy, Chhem Sreykea and Yong Sokhlai, Mother Nature’s Phuon Keoreaksmey and Eng Malai from the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association. Two other activists, Hun Vannak and Svay Samnang, were also present to broadcast the bicycle ride on social media.
“We were only talking with them about why they took our bicycles, why they prohibited us from walking, or going anywhere else, asking us to stay in one place,” said Malai.
There was some shoving by security personnel when the activists attempted to leave the area. Authorities also unsuccessfully tried to take the camera of a VOD reporter.
Security personnel told the activists they could leave only after senior officials gave them the go-ahead, Malai said, adding that they planned to go to a small shrine on the riverside to offer blessings for Wutty.
“[Their] message is that this is anarchy, and they are restricting our freedoms,” she added.
Keoreaksmey was previously part of another group of activists who were attempting to cycle from Koh Kong to Phnom Penh to raise awareness about Koh Kong Krao and urge the government to preserve the undeveloped island as a national park. The group was also stopped by police and they had to continue their journey on foot.
At Tuesday’s event, the five activists were dressed in shirts adorned with Wutty’s image and wore helmets adorned with leaves. Keoreaksmey said the authorities wanted to take their shirts too.
“There is not any law that says wearing hats with tree leaves or wearing a shirt with Chut Wutty’s photos is illegal,” she said. “They demanded something from us that we could not do for them.”
Phnom Penh City Hall spokesperson Met Measpheakdey said that people needed permission before conducting activities in public.
“Every public activity for any purpose must be approved by the authorities,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 2, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 11, 2022
- Event Description
Local police claimed soldiers were on holiday, not shooting at patrollers in a Kampong Speu community forest, as residents allege they were again targeted by soldiers last week.
Nov Norn, Trapaing Chor commune police chief in Oral district, acknowledged victims’ accounts that they had been shot at inside the “Metta” community forest last week, but downplayed the incident.
Though residents said it was soldiers who had shot at them, Norn said he had been told the area’s soldiers were on holiday.
“We asked the superiors in relation to the soldiers. We were not involved, and will let the inspection team investigate because this case is related to the military court,” he said. “It was not soldiers. It was just shooting to threaten, and shots to break the trailers’ tires. There were no injuries in the shooting.”
The forest has been mired in dispute since it was given to the military last year, taking away a community asset that local residents say they have worked to protect for decades. Among the forest’s defenders is a monk who has been living in the woods for years, and who was also allegedly shot at by soldiers last month.
Resident Khoeun Kea said six soldiers shot at him and his brother on April 11, destroyed their trailer, and beat his brother. He filed a police complaint two days later that the incident amounted to an attempt on their lives. But he had yet to be questioned for any further information, he said.
“I asked the relevant authorities to investigate and arrest the perpetrators to punish them under the law because this was an act of manslaughter,” Kea said.
Norn, the commune police chief, however, said the violence had been merely a conflict between individuals, and it was hired workers — not soldiers — who fired guns.
Oral district police chief Buth Buntheoun hung up after a reporter introduced himself.
Khorn Sarith, another local resident, said it was not an isolated incident. Soldiers had also fired at him when he and other community members protested against them clearing the forest in the past, Sarith said.
There have now been several incidents of shooting and violence, including some injuries. But police have not responded, he said.
“Soldiers have done whatever they want, and legal action has not been taken,” Sarith said.
Ten community representatives are instead facing court prosecution over their protests, residents said.
Vann Sophat, a land monitoring official at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said warning shots, threats and violence were clearly illegal and violated human rights.
“We see that Cambodians who are affected by land or other rights violations are suffering worse and worse because there is a culture of impunity for law enforcement officials, especially the armed forces.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 2, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 19, 2022
- Event Description
More than 100 unionists returned to strike against NagaWorld on Tuesday following failed negotiations and the holiday weekend, and they were yet again put on buses and toured around Phnom Penh’s outskirts.
Shortly after workers arrived near the Australian Embassy a little after 2 p.m. Tuesday, a total of 106 strikers were immediately loaded onto public buses and driven as far as the zoo in Chroy Changva district before being dropped off at 4 p.m. near the relocated Freedom Park, according to unionists.
Chan Bora, 37, who is still employed by NagaWorld, said Tuesday afternoon’s protest proceeded as it had before their nine-day break.
She said they unsuccessfully tried to “get in front of the company” by rallying at the park in front of NagaWorld 1, as they had in the early days of the strike.
“I know that when I come, I will be pushed onto the bus. But if we don’t come, they will think that we stopped, so we keep coming,” she said.
When asked how she was feeling to be back on the bus, Bora started crying: “I’m scared of the force from the authorities. If they want us to get on the bus, I will follow. I don’t want to be pushed and forced.”
Negotiations between NagaWorld and the unionists are set to resume on Thursday at the Labor Ministry, after talks stalled once again two weeks before.
Bora said she felt the solution should be simple.
“Two-hundred workers want to go back to work, which is easy to solve if the company wants, because they are full of experience, and this problem will continue if the company won’t solve this.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 2, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 10, 2022
- Event Description
Traffic police taking money from motorists detained and threatened a citizen journalist, ordering him to delete his photos and videos of the bribery, the journalist alleged.
Suon Vutha said he was on his way from Kampot to Phnom Penh on Sunday when he reached a checkpoint in Kandal’s Loeuk Dek district. He saw taxi vans overflowing with passengers, but traffic police were taking money to look the other way, Vutha said.
“Some of them were overcrowded, so they just gave 20,000-30,000 riel [$5-$7.5] to the traffic police. They let them go without any direct law enforcement,” he said.
Vutha pulled out his phone to take videos, and he was taken in for questioning for more than an hour. Officers demanded to see his “mission letter” as well as ID, and ordered him to delete his videos and sign an agreement to stop.
“It’s a threat to the people,” he said. “I filmed this in public. I did nothing wrong. And he threatened to send me to the district authorities to build a case to take to court.”
“He said I was wrong to film authorities while they operated.”
Vutha said he eventually signed the agreement and deleted his images so he could get away.
Vutha is a member of a citizen journalists training program with the Cambodian Center for Independent Media. CCIM is VOD’s parent organization.
Loeuk Dek district governor Am Thou defended the police’s actions, saying that the orders to delete the videos were not a threat because the journalist had failed to request and receive cooperation from authorities at work.
“The press must ask for cooperation from that place. No matter what the place is, please show up with enough rights to do so,” Thou said. “If you sneak up and take photos, it means that you are taking the negative points to do something bad, and we, the authorities, are not prepared.”
Thou added that if there was any bribery, both the motorists and police would be at fault.
However, Information Ministry spokesman Phos Sovann said anyone could take photos or videos in public. Exceptions were areas that authorities had enclosed off to preserve evidence or conduct important inquiries, he said.
Traffic officers would be overstepping if they ordered journalists to delete videos and threatened to send them to court, and would be infringing on journalists’ work, Sovann added.
Cambodian Journalists Alliance director Nop Vy agreed, saying orders to delete images taken in public places were a violation of civil liberties.
“It is only if such threatening actions are investigated and prosecuted or punished with administrative fines that it will be possible to prevent such threats from repeating in the future.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 2, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 26, 2022
- Event Description
Indigenous community representatives who say they filed a complaint against a company for encroaching on community forests have been summoned to court over defamation and incitement.
The court summons names the complainant as Kak Ratana from the company Villa Development, and orders Kroeung Tola, Phlek Phirum, Phlek Navy and Khveng Tum to appear at the Mondulkiri Provincial Court on April 26 for questioning over defamation and incitement.
Phirum said on Friday that she had not heard from the courts or received the summons, but knew the company since she had filed her own complaint against it in recent weeks.
“We are protecting our land. They are planning to clear 100 hectares,” Phirum said. “We make a living on that land.”
The community had already lost around 1,000 resin trees in the area, she said. “If we lose all of them, what can we do?”
She said Villa Development was a rubber plantation that arrived to the area in 2008, and it had encroached on community forests since 2012.
A phone number for Ratana listed with the Commerce Ministry did not connect.
Tola, a prominent activist and coordinator for the Mondulkiri Indigenous People Network who has faced previous legal actions against him, including fines for defamation, told VOD that he planned to appear at the court because the representatives did not “incite or defame.”
Phirum has also faced previous legal troubles, including a reported conviction for aggravating a land issue under the Land Law, for which she, Navy and Tum purportedly received two-year jail sentences but were not taken into custody.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 13, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 29, 2022
- Event Description
The stalemate between NagaWorld executives and laid-off workers continued as a fourth negotiation meeting at the Labor Ministry failed to deliver a resolution.
The meeting was held Tuesday afternoon as more than 200 NagaWorld workers were again met with violence as they attempted to resume their demonstration, and were again packed into buses and driven around the capital.
Outside the Labor Ministry, Sun Sreypich, one of the workers’ negotiators, said the meeting had discussed the reinstatement of workers for over two hours — a point workers have said is a top priority for negotiations.
She said NagaWorld was against reinstating workers because the company had already decided on the redundancies.
She claimed that there were around 350 people who wanted to voluntarily leave the casino and that around 200 workers could be swapped in for people choosing to quit. Sreypich recalled that NagaWorld had indicated that it wanted to further reduce staff, and suggested the swap system would result in a reduction of around 150 workers.
“We talked again and again. I can say I bargained with them to accept the first point,” she said, referring to the demand for reinstatement.
She added that the ministry said another meeting would be scheduled for next week. The ministry had previously said there would be only three meetings and that the parties could then approach the courts, but also scheduled today’s meeting.
Around 220 workers made their way to the casino complex Tuesday afternoon, where video footage uploaded to social media showed them shoved and pushed against security personnel, including plainclothes security officials.
One official routinely seen at the protests was seen on video slapping a worker on the head and then trying to drag away the same worker.
“They solve it at the Ministry of Labor, why don’t you go to resolve it? There are illegal strikes every day and every day I am very bored,” he is heard shouting at workers in one video.
Later, police released photos of the security officer with scratch marks on his arms. The same officer has harassed journalists and human rights monitors at the protests.
Tim Satya, one of the detained workers, said it was worrying that the authorities were escalating the violence used with strikers.
“It is my first time seeing the bad actors from the authorities pushing women workers in front of my face. They don’t listen to us that we have a problem with NagaWorld,” she said.
“They have a big body and pushed me and others. I am shocked and I am afraid but I and the others will still keep striking everyday.”
Meanwhile at the Appeal Court on Tuesday afternoon, judges denied a motion from eight NagaWorld unionists — who were released earlier this month — asking for the investigating judge in their case to visit the protests and for workers to be questioned in the presence of the authorities alleging their involvement in incitement.
Sam Chamroeurn, the workers’ lawyer, said the court had upheld the lower Phnom Penh court’s decision to deny the motions.
Khlaing Soben, one of the workers who attended the hearing, said it was not surprising their motion was denied. “We knew beforehand that there would be no justice for us,” Soben said.
Court spokesperson Sreng Souyeat could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 3, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 15, 2022
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Cambodia’s information ministry to immediately restore the licences it withdrew from three online media outlets for alleged ethical violations after they covered corruption cases. The ministry failed to follow procedure when it revoked the licences and its accusations are spurious, RSF says.
With no prior warning and no possibility of appeal, the three news outlets – Bayong Times, Khmer Cover TV (KCTV) and Cambodia Today – learned that their licences had been rescinded in a letter issued by the information ministry on 15 March accusing them of violating journalistic ethics and their contracts with the ministry.
By way of ethical violations, what the three news sites have in common is having recently published investigative stories about the rampant corruption within Cambodia’s political and economic elites.
Cambodia Today editor Touch Yuthea told RSF he suspected that the withdrawal of his licence was a “personal decision by senior ministry officials in charge of licences” in response to a story about a corrupt contract bidding process at the labour ministry.
Brazen intimidation
“The decision to revoke the licences of Bayong Times, Cambodia Today and KCTV is a gross violation of the freedom of publication as enshrined in article 41 of Cambodia’s constitution,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “This is brazen intimidation, and we call on the government to immediately restore the publication licences to these three outlets. Press freedom must not be the collateral victim of the actions of a few corrupt officials.”
Bayong Times publisher Tel Samuth told RSF: “I think cancelling these media outlets will serve to scare many other outlets into ceasing to report the truth.” He added that the information ministry had also violated standard procedure by failing to issue at least two warnings and enter into negotiations before revoking the licences – the procedure established in article 10 of the press law.
When reached by RSF, information minister Khieu Kanharith’s office refused to make any comment. Meanwhile, the ministry has reportedly told the editors of the three publications that they could recover their licences if they “correct” their articles and delete certain content.
Last October, RSF accused the defence minister of abusing his authority by ordering officials to “punish” provincial website operator Youn Chhiv for publishing an investigative report about illegal land seizures. He was sentenced to a year in prison just two days after his arrest.
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government embarked on an unrelenting offensive against independent media outlets in 2017 in order to maintain its grip on power, as RSF detailed in a report published in February 2018.
Cambodia is ranked 144th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 3, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 22, 2022
- Event Description
A video report alleging a Battambang timber factory was illegally processing luxury wood has landed a local journalist in court.
Lim Phally, a reporter for Los Seng News, said he had asked for a delay for court questioning that was scheduled today.
He was sued after a livestream report from January 16 about a local businessman he claims was trafficking timber, he said.
“We saw him actively transporting timber in and out of Battambang every day. When our reporters went to cover it, he complained against us, accusing us of defamation and disseminating [false] information — even though I have documents, videos and photos of him carrying wood.”
The January 16 video shows Phally going to video the businessman’s wood processing factory and commenting that luxury wood was found in the factory, and that it was illegal, calling for an investigation.
“This machine is legal only for local wood,” he says in the video, claiming the luxury wood was imported.
Battambang provincial forestry department director Chhim Vachira said the factory was licensed and had been inspected.
All the wood transported to the factory had a valid permit, Vachira said.
“Without being legal, they would not be able to run. So in my opinion, if it was not legal, it would not be possible to be open in the center of the city.”
Provincial court spokesperson Duong Savorn could not be reached for comment.
The Cambodian Journalists Alliance says in its latest monitoring report that 93 journalists faced harassment in 51 incidents last year. Thirty-two journalists were arrested and 10 faced other legal action, the report says.
The government, meanwhile, has complained of the dissemination of false information that could disrupt social order or hurt Cambodia’s reputation.
Los Seng News is also facing court action in Kampot province after its reporters covered a land dispute, while the outlet’s publisher, Los Seng, last year said he was facing pressure from officials over covering the at-times violent land dispute in Kandal province related to Phnom Penh’s new under-construction international airport.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 29, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 22, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in Phnom Penh again rounded up more than 100 striking NagaWorld Casino workers Tuesday, in the latest in a series of brutal mass arrests since the strike started more than three months ago.
Hundreds of security forces violently pushed about 140 striking workers onto 140 buses as they attempted to demonstrate near the casino to demand it reinstate laid-off workers and recognize their union.
“The authorities rushed in with anger,” An SreyPe, who was among the protesters, told RFA’s Khmer Service. “They assaulted and cursed the women among us, but our demands continue to be the same. We will protest until we have a solution.”
An SreyPe said she was injured when the authorities pushed her against the bus and her leg was caught in the door. They also sexually assaulted her in the process, she said, but did not elaborate.
Another protester said that the authorities used excessive force and confirmed they were specifically targeting women.
“Their punches are not meant to prevent a protest. They intended to hurt us,” said Srey No. Authorities hit her in the face during the crackdown and she suffered black eyes. “I am sad. We are only fighting for our livelihoods.”
Thousands of NagaWorld workers walked off their jobs in mid-December, demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of eight jailed union leaders, three other jailed workers and 365 others they say were unjustly fired from the hotel and casino, which is owned by a Hong Kong-based company believed to have connections to family members of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Cambodian authorities have called the strike “illegal” and alleged that it is supported by foreign donors as a plot to topple the government. But a series of mass arrests in recent weeks have been attributed to alleged violations of pandemic health regulations in Cambodia’s capital. Activists said the charges were trumped up to break up the strike.
The eight union leaders have since been released on bail but still face charges.
Authorities on Tuesday forced the 140 workers into buses around 2 p.m. and drove them around Cambodia’s capital, preventing them from leaving the buses. The workers were finally released around 6 p.m. on the outskirts of the city.
In previous arrests, the strikers were taken to quarantine facilities in Phnom Penh or its suburbs.
RFA was unable to reach Phnom Penh police spokesman San Sok Seiha for comment Tuesday.
The workers are continuing to protest because there has been no solution, Am Sam Ath of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights told RFA.
“Our concern is that because there is no solution, the workers will continue their protest and more arrests will be made,” he said.
The union and the casino will meet Wednesday for talks. The Ministry of Labor urged parties to file complaints to the court if there is no solution.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 29, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 16, 2022
- Event Description
Cambodian police on Wednesday arrested around 200 workers striking outside the NagaWorld casino in Phnom Penh, crowding them into buses for transport to a COVID-19 quarantine center outside the city, Cambodian sources said.
Hundreds of officers both in uniform and plain clothes used force against the workers, who were still being held at the center as of 9 p.m. local time on Wednesday, sources said.
“The strikers were physically abused by the authorities, who also took our cell phones,” one worker named Chantha told RFA, saying city authorities are siding with the NagaWorld company to prevent striking workers from entering casino buildings.
NagaWorld workers will continue their protests until their union is recognized and solutions are found to the now months-long labor dispute, she said.
Wednesday’s arrests follow the release on bail on Monday of eight union leaders and members, with three others still held in detention and workers vowing to continue an online campaign demanding that charges against all 11 be dropped, sources said.
Thousands of NagaWorld workers walked off their jobs in mid-December demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of 365 workers they say were unjustly fired from the casino and hotel, which is owned by a Hong Kong-based company believed to have connections to family members of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Chhim Sithar, leader of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld, and seven colleagues were later arrested and charged with inciting social unrest, with Cambodian authorities calling the strike illegal and part of a plot promoted by foreign donors to topple the government.
Speaking to RFA in an interview on Wednesday, Chhim Sithar said that she and the others released on Monday have called for striking workers to be allowed to return to work and are urging those laid off to remain at home until a legal settlement of their status is in place.
These statements show a softening of the union’s stance, she said. “We have made a lot of concessions, especially by asking the workers to return to work. There should be some benefit on all sides.”
Asked why the striking workers had continued their protest on Wednesday in spite of the union’s call for them to return, Chhim Sithar said the NagaWorld workers were free to make their own decisions without union interference.
Chhim Sithar denounced as “fake” another labor union recently established by NagaWorld, saying casino owners have consistently opposed the independent representation of workers’ rights.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor meanwhile said on Wednesday that a previously missed meeting with workers’ representatives to help resolve the labor dispute would now be held on Thursday.
Also speaking to RFA, Am Sam Ath — deputy director of the Phnom Penh-based Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights — said that the striking NagaWorld workers have continued their protest because they feel their dispute with the casino can never be resolved while three of their union representatives are still detained.
“The court should drop all charges against the workers’ representatives so they are able to represent the workers during talks,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 20, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 18, 2022
- Event Description
After months of near-daily striking, negotiations resumed in the NagaWorld labor dispute on Friday, though workers said little progress was made.
The Labor Ministry hosted worker representatives and the casino corporation for negotiations on Friday, a potential step towards ending the stalemate in the long-running dispute. The meeting came after 11 union leaders and workers were released from prison on bail this week to facilitate the negotiations.
Sun Sreypich, one of the worker representatives, said there were “no good results” to report from the meeting and that the ministry was focused on ensuring “unity” as negotiations proceeded.
“Today we don’t have positive results yet but the ministry is preparing the next meeting, at which point we should resolve problems,” she said.
Chhim Sithar, the union’s president who also attended the meeting, said the ministry only laid out the dispute resolution procedures, including the arbitration process.
The meeting would resume on Monday, Sithar said, and the ministry wanted to focus on a ruling by the Arbitration Council, but that workers would continue to push for reinstatement and dropping of charges against union leaders and members.
“If we do not drop the charges, we cannot accept that. This is our position that the ministry addresses these points,” she said.
Last year, the Arbitration Council refused to rule on the mass layoff of more than 1,300 workers, and had punted the decision to the Labor Ministry’s inspectorate. The council only directed the casino to correctly calculate seniority pay, unused annual leave and indemnity payments.
Early on in the strike, workers said a NagaCorp representative had suggested the company’s board of directors would consider reinstatement demands from around 300 workers who were holding out from accepting compensation packages to return to their jobs.
The Labor Ministry released a statement Friday evening, suggesting that the parties hold three meetings to resolve the dispute. The statement adds that the union requested that charges against the 11 released workers be dropped and to consider the reinstatement of fired workers, whereas NagaWorld said they regretted that the protests were continuing even though union leaders had said they would ask workers to end their strike action.
The 11 union leaders and workers had signed letters, released earlier this week, asking for bail and asking other workers to end the protests to facilitate negotiations. Protesters have refused to comply with their leaders’ requests so far.
Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour pointed to the statement when asked for comment on Friday.
Even as the negotiations were taking place, more than 100 protesters were again rounded up from outside the NagaWorld casino and taken to the new Freedom Park in Russei Keo district and kept in public buses for over four hours. Workers were still being held in the buses as of 7 p.m.
Tim Satya, one of the workers, said they didn’t know why the buses had stopped at Freedom Park or why workers weren’t allowed to disembark. Until Friday, protesters appearing near the casino had been bused to a quarantine center in Prek Pnov instead.
“We haven’t gotten off the bus. We are on the bus and standing and screaming from the bus,” she said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 20, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in Phnom Penh arrested another 180 striking employees of the NagaWorld Casino Monday as the fight against the Hong-Kong based company enters a third month.
Thousands of workers walked off their jobs in mid-December, demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of several jailed union leaders and 365 workers they say were unjustly fired from the hotel and casino, which is owned by a Hong Kong-based company believed to have connections to family members of Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Cambodian authorities have called the strike “illegal” and alleged that it is supported by foreign donors as a plot to topple the government. But a series of arrests in recent weeks have been attributed to alleged violations of pandemic health regulations in Cambodia’s capital. Activists said the charges were trumped up to break up the strike.
On Monday, dozens of security officers forced the 180 strikers onto buses and transported them to a quarantine center in the city’s suburbs for processing. The workers maintain that they have been following quarantine rules.
“The authorities accuse us relentlessly. I ask where is the will to find a solution for the people who have been exploited by foreign companies? Where is the justice for the Cambodian people?” Miech Srey Oun, a worker who has now been arrested twice, told RFA’s Khmer Service.
“The company tried to turn our dispute with the company over to the authorities, even though we, the workers, had a dispute with the employers only, not with the authorities,” she said.
Miech Srey Oun said that a bus released the workers into the hot sun. The strikers were not given food and water, she said.
Chinn Usaphea, another striking casino employee, told RFA that the strike is a last resort. She and her coworkers exhausted all other options in hope of resolving their dispute with NagaWorld. She is now calling on Hun Sen to step in and solve the dispute.
“As citizen, I would like to ask the Samdech father Hun Sen to look at his children in NagaWorld, because we need to be stable in the workplace and to have unions in the workplace,” she said.
“He should tell the relevant ministries to stand neutral to encourage the NagaWorld employers to come out and deal with their grieving staff to end this long-standing dispute,” she said.
RFA could not reach Phnom Penh City Hall spokesman Met Meas Pheakdey and Ministry of Labor spokesman Heng Sour for comment.
The authorities should release the detained union representatives and let them solve the issue with NagaWorld, Ny Sokha, president of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, told RFA.
Once the union leaders are free, they can negotiate and the strikers would have no reason to demonstrate, he said.
He noted that the government, which has called for talks to end the war in Ukraine, could handle this much smaller dispute.
“This is such a small thing compared to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. So, I think the government is not so incompetent that it cannot solve the NagaWorld issue,” he said. “But this depends on the will of the government to solve the problem. That requires will of the government to uphold justice for the workers, who need help from the government.”
On March 4, two NagaWorld strikers were placed under judicial surveillance in connection with allegations that they had prevented other NagaWorld workers from taking COVID-19 tests, which the two workers denied.
As one of the largest casinos in Phnom Penh, NagaWorld had a total of over 8,000 workers before the strike. The number has been reduced to slightly over 6,000 after the cutbacks that caused the strike.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 14, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 11, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh again detained more than 100 striking NagaWorld Casino workers Friday, in the latest in a series of brutal mass arrests since the strike started more than three months ago.
Some of the 158 strikers who were detained this time told RFA’s Khmer Service that they were forced into buses and taken to a quarantine facility on the outskirts of town but were not allowed to leave the buses for several hours, enduring extreme heat until the point that some of them began to vomit.
“It was awful. We are just workers. They used such brutal measures. The authorities pushed me into a truck and my arm was injured when they detained me,” Pov Raksmey told RFA.
Lay Sopheaktra, another detained worker, told RFA that she felt the authorities wanted to torture the workers so that they would not dare to gather for more protests.
“I am very sad that we are protesting for our jobs, but the authorities are denying our rights and assaulting us,” she said.
Thousands of NagaWorld workers walked off their jobs in mid-December, demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of eight jailed union leaders, three other jailed workers and 365 others they say were unjustly fired from the hotel and casino, which is owned by a Hong Kong-based company believed to have connections to family members of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Cambodian authorities have called the strike “illegal” and alleged that it is supported by foreign donors as a plot to topple the government. But a series of mass arrests in recent weeks have been attributed to alleged violations of pandemic health regulations in Cambodia’s capital. Activists said the charges were trumped up to break up the strike.
RFA reported Wednesday that 147 of the fired workers accepted compensation, but the remaining strikers are still calling for their union leaders to be released and for the company to negotiate with them.
RFA attempted to reach Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesman San Sok Seiha for comment about Friday’s arrests, but he was not available.
A Cambodian labor advocacy group told RFA that the authorities have used similar tactics to break up peaceful protests.
“The authorities and NagaWorld Casino need to seek a solution. If they continue violence, the crisis will be deepened,” said Khun Tharo, the labor program manager for Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights
He urged the Ministry of Labor to intervene the release of 11 union leaders and workers who are being jailed to allow the workers and the NagaWorld to resume talks.
The workers arrested Friday said authorities released them from the quarantine center after detaining them without medical attentions for a few hours. They said they will continue their fight if there is no solution.
RFA reported Tuesday that Cambodia’s Minister of Interior Sar Kheng was planning to lead a meeting of governmental officials on Wednesday to resolve the dispute.
Also on Wednesday, Phnom Penh authorities released around 200 strikers detained a day earlier while they were protesting.
On Thursday, an appeals court denied bail to the eight union leaders on the grounds that their case is still under investigation by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 14, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2022
- Event Description
About 30 NagaWorld strikers spent the night at a Prek Pnov quarantine center waiting for a Covid-19 test that eventually happened Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, police and health officials continued to detain protesting NagaWorld workers near the casino complex in Phnom Penh. That afternoon, authorities took 39 workers to the Prek Pnov facility. But unlike Monday’s batch of 64 detainees, health officials did not test the workers the same day as their detention, nor make them sign contracts to leave.
However, health officials began testing workers at about 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to worker accounts and Facebook livestreams recorded at the facility. In those streams, workers can be seen keeping track of tests performed.
After the tests were conducted, officials can be heard saying four workers had tested positive, with the group asking for those people to be tested again. Ros Lyheng, a NagaWorld worker at the quarantine center, confirmed there were four positive cases.
“I don’t have anything to suggest besides testing the four people again. If they test again, they are positive. Please take them but we just want to [test] again,” said Srey Pov, one of the workers seen in the livestream.
A health official replied saying that was not possible and that the four workers were being placed in a separate area.
Of the 64 workers tested on Monday, two people tested positive and were sent to hospital for treatment.
Phnom Penh city spokesperson Met Measkpheakdey refused to answer questions Wednesday morning and sent reporters a copy of a City Hall statement released Tuesday night. He did not confirm the test results from the group of 39 workers.
The statement the spokesperson referred to describes “anarchic” gatherings of NagaWorld strikers disobeying city-issued health guidelines.
“City Hall has eagerly appealed to demonstrators to stop illegal activity. They still violated under the pretext of holding a strike to find labor solutions by gathering through social networks and other means, and ignored health measures while Omicron transmission is spreading in the community with three digits,” the statement read.
The capital administration said it would no longer educate the workers and would instead impose fines of $250 to $1,250 going forward, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, workers complained about the conditions at the testing facility, saying the Prek Pnov center lacked basic facilities. The workers detained there said the space was divided into narrow cubicles with cots, as well as dirty linen and bedding that was left outside the rooms.
Photos posted by the workers show them sleeping on mosquito nets outside the rooms at the quarantine center.
Lyheng, one of the workers, said health officials made them complete forms but would not say anything else or address their concerns with the conditions at the facility.
Authorities on Thursday continued to detain NagaWorld workers attempting to resume their strike, with local rights groups criticizing what they described as excessive use of police force including sexual harassment against the strikers.
There have been more than 150 detentions from NagaWorld unionist attempts to resume their strike at the casino complex. Union members confirmed on Thursday that an additional 27 people were detained and taken to the same quarantine center in Prek Pnov that officials have used this week to confine workers and test them for Covid-19.
Thursday’s arrests followed the same strategy used by police over the past few days of shoving, carrying and dragging the workers who appeared near the casino into waiting city buses. Videos from today’s detentions show police officers wearing personal protective equipment pushing women into a bus, crushing some of them against the vehicle’s stairs.
Civil society groups also released a statement condemning the use of “state-sponsored violence” and Covid-19 measures against the workers to end their strike. The groups expressed concern over tactics used by security personnel, which they said includes sexual harassment.
According to the statement, a male police officer grabbed one worker and “squeezed her breast” as she was forced into a bus on Tuesday. The groups also pointed to the alleged use of lewd language and threats of sexual assault made by a security official against a union member in late December.
“In these challenging times, women need increased guarantees to exercise their rights and support, and civil society cannot remain silent in the face of the violence committed against them, all the more when such abuses are committed by the very authorities whose mission is to protect them,” reads the statement.
Ou Tepphalin, who heads a service and entertainment worker federation, said the police were being heartless in their behavior, especially in relation to the allegations of sexual harassment.
“It is unfortunate that when the authorities wear the security uniforms, it seems that the exercise of rights is reduced and the perpetrators are not afraid of the law,” she said, during an online press conference by rights groups.
Phnom Penh police chief Sar Thet denied that any officers were intentionally touching the workers inappropriately, and blamed the physical skirmishes on workers’ reluctance to follow authorities’ instructions.
“No one intended to touch her breast,” he said, referring to the allegation in the statement. “I think we don’t have the intention to do this and I believe that no one wants to do that.”
As of Thursday morning, about 75 detainees brought on Tuesday and Wednesday remained at the Prek Pnov center.
Authorities had brought 39 workers there on Tuesday, of which four tested positive and were taken to a hospital. Of the 51 detained on Wednesday, three tested positive on Thursday morning and were taken for treatment. The rest of the detainees were still at the center as of Thursday evening.
Workers say officials have demanded the detainees sign contracts pledging to end their striking or pay fines of $1,250. The workers have refused this, instead choosing to remain at the facility. However, on Thursday 35 workers were released and allowed to return home, said striker Ros Lyheng, who is part of the group.
“They did not have a car to pick us up, they told us to find our own way [home],” Lyheng said. “Doctors told me if you want to have a bus for you, you should sign a contract.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Sexual Violence
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 6, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 21, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in Cambodia detained more than 100 striking workers from the NagaWorld Casino Monday and Tuesday for allegedly violating COVID-19 protocols.
Thousands of workers walked off their jobs in mid-December, demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of eight jailed union leaders and 365 workers they say were unjustly fired from the hotel and casino.
Cambodian authorities have said the strike is “illegal” and allege that it is supported by foreign donors as a plot to topple the government.
Earlier this month, officials in Phnom Penh’s City Hall directed the striking workers to stop their protest out of concern they would spread the coronavirus. Activists dismiss the claim as an excuse to end the peaceful protest.
Authorities rounded up 64 of the striking workers on Monday and 39 on Tuesday. Two workers in the group of 64 tested positive for COVID-19, while the other 62 were released. The group of 39 workers, meanwhile, had not been released as of Tuesday evening.
After their arrests, the workers were taken to the premises of an NGO called the Cambodian Women for Peace and Development in Phnom Penh’s Prek Phnov district. The facility appeared to have been long abandoned and did not have running water, Meach Srey Oun, one of the 39 workers, told RFA’s Khmer Service Tuesday.
“They put us in a remote building that’s really dirty and refused to let us leave. Our families are worried,” she said.
She said that at least two of the workers were injured when they were arrested Tuesday morning and that security guards sexually abused the workers by touching their breasts. They were forced to fill out forms with their names, phone numbers and addresses before they were allowed to eat dinner.
“We don’t know the reason behind our detention. We have received no information about our arrests,” Meach Srey Oun said.
She said the workers are continuing to strike because there are 11 union members, including leaders, who remain in detention.
“We will continue to demand justice and until justice is prevailed, we will continue the demand,” Meach Srey Oun said.
Authorities should never have become involved in the dispute between NagaWorld Casino and its workers, Am Sam Ath of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (Licadho) told RFA.
He dismissed concerns about the propagation of COVID-19, noting that the workers had recently finished quarantine procedures.
“If authorities continue their actions, there will be more criticism,” he said. “We want to see the dispute be resolved peacefully to prevent this dispute from getting bigger.”
Licadho and other civil service organizations issued an open letter to authorities calling for the release of all detained union members.
“The charge of incitement to commit a felony levied against the union leaders and activists sends the message to NagaWorld strikers that their labor rights can be flouted with impunity while they will face legal action merely for calling out their company’s labor violations and seeking redress,” the letter said.
“This could set a dangerous precedent, emboldening employers to ignore inconvenient labor standards, and potentially leading to a roll-back of hard-earned labor rights in Cambodia,” it said.
RFA could not reach Phnom Penh City Hall spokesperson Met Measpheakdey for comment Tuesday. The city government issued a statement late on Tuesday saying the 39 workers are being tested for COVID-19. It said the detained workers must pay fines of between 1 million to 5 million riel ($245-1,230) or remain in detention.
“City Hall urges all NagaWorld workers to stop gathering in violation of health measures and cooperate with authorities to ensure public health and order,” the statement said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: 16 more labour rights defenders arrested, including union president, Cambodia: City Hall bans protest of labour rights defenders, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from leaving strike site, 9 arrested, charged and questioned, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from staging peaceful strike, Cambodia: Ministry of Health orders COVID-19 test for all protesting labour rights defenders, Cambodia: six more labour rights defenders arrested
- Date added
- Feb 27, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 3, 2022
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced Voeun Veasna, a former monk who was involved in forestry activism, to two years in prison for incitement over criticisms he posted on Facebook.
On Thursday, judge Chhun Davy said Veasna, who posted online under the account Kra’nhung Prey Lang, was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 2 million riel for his posts in April 2021.
Veasna was extradited from Thailand in November for the crime.
During the morning session, judge Davy asked Veasna whether he had any response to the allegations against him.
“I ask not to answer because I don’t have a lawyer,” he said. After Veasna refused to give an answer, the judge asked the prosecution to make its final statement.
Deputy prosecutor Mut Dara said posts were inciting and had affected the government.
Veasna had posted a poem under a photo of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s grandson criticizing the government over land disputes and the destruction of forests.
Veasna again told the court that he had nothing to add since the court had not invited his lawyer. Judge Davy responded that the court had given him a month to find representation.
“If the court receives a request from a lawyer, the court will invite the lawyer to come for the trial,” Davy said. “No lawyer submitted a letter to defend the case.”
Davy issued the verdict following a 15-minute break.
Veasna continued to insist that the court had failed to invite his lawyer and called the decision unjust. He refused to thumbprint the decision, saying the court was “remote-controlled.”
Defense lawyer Sam Sokong said he represented Veasna in a separate case for plotting, but not in the incitement case.
Licadho spokesperson Am Sam Ath said the sentence was too harsh considering the crime.
Veasna was extradited from Thailand alongside Voeung Samnang, a former opposition commune deputy chief.
A monk, Bor Bet, faced extradition soon after, but was released and is now a refugee in Switzerland.
Dozens of opposition activists have faced trial over support for the outlawed CNRP, which was once the country’s main opposition party.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2022
- Event Description
The Preah Vihear Provincial Court has summoned a forest activist for questioning for incitement over an unspecified complaint, which the activist believes is related to mobilizing people to patrol and protect the forest.
Investigating judge Pheng Kosal ordered Het Nay, a representative of the Prey Preah Roka Forestry Community Network, to appear at the court on February 23 for questioning for incitement. The accusation dates to 2020, the summons says, without specifying the nature of the complaint.
Chheb district governor Sok Sandara said he did not know the details of the complaint either, but Nay was well-known for being uncooperative with authorities and demanding community land from Chinese companies in the area.
“Nay has a tendency. He considers the Prey Preah Roka forest as his forest, regardless of the ministry’s authorizations. Whether community land or companies’ economic concessions, he always claims it’s his land. He does not cooperate with the village, commune, district or provincial authorities. He seems to have a different opinion from us,” Sandara said.
Nay patrolled in the forests without respecting local authorities, he added.
Nay told VOD on Tuesday that he was ready to testify though he did not know the identity of the complainant or the alleged offense.
He believes the case came after he mobilized people in the community, including monks, to patrol and prevent community forest crimes. He was particularly active in 2020, he said. Authorities had prevented people from meeting and discussing the actions, he said.
The activist called on the court to drop the charges, saying that all he did was protect the forest.
“This accusation against me is because someone hates us. They hate us as a forest protector who prevented them from logging,” he said. “The destroyers of the forest have many people. They have many factions. They have found a way to stop and prevent us from entering to protect the forest and protect the trees.”
Another activist in the Prey Preah Roka Forestry Community Network, Pean Sophat, said he saw the summoning of Ney as a threat to discourage the community from patrolling the forest.
“He did not incite anything. He just facilitated participation in protecting the forest to protect nature, which is in the common interest,” he said.
Rights group Adhoc’s Preah Vihear provincial coordinator, Lor Chan, said the case against Ney had initially been for fraud when it was in the hands of the court prosecutors, but had changed to incitement after it reached the investigating judge.
Prey Preah Roka, a sanctuary covering more than 90,000 hectares, has seen significant deforestation as community patrollers have been suppressed, a recent report said. A visit to the forest found marks of cuttings and clearings scattered through the sanctuary.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 29, 2022
- Event Description
Three community representatives involved in a long-running dispute with the energy minister’s wife were taken into police custody over the weekend in relation to a separate dispute, residents said.
Lor Peang community members Oum Sophy, her husband Snguon Nheun, another activist Tuon Seng, and Seng’s 1-year-old grandchild were taken to Kampong Chhnang’s Cholkiri district police station around 3 p.m. Saturday, according to a witness, Prak Sophum.
Sophum believed the arrests were due to a live Facebook broadcast the land activists had made over an argument people were having over a plot of land, which he said began in 2017 and is separate from a decadeslong dispute with KDC International.
“I ask samdech puk, samdech me to help the poor people to settle their land and release them from the detention … so that they can come and support their children because their children and grandchildren are still very young,” Sophum said, using words that roughly translate to lord father and lord mother, likely referring to Prime Minister Hun Sen and his wife Bun Rany.
However, Cholkiri district police chief Him Yong on Saturday said that the arrests were due to destruction of property, not social media streams.
Seng’s husband Oeur Sarith said as of Saturday evening that he had not been able to get in touch with his wife and grandchild.
Sophy and Nheun were also questioned by police in September over an altercation with an illegal fisher. Sophy previously told VOD that authorities tore down a building where they taught community members environmental issues, but they recorded the crackdown to show officials’ actions widely on social media.
The Lor Peang land community has been in a land dispute with Chea Kheng and KDC International for decades, with villagers accusing the wife of Energy Minister Suy Sem of bulldozing houses and razing farms. The activists have repeatedly clashed with police and military police.
Lawyers for Kheng, the Energy Minister’s wife, told The Cambodia Daily in 2010 to not mention the minister in articles about the land dispute or they would sue for spreading “disinformation.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2022
- Event Description
NagaWorld protesters are not permitted to rally in public spaces, City Hall said on Tuesday, urging them to gather at a park in the city’s outskirts when workers clear Covid-19 testing and quarantine requirements.
The casino workers’ protests, which began on December 18, came to a halt this month when the Health Ministry ordered they all test for Covid-19 and stay at home. The protesters are about to finish the mandated self-isolation period, to be followed by more Covid-19 tests.
City Hall issued a statement Tuesday saying the NagaWorld protests were banned in public places, and protesters should continue their rallies at Freedom Park if they don’t have Covid-19 symptoms.
Freedom Park, once an epicenter of rallies in the capital, was moved from its original location near the Night Market to the city’s outskirts in Russei Keo district.
“During the illegal protests, [their] activities caused serious disruptions to public order, traffic jams and people’s businesses,” City Hall said.
Protester Kim Sokha said she was sad to see the City Hall statement, which she believed was biased in favor of NagaCorp.
“I don’t know about other workers, but for myself, I will not go to Freedom Park. The strike was supposed to be near Naga. I will stand there. I’m ready for anything. If they arrest me, I’m not scared. Freedom Park is far. If we strike two or three years, we will still not have gotten a solution,” Sokha said.
“Since my workplace was Naga, I demanded that it should be the only place where the workers stand,” she added. “This is more pressure for me and the other strikers. City Hall does not see that we are in difficulty.”
Meach Sreyaun, another worker, said the protesters had held an online meeting on Tuesday, and they would discuss plans again after resuming testing tomorrow and Thursday.
“We are worried. Why don’t the authorities help us? Find a good solution. But they try to separate strikers. How powerful is Naga?” she said.
“Maybe the NagaWorld company is sleeping. If they are still not awake, we should wake them up in front of Naga.”
The Health Ministry announced 184 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, a dropoff after a surge to more than 500 daily cases announced on Monday.
In a statement, Human Rights Watch said it was concerned that Covid-19 was being used to justify a crackdown, pointing to three NagaWorld protesters arrested and charged under the Covid-19 Law.
“The Cambodian authorities are stooping to new lows by bringing criminal charges in the guise of public health measures to end a strike,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s persecution of union activists appears aimed at blunting the growing unity and strength of Cambodia’s union movement and their support for the NagaWorld strikers.”
Phnom Penh deputy governor Keut Chhe referred questions to the City Hall statement.
Around 40 NagaWorld workers tested positive during three days of testing earlier this month. They were sent to treatment centers, while the rest of the workers were told to stay at home for 10 days.
The protests revolve around mass layoffs last year that workers say targeted union leaders and members. Eleven protesters are now in pre-trial detention: eight are facing incitement charges and three were jailed for obstruction of the Covid-19 law.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: 16 more labour rights defenders arrested, including union president, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from leaving strike site, 9 arrested, charged and questioned, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from staging peaceful strike, Cambodia: Ministry of Health orders COVID-19 test for all protesting labour rights defenders, Cambodia: six more labour rights defenders arrested
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 28, 2022
- Event Description
The Cambodian authorities have reported that two strikers who had been protesting at the NagaWorld hotel and casino were arrested during the evening on Feb. 5 while they were at the COVID-19 test site of the Koh Pich Exhibition Center.
However, according to labor and rights groups, the police actually arrested six people, then released three of them and the situation of the sixth person is unknown.
Phnom Penh Municipal police spokesman San Sokseyha on Feb. 6 said that strikers Choup Channat and Seng Vannrith, were arrested on Feb. 5 for obstruction to the implementation of the medical authorities’ measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which falls under Article 11 of the Law on Measures to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19.
“I said only two have been detained,” he said in a phone interview on Feb. 6. “If six people were arrested, I would tell you six.”
This arrest was made in accordance with the order and arrest warrant of the prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, Sokseyha said, adding that Channat and Vannrith are being interrogated at the Commissariat of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police and that further action will be set according to the procedures of the court orders.
The arrests took place at around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 5 at Koh Pich as the protesters were on their way home after having gone to be tested for COVID-19.
The Labor Rights Supported Union (LRSU) posted on their Facebook page on Feb. 5 that six strikers had been arrested: Choup Channat, Ean Kunthea, Sao Sambath, Seng Vannrith, Touch Danet and Uk Sophorn.
Khun Tharo, program manager at the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL), said on Feb. 6 that three people had been released while the situation of one person—Sao Sambath—remains unknown as he had not seen an arrest warrant for Sambath and his family has lost track of him.
“As of now, we don’t know where he is or whether he has been released or not,” Tharo said in interview. “His family doesn’t know too. His family will be filing a complaint because his situation is unknown.”
According to Tharo, it is difficult to explain why the three persons who were later released were arrested in the first place. “There were in the same tuk-tuk, so perhaps, the three of them were taken along to avoid the spread of the information,” he said.
Around 1,000 NagaWorld employees have been on strike for roughly 50 days, demanding the release of their eight representatives from prison and the settlement of a labor dispute with the company. On Jan. 28, the Ministry of Health ordered all NagaWorld strikers to be tested for COVID-19 to prevent the spread of the disease after one woman striker was identified as being infected with the Omicron variant.
The ministry had ordered that all strikers be tested at the Koh Pich Center within three days from Feb. 4. However, the strikers asked to delay till Feb. 5, which is the day the arrests were made.
"Individuals who do not implement these health and administrative measures will be punished in accordance with the law on preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19 and other severe and dangerous contagious diseases in force," the ministry said in its statement.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director of rights group Licadho, said the arrests were unreasonable as the strikers did not seem to disrupt or obstruct the medical authorities in implementing the COVID-19 preventive measures, adding that the arrests were made with an intention of repression and threats on the strikers.
“The workers only asked for a postponement for taking the test, from Feb. 4 to 5,” he said in interview on Feb. 6. “So, on Feb. 5, they came to have their samples taken…They did not seem to disrupt the measures. They also practiced social distancing.”
Sam Ath added that the Cambodian authorities should release the three newly-arrested strikers and the other eight union representatives to ease the tension between the strikers and the authorities, and that proper and effective negotiation should be held.
“The strikers’ request has not been responded but instead the arrest continues, so the strike will take a longer time to end,” he said. “What is important is that the relevant authorities should find a solution with transparency and justice. The delay will only lead to further criticism.”
Khun Tharo of CENTRAL said that these additional arrests show repression against the strikers with an intent to disperse the gathering and the peaceful strike.
“The practice is not fair because the authorities only target the strikers when it comes to implementing the COVID-19 measures,” he said. “There are no measures implemented on wedding receptions or any gatherings in supermarkets. This is an unequal application of health measures and is intended to prevent the strike.”
The allegations that the strikers were obstructing the COVID-19 preventive measures does not have a sufficient legal basis to charge them as they only tried to find solutions and exercise their rights, Tharo said, calling the arrest a serious violation of labor rights.
“When inequality and irregularity occur, there is an intention not to want to settle the dispute,” he said. “A strike is a last resort to put pressure on employers to come to the negotiating table.”
Tharo added that the action implemented by the authorities reflected the weakness of the legal implementation in Cambodia as powerful and influential companies continue to violate the human rights and labor rights of their employees.
“It seems like the authorities do not have any power over those companies,” he said. “This case is a bad example, and unfairness will remain in the Cambodian society.”
As of the afternoon of Feb. 6, the Phnom Penh Municipal Police was attempting to implement arrest warrants on four other NagaWorld hotel and casino strikers on similar charges of obstructing the implementation of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The four women are Eng Srey Bo, Kheng Chenda, Meng Kanika and Meng Kanika.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: 16 more labour rights defenders arrested, including union president, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from leaving strike site, 9 arrested, charged and questioned, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from staging peaceful strike
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 5, 2022
- Event Description
The Cambodian authorities should immediately stop abusing public health measures to repress workers’ right to strike and other basic rights, Human Rights Watch said today.
Since the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU) went on strike in December 2021 to call for the reinstatement of workers laid off earlier in the year, Cambodian authorities have arbitrarily arrested, detained, and prosecuted union activists. Most recently, the authorities have sought to justify these criminal charges as Covid-19-related measures. On February 5, 2022, the police arrested six union members at Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld casino as they left a Covid-19 testing site and baselessly charged three of them with obstructing the government’s Covid-19 efforts.
“The Cambodian authorities are stooping to new lows by bringing criminal charges in the guise of public health measures to end a strike,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s persecution of union activists appears aimed at blunting the growing unity and strength of Cambodia’s union movement and their support for the NagaWorld strikers.”
On February 4, Cambodia’s Health Ministry ordered several hundred workers engaged in a strike action outside the NagaWorld casino to take a Covid-19 test, after one striking union member (who had last participated in the strike on January 15) tested positive. The authorities said that anyone who tested negative would have to self-isolate for seven days, and that if they tested positive, they would be sent to a Covid-19 treatment center. Between February 5 and 6, over 400 protesting workers appeared as ordered at the designated testing site on Phnom Penh’s Diamond Island (Koh Pich). Since the strike began, protesters have protected themselves and others by wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
The six arrested on February 5 were Seng Vannarith, Choub Channath, Sao Sambath, Ouk Sophorn, Touch Danet, and Em Kunthea. The police released Sophorn, Danet, and Kunthea later that night, but held Vannarith, Channath, and Sambath at the Phnom Penh police headquarters. On February 9, the Phnom Penh court charged the latter three with “obstruction of Covid-19 measures” (article 11 of Cambodia’s Covid-19 law), which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. The court ordered their pretrial detention at Phnom Penh’s Police Judiciaire prison facility, which in November 2020 was at about 170 percent capacity.
On February 5, the authorities issued summonses for four other workers for questioning about alleged obstruction of Covid-19 measures. The four had followed government orders by getting tested for Covid-19 and self-isolating after testing negative. One of the four told VOD News that she was “shocked” to receive a summons because she said she “didn’t incite people to block testing.” Another feared that she would be found in violation of Covid-19 measures if she left self-isolation to appear in court.
“Throwing workers into overcrowded jails that are hotbeds for Covid-19 as they await criminal trial shows that the government’s concern is not about public health but about ending one of Cambodia’s longest industrial actions in years,” Robertson said.
On December 18, LRSU began the strike in accordance with international labor law, calling for the reinstatement of 365 employees previously dismissed as part of the mass layoff of 1,329 workers by Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld casino in April 2021. Among those dismissed were union leaders. The authorities called the strike “illegal” on the basis of a court order issued on December 16 that violated the right to strike protected under international law. The authorities ordered protesters to resume work, contending that if they did not, NagaWorld would be permitted to terminate them. The government has failed in achieving a fair resolution in the labor disputes between NagaWorld and the union.
Since December 31, the authorities have arrested dozens of LRSU members who participated in the strike, and already jailed eight, including the union president, Chhim Sithar, on “incitement” charges. They are held at Phnom Penh’s Correctional Centers 1 and 2.
The Cambodian government adopted the Law on Measures to Prevent the Spread of Covid-19 and other Serious, Dangerous and Contagious Diseases in March 2020. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly highlighted the threat the law poses to human rights in Cambodia because the authorities can easily abuse its overly broad and vague provisions. The law also fails to provide any independent oversight and procedural safeguards, and provides disproportionate fines and penalties of up to 20 years in prison for alleged violations of Covid-19 related measures.
The United Nations special rapporteur on Cambodia reported that, between March and October 2021, the police arrested over 700 people based on allegations of having violated Covid-19 measures. Some of the alleged violations of the Covid-19 law involved people making critical commentary on social media about the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Cambodia is bound by Convention No. 87 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the right to strike. The ILO tripartite Committee on Freedom of Association held that prohibitions of strikes during a national emergency, such as the Covid-19 public health crisis, should be limited in time, strictly necessary, and proportionate. The committee also stated that the “responsibility for suspending a strike on the grounds of public health should not lie with the government, but with an independent body which has the confidence of all parties concerned.”
The LRSU protesters’ precautionary health measures made the denial of the strike and the subsequent arrests unnecessary, excessive, and disproportionate, violating their internationally protected right to strike, Human Rights Watch said.
“Using public health measures to repress workers undermines the public’s faith in the government’s actions against Covid-19,” Robertson said. “UN agencies in Cambodia, the ILO, and foreign embassies should press the government to immediately and unconditionally release the detained union activists and stop abusing health measures for political ends.”
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: 16 more labour rights defenders arrested, including union president, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from leaving strike site, 9 arrested, charged and questioned, Cambodia: labour rights defenders prevented from staging peaceful strike, Cambodia: Ministry of Health orders COVID-19 test for all protesting labour rights defenders
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2022
- Event Description
Koh Kong authorities have threatened to tear down shelters built by residents of Botum Sakor district on land the locals say was taken from them by sugarcane plantations run by CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat.
Local authorities in Kandol commune said about 100 villagers had built small shelters on state land in January. In a statement released February 9, the authorities threatened to demolish the structures soon.
Residents said the land was used by them before Ly Yong Phat’s Koh Kong Sugar and Koh Kong Plantations were granted the land in 2006 to grow sugarcane. The group said they were given no land or monetary compensation after being evicted.
Pheng Teng, a representative of the group who is being sued in court in relation to the land dispute, said they will not leave the land nor will they dismantle the shelters built on the land.
“The people are determined that they will not leave the land because they really have lost their land,” she said. “They are upset that the authorities took their land and gave it to the company without compensating them and are accusing them of already receiving compensation.”
She added residents were worried authorities could arrest them.
Touch Ngann said his family had three hectares of land that was taken by the companies in 2006, and that his family was threatened to not resist the clearings more than a decade ago.
“And at that time, we were too poor and dared not to protest,” he said.
“Now, we are protesting to get our land back. If it is not resolved properly for us, we will not move from this land. We will face the authorities.”
Botum Sakor district governor Hak Leng told VOD on Wednesday that the relevant authorities had already compensated the affected people.
There are numerous land disputes in Koh Kong and Kampong Speu provinces relating to forced evictions and clearing of communities’ land to make way for sugarcane plantations. In Preah Vihear, residents of Tbeng Meanchey district are similarly taking back land given to five Chinese-owned sugarcane companies, commonly referred to as Rui Feng, and are facing off with local officials who are instead trying to lease the land for rice cultivation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 20, 2022
- Event Description
Los Seng, publisher of Los Seng News, has been placed under court supervision for six months over a live video report by two staff members in Kampot province.
In November, two LSN reporters covered a protest outside the Kampot provincial hall against the arrests of residents involved in a land dispute. A police report at the time said four suspects had been arrested, and LSN interviewed residents who said that among the four was a 4-year-old child.
The two reporters were arrested, then issued a public apology that although the 4-year-old and his mother were taken to the provincial police station, they were not in detention. The reporters were later released and placed under court supervision.
On Thursday, publisher Seng was questioned at the Kampot Provincial Court for incitement and insult in relation to the case.
Seng said the court had decided to let him go home, but also put him under court supervision for six months.
Seng asked not to give further comments out of fear for repercussions.
At the time of his reporters’ arrests, however, Seng had been outspoken.
“When any report is a crime, where is the freedom of the journalist? They could use the Press Law, but instead they use their power against the journalist,” Seng told VOD in November. “Their action is to break the spirit of the journalist from daring to cover news in Kampot province.”
The province had recently received a new governor, Mao Thonin, who had a reputation for listening to residents’ concerns, especially in relation to land disputes, during his previous tenure in Pursat. But in Kampot, he quickly turned against journalists.
He ordered the director of his provincial information department in November to more tightly control their work.
“All news institutions that come to work in the province must go through the department’s review,” Thonin said in a meeting with officials at the time. “They cannot just come to report exaggerations. Every night I listen, I almost get a headache — they cannot do this. Authorities work very hard and sometimes [people] believe [these journalists’] useless words that impact the honor and hard work of our leaders.”
Nop Vy, executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, said on Thursday that legal actions against journalists were threats, and authorities should not use the judicial system against reporters.
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith also spoke in November against the authorities’ actions against LSN.
“If [journalists] take pictures in front of the provincial hall, why not let them take pictures?” Kanharith said at the time. “Arresting them is wrong, it is arbitrary. So our administration is also abusive. We do not understand. Or, as a provincial governor has said, wherever journalists go, they have to report to the authorities — it is not like this.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 31, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 3, 2022
- Event Description
2:55 p.m.
Striking casino workers resumed their protests outside Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld casino this afternoon following the arrests of 10 people on New Year’s Eve, as police were seen immediately arresting at least one more protester.
A fire truck arrived at the scene just after the arrest around 2:30 p.m., as protesters yelled they feared it would be used to spray them.
“It’s an injustice,” one woman was heard yelling near the casino. “Why are you helping a foreign company suppress workers?”
“Please release them,” she said as a police van drove past.
Around 300 workers are seeking reinstatement following layoffs of more than 1,300 NagaWorld workers last year, including union representatives.
They began protesting last month, and were joined by some current casino workers as crowds grew to around 1,000 on some days.
On New Year’s Eve, police cracked down on an evening protest, arresting eight people from the union’s office as well as a tuk-tuk driver and a worker outside NagaWorld 2.
Six were questioned in court over the weekend. Union president Chhim Sithar said on Monday that four of them had been released today but the six were still held at the court without knowing the charges they faced.
“We know from the beginning these tactics will be used to intimidate the members from stopping the strike,” she said.
Reporters saw no protests over the weekend.
More fire trucks were seen arriving at the scene around 2:40 p.m.
“We are coming to do nonviolent protests, but they come like they are going to war,” one worker said in a live video broadcast by protesters.
3:10 p.m.
Ma Chettra, an official at NGO the Cambodian Youth Network, said one of the arrested women, Luch Romduol, had called him saying there were 14 protesters together in a police van. She believed they were being taken to the municipal police station. One of the 14 was a man, and another was a pregnant woman, Chettra said Romduol had told him.
Near NagaWorld, around 300-400 workers continued their protest, while the park in front of the NagaWorld 1 building was cleared.
3:45 p.m.
A video from strikers shared on Facebook by Central’s Khun Tharo shows authorities grabbing women by their arms as they link arms to resist, with authorities dragging them outside the camera’s view. One woman can be heard shouting, “oh my god!” District guards appear to grab for phones, and the cameras shake uncontrollably.
In another video posted by a strike participant, an arrested woman films inside a police van, saying she is one of 14 people inside the back of a truck with pinhole-sized windows.
“We are the strikers, and now we have been arrested and placed in a cage,” a woman is heard saying in the video. “Help and share with all of the people. This is a grave injustice, what have we done wrong? Even a pregnant woman is arrested and pulled in and beaten.”
“Why, when we just come to protest? Why do the state and the forces arrest us? … This is very cruel. What have we done wrong? Now we do not know where they will take us.”
4:35 p.m.
One of several hundred protest participants said their colleagues had been arrested near the roundabout on the corner of Sisowath Quay and Sihanouk Blvd., known for the statue of dictionary author Chuon Nath, as they tried to join the fenced-off strike site next to the Australian Embassy on National Assembly Blvd.
Strike participants were seated behind red and white barricades set up by police, making noise with plastic horns and homemade shakers of empty plastic bottles and gravel. As a worker read the strike demands into a megaphone, they cheered and sounded the instruments.
Panha, a NagaWorld employee laid off after four years there, said he was not scared of anything, even knowing his colleagues were arrested.
“This is disappointing. I will keep coming until they arrest all of us,” he said.
One striking woman shouted to reporters that she would keep coming until the company offered a solution.
“If we do not come, we will die. The foreigners are working inside so easily, but we are not like them.”
“This makes us stronger. When we are scared, no one is coming [to help],” she continued.
Chan Pel, 43, said she had been working for NagaWorld for 22 years before she was laid off in May. She said she had joined the strike daily and would continue to do so.
“I’m not scared even if they arrested our friends. I’m hurting,” she said. “This encourages me to come here more and more. My heart is burning. I won’t stop coming until we get the solution.”
Riot police moved back at about 3 p.m., following the arrests of 14 union members.
4:53 p.m.
Naga union president Chhim Sithar said a total of 15 union members had been arrested on Monday afternoon according to strike participants, an update from earlier reports that 14 people were arrested. She told VOD earlier Monday afternoon that she planned to participate in the strike this week.
6:55 p.m.
Strikers departed around 6 p.m. chanting “we will come back tomorrow,” after 15 more protesters were arrested Monday afternoon and the Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor issued a warrant naming nine union members in an investigation.
The prosecutor named nine NagaWorld union members as suspects for incitement charges for their role in the 17-day strike against alleged labor rights violations by Hong Kong-listed casino group NagaCorp.
Six of the nine workers named by the prosecutor were arrested on New Year’s Eve and charged on Monday with incitement under articles 494 and 495 of the criminal procedure law, according to human rights group Licadho. A total of 10 people were picked up in the New Year’s Eve crackdown, but four were released on Monday morning, union president Chhim Sithar told VOD earlier Monday.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesperson San Sokseyha said Monday afternoon that he had yet to receive a report about the day’s arrests.
Municipal court spokesperson Y Rin said the case of six people arrested on Friday was in the hands of the investigating judge.
As strikers headed toward the Aeon Mall I parking lot, Police quickly removed red-and-white barricades without taking any action against the participants.
Patrick Lee, a legal adviser for labor group Central, told VOD that the authorities’ crackdown on the strike was a tactic to suppress the union members’ rights, and called for the detained strikers’ release.
“These arrests appear to be little more than a blatant attempt to dissuade peacefully striking workers from exercising their fundamental rights,” he said. “They have been arrested as a means to try and silence the voices of others. These workers should all be immediately released without charge.”
4:06 p.m.
After more than two weeks of protests and more than 20 arrests, the head of the NagaWorld union attempted to join an ongoing strike outside the Phnom Penh casino this afternoon despite an active arrest warrant against her.
Just before 4 p.m., however, Chhim Sithar was arrested by police officers on National Assembly Road, outside the Australian Embassy, as she entered barricades cordoning off the workers’ rally.
In addition to uniformed officers, undercover officers also pounced on her, and pulled her into a white sedan.
The strike and protest, which began last month, relate to the termination of more than 1,300 workers from the casino, including, in particular, top union leaders at NagaWorld.
Sithar, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union, was among those fired, and had been largely absent at rallies as authorities deemed the strike illegal. She was among nine names listed in an arrest warrant issued on Monday by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor. Ten people were arrested on Friday and a further 17 on Monday.
5:45 p.m.
The remaining two wanted NagaWorld workers have turned themselves in, police said, on the same day union president Chhim Sithar was violently arrested outside the Phnom Penh casino.
Seventeen workers arrested on Monday either have been or will be released by tomorrow at the latest, police said.
Near NagaWorld, worker Chhuon Saman started crying as she described her reaction to Sithar’s arrest.
“It’s been 16 days that I’ve been here. My representative came and they arrested her. I feel heartbreak. They are so cruel,” Saman said. “I wanted her to come here. … But she wasn’t here yet. They caught her. I can’t accept this.”
“Today this made my conscience more and more powerful to keep going,” Saman added.
Pov Kalyan, a woman who witnessed Sithar’s arrest from close, shouted furiously
“They arrested one Sithar, but we still have a thousand Sithars. Arrest us as they wish,” She said.
Kalyan said she was not one of the more than 1,300 fired workers. But she could not go back to work seeing the pressure NagaWorld was putting on her coworkers, she said.
“I cannot step into work like this when my friends receive injustice from the company,” she said. “I’m scared. I must be brave. If they want to arrest me, I’m standing here.”
Phnom Penh Municipal Police chief Sar Thet confirmed Sithar’s arrest and said all nine people in an arrest warrant issued by the municipal prosecutor were now found. Six of them had been arrested on Friday.
“Two men came to make a confession,” he said, referring to two workers, Sok Narith and Sok Kongkea. When asked about potential leniency for turning themselves in, he said: “This is the judge’s right and power.”
Asked about 17 people arrested on Monday — none of whom were on the arrest warrant — Thet said a pregnant woman was already released and the others should also be out soon.
“Sixteen people are being educated, and will be allowed home this evening or tomorrow at the latest,” he said. “They have nothing to do with it. They just follow others.”
Sithar’s arrest was reported enthusiastically on government-aligned Fresh News: “Finally! Ms. Chhim Sithar, Mastermind of Incitement of Illegal Gatherings in Front of NagaWorld, Has Been Arrested by Authorities.”
At the rally, authorities could be heard telling workers to leave by 6 p.m.
6:03 p.m.
Workers began leaving the rally together as a group near 6 p.m.
Naly Pilorge, director of local human rights group Licadho, said the union had done everything it could to resolve the strike peacefully, but the government and NagaWorld had chosen to intimidate, harass, and arrest peaceful strikers.
“Chhim Sithar’s courage in showing up to today’s strike, knowing that she faced absurd and false charges of incitement, is a sharp contrast to the cowardly violence of those who arrested and assaulted her. This violent arrest of a peaceful unionist is outrageous, and shows the government has given up all pretense of respecting its own laws on labor rights,” she said.
Peaceful strikes were not crimes, unions were not illegal, and workers’ rights must be respected by both employers and the government, Pilorge added.
“The government has abused ‘incitement’ charges to the point that they are meaningless, and are now regularly used to criminalize legal and peaceful speech and association. These unionists are, in effect, being prosecuted for daring to organize a peaceful and effective union. They must all be immediately and unconditionally released.”
Protester Lou Mei Fong said earlier in the afternoon that she was not scared and would continue to rally.
“I do not have any concerns because I do it legally, and I will continue to do so until there is a solution for us,” Mei Fong said. “As long as NagaWorld comes out to solve the problem for us, we will return to work as normal.”
“We’re striking against the company, not against authorities.”
The protests began again on Tuesday around 2 p.m., attracting more than 100 workers.
The U.S. Embassy said on Twitter that it was closely following “the troubling arrests” of NagaWorld workers.
- Impact of Event
- 16
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 11, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 31, 2021
- Event Description
Police have detained at least eight NagaWorld union members on the evening of December 31, nearly two weeks after the casino workers’ union initiated a strike against alleged unfair dismissals and violations of the Labor Law.
Hundreds of terminated and active NagaWorld workers have been striking and protesting the termination of more than 1,300 workers, with one of the main demands being the reinstatement of around 300 workers who have refused to accept termination packages from the casino behemoth.
Phnom Penh Police chief Sar Thet confirmed Friday evening that at least eight union members were detained by the authorities, four of whom are being charged with incitement to cause chaos – an oft-used charge to target dissent in the country. The eight unioninsts include Chhim Sokhorn, who is a senior union leader.
Thet and labor group Central confirmed that union president Chhim Sithar was not one of the arrested unionists, despite her expressing concerns over imminent arrests.
“The ministry has opened negotiations for a solution, and authorities had called on them not to hold an illegal demonstration but they have not listened,” Thet said, adding that they routinely protested on public streets.
Sithar, the union’s president, said that the eight were arrested from the union’s office in Chamkarmon district.
“They surrounded [the office] quietly and arrested them at the union office. The [members] might not know because when it gets dark it gets more dangerous,” Sithar said.
“I am the one that they are mainly searching for. This is a threat to the right to expression, especially when they are leaders representing in the negotiations with NagaWorld.”
She said despite more than 10 days since negotiations began, there was no solution for the workers, but now authorities were arresting union members.
Negotiations among the Labor Ministry, NagaWorld representatives and the union have been at a standstill after the casino said last week its board would consider reinstating the laid-off staffers, according to a unionist.
Naly Pilorge, Licadho’s director, said there was no need to arrest the unionists and the casino company should work to resolve the dispute with workers.
“The authorities should release all detained union activists, who have done nothing wrong and have only peacefully advocated for their colleagues’ labor rights,” Pilorge said. “NagaWorld must work with the union to resolve the workers’ demands and comply with the Labor Law.”
Around 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, striking casino workers began holding each other’s hands as they faced down a team of an estimated 100 uniformed police officers.
Already, eight workers, including senior union leaders, had been arrested that evening from their union offices.
The protesters were now being prevented from leaving an area to the west of the casinos to go home, as authorities attempted to make further arrests.
“We are holding each other’s hands to prevent them from [more] arrests,” said Re Thearath. “They’re in pursuit of arresting people who have held the microphones.”
Around 9:30 p.m., police arrested a ninth worker, Touch Sereymeas, from in front of NagaWorld 2. Sereymeas had previously been misidentified as a Japanese agent in an anonymous Facebook page widely shared through government-aligned media channels.
About 150 workers remained near the Chuon Nath roundabout.
They were wary as reporters approached. “News media have distorted us a lot, especially Fresh News. They exaggerate and we are afraid of them distorting us,” Thearath said, referring to a news website that regularly serves as a government mouthpiece.
Some workers claimed that some plain-clothed officers had joined the protest pretending to be strikers, acting erratically and violently.
Around 11 p.m., more than 100 military police officers with riot shields and truncheons arrived on military trucks. Some of the soldiers carried assault rifles.
The workers were huddled near the entrance to the Phnom Penh Center, gradually moving south on Sothearos Blvd.
“We will still continue to demand justice in front of NagaWorld,” said a protester, Chhoun Sam An, despite the night’s turmoil. “We come here to protest because of the suffering, and we come from our heart.”
At midnight the workers dispersed. They said they had been successful in preventing the arrest of a 10th worker by banding together.
NagaCorp, to which the government has given a decadeslong monopoly license to operate in the capital, fired 1,300 workers last year amid major Covid-19 disruptions. Among the workers targeted for termination, however, were all top union leaders and representatives. Workers and labor groups have argued that this amounts to illegal union busting.
Around 300 workers are still contesting their terminations and pushing for reinstatement, and at one point last week the daily protests outside the casinos swelled to around 1,000 participants. Negotiations have largely stalled.
“How can they say we do it illegally, since we follow the law and procedures,” Sam An said of the strike. Workers had informed authorities, she said — though the Phnom Penh Municipal Court has deemed it illegal. “What about NagaWorld, which breached the law and silenced the union — [let’s see] whether any ministry takes any action.”
Phnom Penh police chief Sar Thet confirmed several of the arrests last night and accused the protesters of violating public order.
“The ministry has opened negotiations for a solution, and authorities had called on them not to hold an illegal demonstration but they have not listened,” Thet said. A municipal police spokesperson could not be reached on Saturday.
Chhim Sithar, the Naga union’s president who has spoken of her likely arrest, said by phone that she was in the dark about what was happening to her arrested colleagues.
“So far we haven’t gotten through them and we don’t know where they’ve taken them,” Sithar said.
But the workers had known to expect problems, she added. “Even though there were arrests, they will continue to protest until there is a solution.”
In a statement to shareholders last month, NagaCorp said casino operations would continue. “[T]he Board believes that the illegal strike has had no material negative impact on the overall business and operations of the Group.”
At least six NagaWorld union members were presented for questioning before the Phnom Penh Municipal Court Sunday afternoon, according to a local rights group, two days after authorities arrested 10 people in a crackdown on New Year’s Eve.
At least nine people were arrested from the Labor Rights Supporting Union office Friday evening, with the union releasing a statement over the weekend saying a tuk-tuk driver who ferried materials for the union was also arrested on Friday. A 10th individual was arrested outside NagaWorld 2.
The authorities have labeled the 14-day strike as an illegal demonstration, and hundreds of security personnel disrupted the workers’ protest on Friday night.
Am Sam Ath, Licadho’s deputy director for monitoring, said six individuals had been taken to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Sunday and then taken back to municipal police headquarters.
According to Licadho, the six unionists sent to court on Sunday were: Touch Sereymeas, Hai Sopheap, Re Sovandy, Kleang Sobin, Chhim Sokhorn and Sun Sreypich. Sam Ath said the remaining four union members were still at the police headquarters.
Phnom Penh police chief Sar Thet said on Friday that the arrested individuals were being investigated on alleged incitement charges.
The LRSU statement alleged that police had used excessive force during the arrests, surrounded the union’s office with cars, seized documents, and had now blocked the premises.
Ouk Sopheakmolyka, the partner of Touch Sereymeas, said it was disappointing that the authorities acted the way they did because the protest was against a private company and not the government. Sopheakmolyka added that some workers had congregated outside the police headquarters around 3 p.m. but did not stay longer than 60 minutes.
“The authorities are the ones who implement the law but then they abuse the law, and it is unacceptable,” said Sopheakmolyka. “This is sad because this is not a killing or robbery. They just protested about their work but the authorities’ actions against them was as if this was a serious crime and they had killed human beings.”
Sopheakmolyka added that the family was prevented from meeting Sereymeas and were told to deliver items and food when the union member was taken to court.
The LRSU union called for a strike on December 18 months after NagaWorld fired around 1,300 workers amid falling profits during the pandemic. Around 300 workers say they want to be reinstated, including top union leaders who were controversially part of the layoffs.
Chhim Sithar, LRSU’s president and one of the fired workers, said the arrests were aimed at disrupting the strike, but the protest would stop only when there was a fair solution.
“The workers’ nine points have not been solved yet and instead they arrested the [union] representatives, and the protest will not stop unless there is reasonable and acceptable compensation,” she said.
Reporters did not see any protesters outside NagaWorld over the weekend following Friday’s crackdown.
Municipal police spokesperson San Sokseyha has not responded to questions.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 11, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 18, 2021
- Event Description
Participants in a 10-hour strike in front of NagaWorld casino dispersed by 5 p.m. on Saturday after authorities barricaded strikers inside the park, though union members vowed to return on Sunday.
Workers started filing out of the park opposite NagaWorld 1, shortly after flatbed trucks with armed security personnel arrived, as seen in a livestream of the strike by labor rights group Central. Local officials continued to speak to union workers and attempted to convince them to leave the spot.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court decision from judge Ros Piseth, which was signed on Thursday but publicized during the strike Saturday morning, determined the strike illegal and threatened active NagaWorld employees on strike with “serious misconduct.” The text was read to strike participants over a sound system earlier in the day, but only resulted in cheers from the striking workers.
The company claimed in the decision that the union’s nine demands are still under deliberation in court and “have never been raised to resolve peacefully,” while also raising concerns about impacts to business and social instability.
According to an unofficial translation by Central, Piseth said that strikes are legal when a party in a labor dispute rejects the decision by the Arbitration Council, but he said the union raised new demands in its decision to strike that were not included in the dispute negotiations. Piseth continued that the union did not sufficiently meet with NagaWorld to prepare for the impact of the strike on its business.
Phnom Penh governor Khoung Sreng released a letter this afternoon once again calling for the strike to cease, this time as a violation of Covid-19 protocol as well as a violation of the law on peaceful demonstrations.
The letter, addressed to seven named union organizers, said that the striking workers failed to give written notice of their plans to demonstrate to provincial and municipal authorities. The Nagaworld union released a letter announcing the strike on November 24.
Authorities began placing barricades around Naga 1, the park in front of the building, and surrounding streets after reading the governor’s letter to strike participants around 2:30 p.m. Guards prevented anyone from entering and leaving, as well as approaching from Preah Sihanouk Blvd at the statue of the revered monk and Khmer dictionary author Chuon Nath.
A union member who requested anonymity confirmed that the strike would proceed tomorrow from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m., without commenting on whether they had security concerns.
The same union member told VOD that authorities attempted to arrest union president Chhim Sithar in front of the union’s office early Saturday afternoon.
According to the member, a Tonle Bassac resident, who also happened to be a husband of a union member, was asked by village chief Uch Sam Oeun to monitor Sithar. The resident immediately reported the chief’s comment to Sithar, who left the office. The union member who spoke to VOD stayed to observe the office after Sithar left, and authorities showed up on four motorbikes about 10 minutes after she vacated the office. Sam Oeun showed up shortly after, the union member said, asking about the man he ordered to watch Sithar.
Sithar, who was fired earlier this year in a layoff of more than 1,300 workers, sent a note late Friday night warning that the strike would proceed, even as Phnom Penh City Hall authorities urged the workers to delay their strike.
According to Sithar, the union met with Phnom Penh officials Friday morning, but Nagaworld officials weren’t present. Authorities offered to broker a meeting between the union and the company on December 21 and 27, but authorities would instead speak for the union without allowing workers to talk.
The union held an emergency meeting on Friday evening on whether to accept the city’s proposal and refused, she said.
Among the union’s demands, which were released with a strike notice late last month, they urge Nagaworld to rehire the more than 300 workers who haven’t accepted termination compensation, as well as a recalculation of their layoff pay and benefits to match the standards set in the Labor Law.
The union also asked the company for justice on layoffs and other labor disputes, dating back to a mass layoff of union workers in 2009.
8:25 a.m.
Casino workers’ protests resumed before 7 a.m. Sunday, as authorities put up roadblocks on several locations along Sihanouk Blvd.
The street in front of NagaWorld 1 was completely blocked off, as around 100 workers gathered across the street near NagaWorld 2 and the National Election Committee headquarters, surrounded by dozens of officers and security in suits.
As workers continued to arrive, authorities prevented them from entering from the west past Sothearos Blvd. By around 7.45 a.m. around 100 further workers had gathered on the corner of Phnom Penh Center and began holding up signs and chanting slogans.
Hundreds of workers organized a strike outside the casino’s premises in Phnom Penh, demanding that NagaCorp rehire the more than 300 workers who haven’t accepted termination compensation, and to recalculate their layoff pay and benefits to match the standards set in the Labor Law.
A Phnom Penh court ruled the strike illegal on Thursday, a decision that was made public on Saturday. Local officials also deemed the congregation a violation of Covid-19 protocols and ordered the striking workers leave the park opposite NagaWorld 1. Workers left around 5 p.m. Saturday and said they would return on Sunday.
8:50 a.m.
Around 50 workers are close to NagaWorld 2 at the Chuon Nath roundabout and are now blocked by local authorities and private security guards. To the west on Sothearos Boulevard, more than a 100 workers are continuing their protest outside the Phnom Penh Center and their numbers are growing.
10:10 a.m.
The first major series of rallies since Covid-19 lockdowns continued with high spirits. Most wore red NagaWorld uniforms and white caps that they waved with loud cheers to passing traffic. Through a relatively chilly, overcast morning, workers sat on the grass on the corner of Sothearos and Sihanouk and regularly broke out into chants. Some had “strike” written across their cotton masks.
Inside a corner coffee shop, workers formed a long line for the toilets while others ate noodles and breakfast.
Fired casino worker Ment Kanika said the workers were not happy to be pushed away from protesting in front of NagaWorld.
“We want to be in front of the company to do the strike,” Kanika said. “They don’t want us to be in front of Naga.”
She said the rally would continue all day again until 5 p.m., when they would go home, and prepare to return again tomorrow.
“We’ll continue until we have a solution. We need the union,” she said. “We need stability in our jobs.”
As Kanika spoke, organizers reiterated the workers’ demands over magaphones.
She said it had been a long time since she had seen many of her colleagues, though some had kept in touch online.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has declared the strike illegal, but Kanika said this would not stop her.
“I’m not worried at all because we know what we do and we volunteer to do it. We do it from the heart.”
12:45 p.m.
The NagaWorld union president Chhim Sithar said striking workers were bracing for potential arrests after the municipal court banned the strike on Thursday.
Sithar told VOD on Sunday that employed workers could face disciplinary action from the company starting Monday, while those who don’t work for the casino could face criminal charges. She said she was “sure” there would be arrests.
“We already knew in advance and ready to stand up to fight against this unfair court order,” she said.
She estimated that 1,500 total active and laid off workers were participating in the demonstration. As of noon Sunday, there appeared to be around 300-400 workers at the strike.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 11, 2022
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 30, 2021
- Event Description
About 600 Kampong Speu residents resisting authorities’ clearing of community forests protested outside the provincial police headquarters on Tuesday after their representatives were summoned for questioning over alleged insult and property damage.
The dispute stems from authorities giving away 262 hectares of community forests to several members of the military, and moving in with heavy machinery in October to raze the land, according to families. The Udom Sre Kpos forestry area, also known as the Prey Metta Thommacheat community, originally covered more than 2,800 hectares, but the government gradually privatized most of it for companies and soldiers over 20 years, they said.
Soeng Sok, one of the family representatives summoned by police, said authorities were trying to scare them from protesting.
“People have been trying to protect the Udom Sre Kpos community forest for 10 to 20 years, and suddenly there are machines coming in without notice to clear it — no information from any side,” Sok said. “So our people, who are trying to protect it, must chase them out first. And when we chased them out, suddenly there was a summons from the police headquarters that we were destroying other people’s property and committing public insult.”
The people did not agree, he said. “Those who try to protect, those who try to preserve, become accused while the destroyer has no guilt.”
Khorn Khern, who joined the protest on Tuesday, said around 600 residents of two districts — Oral and Thpong — gathered outside the provincial police headquarters in support of seven summoned representatives. She named four of the representatives, aside from Sok, as Khorn Sarith, Soeng Sokhom, Lor Soly and Chhorn Thea.
“Our representatives did not do anything wrong and did not insult anyone. People came to support them, because when we went to protest, we all went together in the hundreds,” Khern said. “How come only five or six people were summoned? We did not do anything wrong. We just went to protest to protect the natural forest for future generations and protect the wildlife there. So we think that what we are doing is not wrong.”
The community forest land had been divided up for 41 military families, she said.
Kampong Speu provincial police chief Sam Samoun said authorities had summoned the seven residents after receiving a complaint, but the questioning was postponed. He declined to identify the plaintiff.
“If you want to know what the charges are, ask the people, do not let me speak about that, because the police must stand on justice. Whenever someone files a complaint, we have to accept the complaint and find out how to build a case for the court, so police’s duty is just that,” Samoun said.
Nhel Pheap, Koh Kong and Kampong Speu community coordinating officer for the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community, said the police summons was a threat, in line with similar measures that authorities have repeatedly brought against communities and activists.
“Doing this is unconstitutional. We know that our Constitution clearly states that every citizen has the right to protect their legitimate interests and the interests of all natural resources,” Pheap said.
In October, Kampong Speu provincial governor Vy Samnang told VOD that the land being cleared and given to military families was not in the community forest, and that protesters were an “opposition group” instigated by land speculators and civil society. Samnang at the time warned of legal action against the protesters and those who had incited them.
Elsewhere in the country, authorities are putting on a display of widespread crackdowns against individuals who have encroached on state forests around Tonle Sap lake after Prime Minister Hun Sen posted a searing audio message on Facebook on Sunday accusing officials of involvement in grabbing the flooded forest land.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 6, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 5, 2021
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court on Friday reduced the prison sentences of three jailed activists with the environmentalist group Mother Nature, theoretically making them eligible for release.
Long Kunthea, Thun Ratha and Phuon Keoraksmey were convicted in May and handed prison sentences of 18-20 months and fines of $1,000. They had been arrested in September 2020 and accused of incitement for planning a one-person march to advocate against the filling of Boeung Tamok lake in Phnom Penh. The group has been imprisoned since then and have since been hit with additional criminal charges of plotting.
The Appeal Court, which held a hearing for the three activists in late October, announced Friday morning a reduction in their sentences to 14 months, which would allow the trio to be freed on time served. Kunthea and Keoraksmey told a VOD reporter they expected to be released Friday evening, but they have not yet left prison as of publication of this article.
Their defense lawyer, Sam Sokong, said that while the activists have completed their reduced sentences for the earlier incitement charges, they’re now being held in pretrial detention for the plotting charges. Since the trio was already serving their prison sentences when those additional charges were filed, Sokong explained, the defense had not yet asked for bail but will do so next week.
If that request for bail is granted, the activists should be able to leave prison.
Despite their reduced sentences, the two activists said they were unhappy with the court’s decision to uphold their convictions and reasserting their innocence of any wrongdoing.
“We consider the court’s decision is still an injustice for us because we have not done anything wrong as we were charged,” Kunthea said.
Ratha said their advocacy was of national interest and he would consider appealing the guilty verdict after consulting with his lawyers.
“I am still strong because this is a matter for the whole country. I am not happy with the court’s decision because I have not committed [a crime] as I was charged,” Ratha said.
The three activists are also facing a plotting charge in a case that involves three other Mother Nature activists who were arrested in June. Sun Ratha and Yim Leanghy are charged with plotting and insulting the king, while Ly Chandaravuth is charged only for plotting.
The verdict coincided with the Friday morning release of five imprisoned activists from the officially banned opposition CNRP, as well as the youth activist groups Khmer Student Intelligent League Association and Khmer Thavrak.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Nov 19, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 8, 2021
- Event Description
Two journalists in Kampot were arrested as residents protested for the release of their family members amid allegations that police had detained a 4-year-old child.
According to a provincial police report from Tuesday, four suspects were arrested on Sunday in Chhuk district’s Trapeang Phlaing commune for violence against the owner of a property and incitement, calling it a red-handed crime.
The following day, residents protested outside the provincial hall demanding the four residents’ release.
A live video report by Los Seng News said the residents did not understand the arrests, and wanted the newly appointed provincial governor — who has held public forums vowing to solve people’s disputes — to step in.
“Please, provincial governor, find justice for me. … Please help us,” one interviewed woman said in the video amid rain. The woman, Ken Phon, alleged that the four taken to the provincial police headquarters were Dy Chroeun, Meas Khchai, Tuy Taing, and Taing’s 4-year-old son.
The Los Seng News reporter reiterates in the video that the residents were concerned for the child.
Licadho provincial coordinator Pen Vuthea said Tuesday night that he understood that a child was in custody alongside his mother, and they were being kept separate from the others.
Commune police chief Haem Kny would not answer repeated questions about whether there was a child in detention.
District and provincial police and the provincial governor could not be reached on Tuesday to clarify the claim.
The police report says two journalists from Los Seng News, Ing Thoeun, 27, and Say Sophea, 24, were arrested after they “came to report in front of the provincial administration, criticizing the competent local authorities without communicating with authorities to ask about the arrests of the four on November 7, causing people to misunderstand and become enemies of the competent local authorities.”
The two journalists are accused of incitement to disturb social security and malicious denunciation, the report says.
Los Seng, publisher of Los Seng News, said he had reached out to provincial governor Mao Thonin about the arrests but the governor had not been receptive.
“They are just reporters and covered the news,” Seng said. “They broadcast based on people’s interviews.”
“It is in [the interviewees’] hands, so they can make any accusation that they want to, but we need to look into live [broadcasts] — whether it is suitable for an accusation of incitement or not.”
He said the authorities could correct reporters’ information and should not arrest them like criminals.
“When any report is a crime, where is the freedom of the journalist? They could use the Press Law, but instead they use their power against the journalist,” Seng said. “Their action is to break the spirit of the journalist from daring to cover news in Kampot province.”
Los Seng said in July he was pressured to stop reporting on a contentious land dispute involving the new Phnom Penh International Airport, with the Kandal Stung district governor claiming the news outlet did not have permission to make live broadcasts about the dispute.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 15, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 10, 2021
- Event Description
Environmental activist Chhorn Phalla was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by the Ratanakiri Provincial Court on Wednesday for illegally clearing forests.
Phalla, a long-time activist, previously raised allegations that local officials were encroaching on community forests and that they beat him. Officials then filed a court complaint that Phalla was “causing trouble” at a public forum.
He was arrested on September 20 after being called into the police station to update the address on his identification card. The arrest was based on a February arrest warrant that said he was accused of clearing forests in Lumphat district in 2019 and 2020.
On Wednesday, Keo Pheakdey, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, said Phalla had been sentenced by judge Chan Seiha to five years in jail under Article 62 of the Protected Areas Law.
Phalla was specifically found guilty of “clearing, encroaching, burning or clearing forest” to claim ownership, he said.
The crime is considered “fourth grade” and is punishable by five to 10 years in jail.
“He has the right to appeal according to the law,” Pheakdey said.
Phalla’s defense lawyer Sam Titseyha said the conviction was an injustice.
“It is very unfair for my client, because Chhorn Phalla is an activist helping to protect the forests, forestry land and the community, which is in the common interest,” he said. “He has been charged, while the loggers have been acquitted.”
Titseyha added that he was preparing to appeal.
“I have already prepared an application to file a complaint to the Court of Appeal,” he said. “For now, I am just waiting for what the Court of Appeal will do next.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: environmental defender arrested
- Date added
- Nov 15, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 22, 2021
- Event Description
A representative of 241 families involved in a land dispute with a prominent developer in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district was arrested and sent to Prey Sar Prison on charges of trespassing and illegally destroying property.
The families have been locked in a dispute over 58 hectares for decades: initially with late tycoon Suy Sophan’s Phanimex, and in the past two years with developer Borey Peng Huoth.
They say they have farmed the area since the 1980s, and last month filed a complaint to the Land Management Ministry saying the gated-housing developer had begun filling in the disputed wetlands.
Po Rorn, 54, was taken away by officers in civilian clothes around 7 a.m. Friday while he was at a cafe near his house in Prek Thmey commune, said Chheun Phalla, another representative of the disputants.
Rorn was first taken to the Interior Ministry, then to the municipal court around around 3 p.m., and finally sent to Prey Sar Prison after about an hour of questioning, Phalla said.
“They arrested our representative, so almost everyone is afraid. We don’t know how to protest or what we can do. [We are] always scared and concerned of our own safety,” he said.
Rorn had been accused of trespassing and destroying property — the same charges as previously brought by tycoon Sophan when she was still alive in 2016, Phalla said.
Another representative for the families, Mao Sophearith, who was at the court questioning on Friday, said the accusations were related to the old dispute with Phanimex.
Chbar Ampov district police chief Mao Soeuth confirmed the arrest, but said he had no further details. “I do not know either. I implemented an arrest warrant with the criminal department.”
Rorn’s wife Nhev Savath, 42, said her husband farmed more than 0.16 hectares of land that he inherited from his parents.
Savath denied that her husband could have been involved in any recent property damage, as his health condition was not good and he had been staying at home.
She was concerned about her husband’s high blood pressure and diabetes, which required regular medication and had recently deteriorated, making it hard for him to walk.
“It’s an injustice. No warrant before arresting — they came to arrest and took him,” Savath said. “I’ve worried until my legs and my hands are weak, and I can’t do anything.”
Sou Sokchea, director of the Land Management Ministry’s inspections and complaints department, said he had helped mediate the 58-hectare dispute in 2019, but after two meetings the two sides failed to reach any agreement. He decided to let the parties settle the matter bilaterally or through the courts, he said.
“It had been silent until I heard the news,” Sokchea said.
The families have shown a Council of Ministers proclamation from February 2017 to suspend registrations and transfers of land ownership in the area until the disputes are resolved. But they claim Phanimex transferred its claims to the land to Borey Peng Huoth anyway two years ago.
The new developer began pouring sand into the area in early September, and showed residents land titles signed by the municipal administration in March, they have said.
A lawyer for Phanimex said he no longer represented the company since Sophan’s death, while a Borey Peng Huoth representative involved in sandfilling declined to be named.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Minority Rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 29, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 22, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities pushed women protesters to the ground and confiscated banners from a group of around 20 demonstrators who gathered in front of the French Embassy this morning. Police and para-police outnumbered demonstrators and used excessive force to disrupt the protesters from holding banners and speaking to the media.
The group of women protesters, often called the “Friday Women”, have for months gathered in front of various embassies and state institutions to call for the release of their imprisoned family members, who are former members or officials in the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was dissolved by Cambodian courts in November 2017. They have previously been harassed and pushed by security forces during peaceful demonstrations. Three of the demonstrators entered the French Embassy to deliver their petition, including Prum Chantha, the mother of a detained 16-year-old with autism spectrum disorder. Her son was arrested in June 2021 for incitement and insult of public officials, while her husband Kak Komphear, a former CNRP official, has been in jail since June 2020 on charges of conspiracy and incitement. The other petitioners were Seng Chan Thon, whose husband Sun Thun was a former CNRP activist, high school teacher and local union leader and was arrested in June 2020; and Out Chanthy, whose husband Yoem Sareth was a former elected commune councilor in Phnom Penh for the CNRP and was arrested in March 2020.
More than 50 political activists and former members of the opposition are currently imprisoned, while more than a hundred have been slapped with politically motivated charges in recent years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 28, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 26, 2021
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court today sentenced 10 currently detained political, social and youth activists to 20 months in prison and fined them 2 million riel each ($500) over charges of incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. They each must serve from 14 to 15 months in prison, with the remainder of their sentences suspended. The 10 activists, already detained for over one year, are each due to be released from prison in November 2021, however they were placed under probation for two additional years, requiring them to alert the court if they move, change jobs or want to leave the country, among other conditions. Four additional individuals were also sentenced in absentia.
The sentenced social and youth activists, many of whom were part of the Khmer Thavrak movement, include Chhoeun Daravy, Hun Vannak, Mean Prummony, Koet Saray, Tha Lavy, Moung Sopheak, and Eng Malai. Daravy and Vannak were each sentenced to serve 15 months in prison, while the others must serve 14 months. They were arrested in August and September 2020 in relation to their peaceful gatherings around the court to call for the release of jailed union leader Rong Chhun, who remains in prison after being convicted of incitement on 18 August 2021.
The trial mostly consisted of the activists being asked if they had obtained prior permission to gather, and if they had someone from outside the country encouraging or paying them to engage in the peaceful calls for Rong Chhun’s release. In their closing statements, many of the activists noted that they had only engaged in peaceful demonstrations, that the conditions in Cambodia’s overcrowded prisons were difficult, and that the trial lacked justice.
Three other detained individuals - Chum Puthy, Chhuo Pheng, and Kong Sam An - were also charged in the same case file and sentenced. The three are former activists or members of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Chum Puthy and Chhuo Pheng must each serve 15 months in prison, while Kong Sam An will serve 14 months. In addition, four individuals were charged in absentia, including Seng Meng Bunrong, Ho Vann, Ou Chanrith, and Kong Saphea. Meng Bunrong was found guilty of incitement, while the three others were found guilty of instigating incitement under Articles 28, 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. They were each sentenced to two years in prison, as well as handed fines of 4 million riel each ($1,000). Charges against Hong Lim were dropped. Arrest warrants have been issued for the four who were convicted in absentia.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 28, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 9, 2021
- Event Description
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the arrest of a former monk and forestry activist living in exile who shared a disparaging poem about the country’s strongman on social media, RFA has learned.
Voeun Veasna currently resides in neighboring Thailand. A Khmer Times report on Oct. 11 described him as a 35-year-old activist affiliated with the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
On Oct. 9, Voeun Veasna used his Facebook account under the name Kranhoung Preylang to post a poem titled ‘Hun Sen is a Traitor’ on the prime minister’s own Facebook page. The poem criticized Sen for amending Cambodia’s constitution, thereby “destroying the country.”
The poem also accused Hun Sen of allowing Cambodia’s forests to be destroyed during his rule.
Hun Sen quickly responded to Voeun Veasna’s poem, calling it an expression of “extremist theory,” and called for his arrest, according to the Khmer Times report.
“Now there are extremist rebels left that need to be eliminated for peace to be maintained,” the report quoted Hun Sen as saying.
Hun Sen said that he hoped the police would track Voeun Veasna down, whether he was inside or outside the country.
Speaking from exile in Thailand, Voeun Veasna told RFA’s Khmer Service that his opinion on Hun Sen remains unchanged.
“I commented on Hun Sen’s Facebook because ever since I was born, I have not seen Hun Sen do anything to benefit his country and his people,” he said.
“Hun Sen has looked the other way as his powerful friends… stole land from the people. People are crying throughout the country, but Hun Sen has ignored them.”
The former monk said that his poem reveals the truth of Hun Sen’s leadership, andthat he plans to continue speaking out against the strongman.
“I am concerned about my security, but I don’t know what to do when this regime likes bloodshed,” he said.
Even though Hun Sen ordered his arrest this week, Voeun Veasna said that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court had already charged him with incitement in May and ordered his arrest. He said he would be arrested if he were to return to Cambodia.
Hun Sen, as a public figure, is not immune from criticism, and the government’s role should be to educate the public rather than punish them for their political opinions, Soeung Sengkaruna, spokesperson for the local ADHOC NGO told RFA.
“Our country is not open to criticism and has taken many actions against expression,” he said.
Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017, two months after arresting its president Kem Sokha over an alleged plot to overthrow the government. Scores of supporters of the group have since been incarcerated, awaiting a tortuous legal process made slower by COVID-19 restrictions.
The move came amid a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the country’s political opposition, independent media, and NGOs that allowed the CPP to win all 125 seats in parliament in a July 2018 election and drew U.S. sanctions and the suspension of trade privileges with the European Union.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 20, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 12, 2021
- Event Description
An anti-logging activist was on Tuesday convicted of assault against an alleged timber trader, as rights groups linked the verdict to ongoing harassment and intimidation against environmentalists in the country.
The Kampong Thom Provincial Court sentenced Chan Thoeun, who is in hiding, to two years’ imprisonment, but suspended the sentence, according to his lawyer Sam Sokong.
Sokong said the judge had also downgraded the charge from attempted murder to intentional violence with aggravating circumstances.
Thoeun has previously said that he saw a timber trader hauling timber from a community forest in July last year, but was threatened at knifepoint when he pulled out his phone to capture footage, alleging that he was the victim, not the aggressor.
Sokong said that although the two-year sentence was suspended, he considered the court’s decision unfair because his client was the victim. “We see that [the court] has not yet been given justice to the client,” he said.
Thoeun, who is a member of the Prey Lang Community Network in Kampong Thom province, said he would appeal the conviction.
“It is an injustice against me. When it comes to many huge crimes of timber [trafficking], they do not prosecute them. But they sue me and accuse me, and it is unjust,” he said. “I do not accept it because I did not do anything wrong and they came to take my phone and prosecuted me. I will appeal to the Appeal Court. The decision is unacceptable since I am a victim.”
Cambodian Center for Human Rights executive director Chak Sopheap said members of the Prey Lang Community Network have been facing harassment as well as physical and legal threats. Environmentalists should not be facing such actions under a democracy, she said.
“I hope that the government should reconsider its commitment to the protection of natural resources, and that commitment can only be achieved with the participation of local communities,” Sopheap said. “As long as local communities that are active in protecting the environment remain under threat, it contradicts the government’s claimed commitment.”
The network, which works to protect the massive Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, has been banned from conducting patrols since last year. Environmentalists have been arrested in the protected area, and the U.S. this year pulled funding to the government for Prey Lang-related projects, citing continued logging, failure to prosecute timber traders and silencing of environmentalists. Other environmentalists have also been jailed and charged with plotting against the government.
Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for campaigns, said Thoeun should never have been charged or tried, and his conviction fit a pattern of silencing and intimidating environmental activists in Prey Lang and across Cambodia.
“Chan Thoeun and the PLCN have been standing up against powerful illegal logging interests for years,” Hah said. “They have defended the Prey Lang forest while the Cambodian authorities have turned a blind eye to the rampant destruction of this vital ecosystem, which is an essential part of the culture of indigenous Kuy communities.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 14, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 28, 2021
- Event Description
A journalist is being questioned by police after Defense Minister Tea Banh, head of the CPP working group for Koh Kong, apparently instructed local officials about taking legal action and countering the journalist’s criticism of a deputy governor.
Youn Chhiv, who runs the Koh Kong Hot News website, was purportedly part of the land dispute himself while reporting that authorities were evicting people from state land they had farmed for years.
In his reports, Chhiv said authorities were violating Prime Minister Hun Sen’s call last year to grant land titles to ordinary people who had long-standing claims on state land.
An audio recording, shared with VOD, appears to show Defense Minister Banh instructing Koh Kong officials to take action against Chhiv. Several government-aligned media outlets have reported on Banh’s instructions, including some that quoted from the recording. Koh Kong provincial information department director Mom Malika said the recording could have been shared in a group with provincial officials, but declined to elaborate. Banh could not be reached for comment.
Banh’s purported voice in the recording says he told provincial governor Mithona Phouthorng to pursue a lawsuit against Chhiv.
“Just a moment ago I told Mithona to check and to discuss with the provincial law expert to file a lawsuit against him. He twisted the truth and promoted bad ideas, and we need to clarify it,” it says. “We have to make urgent reports to send to all the places about the administration’s actions against encroachers of land.”
He would call on Fresh News staffers to help spread information that would correct Chhiv’s video reports, it adds.
“In there, there is a Fresh News representative, and [we will] send it to him to help disseminate that the video twisted the truth,” the recording says. “Take action quickly, and should not be silent, and they will disseminate it all over the place. It has caused a mess and issues, destroying reputations. [We’re] discussing it with a legal expert and handling it.”
Other media would also be enlisted to help, it says.
“[We] urgently need to discuss with the media in the province and attack him first, directly, with his name,” it says. “All media should publish it in advance, and [then] make a written letter and consult with the legal expert to send the case in time. [We] should not allow this. It is unacceptable.”
Chhiv had made a mistake when he “attacked the administration’s measures,” it says.
“He has violated and attacked the administration’s measures, and if we do not handle this carefully, we cannot control the state, and the state needs to take action against the violator through administrative measures,” it says, noting that villagers were told to leave but failed to follow instructions.
In one of Chhiv’s videos, he interviews three villagers who say they came to live on the land, in Botom Sakor district, in 2007. They say authorities have this year been destroying their cashew trees, sugarcane and cassava plants to try to evict them without compensation. About 130 officers from police, military police and local administrations had come to clear their land, they say.
“People survive through their farmland, but now they have cleared it all. So where can people plant their crops and rice?” one villager asks, pleading for help from Prime Minister Hun Sen and Defense Minister Banh.
“Our authorities have not followed samdech’s remarks. They might know that samdech would lose [power] one day, so they do this and they do not follow samdech,” the villager says in the video. “They do not look after the people and they only destroy people.”
Chhiv says in the video that villagers come to his office and ask for his help, telling him they’ve been threatened with arrest. “Do they not know where the provincial governor is?” he asks.
He also mentions sub-decrees that have privatized over 100,000 hectares of Koh Kong parks, ostensibly to give titles to villagers using the land. He asks why the villagers are not being given titles, but being evicted instead.
In one Facebook post, Chhiv directly criticizes deputy governor Sok Sothy, saying the official is breaking people’s hearts.
Botum Sakor district police chief Sok Phon said on Tuesday afternoon that Chhiv had come in that day for questioning at the police station.
“Our police, with the deputy provincial chief, are in the process of questioning. … We have questioned him for about four hours, and we do not know yet [whether to send him to court]. Wait until the work has finished,” Phon said.
The provincial administration, meanwhile, issued a statement on Sunday saying Chhiv had disseminated “baseless information that is not true.”
The statement highlights one video, “Koh Kong Provincial Deputy Governor Sok Sothy Is Cruel and Abuses Citizens.”
“The publication of this information is intended to tarnish the reputation of Mr. Sok Sothy, Koh Kong deputy governor, and hurts the reputation of the provincial administration, confuses the public and causes confusion and social unrest,” the statement says.
It says authorities went to Thma Sar commune on September 19 after issuing two prior warnings to people who had illegally encroached on state land and built huts. Authorities were “implementing administrative measures” against illegal encroachment, it says.
“Among those encroachers, there is Youn Chhiv, the journalist, the person who tried to disseminate the distorted truth,” the statement says, requesting all journalists to respect the law.
Sothy, the deputy governor criticized by Chhiv, said on Monday that he had submitted a complaint to provincial police and the case was now in their hands.
“The land is a national sanctuary … when he published such distortions of the truth like this — it damages reputations, and most importantly the public misunderstands, especially people who live outside and do not know that the land is a national sanctuary.”
Sok Sovan, a provincial reporter in Koh Kong, said that as far as he knew, Chhiv had a cashew farm on the land in question.
But the heavy-handed response from authorities was chilling, he said.
“It impacts other journalists. As you know, when a journalist posts on Facebook, they can charge [us] saying it is a red-handed crime,” Sovan said. “If the journalist published something wrong, they should pursue [the case] through the Press Law.”
“Journalists face high risks because in our world, publishing some wrong information often happens,” he added. “It’s a challenge when they file a case to court and we face imprisonment.”
Youn Chhiv, journalist and owner of website Koh Kong Hot News, was sentenced to a years imprisonment on September 30 for incitement under Cambodia’s Criminal Code, after reporting on a government land dispute. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Cambodian Journalists Alliance (CamboJA) condemn the imprisonment and intimidation of Youn Chhiv under the Criminal Code and call for the immediate cessation of all charges against him.
The journalist was charged with incitement to cause a felony over publishing alleged misinformation about a land dispute at Botum Sakor National Park. After two days of police questioning without a lawyer, the Chhiv was sentenced to one year in prison under Cambodia’s Criminal Code.
Chhiv claimed that authorities were unlawfully evicting citizens from land they had both farmed and inhabited for years, in direct contravention of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s call late last year to grant land titles to those who had long-standing claims on state land. According to Vey Pherom, deputy prosecutor at the provincial court in Koh Kong, Chhiv admitted that the above claims were false.
In a leaked audio recording, a voice, identified as Defence Minister Tea Banh, can be heard instructing Koh Kong officials and state media to act against Chhiv. “[We] urgently need to discuss with the media in the province and attack him first, directly, with his name,” it says. There have been multiple government-aligned media outlets that have reported on Bahn’s instructions, condemning Chhiv’s reports as baseless.
Provincial reporter in Koh Kong, Sok Savan said that the case had been kept extremely confidential, and only family members were admitted into the courtroom. Savan indicated that authorities ought to have used the Press Law, not the Criminal Code, or allowed Chhiv to apologise publicly and remove the videos. “This case is irregular and inappropriate. In a democratic country, when a journalist covers the news for the public interest and society, they should not be punished or imprisoned,” Savan said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 30, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 20, 2021
- Event Description
Environmentalist Chhorn Phalla has been arrested by Ratanakiri police after they called him in to update the address on his identification card, his lawyer said.
An arrest warrant against Phalla had been issued in February for allegedly clearing forest land for ownership, but both his lawyer and wife said he had been called in for an administrative update.
Phalla, 42, has previously told VOD that he has been involved in protecting forests since 2016, and since 2017 he has filed eight lawsuits against local officials and villagers he accuses of being involved in encroaching on community forests. He has said that authorities have taken no action on any of his complaints.
In July last year, he was beaten by a group of people at a public forum where he questioned how authorities were allowing forestry crimes to happen under their jurisdictions, he has said. Authorities accused him of disrupting the forum, then stood and watched as people beat him, he has alleged.
Kham Salong, Phalla’s wife, said her husband was arrested at Lumphat district’s Seda commune police station at 11:22 a.m. on Monday after the couple arrived to update the address on their ID cards.
“I feel really sad,” Salong said. “They previously beat him up, and now they come to arrest him. I want to ask the court to release my husband. He is not guilty of anything.”
Phalla’s lawyer, Sam Tith Seiha, said his client had been asked to go to the police station to update his ID, and that he would try to speak to him in prison.
Keo Pheadey, deputy prosecutor and spokesman for the Ratanakiri Provincial Court, could not be reached.
Ny Sokha, president of rights group Adhoc, said authorities must be clear before arresting anyone, and said he had doubts about the forestry charges against him.
“We ask the Ratanakiri Provincial Court to consider dropping or revoking the arrest warrant for Chhorn Phalla and release him, do not accuse him further and release him, do not detain him because he did not commit a crime like the one in the lawsuit or the charges.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 24, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 17, 2021
- Event Description
Seng Sary. who had clarified that he does not support forming a government in exile but merely laid out hypothetical conditions for one, told RFA’s Khmer Service Monday it was a good sign that Hun Sen is listening to the opinions of analysts and intellectuals, but he did not feel completely safe yet.
“I have not seen the court drop my case yet, so it is difficult for me to decide whether I should return to Cambodia, because it has to do with my safety,” Seng Sary said.
“I hope I can get my charges dropped soon,” he said.
Seng Sary said he was fortunate to be in Thailand when Hun Sen ordered his arrest. Otherwise, he would never have been able to escape or explain to Hun Sen the meaning of his analysis.
“I hope that in the future, the head of government will more carefully consider posts on social media… Let the government have a high understanding of contradictory views or political views that people want express.”
Political analyst Kim Sok, who lives in exile in Finland, said that Seng Sary is right to remain in Thailand and act with caution about anything Hun Sen says.
“He did request that the court revoke Seng Sary’s arrest warrant, but who knows? When Seng Sary returns to Cambodia and if he is arrested, Hun Sen could say he only made the request to cancel the arrest order, but it is up to the court because the court is independent. So be careful with this game,” Kim Sok said.
RFA was unable to reach Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin for comment on Hun Sen's stance. The spokesman for the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, Plang Sophal was also not available.
Chak Sopheap, the Executive Director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, welcomed the suspension of the arrest warrant and urged the government to be more open to intellectuals and political analysts.
“There must be a guarantee of full freedom of expression, and there should be no indictment or arrest just because citizens are expressing their opinions,” she said.
Some Facebook users wrote in support of Hun Sen’s change of heart, while others pointed out that the Cambodian leader has broken promises to activists in exile, saying they could return to the country without fear of arrest, but arresting them anyway.
The exchange with Seng Sary came a little than a week after Hun Sen Hun Sen crashed a Zoom strategy session of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which Hun Sen had banned in 2017.
“I wanted to send a clear message to the rebels that there are people of Hun Sen everywhere,” the prime minister said of his intervention in the Zoom call.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Academic freedom, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Academic
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 22, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2021
- Event Description
A reporter for Voice of Democracy said he was harassed by authorities on Saturday while covering a land dispute between a new airport project and affected villagers in Kandal Stung district.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association said a second journalist was warned by villagers to stay away because police were threatening to arrest him.
Pok Kheuy, who is an intern at VOD, told CamboJA that he went to cover a press conference held by residents involved in a land dispute over the new Phnom Penh Airport in Kandal Stung district, Kandal province, on Saturday.
“When I interviewed the people, authorities dressed in civilian clothes took pictures of me and my motorbike,” he said. “After I finished my interviews, I drove my motorbike back to Phnom Penh and about 5 minutes later, I noticed that two people followed behind me.”
Kheuy said as he drove, five uniformed police in the street tried pulling him over but he continued driving.
“They still followed and said they were police and asked me to stop and talk to them, but I didn’t stop, and when I refused to stop, they shouted at me calling me ‘thief’,” he said.
Kheuy said he was frightened for his safety and considered it a threat against the freedom of press.
“I would like to express the sorrow that authorities are abusing the existing law on the press that ensures the safety for journalists and that the journalists have the right to report and cover news anywhere that they are not banned from,” he said. “But the authorities instead continue to restrict, and I think it is a bad thing and is persecuting journalists’ jobs.”
Kandal Stung district governor, Ouch Sao Voeun, said he did not know of the case. However, he said authorities in his area never ban journalists from covering news.
“I don’t know about this but if they are just covering news, nobody banned them, they can cover the news wherever they are allowed,” he said.
Kandal Provincial police chief, Chhoeun Sochet hung up the phone when a CamboJA reporter asked about the incident.
Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn said he did not know about the issue and needed to check with the provincial information department first.
However, he said, in general, journalists are not allowed to enter places where the authorities are in operation.
“Those who have no obligation [to be there] including the journalists are not allowed to enter the place because it may cause an obstacle and obstruct the authority’s operation and also cause danger for authorities as well,” he said. “And authorities have the right not to allow journalists to enter.”
In July, the Ministry of Information gave local authorities the green light to take legal action against journalists that they deem to be unprofessional or spreading false information that obstructs law enforcement.
The ministry made its decision after Kandal provincial authorities wrote to the ministry in June asking it to take legal action against a number of journalists who live streamed a protest against the new airport development.
Luos Seng, the owner of online news station LSN News TV and one of the journalists targeted by provincial authorities, had been warned by authorities after live streaming the protest.
He told CamboJA on Monday that he did not cover the press conference on Saturday because villagers called him and told him not to come or he would be arrested.
A villager told CamboJA that the authorities had been deployed along the streets outside of the press conference. He said authorities chased after Kheuy while about 10 villagers also followed behind to help him in case he was arrested by authorities.
CamboJA Executive Director, Nop Vy said in a statement on Monday that the act represented a serious threat against a journalist’s rights.
“Intimidation of journalists and threats through various forms seriously affects press freedom, the state of freedom of expression in Cambodia, and both journalists’ and the public’s right to information.”
CamboJA has recorded 38 cases of harassment against 56 journalists since the start of the year.
Claiming compensation offers have been too low, for three years now hundreds of families have been locked in disputes over the $1.5 billion airport project developed by Overseas Cambodia Investment Corp (OCIC), which is owned by the well-connected Oknha Pung Kheav Se.
On September 1, the company cut off village roads, making it difficult for residents to access farmland. The Kandal provincial administration issued a statement on September 3, stating that road closures and road blocks are to drain water from the runway construction site.
However, villager Tuon Vannak, who owns 0.40 hectare of land directly affected by the runway project said: “We feel that the authorities have cut off roads to encroach on people’s land because people will not be able to access their land.”
Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association calls on authorities with clear measures against officials who harass and obstruct the work of journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 17, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 12, 2021
- Event Description
Cambodian authorities have arrested more than 30 villagers during a violent roundup of land protesters in Kandal province where they were protesting against an airport being built by a company owned by a tycoon with ties to the country’s autocratic leader, provincial police and villagers said.
The land at Kampong Talong village in Kandal’s Beung Khchang commune was taken three years ago by the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC), a private Cambodian firm, for construction of the U.S. $1.5 billion airport project.
Around 330 families living on the disputed land refused compensation for their fields, saying the amounts offered in payment by the firm were too low.
Police beat the protesters who rallied Sunday, and 31 were arrested for alleged involvement in violence against authorities during the demonstration.
The land dispute between 330 families and the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) owned by Neak Oknha (honorific) Pung Khieu Se, an affluent business tycoon close to Prime Minister Hun Sen led to authorities to make the arrests.
Villager Nai Phon, who was monitoring the situation, said that authorities arrested three of his family members — his wife, Khim Chetra, and sisters Nay Phea and Nay Phol, and that police were still searching for and arresting other villagers.
“As a land grab victim, it has been three years since I begged the head of government to help solve this land dispute by giving us fair compensation so that we can accept it, Nai Phon said.
“And now we do not dare to claim the market price. We can accept a reasonable price to end the confrontation and have all the detainees released.”
RFA could not reach Kandal’s police commissioner, Chhoeun Socheth, for comment.
‘It is not a good way’
Am Sam Ath, deputy director of monitoring at Cambodian human rights group Licadho, said that this is the first time in the history of land disputes in Cambodia that authorities have arrested such a large number of people.
“We still insist on not choosing that way, and it is not a good way,” said Am Sam Ath, who condemned the resort to mass arrests.
“First, it affects both sides and draws more criticism over the issue of the land dispute as well as other allegations,” he said. “And if the people are imprisoned, their suffering will be doubled. This means that their families will face more problems.”
This arrest and violent crackdown erupted Sept. 12 after hundreds of authorities prevented farmers from accessing the land. They set fire to the rubbish in front of the security barricades used by local police and military police to block the road to their farmland now under the control of OCIC.
In response, Kandal Provincial Hall accused residents of causing acts of violence involving the use of sticks, stones, rubber bullets, and petrol bombs that injured 13 police officers.
Authorities called on residents to stop what they said were illegal activities and return to efforts to resolve the land dispute peacefully.
Acting on behalf of CIOC, Kandal provincial authorities have offered villagers U.S. $8 per square meter for their land, but villagers say that is much lower than the U.S. $70-80 per square meter estimated market price.
Van Sophat, land monitoring officer for the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, previously told RFA that OCIC had failed to conduct a proper assessment of their project’s environmental impact or to consult Kampong Talong villagers on the proposed development.
The villagers hold title to their land and deserve justice and fair compensation, he said.
Hundreds of police officers blocked villagers on Sept. 7 from visiting rice fields seized to build an airport, though no injuries were reported.
Villagers stopped cultivating their land three years ago, but had to start farming again because business shutdowns caused by the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia have left them without other ways to survive, a villager told RFA in an earlier report.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 14, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 13, 2021
- Event Description
A citizen journalist was detained on Monday and later released after filming a police station and preparing to interview family members of 30 Kandal villagers arrested in a land dispute over Phnom Penh’s new international airport.
Chray Nim, who is also a land activist, said she was working as a citizen journalist for the community, though she would not elaborate on where she publishes her reports.
The airport development, in Kandal province’s Kandal Stung district, has in recent months become more aggressive about clearing the land of villagers, who are refusing the compensation on offer to relocate.
Villagers have tried to block roads in protest, while police and military police have increased their presence to stop them.
On Sunday, a confrontation between villagers and authorities turned violent, with villagers allegedly hurling rocks at officers before 30 were arrested.
Amid a downpour outside the Kandal Provincial Court on Monday afternoon, a man said he was there with his wife because their 22-year-old daughter, a garment factory worker, was arrested on Sunday. He added that “I will be arrested” if he was named in publication.
“I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to burst out crying,” the man said of the night after his daughter’s arrest. “It’s our land and we’ve been jailed for our land.”
The villagers were angry, he said. But he said he was also annoyed at the children who had hurled rocks at officers. “They couldn’t control their emotions,” he said. “The young were aggressive, and the older people got arrested.”
Two women said they had come from Phnom Penh after their 55-year-old mother was arrested. “I was very upset when I learned that she was arrested, and they prevented us from seeing her,” one of the women said, declining to be named. The two had been outside the police station since 7 a.m., she said.
Another woman said her mother, who was over 60 years old, was also arrested. “I don’t want to talk much because I don’t want to get in trouble,” she said, standing with a full bag of cooked rice and other food she hoped she could give to her mother.
The first man added, speaking to reporters: “I’m worried about you too.”
Chray Nim, 41, was arrested around 11 a.m. outside the police station, according to her daughter Reaksa Reasey. Reasey said she had come with her mother, and saw six officers drag her into the compound.
Nim was filming the police station’s gate as a citizen journalist, Reasey said.
Reasey was also questioned for an hour before being released, she said.
“They questioned where my mother came from and what she does. I told them that I don’t know because I’m just a student,” Reasey said. “I was very, very scared seeing her in handcuffs.”
In the afternoon, a guard at the police station also told VOD: “No pictures. If you continue to take them, I’ll get someone to take you.”
Nim was released in the evening. Nim told VOD after her release that she had only started filming, had not interviewed anyone yet, and had not broadcast live. She was questioned about who she worked for and whether she had sought permission to film. She would only say that she was a “community citizen journalist” and not where her reports were published.
“They asked whether I had asked permission from them or not and I told them that I go to take videos everywhere and I have never asked permission,” she said. “Anywhere people protest we go to cover it.”
“This is a threat and silences the freedoms and rights of independent citizen journalists,” Nim added.
Information Ministry broadcasting director Phos Sovan said he did not have clear information yet about Monday’s detention, and whether it was only for taking video.
“When we write a narrative, it can be too far from the truth, and sometimes the authorities think that it will incite or cause more violence … so they use their mechanism toward journalists who broadcast live,” Sovan said.
There were some challenges regarding citizen journalists not following ethics, he added. “The new group that we call citizen journalists has a lot of challenges,” Sovan said. “We have seen some challenges for online media occurring recently.”
Many small news outlets have appeared on Facebook in recent years — and several have faced trouble with the law over their video broadcasts.
Nim began as a land and women’s rights activist in 2012 after facing problems with her own land near the current Phnom Penh International Airport, according to the Cambodian Center for Human Rights and Transparency International.
Kandal officials have been heavy-handed in dealing with journalists covering the dispute. A VOD reporter was followed by two undercover police officers back to Phnom Penh after covering the story and another social media broadcaster was threatened and asked to stop covering the protest.
Nop Vy, executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, said Nim was a member of the association, though she had never done work for it.
The association would be offering her support as a member, he said.
“Citizens who can produce stories like articles and videos and photos are called citizen journalists. We have been working to build their capacity and ethics,” Vy added. “Some citizen journalists have good knowledge and can write stories. We encourage them and we can sign contracts with them.”
Many journalists in Cambodia were not formally trained, but have gained experience through working in newsrooms and with other journalists. “It is the same for citizen journalists. They are normal people, but they start working as journalists, then they learn and improve to be professional journalists,” he said.
Vy added that based on information he had, Nim had only been taking video. “I think this is part of people’s freedoms, including journalists’ freedoms,” he said, adding that authorities should respect those freedoms. “They have no weapons. They only have smartphones to interview and take photos and videos.”
Sokunthea Chhan, media development director at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media — VOD’s parent organization — said Nim was not a citizen journalist for CCIM. But CCIM would be providing a lawyer to support her, Chhan said.
CCIM, however, did have citizen journalists in the disputed airport area, and they were facing threats from police and local authorities, she said.
“CCIM supports CJs and professional journalists when they face challenges by providing legal support and safe houses if they need,” she said. “CJs are just gathering [information about] issues happening at the conflict area. The authorities should open the space for CJs and all journalists to exercise their rights freely.”
Kandal provincial police chief Chhoeun Sochet could not be reached. Pung Khiev Se, chairman of OCIC, which is developing the airport in a joint venture with the civil aviation authority, has not responded to questions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 14, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 24, 2021
- Event Description
A group of residents in Oddar Meanchey’s Samraong city say they fear arrest and losing their land after the provincial court summoned 11 of them for questioning early next month over a land dispute.
The summonses come as four villagers were arrested on the land on Tuesday, only to be released that evening after a protest by what villagers said was hundreds of supporters. The land in question is said to have formerly been part of Angkor Sugar, a notorious site of alleged human rights violations that has led to a class-action lawsuit in Thailand.
May Pek, a resident of Konkriel commune, said 1,149 hectares of land were claimed by 293 families in five villages in both Konkriel and Samraong commune.
Pek said the residents had used the land for decades until 2007, when a sugarcane company received a government license for the land and evicted residents without compensation. But the company closed down in 2015, and people moved back on the land, he said.
Since the beginning of this year, a new company, San Heang, was claiming the land, he said.
He and 10 other residents had been summoned to appear at the court on September 1 and 2 over accusations that they falsified documents and encroached on the company’s land, Pek said. They would appear as they had not committed any wrongdoing, he said.
“My people, they support me. When I go in for questioning, they will come too because they are afraid,” Pek said. “I’m worried. It’s not that I’m not worried, but at this stage, if they want to arrest us, we don’t know what to do. But we also have to struggle — if we can’t struggle [and] just bear with it…”
Another summoned resident, Rath Sopheap, said it was not the first incident with San Heang. On Tuesday, a provincial forestry administration official and about 10 armed officers, including some from the company, arrested four farmers building huts in their rice fields, Sopheap said.
Sopheap said there were no arrest warrants, and the four farmers were held at the provincial forestry administration office as hundreds of villagers gathered outside in protest. They were released around 8 p.m.
Authorities tried to stop the people from protesting and taking photos, and confiscated three phones, she said.
“They kicked once, and put their feet while a person was on the ground, shoved into the ground and tied their hands behind their back,” she said. “They acted like this. It was so extreme against the people.”
Oddar Meanchey provincial forestry administration director Im Sao Varith said he had ordered the four arrests because the farmers had illegally encroached on state land, but denied that authorities had used guns to intimidate residents.
He declined to say whether the administration had brought a lawsuit against the 11 people summoned to court.
“We arrested them because they went to encroach on state land, invading state private land with a solid land title,” Sao Varith said.
Oddar Meanchey provincial governor Pen Kosal said he had already established a committee to investigate the dispute between San Heang and villagers. He had some results, and authorities planned to meet and make a decision soon, Kosal said.
“I organized a committee to check what the people have to rely on, and what the company has to rely on. The important thing is what evidence or proof they have so we can solve it,” he said.
San Heang could not be reached for comment. An Agriculture Ministry document dated July 13 gives San Heang a permit to clear forests and harvest byproducts on 1,500 hectares. According to OpenCorporates, the company was registered last year and has since changed its name to San Heang (Kampuchea) Aharon Niharon.
Adhoc official Srey Naren said the land in question formerly belonged to Angkor Sugar. Angkor Sugar was one of three sugar plantations in Cambodia under Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol, which is facing a class-action lawsuit from Cambodian farmers. Farmers’ homes were burned and razed, allegedly with the involvement of military forces hired by the plantation. Mitr Phol has said that it was not a participant.
- Impact of Event
- 14
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 6, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 27, 2021
- Event Description
Two Svay Rieng land dispute representatives, previously fined $1,000 each under Covid-19 regulations for gathering people to rally, have now been charged for obstructing the enforcement of health measures and face up to three years in jail, according to a rights group.
En Soth and Yous Sophorn, representing families seeking compensation for land the Water Resources Ministry wants to turn into a reservoir, were summoned by provincial police on Friday and detained overnight, according to Soth’s husband, Mom Kosal.
They were then sent to the provincial court for questioning on Saturday, Kosal said.
Licadho spokesperson Am Sam Ath said they had since been charged under articles 10 and 11 of the Covid-19 Law. Infringement of administrative measures can be fined up to 5 million riel, or about $1,250, and obstruction of enforcement up to 10 million riel, or close to $2,500, and punished by up to three years in jail.
“This is a threat against the community for protesting, and secondly this move impacts other communities from protesting. If they dare to protest, they could face the same charges,” Sam Ath said.
Earlier this month, Soth and Sophorn were fined $1,000 each for posting photos of protesters holding up banners, as authorities deemed the rally a violation of Covid-19 measures.
Kosal, Soth’s husband, said the deadline for paying the fine was Monday, and Soth had planned to hand over the money on Saturday.
Provincial police chief Koeng Khorn would only say that the two land disputants had committed wrongdoing and police had taken action. “If you know, why do you keep asking?” Khorn said when asked about the case.
Provincial court spokespeople could not be reached on Monday about the land dispute, in Svay Chrum district’s Chhoeuteal commune.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: three land rights defenders fined, questioned for protesting a land-grabbing case
- Date added
- Sep 2, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 18, 2021
- Event Description
Rong Chhun, a long-time activist and unionist, was sentenced on Wednesday to two years in jail at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, and he and two other defendants were ordered to pay a total 400 million riel, or nearly $100,000, in damages to Cambodia’s border committee.
Chhun was arrested at the end of July last year after issuing a statement that Cambodia was ceding territory to Vietnam along the border in Tbong Khmum province, a racially charged and contentious issue. His arrest sparked weeks of small nationalist protests in his support, leading to several other arrests.
On Wednesday, Chhun was found guilty of incitement to disturb social security alongside Ton Nimol and Sar Kanika, who had protested in support of Chhun but told the court during a trial hearing in February that they were only a tuk-tuk driver and market vendor, not political activists.
Chhun was sentenced to 24 months in jail, while Nimol and Kanika were sentenced to 20 months. Together, the three were ordered to pay 400 million riel, almost $100,000, in damages to the national border committee. They were also handed court fines of 2 million riel each, or about $500.
The three defendants reacted to the court’s decision by shouting that the verdict was unjust.
“It is injustice,” Chhun spoke out in the courtroom. “It is implemented based on a plan and order from the ruler. The court is under the influence of a politician, so the court cannot find justice for me.”
Chhun repeatedly clashed with judges and prosecutors during his trial this year, frequently objecting to the legal basis of the case against him.
Government lawyer Koun Saroeun said by phone on Wednesday that the verdict had restored “honor” to the border committee, though it had asked for higher compensation.
“As the government lawyer representing the committee, we gained back our honor and with this. We can accept it is not a problem,” Saroeun said. “For me, the [award for] damages is not really suitable yet, but we will not oppose or be disappointed over the court’s decision.”
Choem Sophal, 58, the mother of Kanika, said outside the court that her daughter had simply been concerned about injustices in society.
“[We] are the same Khmer. There should be an understanding, and she has not committed any serious mistake. And the word ‘incitement, incitement.’ I hate that word the most, incitement,” Sophal said.
She asked the court to release her daughter so she can come back home and restart her business as before.
Ouk Chhayavy, president of CITA, told reporters outside the court that the verdict was politically motivated.
“The court’s decision to sentence Rong Chhun today is a threat to the younger generation to abandon their studies, stop being aware of the country’s social issues, because those who sacrificed for the nation and society were imprisoned,” Chhayavy said.
She condemned the court system and said these decisions make people lose their trust in the judiciary.
Defense lawyer Choung Chou Ngy said the court had ruled without sufficient evidence.
“There is no exact evidence showing that my clients had committed an incitement offense,” Chou Ngy said. “I will meet with my clients to discuss the right to appeal.”
In February, Khmer Win Party leader Suong Sophorn was also sentenced to 20 months in jail and ordered to pay 2 billion riel, or about $500,000, to the border committee for protesting in support of Chhun last year.
Chhun’s trial began in January, with two more hearings in February and a fourth and final session held after a Covid-19 delay on July 30.
On social media, U.S. ambassador Patrick Murphy said the conviction of “respected union leader Rong Chhun” raised serious questions about freedom of speech protected in the Constitution “and essential to the functioning of a democracy.”
“The judicial system should not be abused to silence peaceful activists,” he said.
British ambassador Tina Redshaw also said on social media that she was “seriously concerned and disappointed” about Chhun’s sentencing.
“Freedom of expression is protected in Cambodia’s constitution and the judiciary shouldn’t be used to curtail it. Strong governments are open to hearing and engaging with a range of views from all of society,” she said.
Updated at 2:15 p.m. with additional comments. Notable Arrests Jailed in 2020 VOD and rights groups have tracked at least 46 controversial arrests this year as of October 23 over a range of issues: alleged “fake news” related to the Covid-19 pandemic, protests and statements made about border demarcations with Vietnam, environmental activism, campaigning related to the outlawed opposition CNRP, and more.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 18, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 13, 2021
- Event Description
Two journalists were stopped and harassed by Phnom Penh police and security agents on Friday while covering a land dispute between authorities and residents along Boeng Tompun lake.
That same day, dozens of Meanchey district authorities used bulldozers and other heavy machinery to clear the homes of about 11 families along the reservoir in the city’s Boeng Tompun 1 commune, one week after ordering the homes be dismantled to make way for a private development. Government officials say the southern Phnom Penh lake is state-owned, but the body of water has become a development hotspot due to large-scale infilling and leasing to outside firms.
An Vichet, a freelance journalist working with CamboJA who was covering the home demolitions, said police confiscated his smartphone and press card and ordered him to delete all images he’d taken of the site.
“I was asked to show a press card and delete all photos,” he said. “They took my press card away and asked me to leave the place immediately or there would be a problem, saying this is their area, so no photography was allowed.”
Vichet said the encounter was a serious violation of press freedom and a restriction on journalists’ work.
“This activity of authorities is not hidden, it is in public, so journalists just have the role to capture the images and disseminate information to the public,” he said.
VOA Khmer reporter Lors Liblib, who also covered the dispute, said about 50 authorities took part in demolishing people’s homes.
“I was taking pictures when people were angry with the authorities,” he said. “Then [police] pointed at me, ordered for me to be arrested and my cell phone confiscated, and deleted all the pictures.”
Liblib said then authorities ordered him to leave the place, otherwise they will take other legal action.
“For me, I think this is a threat to the freedom of the press and they may want to hide this from the public,” he said.
The Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association (CamboJA) denounces the Meanchey district police and security agents for confiscating the identification cards of the reporters and calls on authorities to immediately stop such violations.
CamboJA executive director Nop Vy said in a statement that “the use of any forms of restrictions is a violation of the press law and the Constitution — that is unacceptable”.
“We call on the authorities to immediately stop the acts of harassment, intimidation and threats against journalists, and instead cooperate and pay respect to the role of journalists in order to prove that the government truly pays attention to and respects the rights of citizens, especially the right to information,” he said.
However, Phnom Penh deputy Governor Keut Chhe said the authorities’ actions against the reporters had been legally permitted.
“If we look at the instructions of the Ministry of Information, in the operation locations of authorities, journalists do not have immunity to enter the location,” he said. “Professional journalists must follow the instructions and the law, because it does not mean journalists have the right to access during the operation. It is understandable that the authorities have just deleted the image.”
Families affected by the reservoir project
Friday’s conflict played out in a similar fashion to many land disputes in the capital, where space is at a premium and new construction a booming business.
On February 20, 2018, the Council of Ministers issued a decision to provide 35 hectares of Boeng Tompun to a private company, reportedly Phnom Penh Precast Plants, to prepare the area for commercial and residential development. The company also said it would provide green space and restore the reservoir, which is dwindling in size as developers fill it with sand and earth.
Some residents say they have lived there for more than 30 years with recognition from local authorities.
Sou Chetra, 42, told CamboJA he has lived there since 1991 and that the authorities destroyed people’s houses without providing them with compensation.
“We have sent papers to the commune, district and cadastral department but have received no response. I am so hopeless now,” he said. “Please give us our land and our home, don’t hurt us. Authorities don’t need to feed us, we can live our way, just give us back [our property].”
Sari Vannda, 34, who works as a food delivery driver in Phnom Penh, said he did not know why his home was being demolished but that authorities had given him one week to move.
“Authorities just come and destroy our house by showing one paper. It’s our land and houses that we have lived in since our grandmother,” he said. “They want us to move, I don’t know how to deal with it. My family will have no place to live during COVID-19.”
Keut Chhe said after the government gave the private firm the right to develop the land, the company was obligated to offer compensation to affected families. Since the affected land is along the reservoir, authorities say it is state property and do not provide any compensation for lost property. Chhe denied that the affected homes were there for as long as residents said they were.
“The houses near the lake were just built after 2018, while those families will not receive compensation as they live on the state property,” he said. “We need to restore the reservoir to avoid flooding in the city.”
Still, it is believed that past decisions from the government did require the private firm involved in the Friday demolitions to pay compensation to displaced people at a rate set to the square meter of land lost. It’s not clear how or when those payments will be made.
Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn did not comment.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director of the rights group Licadho, said no one rejects infrastructure development under peaceful conditions, but that the impact of projects on citizens must be considered, particularly during the COVID-19 crisis.
“The best choice is peaceful negotiation rather than damage or violence that can affect people,” he said. “To evacuate people is not advantageous based on previous instances, especially during COVID-19. It is a high tragedy for people while they are affected by COVID-19 and then their home is destroyed.”
Sam Ath also said journalists should be allowed to cover without intimidation all public activities by authorities.
“Journalists have the right to report, take photos and video without any barrier,” he said. “[Raising barriers] violates freedom of press and it seriously abuses the rights of journalists.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 18, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 27, 2021
- Event Description
An online journalist says he received an anonymous call that he took to be a threat after reporting on land clearing in Siem Reap province.
Sous Chamroeun, head of CHR TV Online, claimed in a July 27 report that a local businessman had cleared hundreds of hectares of state-owned protected forest in Chi Kreng district’s Lveng Russei commune.
He said he received an anonymous call soon after telling him to remove the story and saying they would file a complaint against him. The caller said the land had been bought from citizens.
“They threatened me. First, he said that if you do not delete it, you will have a problem. Second, he said that he will file a complaint about this to the minister of information. He said that my name has not been properly registered as a journalist,” Chamroeun said.
Chamroeun said he had recorded the conversation, but declined to share it as he was waiting to see if there are further developments before filing a complaint to authorities.
A phone number for the businessman named in Chamroeun’s article, Kong Vun, who has a local electricity distribution business among his interests, was answered by a woman who would only say that she was an employee of the electricity firm.
Lveng Russei commune chief Loung Phorn said people had previously cleared land in the area before selling it to a company he could not remember, which then sold it to Vun.
Information Ministry spokesperson Meas Sophorn said he had not received information about the case.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 8, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 4, 2021
- Event Description
Two land dispute representatives have been fined about $1,000 each for Facebook posts showing a crowd of protesters in a Svay Rieng rice field, a gathering deemed by authorities to be a violation of Covid-19 measures.
“They came to gather more than 200 people in two places,” said Svay Chrum district governor Hem Sarith.
Action would be taken against any gathering that did not have the permission of authorities, Sarith said. “We wear face masks, practice social distancing and avoid gatherings,” he said.
Since late last week, the government has ordered a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people across the country for two weeks in a bid to prevent the spread of the Delta variant.
But a series of Facebook posts by Yous Sophorn on Monday showed villagers and children gathered in fields holding up banners, many without masks. A caption said: “On August 2, authorities came to ask people to give thumbprints to take 900 riel per square meter, but they didn’t accept. Where’s the place that has such a land price?”
The land dispute dates back to 2008, when the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, together with local authorities, decided to use the area to create a reservoir. Since then, residents — who say they have farmed the land since the end of the Khmer Rouge era in 1979 — have sought appropriate compensation so that they can buy new land for farming.
Sophorn was among the two representatives who received a 4 million riel fine on Wednesday.
She said local officials were refusing to solve the problem for residents, instead persecuting them for raising the issue. She did not thumbprint the document ordering her to pay the fine, and she would not stop resisting, Sophorn said.
“I would like to request the government, especially Samdech Hun Sen, to intervene with the subordinate officials to solve the problems for the people. Otherwise, it will be prolonged even more. And the authorities have always accused the people of anything. They have always thought of accusing us without finding any way to solve it for the people to survive,” she said.
En Soth, who was also fined, said authorities were only making people more angry. About 30 people gathered outside the commune hall as Sophorn, Soth and a third representative were summoned for questioning on Wednesday.
“Where is the suitable compensation?” she said. “They said they would not take the people’s land. … If it is development on the tears of people, please do not do so, I do not want it. I want development with a decent exchange. Do not use power to oppress the people. I totally disagree.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 8, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2021
- Event Description
Four protesters seeking compensation from Phnom Penh’s new international airport development have been put in Covid-19 quarantine without cause, allege their wives, who accuse authorities of trying to silence the protests.
A local official, however, says the men were quarantined because they were in contact with a Covid-positive person when they submitted a petition at Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet office in the capital.
The dispute in Kandal province has been tense for months since bulldozers attempted to clear farmers’ land. Protesters have camped out on the disputed area to stand guard, and have held a cursing ceremony against the developers, Cambodia Airport Investment, a joint venture between the Civil Aviation Secretariat and the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation, the prominent firm behind Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich island and several other projects. Last month, news publisher Los Seng said he was being pressured by authorities to stop reporting on the airport dispute.
Bat Sok Khoeun, 49, a resident of Kandal Stung district’s Boeng Khyang commune, said district police, commune police and commune officials arrived on Monday and gave the four protesters — including her husband — no choice but to enter Covid-19 quarantine for 14 days.
They had just returned from submitting a petition to Hun Sen’s cabinet, Sok Khoeun said.
She said the explanation for quarantine was unclear, and there was no documentation. “First, the doctor came and said that those who submitted the petition were positive. After talking longer and longer, the doctor said he came to take them to quarantine out of fear that they are positive.”
Hum Sokhem, 45, whose husband was also taken into quarantine, said she couldn’t help but feel suspicious. She demanded that authorities release the protesters and stop using Covid-19 as a way to prevent protests.
“They didn’t test anything. They came to accuse us of having Covid,” Sokhem said. “I’m just worried that they were being mistreated in connection with the land dispute with the company.”
Kandal Stung district governor Ouch Savoeun said the quarantine was purely for health precautions.
The four people were in contact with someone positive with Covid-19 when they went to file a petition at the Prime Minister’s cabinet office, Savoeun said.
“We did not arrest people. We followed administrative rules related to health work. We did not tie them up. We went to invite them to conduct quarantine because they had contacted a Covid-19 positive person,” Savoeun said. “We tested and took their sample. I’ve told them that in relation to gatherings, do not gather at all. Protests and settlements, it has been resolved.”
The protesters have been demanding compensation in line with market values — as much as $120 per square meter — rather than the offered $8, determined before the airport project was announced.
Van Sophat, a coordinator for the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said some authorities appeared to be using Covid-19 as an excuse to ban land protests.
“The company and the authorities have used the pretext or taken the opportunity of Covid-19 to disperse, to deprive the people of the right to assemble and the right of expression in protecting their land. It only makes them more vulnerable. It is a very serious human rights violation,” Sophat said.
The new international airport, spanning 2,600 hectares in Kandal and Takeo provinces including an associated satellite city development, is slated to open in 2023.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Land rights, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 8, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2021
- Event Description
A Cambodian court on Monday sentenced nine activists, including a lawmaker from the outlawed main opposition party, to prison terms ranging from 12 to 20 months on incitement charges for issuing pro-democracy petitions last year, the daughter of one of the defendants said.
Police arrested the seven opposition activists in October and December 2020 on incitement charges for staging a protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in the capital Phnom Penh last Oct. 23, the 29th anniversary of the singing of the Paris Peace Agreement, marking the official end of the Cambodian-Vietnamese War.
During the demonstration, they tried to submit petitions to the embassies of China, France, and the United States, saying that Cambodia had violated the democratic principles set forth in the Paris Peace Agreement.
Shortly after the arrests, Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly accused lawmaker Ho Van, an opposition official now living in California, of instigating the protests.
Shortly before the verdict was announced at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, one of the detained activists, Lim San, complained about the violation of detainees’ rights, lack of treatment for ill prisoners, and verbal abuse by guards in Prey Sar Prison where she is serving pre-trial detention, said her daughter Phan Sat.
The judge ignored her comments and read the verdicts for former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmaker Ho Vann and activist San Seihak, who is now living exile in Thailand, to 20 months in prison for instigating incitement to cause serious social unrest, Phan Sat said.
Four activists — Hong An, Lim San, Yoy Sreymom, and Ton Nimol — were each sentenced to 18 months in jail for incitement to commit serious social unrest, she said. The three other activists — Pai Ren, Sann Srey Neat, and Sat Pha, were sentenced to 12 months in prison on the same charges.
The judge told the seven activists, who were fined two million riel (U.S. $483) each, that they could file appeals if they were dissatisfied with the verdict.
Phan Sat, who attended the trial, said that the judge’s ruling was unfair. She maintains that her mother was acting legally during the protest and demanded that the court drop the charges and release all the activists.
“I want [her] to appeal because I do not agree with the verdict,” she said. “My mother is innocent. She had done nothing wrong.”
RFA could not reach defense lawyer Sam Sokong for comment.
He previously said that his clients’ protests are a guaranteed form of freedom of expression under Cambodia’s constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The multinational treaty states that everyone has the rights to hold opinions without interference and to freedom of expression.
Civil society groups say that those who participated in the peaceful protest in front of the Chinese embassy were expressing their opinion.
Heng Kimhong, head of the research and advocacy program of the Cambodian Youth Network (CYN), urged the court to reconsider the convictions and sentences and said that unjust detentions would seriously affect human rights.
“Perhaps because they [the defendants] understood that since China was an important signatory to the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement that upheld human rights, democracy, and freedom of expression, they had gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy to demand that [China recognize Hun Sen's violations of the pact],” he said. “Their protests and demands are not a crime.”
Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017, two months after the arrest of its leader Kem Sokha for his role in an alleged scheme to topple Hun Sen’s government. The ban, along with a wider crackdown on NGOs and the independent media, paved the way for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party to win the country’s 2018 general elections.
Former CNRP lawmakers, political opposition activists, their relatives, and their supporters still face backlashes. Since early 2020, more than 80 political, environmental, and social activists, including a popular rapper, have been imprisoned on incitement charges as Hun Sen’s government seeks to silence its critics.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: community-based defenders forcibly dispersed during a protest, media workers threatened
- Date added
- Aug 3, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 21, 2021
- Event Description
Three environmental activists convicted earlier this year on incitement charges related to a planned protest have been handed a new charge of ‘plotting’ by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in connection with an ongoing case against four other activists.
The trio, members of the environmental group Mother Nature, have been in prison since September 2020, when they were arrested for planning a one-woman march to raise awareness of the impact of filling in lakes for development in the capital. In May, they were sentenced to 18 to 20 months.
Rights group Licadho said Thon Ratha, Long Kunthea, and Phuon Keoreaksmey were handed an additional charge of plotting and questioned by the Municipal Court this week. If found guilty, they could face up to 10 years in prison. Licadho said their lawyers were not informed ahead of time and so the activists appeared at court without representation.
Sam Chamroeun, who represented the three in their last case, said Ratha was questioned on Monday, Kunthea was questioned on Tuesday and Ms Keoreaksmey was questioned on Wednesday, but said they refused to talk without their lawyers present.
“I just knew that they were summoned to be questioned but they did not answer yet because they are waiting for their lawyer [to defend them],” Chamroeun.
Attorney Sam Sokong said that all three activists were summoned for questioning over the new charges, which are connected with a second case involving activists who were arrested in June and charged with plotting and insulting the king, after reportedly taking photos of sewage being released into the Tonle Sap River near the Royal Palace.
Environmental activists Sun Ratha and Yim Leanghy were arrested on June 16 and later charged with both plotting and insulting the king. Another activist, Ly Chandaravuth, was charged only with plotting. All three youths are now in pretrial detention at Prey Sar prison’s CC1 and CC2. Mother Nature co-founder and Spanish national Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who remains abroad, was also charged with plotting and insulting the King. The case has been widely condemned as politically motivated, and represents just the latest in a series of cases against Mother Nature — which has long drawn the government’s ire.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge Im Vannak, declined to comment, referring questions to the court spokesman, who could not be reached.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director of Licadho, said the charges were clearly aimed at silencing criticism among others.
“That additional charge for them is a threat and [aimed to] pressure environmental activists and other youths who want to join to protect the environment,” he said, adding that the government should support those trying to better Cambodia.
“We saw that the US and the US ambassador in Cambodia also requested the government to release them because they understand that it is not a crime and it is freedom of expression and activity to join the [fight to protect the] environment,” said Sam Ath.
Chak Sopheap, executive directive of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said they strongly condemn the arrests and charges.
“The charges of plotting and lèse-majesté are a blatant illustration of the dangerous and restrictive environment in which activists in Cambodia operate and of the RGC’s [Royal Government of Cambodia] relentless efforts to stifle critical voices in the country,” she wrote in a message.
“CCHR deplores that imprisonment is an increasingly common price to pay for speaking out for human rights in Cambodia. We, therefore, urge the RGC to immediately release all the activists jailed for conducting their legitimate work, including members of the Mother Nature environmental group, and to unconditionally drop all the charges against them.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Aug 1, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 14, 2021
- Event Description
A journalist working for Siem Reap Breaking News and arrested on Wednesday was charged with incitement and violations of the Covid-19 Law, the latter punishable by up to three years in prison.
Kouv Piseth, 32, was arrested by provincial military police in Battambang city on Wednesday for alleged incitement. The military police said the arrest was linked to Facebook posts from Piseth, but did not specify exactly what the journalist had said or done on the social media platform to warrant the arrest.
Duong Saron, a spokesperson for the Battambang court prosecutor’s office, confirmed on Friday that Piseth has been charged with incitement, under Article 495 of Criminal Code, as well as Article 11 of the controversial Covid-19 law for “obstruction of measure enforcement.”
While incitement carries up to two years in prison, the Covid-19 law violation carries a six-month to three-year prison sentence for intentionally obstructing or deterring the implementation of measures taken to curb the spread of the virus. It also carries a potential fine of about $500 to $2,500.
Chea Chanreaksmey, a spokesperson for the Battambang Provincial Court, did not say exactly how Piseth obstructed Covid-19 measures.
“Regarding the case, the investigating judge decided to place him in pretrial detention yesterday. Regarding the crime, I did not get more detail about the charges because it is in the process of investigation,” Chanreaksmey said.
In a June 27 Facebook post, Piseth questioned whether Chinese vaccines had been evaluated by the World Health Organization and if the vaccines should be used in Cambodia.
“Have the Chinese vaccines been evaluated by the WHO yet? If it has not, it should not be brought to inject because it has not been recognized,” the post said.
In May and June, the WHO approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines. The Cambodian government started using both vaccines before their formal approval.
Piseth had other Facebook posts accusing Prime Minister Hun Sen of acquiring assets in the country by betraying the nation — an accompanying image has mansions and arrows pointing to forests, a gold mine, an island and other resources.
Rights groups have criticized the Covid-19 Law for being broad and for having severe prison sentences for violations. The incitement charge has been used by the judiciary as a catchall to prosecute any expression of dissent.
Phnom Penh police said last month that 11 people had been charged and jailed in the city under the law at the time, mostly for obstructing the implementation of lockdown rules.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 28, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 10, 2021
- Event Description
The Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) and the Cambodian Journalists Alliance (CamboJA) are deeply concerned that VOD reporters have been repeatedly stopped and intimidated by authorities while they are carrying out their professional duties.
On June 18, 2021, Prek Pnov district authorities with more than 10 members led by the district governor stopped and threatened a VOD videographer from the Cambodian Center for Independent Media who had gone to capture a temporary stopping place for Vietnamese people’s floating houses and fish farms after they were evacuated by authorities from a number of locations in Phnom Penh. In addition, the authorities also took photos of the videographer and his press card, and made a threat that he would be in trouble if any photos or videos were published.
This case came just a week after VOD reporters were blocked and threatened in a separate incident. On the morning of June 11, a VOD reporter and a videographer went to report the delivery of petitions by about 10 women, all wives of former CNRP activists, to the European Union. Daun Penh district authorities, with about 60 guards and officials, banned the reporters from taking photos and videos, warning that their equipment would be confiscated and they would be sent to the district hall if they dared to do so.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 30, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 8, 2021
- Event Description
The Observatory has been informed about the denial of bail to Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika amid a COVID-19 outbreak in many Cambodian prisons. Mr. Chhun, a prominent labour rights defender, is the President of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), and a member of the Cambodian Watchdog Council (CWC) [1]. Ms. Kanika is a member of the youth group Khmer Thavrak [2] and an ex-member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
On June 8, 2021, Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika were denied bail by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which claimed that the crime for which they have been detained affects social security and is therefore unbailable. Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika were not present at the bail hearing as prison officers requested the court to suspend the transportation of inmates to tribunals due to public health concerns. Since mid-May 2021, many Cambodian prisons have been affected by an outbreak of COVID-19. These prisons include Phnom Penh’s Correction Centre 1 (CC1) and Correction Centre 2 (CC2), where the two human rights defenders remain detained, respectively. Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika have been denied access to their lawyers for over four months, raising concerns over their current health condition.
The Observatory recalls that Rong Chhun was arbitrarily arrested at his home in Phnom Penh on July 31, 2020. On August 1, 2020, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged him with “incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest” (Article 495 of the Cambodian Criminal Court) and ordered his pre-trial detention in CC1. Rong Chhun’s detention came following several public statements he made on behalf of the CWC in which he reported community land loss as a result of the demarcation of the Cambodia-Vietnam border.
Sar Kanika was arbitrarily detained in August 2020, amid a wave of arrests of human rights defenders and activists in relation to their planning of peaceful assemblies that were to take place at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh in September 2020 in order to demand the release of Rong Chhun. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged Sar Kanika with “incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest” and placed her in pre-trial detention in CC2.
The Observatory further recalls that Hun Vannak, Chhoeun Daravy , Tha Lavy, Koet Saray, and Eng Malai (aka So Metta), members of Khmer Thavrak, as well as Muong Sopheak and Mean Prommony, member and Vice-President of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA), respectively, remain detained under the same charges in relation to the same acts. Their bail application was likewise rejected by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on May 18, 2021.
The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing arbitrary detention of the above-mentioned human rights defenders and reiterates its deepest concern about the Cambodian authorities’ systematic legal harassment to target all critical voices, and about the serious deterioration of the human rights situation in the country, including through increasing obstacles to the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly in Cambodia.
The Observatory is further concerned about the risks for the health of all human rights defenders arbitrarily detained in the overcrowded Cambodian prisons and calls on the authorities to immediately take all necessary measures to ensure their access to adequate healthcare and protective equipment, and reduce the prison population through the adoption of non-custodial measures.
The Observatory urges the Cambodian authorities to guarantee the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Rong Chhun, Sar Kanika, Hun Vannak, Chhoeun Daravy, Tha Lavy, Koet Saray, Eng Malai (aka So Metta), Muong Sopheak, and Mean Prommony. The Observatory also calls fortheir immediate and unconditional release, along with all other human rights defenders arbitrarily detained in Cambodia, in order to protect their right to health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Actions requested:
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 25, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 21, 2021
- Event Description
Three Mother Nature environmentalists were charged on Monday and placed in pretrial detention at Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison, as the mother of one of the activists said she was in shock but buoyed by support on social media, including from celebrities.
Sun Ratha and Yim Leanghy were charged with plotting, which carries a jail term of five to 10 years, and insulting the king, punishable by one to five years. Ly Chandaravuth was charged with plotting, according to municipal court spokesperson Y Rin.
Ratha was placed in pretrial detention at Correctional Center II, and Leanghy and Chandaravuth at Correctional Center I, Rin said.
A fourth activist was also arrested in Phnom Penh but has been released.
Ly Chanavy, Chandaravuth’s mother, said she could not see her son’s face at the court on Monday as he had been brought in through a back entrance. But she had earlier seen all three smiling as they were transferred to and from the court, she said.
“They smiled with tears,” Chanavy said.
She was uplifted by seeing strong support for them on social media, she added.
Thierry Chantha Bin, a France-born footballer on the Cambodian national team, shared a post about the activists with emoji of an upheld fist, Cambodian flag and a sproutling. Comedian Peypey Dy also shared the post.
Singer Kesorrr said: “Hope to get further information and hope that nothing bad happens to them.” Singer Jenny Vee added a message: “Can we join hands together one more time?” #justice4all #justice4Rotha #justice4Daravuth #justice4Leanghy”
“Although I’m upset and shocked, I get power from them, because people who have never paid attention to the environment before and never shared [about it], this time they’re sharing and posting, including singers and a footballer,” Chanavy said.
She said the three arrested environmentalists, including her son, had shown bravery.
“He told me that what he has done for society is [for] a clean environment, no polluted water and no impact on biodiversity, and for people’s health and to keep the forests — he thought this was not wrong,” Chanavy said.
The activists were filming sewage discharge on Phnom Penh’s Riverside at the time of their arrest. On Facebook, Mother Nature posted photos of the activists advocating for environmental issues.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director at rights group Licadho, said Mother Nature’s deported co-founder, Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, was also charged with plotting and insulting the king.
The charges against the environmentalists were severe, Sam Ath said. “We see these charges as a serious threat and intimidation for youth that love and protect the environment and natural resources — this is to break their spirit.”
Interior Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak alleged last week that the group was using environmental issues to try to topple the government.
Three other Mother Nature activists were arrested for incitement last September and sentenced to 18-20 months in jail last month. The latest arrests came just a week after the U.S. ambassador met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng over previous prosecutions against environmentalists.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Jun 23, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 17, 2021
- Event Description
A community representative in a Preah Sihanouk land dispute was arrested in a case in which three Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community members were also sentenced to jail last year, and which has previously been reported as involving Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly.
Sam Sophat, who the coalition said had represented 68 families in a dispute in Prey Nob district, was arrested on Sunday based on a court warrant from March, said district police chief Hour Yay.
According to a Supreme Court document, Sophat was found guilty by the provincial court on June 17 last year, alongside Sam Samol, Svay Sareth and Nhek Sara. The verdict was upheld by the Appeal Court and Supreme Court last year.
Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community director Theng Savoeun said the three others were members of the coalition, but had not been sent to jail.
He said they had all been sentenced under Article 97 of the Forestry Law, which lists 10 different crimes carrying jail terms of five to 10 years.
According to Savoeun, the case involved the Than Sour company and one of its developments in the area. The company could not be found on Commerce Ministry records, but the Phnom Penh Post reported in 2016 that the company was managed by Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly.
Preah Sihanouk Provincial court spokesperson Yem Bunareth declined to comment on the case and arrest.
Cheap Sotheary, provincial coordinator for human rights group Adhoc, said she had attended last year’s court trial, where Sophat and the others were accused of removing trees from land claimed by Than Sour. But Sophat had argued that he owned the land and that he had planted trees, not removed them. The case had been brought to court by the Forestry Administration, she said.
Sotheary added that Than Sour was involved in several land disputes in the area.
Long Lun, Sophat’s lawyer, said his client was also involved in several lawsuits, and he was not clear on the arrest.
Sophat’s brother Sam Sopheap said Sophat had been called into the commune police station then arrested by district officers.
“Five criminal police officers came to arrest him. They took him to the district police office and one hour later sent him to the provincial police and to the prison yesterday at 11 a.m.,” Sopheap said on Tuesday.
Savoeun, the CCFC director, said the dispute was about people living on forestry land, and the Forestry Administration should grant land to them rather than prosecute them.
Chhay Ly, the deputy prime minister, is also chair of the Council for Agriculture and Rural Development, a governmental body established in 1998.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 22, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 16, 2021
- Event Description
Kea Sokun, a young Siem Reap rapper jailed for incitement over his nationalist lyrics, had his yearlong prison sentence upheld by the Appeal Court in Battambang on Wednesday.
Sokun was arrested last September in relation to his song “Dey Khmer,” or Khmer Land, which now has more than 4 million views on YouTube. The song spoke about “the bravery to stand up,” while also warning that “the other race is encroaching” — an apparent reference to long-standing, racially tinged fears related to the Vietnamese border that sparked protests and arrests last year. He was found guilty in late December.
Am Sam Ath, monitoring manager for rights group Licadho, said the NGO provided a lawyer for Sokun at the Appeal Court, which upheld the earlier Siem Reap Provincial Court verdict.
“There were a lot of challenges [made] — the key thing that the lawyer raised about this was the freedom of expression of people, including composing songs and singing songs, and that there was no intention to incite chaos in society or serve anybody’s interest. His intention was to earn money on YouTube,” Sam Ath said.
Sokun was talented, and officials should educate him rather than jail him so he can be an artist that contributes to society, Sam Ath said.
“The prosecutor still kept their stance that the song has an inciting nature and is a crime,” he said. “As civil society, we do not see it as a crime as charged. But we see that he has talent in composing songs and expressing his views.”
Sokun’s sister, Kea Channa, said the family was disappointed by the decision.
“He was just expressing his view about his country and the nation, but instead he was given heavy punishment,” Channa said.
Teang Sambo, spokesperson for the Appeal Court in Battambang, confirmed that the court upheld the verdict.
Earlier this week, the American Bar Association issued a report on the case, in which it said that “[t]he charge of incitement is so broad that the government can apply it in a variety of cases.”
“Together, Articles 494 and 495 form a vague charge that some say is left open to politically motivated misuse,” the association said.
In Sokun’s case, he was “held for an excessive period of time prior to his trial,” the prosecution did not “present any concrete evidence” that his songs actually incited crimes, and it failed “to prove Sokun’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” it said.
“The prosecution and court have failed in their legal obligations to perform their roles in finding the truth and providing justice duly in line with Cambodian law and the ICCPR,” or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the association said, and suggested bail for Sokun during the appeal process, among other recommendations.
The association’s senior staff attorney Waris Husain said the ABA had followed some trials in Cambodia over the past two years, including an espionage trial against two Radio Free Asia journalists and prosecutions against six top labor leaders.
“What we have seen recently is the use of Article 495 incitement to violence/crime being used against human rights defenders and those critical of the government. As the case involving Kea Sokun involved a charge like this, we decided to monitor and analyze the case leading to our fair trial report,” Husain said.
The Justice Ministry has repeatedly defended the courts’ independence and due process, and officials have said that free expression is restricted if it is ill-intended or harms society. The Culture Ministry has previously said in the context of Sokun’s case that it works to educate artists who produce improper works but takes stronger action if they do not listen.
“When it comes to arrests and such, it means that you’ve gone beyond the redline, and it’s come to affect social order and public order,” Culture Ministry spokesperson Long Bunna Sireyvath previously said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: young musician arrested for incitement over a song referring to Government land-grabbing
- Date added
- Jun 22, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 17, 2021
- Event Description
Four members of the Mother Nature environmental group – Sun Ratha, Ly Chandaravuth, Yim Leanghy and Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson – were charged on Sunday, according to pro-government local media, with plotting and insulting the king (lèse majesté) under Articles 453 and 437(bis) of the Criminal Code, which carry maximum sentences of 10 years and 5 years, respectively.
Ratha and Chandaravuth were arrested alongside another activist, Seth Chhivlimeng, in Phnom Penh. The three were arrested on Wednesday morning, apparently in relation to their activities documenting runoff draining into the Tonle Sap river in the capital’s Daun Penh district. Chhivlimeng was later released from detention after being detained for 24 hours at the Police Private Security Management department of the Ministry of Interior, while Ratha and Chandaravuth remained in detention.
Also on Wednesday, police in Kandal province’s Koh Thom district summonsed environmental activist Yim Leanghy for questioning and he was arrested after arriving at the police station. He was later transferred to Phnom Penh and was sent to court along with Ratha and Chandaravuth. Leanghy, Ratha and Chandaravuth face between 1 and 5 years in prison for insulting the king as well as a fine of between 2 and 10 million riel ($500 to $2,500), and they also face between 5 and 10 years in prison for plotting. Also charged with the same crimes was Spanish national Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported from Cambodia in 2015 in relation to his activities as the co-founder of the Mother Nature Cambodia environmental movement.
Leanghy is a 32-year-old student who obtained a scholarship to study for a Master’s degree at the Royal University of Phnom Penh’s Institute of Foreign Languages. Ratha is a 26-year-old accountant who graduated from the University of Cambodia, where she was also studying on a scholarship. Chandaravuth is a 22-year-old law student in his 4th year of studying law at the Royal University of Law and Economics.
Last month, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced three other imprisoned environmental activists associated with the Mother Nature movement to between 18 and 20 months in prison for organising a peaceful, one-woman march to highlight the filling-in of Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tamok lake. Two other Mother Nature members, Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson and Chea Kunthin, were also sentenced in absentia at the time.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Jun 22, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 4, 2021
- Event Description
The wives of Cambodian opposition activists jailed on “incitement” charges were roughed up by police as they staged a protest Friday outside the U.N.’s human rights office in Phnom Penh, demanding that the government drop the charges against their husbands and release them.
The group of about 10 women — known as the “Friday Wives” for their weekly rallies on behalf of their husbands from the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) — demanded the release of their spouses following reports that the men had been infected with the coronavirus in prison.
Several police officers roughly manhandled the women as they tried to pry large posters with their husbands’ images from their hands during the protest in the capital’s Chamkar Mon district, the women said.
Prum Chantha, one of the protesters, said it was beyond belief that police resorted to manhandling them while breaking up the group in front of the U.N.’s office.
“They dared to abuse us in front of the U.N office… This is very unjust for the family members of politicians,” she said.
The women submitted a petition to the U.N.’s human rights office to intervene, saying that they were concerned about the health and safety of their husbands because they have been banned from communicating with them for the last three months while the pandemic has spread rapidly in Cambodia.
They complained that their husbands are at risk for contracting the virus because they are being held in overcrowded prison cells and don’t have enough food to eat.
The women have said that authorities should allow them access to their detained spouses during the COVID-19 pandemic so that they can monitor their health.
Dos Kimteang, another protester, told RFA that the women did not violate any laws by gathering because they did not impede traffic or disrupt social order, and that they adhered to the Health Ministry’s guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“We never provoked any social chaos,” she said. “Please don’t abuse us and then accuse us of violating the law.”
‘They gathered without permission’
A coronavirus outbreak has surged unabated through Cambodia’s prisons in recent weeks amid a nationwide outbreak. As of Friday, the government reported a total 33,075 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 886 news ones, and 242 total related fatalities.
San Sok Seiha, spokesman for the Phnom Penh municipal police, said police prevented the women from gathering because they did not request official permission to assemble.
But when RFA asked him to cite the regulation that requires people to ask for permission to hold public gatherings, he refused to elaborate.
“They gathered without permission,” he said. “This county has laws, so authorities are obligated to implement them. We can’t let a few people to provoke problems in Phnom Penh city.”
On Friday, 20 civil society organizations and unions issued a statement repeating a call for the government to release all prisoners of conscience in light of the growing number of COVID-19 infections.
“In view of the reports of mounting COVID-19 cases within Cambodian prisons, compounded by prison overcrowding, we call on the RGC [Royal Government of Cambodia] to release all nonviolent prisoners of conscience as a mitigation measure to minimize the risk posed by the spread of the virus,” the statement said.
Soeung Sen Karuna, spokesman for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) who monitored the Friday Wives protest, said that the police crackdown on the women in front of the U.N’s human rights office indicates a further decline of human rights in the Southeast Asian nation.
“This is yet more evidence showing that … the authorities should consider their actions and coordinate them, so that people can express themselves and their demands,” he said. “It would give the government a better image.”
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: “Friday Wives” protest is again dispersed violently by the police, Cambodia: community-based defender injured by security forces during peaceful protest
- Date added
- Jun 5, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2021
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday denied bail to five members of activist group Khmer Thavrak and two members of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association, as the defendants urged that they had already been in jail for as long as nine months.
Khmer Thavrak members Hun Vannak, Chhoeun Daravy, Tha Lavy, Eng Malai and Koet Saray were arrested in August and September amid protests in support of jailed unionist Rong Chhun; KSILA’s, Muong Sopheak and Mean Prom Mony were arrested in September for their involvement in the same protests.
On Tuesday, Malai, with a visible swollen leg, held hands with Daravy as their lawyers made their arguments for bail.
Vannak spoke out that even though the courts had not found them guilty, it had already jailed them for many months.
Judge Tith Sothy Borachat tried to cut him off, telling him that only lawyers would be permitted to speak.
“Please release us. We have clear home addresses and we are prepared to show up when the court needs to do any interrogation,” Vannak said.
Sam Chamroeun, one of three defense lawyers, argued that the pretrial detention had continued too long. The crime for which they had been charged — incitement to disturb social security — carried a potential jail sentence of six months to two years.
The seven defendants had already been in jail for longer than the low-end of the potential sentence, he said.
Pretrial detention of more than six months also breached the requirement for a quick and fair trial, Chamroeun argued, citing the Criminal Procedure Code.
“The court needs to consider this case as urgent and necessary,” he said.
Bail would reduce challenges for the defendants, including the risk of Covid-19 and mental health pressures, as they could be in the care of their families, Chamroeun said.
Deputy prosecutor Sam Rithy Veasna said the defendants had already had two trial hearings, and their release now would obstruct the court process.
The trial had been delayed due to Covid-19, he added. “We will continue the procedure when the Covid-19 situation is better,” he said.
Prum Mony was questioned during a trial hearing in February, when he was asked about links to a Cambodian-Australian former member of parliament in Victoria, Hong Lim.
Sopheak, the other KSILA member, said on Tuesday that he was chronically ill and he was not getting the care he needed.
“It is very difficult to endure this and it is very difficult to live there,” especially without money to spend in prison, Sopheak said.
He did not want to stay in prison as he was afraid that he would have mental health issues, he said.
During a 15-minute break, the defendants talked with each other and visiting family members. Some family members could be heard asking about their health and seen handing over bundles of 20,000 riel notes, worth about $5 each.
After the break, Sothy Borachat, the judge, said there was not enough evidence to release the defendants on bail, and rejected the defense’s arguments.
“To guarantee their presence for the charges at the upcoming trial, [the court] does not allow their release on bail,” he said.
A specific trial date was not announced.
Chamroeun, the defense lawyer, said he would discuss appealing the decision with his clients.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, Student, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Jun 5, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2021
- Event Description
Soldiers fired bullets at land protesters on Thursday in Kandal province, hitting one man in the shoulder, as a group of about 100 Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) soldiers faced off against villagers involved in a land conflict in Kandal province, about five kilometres from Phnom Penh. The injured man remains hospitalised, while some local villagers resumed protesting on Friday morning.
The shooting occurred in Tuol Prich commune, Angk Snuol district, in an area that houses several military bases and outposts and has seen a boom in development in recent years. Villagers reported that the soldiers were from the nearby Thmat Pong military school. Videos of the incident show an excavator digging up land while local villagers try to stop it and block National Road 51. Uniformed soldiers can be seen advancing on the villagers and firing dozens of live rounds from handguns and assault rifles into the air, at the ground, and into the crowd of villagers, hitting one man in the shoulder.
The land conflict involves more than 150 hectares that have been farmed for many years by more than 300 local families from at least seven villages. Satellite data shows that the land around the location of the shooting has been farmed continuously since at least 2008, which is the earliest satellite imagery available on Google Earth. Government-produced maps dating from 2001 also mark the area as containing farmland. The Kandal provincial government issued a letter on Thursday saying that all of the land was state land, while some villagers have said they have farmed on the land since 1979.
There have been several shootings of land protesters by mixed forces including military soldiers in recent years. In January 2019, a man was shot in Preah Sihanouk province and left paralysed after mixed forces descended on protesters and opened fire during the enforcement of a Supreme Court decision over a land conflict in the province. In March 2018, three people were shot in Kratie after mixed forces fired into a crowd of 300 villagers protesting a violent eviction.
Several protesters captured the improper deployment of soldiers and excessive use of force using smartphones, and videos of the shooting were posted to Facebook.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Use of Excessive Force, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 5, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 30, 2021
- Event Description
For Hong Ly, the dispute over her family’s hectare of farmland in Kien Svay district was frustrating, but it became personal on Monday when authorities arrested her 40-year-old brother.
As the woman recounted his unexplained arrest on Wednesday, dozens of people huddled in the shade of her stilted house, discussing how authorities have disappointed them in their response to a yearlong land dispute and to the residents blocking National Road 1 in protest, and now for a new offense: the arrest of Hong Sok.
“He’s a gentleman. He never hurt anybody,” said Ly, 52.
A Kandal province land dispute that was supposed to be solved in 2017 has continued, as residents of three villages say they’ve been forcefully stopped from using their land, leading residents to block roads in protest of the dispute and one man’s arrest.
In less than an hour after reporters arrived, more than 60 people were murmuring to each other, occasionally raising their voices to explain the two-day protest and vent about the land they feel they’re losing to neighbors.
The dispute ignited on Sunday, when residents of Kien Svay district’s Banteay Dek commune decided to block National Road 1 in order to garner attention to their dispute, over about 3,000 hectares of farmland distributed among three villages.
The residents who were gathered under Ly’s house told VOD that they were awarded 1 hectare of land per family a few years ago, when Prime Minister Hun Sen intervened in their dispute with Lok Hour, a CPP lawmaker, and granted the area back to residents of Prek Pol, Kandal Krom and Samrong Thom villages. However, villagers said they never received titles for the area.
About 3 km away from their homes, past fields of rice, eggplants and other crops, the residents constructed a number of farm shacks to guard their land, marked with Cambodian and Buddhist flags. At the intersection of two dirt motorbike paths, residents hung large laminated posters of Hun Sen, deputy prime minister Sar Kheng and Hun Sen’s wife Bun Rany.
But since that government intervention, residents of another nearby village, Chong Ksat, have been trying to stop their community from using the farmland, explained resident Cheang Sinoun, 48. She said she had been able to clear and plow her land but wasn’t able to cultivate it, and some of her neighbors had been attacked with slingshots while trying to clear the land.
When asked why people would be attacking others for their land, Sinoun said she did not know, later adding, “I think someone hired the people to claim this land.” Powerful people have been interested in the area, she said.
Sinoun said a group of villagers — she couldn’t remember how many — gathered at the Kien Svay district office on Sunday at 8 a.m. to meet with officials, alleging that residents from another village were trying to prevent them from using land that was granted to them. They were ignored by district officials, so instead they went to block the national road at about 10 a.m. to demand attention. Sok, the arrested man, was with them during this protest.
“They threatened us to stop blocking the road. Police told us they could arrest us for blocking the road,” Sinoun said, saying this was the first time the frustrated residents took this action.
Recounting what she learned later from peers, Ly said her brother Sok had gone for a meal and coffee early Sunday evening, and was arrested at about 6:30 p.m. He participated in the protest, but Ly said she did not know why he was targeted, saying he wasn’t a community leader.
“We do not know whether someone called him [for a meal] to target him or not,” she said.
The residents then gathered again that night, blocking the road a second time, now to demand Sok’s release as well as for a solution to their dispute, Sinoun said.
“Only this way can break through to them,” she argued, saying authorities ignored their concerns before. “We are ignorant, but we don’t think it’s illegal.”
Sok’s 24-year-old daughter, Sok Kakada, said she saw her father briefly on Monday morning, when the residents reported to the Kien Svay district hall for a discussion. While others were worried about Sok’s health because he has diabetes, he told the crowd he was okay.
“We wanted to ask authorities” what Sok was charged with, Kakada said. “But they wouldn’t talk.”
Sin Siphoeun, another resident who joined the roadblock protest, said the authorities had promised protestors they would release Sok on Monday morning, but they had not. She called Sok’s short visit with the protestors an attempt by authorities to appease the angry residents, but she warned that they could block the road again. Siphoeun said she and her neighbors just wanted an explanation for his arrest.
“He has not killed anybody nor stolen anything from anybody, and what he has done was for all the people to find a solution, but [authorities] accused him of being a bad person and arrested him,” she said. “We’re not scared because we have not done anything illegal. … Why did they arrest [him] and what kind of offense did he commit?”
When asked about the dispute, Kandal’s deputy provincial governor, Nouv Peng Chandara, told reporters to check the provincial administration’s Facebook post from Monday, which said that residents who blocked the road had accepted the government’s mediation.
According to a Phnom Penh Post report from 2017, the Council of Ministers ordered the Land Ministry to return 2,997 hectares of land in Kien Svay and Sa’ang districts to villagers, with some 2,391 hectares taken from CPP lawmaker Hour.
Mao Phirun, a Kandal provincial councilor and former governor, said the land was returned to residents via a sub-decree in 2017 after Hour had taken the land illegally from residents. Hard titles from this area were made, he said, but people who were not granted land by the government could be jealous.
“People know it, and they have no land and they see other people’s land. … They have been provoked by other people,” he said.
“There are brokers behind this … the one who is behind it, they have been known [by the people], and the one who is being detained pushed the cyclo only to be crushed by the car,” he said. “[The protestors] will be the ones to bear the blow.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 5, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 27, 2021
- Event Description
Senior NagaWorld union leaders all received dismissal notices amid the casino’s plan to lay off more than 1,000 employees, a union official said, in what some labor and civil society observers labeled an attempt to eliminate the active union from the workplace.
NagaWorld has begun a process of laying off 1,329 employees, which it has explained is due to declining revenues, according to the union. But the workers targeted for dismissal have been long-time union members, and on Thursday the union’s top leadership all received notice, said NagaWorld union vice president Chhun Sokha.
Sokha said on Friday that she and other leaders, including union president Chhim Sithar and more than a dozen core activists, received a dismissal message from the company on Thursday.
As of Friday, more than 600 employees — mostly union members — had received notice, she added.
Sokha said the company wants to eliminate protests, which the union has led. She said recent protests were about protecting workers rights.
“It is a violation of the freedom of association. We have the right to be an independent union, which has been registered and recognized by the Ministry of Labor. And now the company is terminating the leaders as well as the union activists, to make the leaders and activists unable to fulfill their obligations on behalf of workers,” she said.
She added that NagaWorld should not be allowed to do whatever it wanted, and the union was preparing a legal complaint to file to the Labor Ministry.
She said most workers had declined the redundancy compensation offered by the company so they could fight the dismissals together.
“They are also waiting to see what Naga wants to do to the union. They said as they already cut [the leaders], they might as well cut all 8,000 employees in the company. Then let’s wait and see how the company will operate without any employees working for them.”
Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said he hadn’t received any complaint from the union yet, but any dismissals of union leaders needed to be justified.
“In principle, union leaders cannot be fired unless they have made serious mistakes or violated any of the company’s internal regulations, or [due to] the actual financial situation of the company. We need to look at the facts and the root of the problem first,” Sour said.
NagaWorld chief operating officer Mike Ngai could not be reached.
International Labor Organization national coordinator Sophorn Tun, when asked if the ILO would be taking action in the case, said: “It will, as soon as it receives from the union of the workers affected a request detailing the circumstances of the case.”
He added that ILO staff have no authority to pronounce whether the case was a violation of labor rights or Cambodia’s Labor Law — “only its competent supervisory bodies, including the Committee on Freedom of Association [can do that].”
Ath Thorn, president of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, said he believed NagaWorld’s layoff plan was not about Covid-19 economic disruptions, but a way to eliminate union activities. The NagaWorld union had been unafraid to strike and protest.
“I can say that there can be some discrimination against the union, and [the company] wants to take advantages of workers’ rights. For example, dismissing old workers, recruiting new workers, eliminating unions, et cetera,” he said. “Laying off unionists in particular sets a bad example for other employers.”
Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said the company was taking advantage of the Covid-19 outbreak to “crush” the union.
“There is nothing other than intent to destroy the union,” Sina said. Dismissals due to genuine financial difficulties were fine, but “dismissals focusing on union activists, union leaders — these show that the real intention is to discriminate against the union.”
Cambodian Center for Human Rights executive director Chak Sopheap said mass layoffs amid Covid-19 went against the Labor Ministry’s advice to support workers during the crisis.
“If the termination refers to active individuals like union representatives, it means that the company has violated and harassed the union representative,” Sopheap said, calling it “revenge against active individuals.”
The casino and hotel company reported a net profit of $102 million in 2020 despite the Covid-19 crisis, down from more than $521 million in 2019.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to Protest, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 2, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 13, 2021
- Event Description
Police detained an informal-workers union official and placed him in two-week quarantine in Banteay Meanchey province as he was gathering names of members facing economic difficulties amid the nation’s ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.
Poipet city deputy police chief Born Seiha said on Wednesday that Kang Nakorn, an official for the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association, or IDEA, was brought in after he went to a noodle shop that had previously been visited by people who tested positive for Covid-19. Nakorn had collected as many as 170 names, Seiha said.
Officers had yet to question Nakorn, as he was placed in quarantine at Nimit High School in the city, Seiha said.
“[We] have not arrested him. We called him in for questioning, called him in for questioning for collecting [names], of 170 people. For what purpose?” the deputy police chief said. “People complained to us.”
Seiha said he could not say whether the authorities would release Nakorn after 14 days of quarantine, as authorities were still investigating.
Vorn Pov, the union’s president, said there were others at the noodle shop, so it did not make sense to only detain and quarantine Nakorn.
“A lot of people,” Pov said. “Why was only he taken in?”
Nakorn had collected names and ID numbers of members linked to or facing challenges in relation to Covid-19 cases, Pov said.
“It is just a matter of charity — purely charitable activities, not political incitement,” he said. “So I think it is unusual to call him in for questioning. Yes — it’s regretful.”
He asked for Nakorn’s release, saying he suffered from health problems like high blood pressure.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 25, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 13, 2021
- Event Description
Two digital news journalists reported harassment by authorities Tuesday while covering villagers protesting two separate land disputes.
Though government officials dismissed the confrontations with reporters from outlets VOD and TN Hot News as a matter of enforcing public order, media advocates are again sounding the alarm of ever-tightening restrictions of press freedom in Cambodia.
VOD reporter Khut Sokun, 33, said he had arrived at about 11 a.m. at the scene of a dispute in the Krakor district of Pursat province when an armed man in military uniform approached and seized his smartphone, recorder and notebook.
“I parked my motorbike and rushed to report,” Sokun told CamboJA of the day’s work in Ansar Chambak commune. “I turned on my recorder, and wrote what they were saying, but after that one official came to ask my identity, and where I had come from.”
Authorities had come to tell villagers mostly from the nearby Boribor district of Kampong Chhnang province to stop cultivating paddy rice in a location deemed state land, an area that authorities are measuring to reserve as a social land concession. They had come on Tuesday with military police, at least one of whom eventually focused on Sokun.
“I told him that I am a reporter at VOD, and I came to report something related to land issues, and he asked me to delete the pictures I’d taken from my smartphone,” Sokun recalled. “A man with a RCAF uniform and an AK-47 confiscated my recorder and notebook. They also tore up my notes of what I wrote and [deleted] audio from the recorder.”
Sokun said authorities returned his equipment more than a half-hour after talking with Pursat province Deputy Governor Cheng Lai, who had led the meeting to resolve the dispute.
“I tried to ask him why they didn’t allow pictures and reporting, but they did not tell me the reason,” Sokun said. “I think that it was threatening, intimidation, and it has restricted the right of press freedom because I did nothing wrong. I just went down to report and listen to what [the villagers] were saying.”
A VOD colleague who interviewed Cheng Lai after the incident told Sokun the deputy governor had claimed informally that his reporting on Tuesday had caused incitement among the villagers, a potentially serious charge often used to silence dissent. After hearing of this allegation, Sokun said that he is now scared to report land disputes in that area.
“Now, I dare not report this story because I am afraid of the accusation. I am also living near that area,” he said. “And yes, I am worried about my security and safety.”
Lai denied the accusation of harassment to CamboJA, saying officials had confronted the journalist only to learn who he was. Though he confirmed Sokun’s recorder had been confiscated and later returned, he denied that anyone had destroyed the reporter’s notes.
“Our authorities were working [to resolve the land dispute] and we did not know who he was, and at that time there were military police, police and soldiers accompanying me,” he said.
“We just asked what he was doing,” Lai said, adding that any claim otherwise was subjective. “It is just their opinion, because no one threatened him.”
As for the land dispute, Lai said people who have cultivated the area for a long time will be excluded from government action but that newcomers will have their access revoked. He said a directive was issued in 2017 to prepare a 5,400 hectare social land concession to benefit 3,000 families in the Ansar Chambak commune.
Though the deputy governor described the encounter with Sokun as benign, at least one witness described it otherwise.
“In fact, I saw they [authorities] scuffled with him, seized his phone and deleted pictures, and checked his press card,” said Pen Phol, 43, who attended Tuesday’s meeting and said authorities had not allowed photography and reporting. “I feel pity for him because he is a journalist that comes to help villagers who are suffering.”
After the confrontation, Phol said she didn’t see anything else, as authorities then dispersed the gathered villagers.
Phol is now concerned authorities will take her land away, noting that her family has been cultivating about 2 hectares since the 1980s.
“I am worried because I heard that they will revoke our land and provide it to other villagers,” she said.
When asked about the incident at Ansar Chambak, Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn said local authorities had only implemented the law in their jurisdiction to maintain security and public order.
“Authorities and police have their duty to fulfill too,” he said, declining to comment further.
But Sokun wasn’t the only reporter to face a confrontation Tuesday from authorities while reporting on a land dispute case.
Keo Ratana, 36, journalist and publisher of TN TV, or TN Hot News Online, said that he suffered harassment while covering villagers protesting that same day against a decision of the Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court in favor of a wealthier landholder.
The protest was complicated when a bodyguard named Lon Leng intervened apparently on behalf of the landholder and, according to Ratana, physically confronted the journalist at the event. Ratana said Pheng ordered police to detain the reporter, but the officers did not due to the many villagers around him.
“He came and pushed me away and attempted to use violence, and I pushed his hand back,” Ratana said of the bodyguard. “As a journalist, I think it is a threat to press freedom as we carry out our professional journalism.”
Ratana was previously arrested in July 2019 by military police for his role in covering a long-running land dispute in Sihanoukville between local villagers and the Thai Boon Roong development company.
Ith Sothoeuth, media director at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, condemned the harassment against working journalists who amplify important viewpoints for the public to hear.
“For me, it seriously threatens press freedom because journalists have just gone to fulfill their duty in reporting land disputes between villagers,” he said of the Tuesday incidents.
Sotheouth, whose center produces VOD, said the media plays a significant role in a democratic society by providing voices for those who can’t express their concerns by themselves to the government or the general public.
“It is an extreme violation of press freedom in Cambodia, while it has already narrowed its space,” he said, pointing to the confrontation in Ansar Chambak.
Nop Vy, executive director at CamboJA, said that any activities that obstruct the work of journalists run directly against government policy to cooperate with the press.
“It is a message of warning and intimidation to the duty of journalists,” he said, urging officials and the head of state to review law enforcement policies of lower authorities and advise them on correct implementation.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 14, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 4, 2021
- Event Description
Cambodia’s Ministry of Information said local and foreign media coverage of the red zone has “confused the public and provoked social chaos that will lead to more COVID-19 spreading.”
“In order to protect social security and prevent COVID-19 from spreading, the Ministry of Information is advising journalists to halt all actions immediately,” it said in a statement issued Tuesday. “In the event that people continue to ignore this notice, [we] will take legal action.”
Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn told RFA that journalists who went to “red zone” areas and broadcast live via social media made comments without any medical foundation that might risk the spread of the highly contagious virus. He also said that some reporters chased ambulances during live broadcasts.
“If they comply with the law, then they can continue their work,” he said.
Journalist Leng Det said even though he supports the ministry’s order, he wants the media to work with authorities so reporters can provide accurate news.
“In order to get accurate news, we need many sources,” he said. “We don’t have to chase ambulances and police to tell the news.”
Nop Vy, executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, said preventing the media from covering news in red zones will not be in villagers’ best interest, and he insisted that those who have received training on reporting on the coronavirus pandemic be allowed to cover news freely.
“I am very concerned that the ministry will completely ban journalists [from covering the red zone],” he said. “So far, journalists have broadcast about food shortages and people’s appeals to get food aid into the red zone. This has shown that journalists have contributed to disseminating news.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 5, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 5, 2021
- Event Description
Three Mother Nature environmentalists were sentenced to jail for 18 to 20 months for incitement over their activism, while two others, including the group’s founder, were also found guilty in absentia.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court announced the verdict on Wednesday morning in a courtroom newly equipped with transparent screens and other Covid-19 preventative measures. Judge Li Sokha, wearing a mask, read out the verdict as the three defendants, Phuon Keoreaksmey, Long Kunthea and Thun Ratha, stood up holding hands.
Sokha said that based on the evidence, witnesses and the answers of the defendants, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court concluded that the three were guilty of incitement.
Ratha was handed 20 months in jail and a fine of 4 million riel, or about $1,000, for incitement to disturb social security. Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, the group’s co-founder who has been deported from Cambodia, was given the same sentence for being an accomplice.
Keoreaksmey, Kunthea and another activist tried in absentia, Chea Kunthin, were given 18 months and the same 4 million riel fine.
The court also issued arrest warrants against Gonzalez-Davidson and Kunthin and ordered the confiscation of materials belonging to them.
Ratha said aloud to reporters as he departed the courtroom: “This is very unjust. Sentencing people who just care about nature … they are very eager for trials.”
“The Khmer court is like this. Please tell people that we are still strong,” he said.
Defense lawyer Sam Chamroeun said he would discuss the verdict and a possible appeal with his clients.
Kunthea, Ratha and Keokeaksmey were arrested in September while planning a one-woman march by Kunthea to raise awareness about the infilling of Boeng Tamok, one of Phnom Penh’s last lakes.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- May 5, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 30, 2021
- Event Description
Kandal provincial authorities have told farmers to stop posting photos of vegetables spoiling in their fields without a market amid lockdowns as they were affecting morale, an official said.
Hor Sophal, deputy director of the Kandal department of agriculture, said his department had visited farmers in Sa’ang district on Friday. There were in fact vegetables that farmers could not find a market for due to the Covid-19 crisis and lockdowns in the major markets of Phnom Penh and Takhmao city, he said.
But the officials had told the farmers to stop posting pictures publicly because it affected the morale of other farmers and affected society, Sophal said.
“This is his second time, so we went to instruct him, and now he took note and said [he would] stop posting in public,” he said about Tai Song, one farmer who had been posting photos to Facebook.
Song has uploaded pictures about having to clear and throw away his vegetables amid the lockdown’s closure of markets.
Song told VOD that he had been pressured to sign a contract saying he would stop.
“I’m very disappointed and have nothing to say to them,” Song said. “I asked them to go take a look at the vegetables in my village, but they didn’t go to look. Hundreds of hectares of sugarcane will be plowed in the future as well, and there’s no less than thousands of tons of vegetables that they did not help to find a solution for. They just ordered me.”
“They no longer allowed me to post and use Facebook extensively. Me!” he continued. “I’m just a normal farmer. … I don’t know what they think that they ordered me like this.”
Another farmer, who gave his name only as Bunly, said several farmers had posted the photos so that authorities are aware of problems and can help find solutions.
“They came down to hide the difficulties of the farmers, so we don’t know what to say when they spoke those words. We are discouraged because we give them information so that they can help solve it, but instead they say that [our] posting is [intended] to pollute society,” he said. “There should be encouragement to farmers who are smart in urging superiors to help find a market. But they turned on us to tell us to end the sharing, and not say that there is no market. But every day, there really is no market.”
The letter Song signed says the farmer must first provide information to local authorities, not post it publicly. This is to avoid sharing incomplete information, misleading the public and undermining the efforts of officials, the letter says.
Photos showing the destruction of vegetables affect public morale and feeling, and the photos can incite discrimination, the letter says.
Incitement to discriminate is a criminal charge that applies to inciting malice or violence against a particular ethnicity, nationality, race or religion, and carries a prison term of up to three years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 5, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 29, 2021
- Event Description
About 100 residents in a Phnom Penh lockdown zone protested for food on Thursday night, according to a witness, as the local commune chief labeled the protesters an “opposition group” who are “not poor” and “give the authorities headaches.”
Stung Meanchey II commune chief Touch Sam Ol, in Meanchey district, said the protest was in Phneat village, and authorities would be distributing food to the residents on Friday morning.
“We hadn’t been able to [distribute food] in time for them because there have been too many and the supplies have not arrived on time, and there has been only rice so we couldn’t distribute just rice,” Sam Ol said late Thursday.
However, he said there was a “mastermind” behind the protest.
“In short, they are an opposition group and they are not poor,” he said. “The majority are rich, and firstly they were angry with us because we blocked the road … and they could not earn money to support their living.”
A few of the protesters had even received gifts of food from the state already, he added. “It gives the authorities headaches,” he said.
He also denied that the residents were hungry.
“The most important issue is the blocking of the road, which means they cannot do their business,” he said. “So they linked the blocking of the road with starvation.”
Stung Meanchey II is part of Phnom Penh’s red-zone restrictions due to high numbers of Covid-19 cases linked to garment factory workers living there. The government shut down markets and initially said the Commerce Ministry would take over all food sales in red zones, though local authorities have since allowed some vendors to sell in open, outdoor areas. The government has also set up a Telegram group so people in need can ask for donations for food, and it has been flooded with thousands of messages.
Mao Thora, a restaurant worker near Thursday’s protest, said about 100 people had gathered on the street, some carrying banners saying “My village is starving.”
The protesters had said the village had yet to receive food donations from the state, and without the ability to run their businesses they couldn’t pay rent, according to Thora. Some were workers who could not get to their workplaces, while others were small business owners who had been forced to suspend their operations, she said.
“It was crowded so I did not go very close to them since I am afraid of infection since I am in the red zone. They gathered and protested to demand that the authorities quickly provide food donations for them,” she said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Offline, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 4, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 24, 2021
- Event Description
Six youth activists were detained for a night for collecting thumbprints — despite the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak — for a petition calling on the government to ease citizens’ costs of living, the Phnom Penh governor said.
“What they are looking for — thumbprints — that is against the Covid-19 rules,” Khuong Sreng said.
The activists had admitted their guilt and were released, he said, adding that such actions could lead to legal action if they were infected with Covid-19 and had transmitted the disease to others.
The governor added that they were focusing on the wrong issue at the wrong time.
“At this time, they should be holding banners and telling all people to wear masks to protect themselves from Covid-19,” Sreng said. “That would be the most appropriate.”
Keo Tith Lida, president of the Women’s Association for Society, said three of her members had been arrested on Wednesday while making copies of their petition to deliver to Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday.
She and two other members went to the Stung Meanchey 1 commune police station to try to secure the others’ release, but they were also detained, Tith Lida said.
The group has been collecting thumbprints for a petition calling on the government to ease people’s financial burdens. The petition suggests suspending payments to microfinance institutions and banks, halting water and electricity bills, reducing the price of gasoline, or halving businesses’ rent for three to six months.
Tith Lida said the six activists were detained overnight and released around 5 p.m. on Thursday.
“We were asked to make a contract … to not gather youths, to not collect thumbprints during Covid, and to not make any propaganda,” she said.
The campaign had now been suspended, she said.
Am Sam Ath, rights group Licadho’s monitoring manager, said everyone should be following the Health Ministry’s Covid-19 guidelines.
“There should be a discussion about solutions, and, in the future, they will follow the measures of the Ministry of Health and of the authorities about preventing the spread of Covid-19. That would be good,” Sam Ath said.
Tith Lida previously said the group had collected more than 200 thumbprints for its petition.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to tens of thousands of job losses in Cambodia, with tourism having plummeted amid disruptions to global travel, and garment factories losing orders due to suppressed worldwide consumer demand.
More than 700,000 households, or about 2 million people, have received emergency cash handouts as part of the government’s IDPoor program, the Planning Ministry said last month.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 28, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 4, 2020
- Event Description
Sitanan Satsaksit was on the phone to her brother early in the evening on 4 June when he told her to hold the line. Wanchalearm, also known as Tar, was handing over a few dollars for meatballs at a stall opposite his home in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.
Then Sitanan heard noise coming from the other end of the line.
"I heard a loud bang. At first I thought he had a car accident as he shouted 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe,'" she tells the BBC.
Sitanan could hear the screams of her brother as men shouted in Khmer, a language she doesn't understand.
But her brother had not been hit by a car - he was being kidnapped.
Witnesses at the scene say they saw a group of armed men bundling Wanchalearm into a black SUV. As he shouted for help in Khmer, some people started moving towards him, but the armed abductors warned them to back off, before speeding away.
Confused and terrified, Sitanan could hear the muffled voice of her brother for another 30 minutes. Then the line went dead.
A friend of Wanchalearm made some inquiries for her.
"Twenty minutes later, this person called me back to say: 'Keep calm sister, Tar was abducted,'" she recalls.
Wanchalearm Satsaksit, 37, a prominent Thai pro-democracy activist who had lived in exile in Cambodia since 2014, has not been seen since. He is the ninth exiled critic of Thailand's military and monarchy to become a victim of enforced disappearance in recent years.
A popular and colourful character, Wanchalearm's activism started more than a decade ago, primarily focusing on gender and LGBT rights in Thailand. Over time, his interest started to shift to broader calls for democracy in the country, says Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch Asia and friend of Wanchalearm.
By the time of the 2014 military coup led by General Prayuth Chan-ocha, Wanchalearm was affiliated with the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), also known as the Red Shirts. The group was first formed in 2006 to oppose an earlier military coup which overthrew then prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Wanchalearm was angered by what he saw as yet another affront to democracy by the military in 2014. The new junta wasted little time in rooting out its critics.
Soon after the coup, Wanchalearm's face appeared on TV and he was called to attend a meeting at a military camp, Sunai says. He didn't turn up. Wanchalearm knew this meant he needed to flee his homeland and start a new life in Cambodia.
Once in Phnom Penh, Wanchalearm settled into his new surroundings. But while he had swapped the dangers of Thailand for relative safety in the leafy outskirts of the Cambodian capital, he was still building up an online following in his homeland through his witty takedowns of the Thai government.
"He sees himself as a satirist, almost like a political comedian," Sunai says. "He made fun continuously of the military junta. He made fun of Gen Prayuth, who at that time was leader of the coup group, he made fun of other generals.
"He exposed what he considered to be stupid blunders of the junta using the dialect of north-easterners," he adds. "Most of them are poor and he is from that region. He did it to show that a commoner can make fun of those in power. That seemed to be the way of getting even with the oppressors."
But his playful poking did not go unnoticed.
In June 2018, Thai authorities issued an arrest warrant for Wanchalearm based on allegations he violated the Computer-Related Crime Act - which criminalises writing that incites unrest - through his Facebook page. The police vowed to bring him back to Thailand.
Wanchalearm was just one of many Thai exiles speaking out from the perceived safety of a neighbouring country. But in reality, doing so is becoming increasingly perilous.
At least eight other pro-democracy activists have disappeared since the 2014 coup.
The bodies of exiled critics Chatcharn Buppawan and Kraidej Luelert were found disembowelled and stuffed with concrete along the Mekong River border with Laos last year. The Thai army says it had no knowledge of what had happened. Jakrapob Penkair, who served as government spokesman under Thaksin Shinawatra, has been living in exile since 2009 after he says he received a tip-off that he was to be killed. He has known Wanchalearm for many years.
Speaking to the BBC from an undisclosed location, Jakrapob says he was shocked by his friend's disappearance due to the light-hearted nature of his activism. He sees almost no chance that Wanchalearm is still alive.
"I think the message is: 'Let's kill these folks. These are outsiders, these are people who are different from us and they should be killed in order to bring Thailand back to normalcy,'" he says.
"But nothing could be more wrong in that interpretation. I believe their decision to kidnap and murder Tar, and others before him, has been subconsciously radicalising the people.
"Like it or not, I think Tar's disappearance and his murder could be a turning point."
Wanchalearm's disappearance sparked protests in Bangkok, with demonstrators accusing the Thai government of involvement, while demanding the Cambodian government investigate the case fully. Posters of Wanchalearm and other disappeared activists have been cropping up around the city.
#SaveWanchalearm was trending on Thai Twitter in the days following his abduction.
The hashtag "#abolish112" was also written or retweeted more than 450,000 times. This is a reference to Article 112 of Thailand's criminal code, which states: "Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, Queen, Heir-Apparent or Regent shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years".
Some of the disappeared dissidents were accused of violating the article. Any public questioning of the monarchy in Thailand was until recently almost unheard of.
Many activists believe this abduction is linked to the palace, but the strict laws against any negative comment on the monarchy make this a dangerous link to explore or investigate.
Despite widespread outrage over the kidnapping of Wanchalearm, few are holding out much hope for his return.
"The abduction is not for money, it's not a private matter. There is no need to keep him alive," says Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, a prominent activist who served seven years in jail on charges of lese majeste - or "insulting the monarchy" - and defamation.
"The objective of kidnapping is to kill him and to create the atmosphere of fear in Thailand and other countries where [Thai] people are active in criticising the monarchy," adds Somyot, whose daughter was once in a long-term relationship with Wanchalearm.
Somyot was in little doubt as to who was behind the disappearance.
"The government knows very well about this kidnap and disappearance. I can insist that the government are the ones behind this violation," he says.
Thai government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat told the BBC: "We have no idea what happened to him.
"We don't do anything in that category of invading into other countries. They have their own law and control," she said.
"The person who can answer that question best should be the government of Cambodia because they know what happened in that country to this person."
In response to questions raised by opposition politicians in parliament, Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said that Wanchalearm did not have political refugee status, so Thailand had to wait for Cambodia to finish its investigation.
The spokesman of the Cambodian interior ministry did not respond to requests for comment. A justice ministry spokesman told Voice of Democracy last week that investigations are under way to ascertain "whether the news is true or not".
Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said: "Cambodia and Laos have obviously decided to look the other way as now nine prominent Thai exiles have been abducted, and likely killed, by unknown men."
The Thai government is pursuing a "quid pro quo" with its two neighbours, he said, accusing Bangkok of making Thailand "off limits" to Cambodian opposition figures.
"You can be sure there will be more refugees on the chopping block unless governments around the world start publicly demanding answers and accountability from leaders of these three rights abusing governments," he said.
Sunai Phasuk says Cambodia must investigate fully what has happened to Wanchalearm if it expects to be seen as a country that has "improved from a lawless society into a country with due process".
"A crime like this cannot happen in broad daylight. This is a test case for Cambodia," he says.
But Sitanan has little hope of ever seeing Wanchalearm alive again and is just trying to make sense of why someone would want to kill her younger brother.
"I want to know if someone has his own opinion, does he need to be so severely punished?" she asks.
"He didn't rob anyone, he didn't rape anyone. He just thinks differently. Do you really need to kill him?"
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Mar 25, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 14, 2021
- Event Description
A Siem Reap-based journalist says he fears he is being targeted by illegal loggers after being beaten at night as he slept in a hammock outside Beng Mealea temple.
Pran Sean, the publisher of Anachak Khmer, a digital news outlet and quarterly newspaper, said he was driving a car to his home after covering news in Preah Vihear province on Sunday when he became tired and decided to sleep outside the temple in Siem Reap’s Svay Loeu district.
“I was too tired and started to tie up a hammock to rest. Later, around 12 o’clock, two men came out of the forest and attacked me,” Sean said.
A cut on his head required 20 stitches, and the attackers broke two of his teeth, he said.
Sean said he thought the attack was premeditated, and retribution for writing articles about illegal timber trading. “As a journalist, I write a lot of information related to crimes,” he said.
Svay Loeu district police chief Sun Eng said police were working on the case.
“It is difficult, brother. The victim went to sleep in the middle of the forest,” Eng said. “So far, we have not yet identified or arrested any suspects. All in all, we are monitoring and investigating.”
Cambodian Journalists Alliance executive director Nop Vy said he hoped the attackers would be found, as journalists in the country often faced the risk of violence.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 17, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 4, 2021
- Event Description
Security guards blocked some protesters outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court from buying breakfast, and told a street vendor of noodles, meatball soup, pork and rice to not sell to them, the protesters alleged on Thursday while rallying on an empty stomach.
Mey Sophorn, 41, and Dos Kimteav, 43, sat in the shade around the corner from City Mall, across the street from the court, around 10 a.m. on Thursday. Kimteav appeared dejected, while Sophorn’s face was hidden behind a surgical mask. They still had not eaten, they said.
“The food vendor would not dare to sell to us,” said Sophorn. “We felt hurt. We had money.”
Just before 8 a.m., the pair, among demonstrators calling for the release of jailed opposition members, initially tried to approach the street seller, stationed outside the mall on Charles de Gaulle Blvd., but was rebuffed by guards, Sophorn said.
“The security guards said that if we didn’t leave, they would stop them from selling,” she added
Kimteav said the guards had argued that the breakfast could turn into a larger gathering of protesters if they sat down around the seller.
One guard then approached the cart, allegedly telling the vendor and her two assistants, “Don’t sell it, don’t sell it, be careful, be careful of not being allowed to sell here,” according to Kimteav.
In recent months, guards have increasingly prohibited gatherings near the court, including confining protesters and journalists to the nearby Olympic Stadium grounds during prominent trial dates.
When VOD arrived at the scene around 10 a.m., five security guards sat on plastic chairs around the vendor eating, and this reporter was also able to order pork and rice with a fried egg.
The street vendor later acknowledged that a guard had spoken to her. If she sold to the women and the women caused trouble, she wouldn’t be allowed to continue her business, the vendor said she was told. The vendor declined to give her name or further details, saying she was afraid she would face problems.
It could not be ascertained for which institution the allegedly breakfast-blocking guards worked.
Chan Rithy, Phnom Penh’s chief of municipal security guards, said he had no information about Thursday’s enforcement. Prampi Makara district governor Lim Sophea and deputy governor Chea Sotheara said they were too busy to comment.
Phnom Penh City Hall spokesperson Met Measpheakdey, however, said he would look into the case. He said he needed more time to find out if the allegations were true.
“I will research and ask them if there was such a case or not, so I can comment,” Measpheakdey said on Thursday.
Reached on Friday, the spokesperson said he had checked with local authorities and none had reported the incident described by the two protesters, although Measpheakdey did not specify which authorities he asked about the alleged breakfast ban.
“There is no such case. I do not know which security guards would have led them to make these claims. No one forbids anyone to eat. It seems wrong,” he said.
Am Sam Ath, monitoring manager for human rights group Licadho, said that if the protesters’ account was accurate, the actions of a couple of guards could tarnish the image of authorities as a whole.
“There is no right to ban anyone from selling or eating,” he said. “There can be no ban on eating.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 9, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 7, 2021
- Event Description
The winner of the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize Ouch Leng and four other forestry activists were sent to Kratie Provincial Court yesterday after being accused of putting signs up in a protected area.
On Friday, Leng, Heng Sros, Man Muth, Heng Run and Phong Cheang hung up signs in Prey Lang forest saying: “Please help preserve our ancestral heritage forest”.
Human rights Adhoc senior investigator Soeng Sen Karuna said yesterday if activists enter the forest just to monitor, gather information and hang signs to protect against deforestation, the authorities should not arrest them.
“Environment officials should take action on bad people who go into the forest, but not the activists who just want to prevent deforestation,” he claimed.
“According to the forest law, it will be implemented on people who commit crimes such as the destruction of natural resources, deforestation or killing wildlife,” he said.
Sen Karuna added that the leadership should intervene in this matter and not allow officials to take such action against activists who assist the government in preventing and protecting natural resources in Cambodia.
“Arresting an activist who uses their rights to protect the forests is not right and could be criticised by the international community, plus it is an opportunity for bad people to continue to destroy the forest,” he said.
Choub Sreynuth, wife of Sros, said she has asked the authorities to release her husband and the other activists.
“The activists only participated in protecting natural resources, but they have been arrested like they are perpetrators,” she said.
The provincial Environment Department director Duong Chhay Savuth said that according to Article 11 of the protected area law, all entry and exit to protected areas must be authorised.
He said the five activists went into Prey Lang wildlife sanctuary without asking permission. “The officials detained them for questioning for 48 hours on Friday, and sent them to the provincial court yesterday,” Savuth said.
Prosecutor Keo Socheat said yesterday the five activists are being detained and will be questioned further today.
Ministry of Environment spokesman Neth Pheaktra said yesterday, park rangers are judicial police officers who have the duty to protect and conserve natural resources in accordance with the law in preventing and suppressing illegal activities that take place in the protected area. No matter who the person is, if the rangers find that the act is not in accordance with the law, they must comply with the law.
“The suspects’ response stated that they were operating in the protected area to take pictures to seek financial support from various donors. This clearly shows the malicious intentions of some groups who take refuge under the label of environmentalists and forest activists who use bad methods to benefit their party and serve a corrupt agenda,” Pheaktra said.
He said that the Ministry of Environment calls on and encourages some donors to provide support to associations and NGOs that are properly registered and encourage law-abiding associations and NGOs.
Pheaktra added that the ministry welcomes the participation of associations and NGOs in the protection and conservation of natural resources, but that they must enter through the legal channels.
Ouch Leng, the working group leader of the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force was selected as the winner of The Goldman Environmental Prize 2016, presented by the Gold Fund for Global Environmental Heroes 2016 in San Francisco, United States.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 8, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 7, 2020
- Event Description
Sneha Cheat journalist Keo Hour is arrested by a group of police officers in Kampong Chhnang’s provincial capital af ter Huo interviewed peaceful protestors who had gathered outside the Chieb commune office over a land conf lict earlier in May. He is not told the reason for his arrest. He was subsequently bailed, but the criminal charges remain over his head.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 14, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 21, 2020
- Event Description
A member of the Prey Lang Community Network,a local activist group of volunteer forest rangers that has been risking their lives to peaceably protect the area from illegal logging and large-scale land-grabbing since 2007., is threatened by a known timber trader with political connections while taking photos of illegal timber being transported at night. The trader confiscated the forest activist’s phone and filed a complaint at the district militar y police station demanding compensation for having taken photos of him without permission.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 14, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 9, 2020
- Event Description
Several members of Cambodian youth group Khmer Thavrak including human rights activist Hun Vannak are arrested and held for hours of questioning at the Battambang provincial police station for their involvement in a peaceful protest calling on microfinance institutions (MFIs) and banks to suspend loan repayments among the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. Four monks from different pagodas were also threatened with expulsion from their pagodas for joining the non-violent demonstrations.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, NGO staff, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 14, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 25, 2020
- Event Description
Roughly 40 youth and environmental activists including Natural Resources Protection Group (NRPG) president Chheuy Odorm Reaksmey, the son of murdered environmental activist Chut Wutty, are stopped from gathering in Prey Lang forest to commemorate the anniversar y of Wutty’s death by ten armed environmental rangers and threatened with arrest. The armed men were led by provincial environment department chief Meas Nhoem, as well as the Rovieng deputy district governor and accompanied by local health officials who claimed that the ban was intended to stop the spread of COVID-19. The next day, commander of Intervention Brigade No. 3 Srey Deuk sent 50 soldiers into the forest to search for five environmental activists – Ouch Leng, Khem Sokhy, Srey Thei, Srey Tin and Heng Srar – who had attended the event.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 14, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 13, 2020
- Event Description
A community representative and four CCFC staff are prevented from conducting a training on human rights and farming to a group of 30 villagers in Prey Veng province’s Ba Phnom district. The staff, who were working to set up a community saving group, were threatened with arrest by the deputy commune police chief if they continued with the training.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 14, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 18, 2020
- Event Description
Ten volunteer staff from a local wild life, forests and fisheries protection and conservation organisation are illegally detained by armed forces in Preah Sihanouk province’s Prey Nob district while monitoring sand-dredging activities in the coastal province. Af ter eight months in pre-trial detention, they are handed a suspended sentence of two years in prison.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 14, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 15, 2020
- Event Description
Sok Kin, president of the Building and Wood Workers Trade Union of Cambodia (BWTUC) is harassed by local authorities on the orders of Sen Sok district governor Mouv Manit while conducting a meeting with donors and colleagues at his office in Phnom Penh. Authorities demanded to know the reason for the meeting, accused Kin of not having sought permission from local officials and allegedly urged the union official to join the ruling party.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 14, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 8, 2019
- Event Description
A community representative in Preah Sihanouk province is threatened with arrest by a deputy district police chief af ter more than a hundred people from ten different communities, including six affected by land conf licts across the province, planned to celebrate International Human Rights Day. Members of the communities locked in land disputes had thumbprinted a petition calling on local authorities to find a resolution to the conf licts.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 13, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 4, 2019
- Event Description
A monk living in a forest pagoda in Kampong Speu province is woken by gunshots fired at the temple’s pillars by an unknown shooter. The monk, who had previously joined in environmental activism alongside the Mother Nature movement and worked to protect the wild trees and animals of his forest home, also found a threatening message stuck on a tree warning that there would be no peace if the “bad monk” continued his activism.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 13, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 4, 2019
- Event Description
Community land activist Ther Then is arrested by police in Kampong Thom province’s Stoung district and sent to the provincial prison af ter giving an interview to Radio Free Asia (RFA). The warrant, which accused Then of giving false information to the radio station, was issued following a complaint filed by Korm Saroeurn, former advisor to interior minister Sar Kheng. On March 12, 2019, Ther Then had shared with RFA grievances of local residents with regards to access to water to irrigate their fields.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 13, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 28, 2019
- Event Description
An ADHOC rights worker in Kampong Cham province is threatened over the phone by the commune police chief af ter holding a meeting with 35 local community members to discuss freedom of expression.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 13, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 13, 2019
- Event Description
24-year-old rapper Chhun Dymey is confronted by two police officers in Siem Reap who demand to see his birth certificate, job and family book. Dymey had recently released a song – “This Society” – lashing out at widespread social injustice including corruption, the plight of poor communities and ongoing land disputes. Dymey later took the song down from his social media accounts.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 13, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2019
- Event Description
More than 60 people from four different communities across Kampong Cham province’s Memot district are prevented from celebrating International Women’s Day by Memot district governor Cheng Bunna, who along with commune officials claimed that the communities had not registered their plans with local authorities. A Tunlong community representative is threatened with imprisonment if the celebrations go ahead as planned.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 13, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2019
- Event Description
The Venerable Hor Sokhon, the chief monk of Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov pagoda, is forcibly defrocked by high-ranking officials from the Ministr y of Cults and Religion before a mixed force of more than 50 police officers on the orders of the capital’s governor Khuong Sreng. Sokhon had posted content on social media criticising the government’s failure to retain full tariff-free access to the European Union through the Ever ything but Arms (EBA) trade scheme due to ongoing human rights abuses in Cambodia.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of Religion and Belief, Online, Right to work
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 13, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 29, 2019
- Event Description
Mok Heng and Chhoem Chhuon, village representatives from Kampong Thom province’s Prasat Balangk district, are illegally arrested and beaten by police before being sent for questioning at the provincial station. The two men are forced to thumbprint a document turning their land and threatened with imprisonment should they continue to protest against a 2016 land grab that saw almost 1200 hectares of farmland occupied by 586 families seized and cleared to make way for a World Bank-funded social land concession. Another land representative, Eang Sokmeng, was arrested in June and charged with intentional physical assault.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 13, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 4, 2019
- Event Description
Four community land representatives including Hoam Nai, Rom San, Say Tay and Srok Lang in Tbong Khmum’s Memot district are summoned to the Tonlung commune office for questioning over a long-running land dispute with businessman Chhun Savuth. The four representatives were forced to thumbprint a contract agreeing not to organize community protests or gatherings on penalty of legal action.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 13, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 6, 2020
- Event Description
A spokesman for Cambodia’s Prison Department denied reports that two environmental activists had been attacked and beaten by other inmates after refusing to end a hunger strike launched to commemorate Human Rights Day on Dec. 10.
So Metta and Chhoeun Daravy were assaulted on Dec. 6, four days into their eight-day strike, but resumed their protest immediately afterward, So Metta’s sister Eng Vanndy told RFA on Thursday after visiting her sister in jail.
“Prisoners convicted of murder and drug crimes assaulted them, and she was severely beaten, especially around her face,” Eng Vanndy said, referring to So Metta and adding that her sister and the other woman were separated during the attack.
“I worry for her life. Every time I visit, I never hear good news. I am very sad, and I want to see her released,” Eng Vanndy said.
Prison Department spokesman Nuth Savna denied the two activists had been attacked, saying that So Metta had refused to return to her cell after a break, and that guards had ordered other prisoners to “carry her there.”
“I investigated the incident, and was told that other inmates had carried So Metta back inside her cell because it was time for the cells to be closed,” he said, adding that So Metta had attacked other prisoners herself while they were taking her back to her cell.
Also on Friday, a Cambodian appeals court refused to grant bail to five activists arrested in September after criticizing the government’s handling of a border dispute with Vietnam.
Kean Sothea, the mother of activist Tha Lavy—a member of Khmer Tavarak, the Khmer Student Intelligent League, and arrested with So Metta—urged the government and the courts to free her son, now scheduled for trial on Dec. 30.
“I want the court to release him so he can return to school,” she said.
Freedom of expression
Ny Sokha of the Cambodian rights group Adhoc said he was disappointed by the court’s refusal to grant bail to the activists, saying they had only expressed their views according to the law and had not committed the crimes alleged by the court.
“All we can do is urge the government again and again to consider dropping all charges against these detainees, who are simply human rights and political activists,” he said.
“They were exercising their right to freedom of expression to help society and to criticize the government, based on democratic principles.”
Fifteen wives of jailed members of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) meanwhile resumed their weekly Friday protest outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, calling on the court to free their loved ones.
Police confiscated the protesters’ banners and photos of their husbands and blocked them after they tried to march together to the Embassy of the European Union, but members of the group then went separately to the embassy by taxi.
One woman, the wife of jailed CNRP activist Seng Chanthorn, told RFA that police had shoved and threatened her during their protest, adding that authorities should instead help to protect people who peacefully express their views.
The court should free her husband and all other prisoners detained only for criticizing government actions, she said.
“Even though we were harassed, we will continue to protest to demand they give our husbands back, because they are innocent,” she said.
'They still stand up'
Local rights group LICADHO in a report released this month said the arrest and imprisonment of more than a dozen human rights defenders in the second half of the year had “capped off three years of increasing repression by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of peaceful advocacy and activism.”
But Cambodians across all sectors of the country still stand up to demand their basic rights in the face of repressive laws enforced by government-controlled courts, LICADHO said.
“Many have lost years of their lives to Cambodia’s overcrowded prisons,” the rights group said. “Others have faced physical attacks and life-threatening injuries.”
Reached for comment, government spokesman Phay Siphan slammed LICADHO’s report, saying that Cambodian authorities base their actions in cases like these on the country’s laws, and that LICADHO was only trying to secure more funding from its donors by releasing its report.
“This is just a way for them to get money for staff salaries,” Phay Siphan said.
“These are only LICADHO’s thoughts and recommendations, and there is nothing here that we need to consider. The government enforces the laws, and the courts have the right to make their own decisions on whether to release suspects or not,” he said.
The latest wave of arrests comes three years after CNPR President Kem Sokha was arrested in September 2017 over an alleged plot to overthrow the government with the help of Washington. Cambodia’s Supreme Court banned his party in November that year for its supposed role in the scheme.
The move to dissolve the CNRP marked the beginning of a wider crackdown by Prime Minister Hun Sen on the political opposition, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for his ruling Cambodian People’s Party to win all 125 seats in the country’s July 2018 general election.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 22, 2020
- Event Description
A Cambodian court convicted two rappers and sentenced them to up to a year and a half in prison on Tuesday on charges of incitement over their rhymes about social injustice and loss of sovereign territory.
Yin Srang, a spokesman for the Siem Reap provincial court, told Reuters that rapper Kea Sokun, 23, was found guilty of incitement to commit a felony and sentenced to a year and a half in prison, of which six months were suspended.
Another rapper, Long Putheara, who was 17 when arrested last year, received five months in jail, about six weeks of which was suspended, Yin Srang said.
Their convictions come during a wave of arrests of activists and opponents of the government, which started in July with the detention of a unionist who accused it of ceding land to neighboring Vietnam.
Others held include members of environmental groups, a politician and a Buddhist monk, according to human rights group Licadho, which tracks arrests of dissidents and activists.
Several Western nations have condemned that crackdown as well as treason charges against scores of opposition party supporters, warning that Cambodia's democracy is under threat.
Kea Sokun's father Kea Phal said the conviction of his son was an injustice and the two rap songs - "Khmer Land" and "Sad Race" - had positive meaning.
"The songs were educational and just remind youths to be loving of own nation," Kea Phal told Reuters.
Kea Phal said his son had made no apology during court proceedings because he did nothing wrong.
Lyrics in Khmer Land and Sad Race - which have over 2 million and 700,000 views respectively - say Cambodians are starving and the country is losing territory to its neighbors.
They urge people to stand up against oppression and unite to bring the country greatness.
Cambodia's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the convictions.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 22, 2020
- Event Description
A Kampong Chhnang radio station owner was convicted for incitement on Tuesday and sentenced to 20 months in prison for reporting on an ongoing land dispute between villagers and the military in the province.
Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court presiding judge Y Thavrak found Sok Oudom, owner of Rithysen radio station, guilty of “incitement to commit a felony” and sentenced him to 20 months in prison and 20 million riels, around $5,000, in punitive damages, according to Un Chanthol, a lawyer for the journalist.
The complaint was filed by Nou Samrith, deputy commander of Kampong Chhnang military operation area, for allegedly inciting villagers against the military. The journalist had broadcast a Facebook Live report on a contentious land dispute in Kampong Chhnang province’s Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary, according to Sok Oudom’s wife, Nuth Sovanthou.
Un Chanthol, his lawyer, said the court should not have used the Criminal Code to jail his client, provisions in the Law on the Press could have been used to issue a correction if there was an error in the reportage.
“I think he is a journalist and his profession allows him to speak. But the court judged the opposite,” he said.
Long Sitha, Kampong Chhang court’s spokesperson, and Nou Samrith, the plaintiff, could not be reached for comment.
Oudom often posted stories on the Rithysen Radio News Station Facebook page about land disputes, clashes between people and police, and provincial court cases.
Nuth Sovanthou, 36, said her husband was among a group of journalists who were covering the land issues, but that Sok Oudom was the only one to face legal repercussions.
“It is very unfair and I don’t have any belief in the Cambodian court system,” said Nou Sovanthou, who is a mother of three.
She too questioned why the court did not use the Press Law to decide if her husband had committed a journalistic error.
“Why should we have the Law on the Press if we don’t use it to protect journalists?” she said. “He didn’t hide or incite anything.”
Article 10 of Press Law states that following a civil complaint if a court finds that the publication was false the court may order the press entity to publish a retraction, pay compensation, or publish a retraction.
Chab Sokhun, a villager from Kampong Chhnang’s Teuk Phos district, said Sok Oudom should not be accused or arrested because of his reporting since he didn’t incite people. He speculated that a mention of the provincial governor in the news report could have caused this entire episode.
“He said something affecting the provincial governor. That is why he was arrested,” said Chab Sokhun, who is involved in the land dispute.
Oudom is the third journalist in recent months to be convicted of incitement. The vaguely defined charge is often used to target detractors and critics of Hun Sen and the Cambodian government, rights groups say.
Last month, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced a Cambodian newspaper publisher who made critical comments about Prime Minister Hun Sen on Facebook to 18 months in prison. In October, Sovann Rithy, who founded social media news outlet TVFB, was convicted of incitement and given a suspended sentence.
Ith Sothoeuth, media director at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, said the authorities should not jump to file criminal charges and instead should try to use other ways to get corrective measures.
“The [authorities] should understand the role of journalists in doing their work rather than suing them in court,” she said. “It is another threat to journalists.”
Vann Vichar, 35, a freelance journalist, said the excessive use of incitement charges was a concern, because he was never sure which story would be considered incendiary, pointing out there was little chance of getting a fair verdict in these cases.
“[Incitement charges] are a concern for me because as a journalist I do not know which article can be assessed to be incitement,” said Vann Vichar, who has worked as a journalist for some 10 years.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: independent journalist arrested over false charges for covering alleged land-grabbing on protected areas
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 20, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh broke up yet another protest by more than a dozen wives and relatives of jailed opposition activists Friday, less than a week ahead of a scheduled court hearing for more than 100 of the party’s members and representatives of nongovernmental organizations.
Friday’s protest marked the third time family members of detained activists with the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) gathered in front of the Royal Palace, calling on King Norodom Sihamoni to grant clemency to their loved ones—most of whom have been jailed on “incitement” charges after expressing views critical of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s leadership.
The “Friday Wives,” as they are increasingly referred to, have held weekly demonstrations in the capital demanding that they be freed.
However, before the protesters could deliver a petition to representatives of the king, around 50 security personnel from Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district violently dispersed them, pushing them and threatening them with arrest. The authorities also used loudspeakers to denounce local rights groups and the United Nations Human Rights Organization (UNHCR), who they accused—without presenting evidence—of facilitating the protest.
Ouk Chanthy, the wife of CNRP member Yim Sareth, told RFA’s Khmer Service that authorities kicked her in the leg during the confrontation, leaving her unable to walk.
She said it had been eight months since her husband lost his freedom and that she has been protesting in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for his release, insisting that he committed no crime. She added that she has suffered both mentally and physically after being violently dispersed by the authorities during several protests.
Ouk Chanthy said she is very worried about the health of her husband, who suffers from high blood pressure and other ailments.
“I would like to call on national and international organizations, as well as the king, to please help us—we are women!” she said.
“All of us have suffered grave injustice. Since our husbands were incarcerated, the life of each family has deteriorated. Coming out to protest, we never know what we will face. But for the sake of our husbands, for the sake of our families, we must speak out to demand their release.”
Prim Chantha, the wife of CNRP member Kak Komphear, said authorities prohibited her group from shouting on the pretext that it “disturbed the king,” all while the authorities used loudspeakers to disperse people.
“The Phnom Penh Municipality should not have sent district security guards to disperse us violently like this,” she said. “We are women and every day we are like the living dead because they arrested our husbands.”
After being dispersed from the Royal Palace to a stupa in nearby Wat Botum pagoda, the women decided to proceed to the British Embassy to inquire about a past petition calling for London’s intervention. However, the authorities used vehicles and motorbikes to chase them as they walked to the site.
A representative of the embassy told the women that British Ambassador to Cambodia Tina Redshaw was not in her office.
Speaking to RFA, Ny Sokha—a worker with the Cambodian rights group ADHOC—slammed the authorities for their actions on Friday.
“The government, especially state authorities, has failed to guarantee that people enjoy their rights to non-violent protest, in accordance with the principles of human rights,” he said. “We have seen some liberal countries condemn these acts.” Nov. 26 hearing
Friday’s protest comes as the Phnom Penh Municipal Court announced plans to hear cases en masse against more than 100 CNRP members and NGO representatives on Nov. 26.
Political Commentator Meas Nee said the move could indicate that Hun Sen’s government hopes to conclude cases with the opposition and move towards political reconciliation.
Kem Sokha, president of the CNRP, was arrested in September 2017 over an alleged plot to overthrow the government with U.S. help. Cambodia’s Supreme Court banned his party in November that year for its supposed role in the scheme.
The move to dissolve the CNRP marked the beginning of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the political opposition, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for his ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in the country’s July 2018 general election.
“The move by the court occurs at the same time when there are rumors saying that some CNRP officials who don’t apply for political rehabilitation could be automatically granted such political rights by the government so that they could form a new party,” Meas Nee said.
“But we are still waiting to see whether only subordinate-level CNRP officials could be granted such political rehabilitation, leaving the top leaders of the CNRP to be charged so that the two leaders [Kem Sokha and Acting President Sam Rainsy] are divided.”
Another political commentator, Ly Srey Sros, disagreed, however.
“I see it differently—it may be adding further burdens against CNRP supporters,” she said.
“I don’t see that there will any political reconciliation. I don’t believe that there will be many CNRP members able to attend the hearing on Nov. 26. The court may prolong the cases and move to ruling by convicting all these CNRP members.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: “Friday Wives” protest is again dispersed violently by the police, Cambodia: community-based defender injured by security forces during peaceful protest
- Date added
- Nov 24, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 18, 2020
- Event Description
Two community representatives from Koh Kong province have been placed under judicial supervision as hundreds of community members from Sre Ambel district gathered outside the Koh Kong Court of First Instance to call for the charges against their representatives to be dropped. Both women face up to two years in prison if found guilty.
Phav Nherng and Seng Lin had appeared before an investigating judge on charges of defamation and incitement to disturb social security. The women, who will now have to report monthly to district police, appear when summoned by court authorities and will not be able to move house without the court’s permission, represent almost two hundred families who have had hundreds of hectares of vital farmland seized by the Heng Huy Agriculture Group since 2008 to make way for a sugar plantation.
Both representatives were the target of a complaint launched by former community representative Chhay Vy. Vy’s brother, the late commune chief, was accused by the three women in 2019 of having seized land for himself during the unresolved land dispute. Another woman, Khorn Phun, had also been summoned for questioning over defamation charges. However, judicial supervision is not applicable for this charge.
Ten more community representatives have been put under judicial supervision in connection with the Heng Huy land dispute in the past two weeks alone.
Chhay Vy, a former representative of “Community 175,” a group of villagers in a land dispute with the Heng Huy sugar plantation, accused three residents of incitement and defamation over claims that she was working to sell the community’s land.
After a hearing on Wednesday morning, the Koh Kong Provincial Court placed two of the defendants under court supervision, prohibiting them from changing residences and requiring them to check in with district authorities once a month, according to a monitor at rights group Licadho.
About 200 protesters from six communities gathered outside the court for the hearing.
“She stole the land — I have both witnesses and evidence,” said Pao Nherng, from Sre Ambel district’s Chi Khor Krom commune.
A group of villagers filed a complaint about Vy to Interior Minister Sar Kheng last year.
Vy responded on Wednesday that she had not sold any community land, and demanded that her accusers present concrete evidence.
“If I do not see the evidence of what they have accused me of, I want them to pay me $20,000 and go to jail for five years,” Vy told VOD.
The three defendants in the case are Nherng, Sen Lin and Khon Phon. Nherng and Lin were placed under court supervision.
Licadho’s Koh Kong provincial coordinator, Hour In, said all three were questioned by judges on Wednesday.
“It is a threat to break the spirit of the people from protesting,” In said.
The court issued a statement saying that Wednesday’s case was unrelated to land disputes.
However, a separate case involving the same sugar plantation was heard at the court the previous day on Tuesday.
The case was brought by Heng Huy against 10 land disputants, five of whom were placed under court supervision on Tuesday. The five others were put under court supervision last week.
Dek Hour, one of the defendants, said the 10 were also accused of incitement and defamation.
The dispute between villagers and Heng Huy is long-standing, with villagers saying land encroachment started in 2007. Villagers were also summoned to court last year for incitement and defamation.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 24, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 11, 2020
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted newspaper publisher Ros Sokhet and handed him an 18-month prison sentence on Wednesday, five months after he was arrested for Facebook posts criticizing Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Ros Sokhet, the publisher of the “Cheat Khmer” newspaper, was arrested on June 25 for critical Facebook posts about Prime Minister Hun Sen, accusing him of not helping people affected by indebtedness.
Sam Sokong, Ros Sokhet’s lawyer, said the newspaper publisher had been convicted for incitement and sentenced under Article 494 and 495 of the Cambodian Criminal Code. He was also asked to pay a $500 fine.
“He was sentenced for 18 months in prison and a fine of two million Riel,” Sam Sokong said.
Sam Sokong said Ros Sokhet had asked him to appeal the decision on the grounds that the Facebook posts were his personal opinions and that the conviction affected his freedom of expression.
According to rights groups, Ros Sokhet was arrested for two posts addressing Prime Minister Hun Sen’s succession plans and rising indebtedness among Cambodian households.
Ros Sokhet is the second journalist in the last month to be convicted for incitement, a vaguely-defined charge often used to target detractors and critics of Hun Sen and the Cambodian government. In October, Sovann Rithy, who founded social media news outlet TVFB, was convicted for incitement and given a suspended sentence under Article 494 and 495 of the Cambodian Criminal Code.
Sovann Rithy was arrested in early April and charged with incitement after he reported comments made by Hun Sen at a National Assembly press conference. The prime minister had said that informal workers, including motorcycle taxi drivers, should sell their vehicles to buy rice because the government could not help them during the COVID-19 economic downturn.
Shortly after, Sovann Rithy posted a photo of a motorcycle driver on Facebook, with the accompanying text: “If the moto-taxi driver is bankrupt, they can sell their moto because the government is unable to help.”
Radio station owner Sok Oudom, who runs Rithysen Radio News Station, was also tried last week for allegedly inciting villagers against the military, in a long-standing dispute in Kampong Chhnang province. Sok Oudom faces similar charges to Sovann Rithy and Ros Sokhet and his verdict is due on November 17.
Rights groups have criticized the Cambodian government for its frequent use of the incitement legal provision to curtail press freedom. Activists say these arrests and convictions send an ominous message to independent news outlets and reporters.
Ith Sothoeuth, media director at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, said the recent conviction of two journalists sends a threatening message to journalists working on controversial stories.
“I think the sustained conviction of journalists can be a threatening signal to other journalists who are doing their work,” he said.
A statement released on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists earlier this month called for an end to attacks on free expression and protection of journalists critical of the Cambodian government.
The statement, released by more than 50 local and international groups, listed at least 13 journalists who have faced court complaints for their news coverage and the revocation of four media licenses during the coronavirus pandemic for the alleged sharing of fake news.
“In the past years, the Cambodian government adopted a series of repressive laws that have enabled a crackdown on independent media and social media and resorted to provisions in the penal code – in particular articles 494 and 495 – to silence critical reporting and its reporters,” read the statement, referring to the criminal code provisions on incitement.
In an ongoing media crackdown that started after the 2017 commune election, independent newspaper The Cambodia Daily was closed for alleged tax violations and The Phnom Penh Post was sold to a Malaysian investor with links to Prime Minister Hun Sen. Also, two former Radio Free Asia reporters were charged with espionage and two former Cambodia Daily reporters are awaiting trial for alleged incitement over a 2017 election story.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 15, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 23, 2020
- Event Description
Mixed security forces violently broke up a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh to mark the signing of the Paris Peace Agreement, with two former Cambodia National Rescue Party officials being detained on Thursday to prevent their attendance.
The protest was called by senior leadership of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party to mark the 29th anniversary of the Peace Paris Agreement and to protest against China’s potential military presence in Cambodia.
About 30 protestors gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in the capital’s Chamkarmon district, where they were met by dozens of district security guards, uniformed police, and plainclothes security personnel.
“People who protest here with the banners, please leave this area in five minutes,” said an official on a loudspeaker. “If you don’t, we will use administrative measures.”
Protestors continued their protest and called for China to respect the peace agreement and refrain from having a military presence on Cambodian soil. Security personnel then started to drag and carry protestors away from outside the embassy, with these images and videos broadcast on social media platforms.
Three women were dragged onto the back of a flatbed truck used by district guards and another woman was carried away.
The Chinese Embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
Former CNRP members were also marking the peace agreement anniversary in different cities across the world, with Prime Minister Hun Sen warning Cambodians not to protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh.
The protestors were reacting to an increasing number of reports suggesting that Cambodia had allegedly signed a secret deal with China to allow a military presence at two likely locations: Ream Naval Base in Preah Sihanouk province and the Dara Sakor Resort in Koh Kong province.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director at rights group Licadho, said the government’s actions had effectively forbidden people from assembling and expressing their views.
“It has become involved with politics now. It affects the freedom of assembly and peaceful protests,” he said.
On Thursday, two former CNRP members were detained and prevented from participating in the protest outside the Chinese Embassy. Vann Sophat was detained by Tbong Khmum police officials at noon, without a warrant, and questioned till 5 p.m., he said. He was released only after signing an agreement promising to not partake in the protest.
“I just wanted to protest, and not start a coup to topple anyone,” he said. “We want people to understand about the Paris Peace Agreement on October 23.”
Vann Sophat was one of seven former opposition officials who was convicted by Tbong Khmum court last month and given a five-year suspended sentence. They were charged with “plotting” to overthrow the government and the case was linked to Sam Rainsy’s unsuccessful return to Cambodia in November 2019.
His former CNRP colleague, Sou Yean, was also detained by Tbong Khmum police on Thursday and remains in detention, according to his family.
Hong Kim Hoeun, Memot district police chief, said he was on a two-day mission to Preah Sihanouk province and refused to comment on the detention.
Pen Rath, Tbong Khmum provincial police head, and court spokespersons could not be reached for comment on Friday.
In a joint statement, journalists’ association CamboJA and the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, VOD’s parent organization, said at least six journalists had been “intimidated and threatened” at the rally.
They were told to give up their phones, stop shooting live video or had their camera taken away, the statement said.
Journalist Gerry Flynn said he was covering the protest for Thmey Thmey on Friday, and was being pushed back from observing the protesters when a walkie-talkie hit him in the face.
He turned around and an officer yelled at him, he said. A U.N. observer at the scene intervened, and told him that the guard had shouted, “Better watch out because you’re in the land of Cambodians,” Flynn said.
A freelance cameraman he was with also had his lens grabbed, and authorities tried to get into the cameraman’s bag, Flynn added.
Khan Leakhena, a VOD reporter, said she saw a protester fall on the sidewalk, and pulled out her phone to take pictures. A man in civilian clothes approached her, shouting and ordering her to stop shooting, and tried to grab the phone from her, Leakhena said.
Mech Dara, another VOD reporter, said he and several other reporters were repeatedly ordered to stop filming, including a journalist working for Reuters.
An Asia spokesperson for Reuters declined to comment. The Khmer Times has not responded to emailed questions. The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also did not respond to questions.
Chanyada, the deputy governor, on Saturday denied knowledge of the incidents and referred questions to the City Hall spokesperson.
City Hall spokesperson Met Measpheakdey said he did not know the details of what happened on Friday and did not answer questions about the deputy governor being personally involved in the harassment.
“Generally, I can say that journalists have the right and ability to take pictures if it doesn’t affect or block authorities from implementing their duties,” Measpheakdey said.
CCIM’s media director, Ith Sothoeuth, said the work of journalists was supposed to be guaranteed under law. “These threats will further pressure and restrict the freedom of journalists in Cambodia.”
Nop Vy, CamboJA’s executive director, said the authorities’ actions were “unacceptable.”
“This is a sign of unacceptable intimidation as journalists were fulfilling their professional work,” said Vy, who was CCIM’s previous media director. “Authorities likely consider journalists to be an important observer who make it difficult for them to crack down on protesters.”
According to the Criminal Code, extortion — the act or attempt to obtain any asset by violence, threat of violence or coercion — is punishable by two to five years in jail.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: community-based defenders forcibly dispersed during a protest, media workers threatened
- Date added
- Nov 1, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 20, 2020
- Event Description
On 20 October 2020, the Court of Appeal in Phnom Penh denied the bail motion against the detention of three human rights defenders from Mother Nature Cambodia; Thun Ratha, Long Kunthea and Phoung Keorasmey. They were charged with “incitement to commit a felony or social unrest” on 6 September 2020. The charge is based on information they shared on social media about their plans to organise a one-woman march to the Prime Minister’s house to raise environmental concerns over the filling in of the Boeung Tamoke lake in Phnom Penh. The defenders are currently under pre-trial detention at Phnom Penh's Correctional Centres 1 and 2.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Nov 1, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 28, 2020
- Event Description
Four local online news journalists were attacked on September 28 by a group of men who they say were timber traders seeking revenge after the reporters had singled them out to police for committing forestry crimes.
The group of reporters from PMN news, Chakrapop news and Eysan Post filed a complaint at the Memot district police station in Tbong Khmum province against several suspects who they say threw a log through the window of their car and beat them with sticks and axes, injuring two.
Memot District Police Chief Hong Kim Hoeun confirmed receipt of the journalists’ complaint.
“Yes, we have received it and [we] are working on that case,” he said before declining to comment further.
One victim, Ren Samnang, a reporter at PMN news, said he was asleep in his car along with Muok Saren from Chakrapop news, and Ran Khorn and Teng Norin from Eysan Post news, when the attack occurred.
“I was traveling from Snoul district to Phnom Penh and upon arriving in Memot district, we pulled over to take some rest and fell asleep,” said Samnang, 29.
“We were sleeping [in the car] for about an hour when at about 12:30am, we heard a sound hitting the car,” Samnang said.
Upon realizing that someone had hurled a log through the front driver’s side window, he started the engine and began to drive away.
The group of about five suspects then returned to their truck to chase after the journalists, eventually crashing into their car and running it off the side of the road.
“I jumped out of the car and started to run away,” he said, adding that the log thrown through the window had injured his left rib, and that the timber traders had also smashed off one of the vehicle’s mirrors and dented the exterior.
Samang said he had recognized the attackers and realized the assault was in retaliation to the journalists’ investigation of forest crimes in the area. On September 26, the group had reported an incident of illegal logging to military police in Memot district, which resulted in the officials stopping a truck transporting timber through the area.
He said the journalists were present to report on the case when military police stopped the vehicle, but that the four or five men on board had gotten away.
“[Before running], the driver took a picture and said ‘Either your car will be damaged or we will cause you harm,’” Samnang recalled.
“I think that they wanted to kill us,” he added.
He called on police to take legal action and arrest the suspects so that they would not repeat their crime in the future.
Saren said his leg was slightly injured in the attack, and echoed Samnang’s assertion that the attackers were part of the group of timber traders that they had encountered two days prior.
“They [suspects] came to beat us up without even asking us anything and damaged our car,” he said.
“I think that it is a threat to all journalists not to report [forestry] crimes in the future,” Saren said, emphasizing that the attack would not deter his future work.
Sar Sina, director of the provincial information department said September 29 that his department has already forwarded the case to the Information Ministry.
“Police are working on that case, we have not yet investigated it,” he said, adding that those journalists had filed a complaint with the district police.
“It is a violent act that should not happen to journalists,” Sina said.
Nop Vy, executive director at Cambodian Journalists Alliance (CamboJA), said he was disappointed in the use of violence against the journalists, noting that reporters play an important role in monitoring and preventing illegal acts, including forestry crimes.
“We know that forestry crimes are continuing to happen, and some cases involve local authorities and people who are powerful and rich,” he said.
“It is dangerous and risky for journalists, so I think that local authorities have to take effective legal measures to arrest the culprits,” Vy said, adding that if authorities decline to take legal action, it will encourage the suspects and they may even attack other journalists in the future.
Vy said that the persecution of journalists “is a serious threat to their life and personal safety.”
In a separate case in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district, Kouy Piseth, 24, a reporter for CBN TV Online, died in a traffic accident in the early hour of September 29.
Theng Kosal, Choamchao III commune chief, clarified that the death was caused by a road collision, and was not a murder, as public people had originally suspected.
The victim had driven his motorbike very fast up a hill and had been thrown off, hitting his head on a rock on the ground, Kosal said.
“It is not a murder case, but it was a traffic accident he caused himself,” the commune chief said, explaining that police were initially unsure because the body was found 40 meters away from the victim’s motorbike.
CBN TV Online General Director Chhai Sochet said he had not seen Piseth since the reporter had left the office at about 11:30pm, and that he was saddened to hear of his death.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 7, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 30, 2020
- Event Description
Four Koh Kong villagers were detained for about 12 hours after camping outside the provincial hall in a group of about 60 land protesters since Monday, they said.
The group say they are in a 12-year-long dispute with the Union Development Group, or UDG, which has been developing the $3.8-billion Dara Sakor tourism resort in the province. The villagers said they were calling on the provincial administration to act on the case.
Chhay Kimthuch, one of the protesters camping outside the hall, said four villagers had been detained in the dark at about 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday after dozens of officers arrived to disperse the encampment.
“The authorities arrived quietly and grabbed [people] in the tents,” she said.
The four villagers, including a village representative, Preab Roatha, were held at Khemara Phoumin city police headquarters until their release around 3 p.m., Kimthuch said.
Saing Puy, from Koh Sdach commune, added that the tents outside the provincial hall were removed and authorities said they would not be allowed to stay there.
“The Koh Kong provincial authority should not have done this to the people,” she said.
Deputy provincial governor Sok Sothy told VOD that there were no arrests; authorities simply took an administrative measure to maintain public order.
The four villagers were “questioned to note down what their real intentions were in coming,” Sothy said.
UDG’s 45,000-hectare overall economic land concession, granted in 2008 and 2011, pushed families to abandon and dismantle more than 1,500 homes on 10,000 hectares of land, according to a 2012 report from the Community Legal Education Center.
Last month, the U.S. sanctioned the Chinese-owned company, alleging it “used Cambodian military forces to intimidate local villagers and to clear out land necessary for UDG to build the Dara Sakor project.” It also suggested that the resort could be converted to host military assets.
Cambodian officials and UDG have denied the claims.
Hour In, provincial coordinator for rights group Licadho, said people who had lost land were being further victimized by the suppression of protests.
“People became victims of losing land, and when they protested, they became victims even more because of the authorities’ actions,” In said.
Provincial governor Mithona Phouthorng said provincial officials and the Land Management Ministry were studying the dispute to clearly identify the people involved and make other clarifications in order to move toward a solution.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 7, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 21, 2020
- Event Description
Prime Minister Hun Sen urged the country to commit to protecting peace as hundreds of land disputants protested in Phnom Penh on Monday, saying that while they remain marginalized, threatened and “in tears,” the people don’t have peace.
Land protesters from the provinces of Koh Kong, Preah Sihanouk, Svay Rieng and Tbong Khmum blocked traffic in front of the Land Management Ministry for at least 20 minutes, with reporters estimating that as many as 1,100 people participated in the demonstration.
About 50 police officers and district security guards prevented the protesters from entering the ministry’s compound, and pushed them to the opposite side of the road. The protesters were later blocked from marching to Hun Sen’s house.
Sam Chamnan, from Tbong Khmum, said people in his village had lost community land to Harmony Win Investment over the past decade. Men Davy, from Svay Rieng, said she represented 152 families locked in a dispute with a Chinese company since 2014. Kan Chhorn, from Koh Kong, said his Sre Ambel district villagers had no land left to farm after 10 years fighting with a sugar plantation.
The villagers chose the International Day of Peace to protest so the government could finally fulfill its promise to bring peace to the country by resolving their disputes, Chamnan said.
But rather than peace, land protesters had been experiencing only arrests and threats, he said. “We have no rights,” Chamnan added.
Davy said it was time for the government to act rather than simply repeat the word “peace.”
“Today, I think Samdech will find a solution for people, in order to make our country have peace as it was promised,” she said, using an honorific for Hun Sen. “We think there’s no peace. There is only peace in their mouths because people are still in tears in all the provinces.”
Chhorn said he didn’t want to have to protest. “I am poor. … If I were rich, I wouldn’t come,” he said. “I’m a farmer but I don’t have the land to grow crops.”
City Hall spokesperson Met Measpheakdey said authorities had prevented people from marching to maintain public order and avoid traffic jams.
“They shouldn’t need to gather and disrupt public order” if the aim was simply to submit petitions, he said.
Meanwhile, to mark the International Day of Peace, Hun Sen recalled the country’s past struggles and said only peace could be the foundation for development.
“If we lose peace, we will lose everything. … Commit strongly to protecting the peace that we’ve just achieved,” he said in a letter issued on Saturday. “Endure, be strong and remain intact forever. Do not allow any reactionary force to destroy it at any cost.”
Acknowledging the economic challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hun Sen said his two priorities were maintaining stability in politics and the microfinance sector.
The country’s microfinance debt hit $7.3 billion in June to more than 2 million borrowers, according to the Cambodia Microfinance Association, with an average microloan size of $3,804 that researchers have said is the highest in the world.
“The great achievements that Cambodia has achieved have never been applauded or praised by some superpowers and Western countries, which have a specific agenda to use Cambodia as a stepping stone to serve their political ambitions,” Hun Sen continued in his letter.
In a statement issued on Monday while protests were ongoing, the Land Management Ministry said about 800 disputants from Koh Kong had no legal basis for their complaints, rejecting their petition for intervention in disputes with sugar plantations Heng Huy, Koh Kong Plantation and Koh Kong Sugar Industry as well as Chinese-owned tourism resort Union Development Group.
UDG — a massive, $3.8-billion development that spans 45,000 hectares and 20 percent of Cambodia’s coastline — was sanctioned by the U.S. last week over alleged human rights abuses and forced evictions, following accusations that it could be turned into a Chinese military base.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 25, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2020
- Event Description
Environmental group Mother Nature’s founder alleges that the advocacy group’s Facebook page was hijacked after authorities arrested three activists earlier this month, one of whom was a page administrator.
Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported in 2015 and blocked from reentering the country, said he realized the group’s Facebook page was compromised on September 4, when he found an email saying he had been removed as a page administrator.
The Spain-based activist said he received the email at 1:20 a.m. in his local time, one day after three Mother Nature activists were arrested while producing a campaign video to call for lake Boeng Tamok’s conservation. Gonzalez-Davidson said he suspected that the activists were threatened or coerced to give authorities the password to the group’s Facebook page.
He sent a request to Facebook to suspend the page temporarily, as well as the personal pages of the three detained activists, Thun Ratha, Long Kunthea and Phuong Keorasmey, he said.
“I hope that in two or three weeks, I can manage the Mother Nature pages again,” Gonzalez-Davidson said.
Via a public relations representative in Cambodia, Facebook said it had received a request from a human rights actor to suspend the Mother Nature Cambodia page after some members, including a page administrator, were detained by government security officials. The company said it had secured the page under the same procedures it follows when a page is hacked.
Phnom Penh municipal police spokesperson San Sokseyha said he was not familiar with the specifics of the Mother Nature case, but in general the police would confiscate all evidence related to a case, including technology, and then the court has the “right to investigate” the accused persons’ devices.
Chea Pov, the head of the Interior Ministry’s technology crimes department, did not respond to questions.
Gonzalez-Davidson activist also said he had noticed two pages trying to impersonate Mother Nature Cambodia: a page called Father of Nature Cambodia with 1,447 followers, and another called Mother of Nature Cambodia with 708 followers. Both pages, which were started on June 17 and 18, respectively, have profile pictures stylized like Mother Nature’s logo.
Gonzalez-Davidson called the impersonating accounts “crude,” but he said he is hoping the social media company will remove the accounts. The accounts remained active as of Monday morning, but neither had posted since September 1, when both accounts posted the same four nature photos.
Based on archived links in Google searches, the real advocacy group page had more than 353,000 followers, and Gonzalez-Davidson said in a Facebook post that the group’s videos had been seen more than 20 million times over the past four years.
Among its campaigns, the groups’ sustained criticism of sand mining in Koh Kong province for export preceded Cambodia’s decision to ban sand exports for environmental reasons.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to privacy, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 10, 2020
- Event Description
Another activist was arrested in Phnom Penh on Thursday as the U.N., international rights groups and dozens of local civil society organizations condemned the government�s �campaign of fear and repression� against human rights defenders.
Police arrested Muong Sopheak on Sothearos Blvd. in Chamkarmorn district�s Tonle Bassac commune around 3 p.m. by court order for incitement to disturb social security, municipal police spokesperson San Sokseyha said on Friday.
His brother, Muong Sony, said Sopheak had been taken by authorities from outside the minor Khmer Will Party�s headquarters. Sopheak and Sony both belong to the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association, two other members of which were arrested last weekend in relation to protests in support of jailed unionist Rong Chhun.
Sopheak�s arrest marks at least 10 activists arrested over the past month amid a series of small street protests, most in support of Chhun. At least four of those detained were members of youth activist group Khmer Thavrak.
Chhun was arrested in late July after alleging that Cambodia was losing territory to Vietnam along their shared border, a controversial and ethnically charged issue.
In a statement on Friday, the U.N.�s human rights office said it had documented the arrests of 24 human rights defenders since Chhun�s arrest, 12 of whom remained in detention.
Several activists also reported being followed and receiving threatening phone calls, including death threats, it said. �Numerous human rights defenders are currently in hiding for fear of being arrested.�
�The current situation marks a deepening of the Government�s intolerance to dissent and repression of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association,� it said, calling on the government to release the arrested activists and end the intimidation against civil society actors.
Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson also called for the activists� release in a statement on Friday, and urged Prime Minister Hun Sen to �end the de facto ban on critical protests in Phnom Penh.� On Thursday, Amnesty International condemned the arrests as �a shocking, all-out assault on Cambodia�s youth.�
Thirty-nine civil society groups signed a similar statement earlier this week. �We urge the government to end its campaign of fear and repression against peaceful youth and environmental human rights defenders,� they said on Wednesday.
The government�s permanent mission in Geneva this week responded to related criticism from U.N. envoy Rhona Smith.
�Cambodia cherishes freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in line with the law, and is deeply conscious that plurality of voices, including the critical one, matters in the development of the country,� it said in a statement, according to state media outlet Agence Kampuchea Presse. �However, article 31 of the Constitution of Cambodia underscores that exercise of personal rights and freedom by any individual shall not adversely affect rights and freedom of others. The exercise of such rights and freedom shall be in accordance with the law.�
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 3, 2020
- Event Description
Police have targeted seven unions and associations for a �survey� of employees and their documentation, though a police official said the project has been put on hold for now after investigating two of the groups.
Cambodian Independent Teachers Association (CITA) director Ouk Chhayavy said six officers came to investigate her organization on September 3, questioning her about the scope of its work.
�They should not come to ask because we have already submitted [documents] to the Interior Ministry about what sectors we work in,� Chhayavy said on Tuesday. �The goal of the survey is to threaten associations and unions.�
The government appeared to be cracking down on any group that might lead a protest, she said.
Rong Chhun, a unionist and former president of CITA, was arrested in late July over claims he made in a radio interview about Cambodia losing territory to Vietnam along the border. At least nine youth activists have been arrested since, some for protesting in support of Chhun.
Vorn Pao, president of tuk-tuk drivers union Independent Democracy of Informal Economic Association (IDEA), said his organization had been next in line for the survey.
According to Pao and a police document seen by VOD, the seven organizations listed on the survey notice were CITA, IDEA, labor rights group Central, the Cambodian Youth Network, the Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community, and unions the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU). CITA and CATU are the only groups that have been surveyed so far, according to Pao and a timetable on the document.
IDEA was scheduled for an inspection on Monday, but local authorities had delayed the survey, Pao said.
�They said they just want to update the number of Cambodian people, foreigners, workers, employees, and check the director�s documents and other personal documentation for the director � and ask each staff [for documentation],� he said.
He said he did not think the survey was legal. �It causes fear, because the political situation is getting more complicated,� he said.
A deputy Meanchey district police chief, listed as a contact on the survey document, said it was the job of authorities to oversee organizations.
�I instructed the local commune police and commune officials to make a report. � Our unit needs to know the structure of the NGOs, including director, deputy director and how many � we are a controlling unit.�
He added that the survey had been suspended, and hung up without giving his name.
Interior Ministry administration department director-general Prak Samoeun could not be reached for comment.
U.N. human rights special rapporteur Rhona Smith said in a Facebook post that she was monitoring the situation.
�I have also been closely following reports that seven different CSOs have been searched or informed of pending visits by the authorities since last week,� Smith said in the post, which also highlighted the arrests of three environmental activists on incitement charges.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights, Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2020
- Event Description
Young rapper Kea Sokun, 22, was charged with incitement after his arrest on Friday, Siem Reap Provincial Court spokesperson Yin Srang said.
Sokun�s father Phal Kea, told VOD that Sokun had been arrested in relation to his rap song �Dey Khmer,� or Khmer Land.
The song, posted to YouTube in April, has been watched more than 270,000 times.
�If we run out of land, there is nothing left,� Sokun raps. �Listen to me calmly: Wake up, we are heroes, handcuffed to catch thieves. Destroy the exploiters, put them in jail and lock them up. Take our freedom. Don�t be afraid, do not panic.�
Kea said his son, who dropped out of school in the ninth grade, had written the song himself without any influence from political parties.
He had spoken to his son about the police questioning, which focused on who was behind the song, Kea said.
�He said they only asked about the song, who was behind it � which party do you belong to, and which party does it belong to,� Kea said.
Licadho monitoring manager Am Sam Ath said Sokun�s detention came amid a wave of arrests against young activists that could be considered violations of free expression.
�I don�t think anyone should detain him for the song, because this is a work of art,� Sam Ath said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Related Events
- Cambodia: young musician arrested for incitement over a song referring to Government land-grabbing
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 7, 2020
- Event Description
A group of four Khmer Thavrak protesters on Monday believed their tuk-tuk was being tailed by police on motorbikes and asked the driver to make random turns before heading to the U.N.�s human rights office for help. After about five hours, including two at the U.N. office hoping they could get refuge, one of the group was finally arrested outside her Chbar Ampov home, according to a member of the group.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesperson San Sokseyha said on Tuesday that Eng Malai, also known as So Metta, was arrested based on a court order around 6 p.m. Monday in Chbar Ampov district. The court charged Metta with incitement to cause chaos in society, but he did not know if she had been sent to prison.
National Police spokesperson Chhay Kim Khoeun also confirmed that Metta was arrested yesterday evening and that the arrest was made based on a court order.
Metta was the fourth member of youth activism group Khmer Thavrak to be arrested since mid-August, with the group participating in a wave of protests to release unionist Rong Chhun. Chhun was arrested for making comments on the Cambodia-Vietnam border.
The Interior Ministry on Monday called the group�s activities illegal.
When San Sreyneat, a 39-year-old member of Khmer Thavrak, boarded a tuk-tuk with Metta and two other activists on Monday afternoon, she found herself followed by plainclothes officers for half a day leading to Metta�s arrest.
�We could not escape,� she told VOD on Tuesday. �If they want to arrest us, we cannot escape no matter where we go.�
Sreyneat said the group of four hired a tuk-tuk about 1:30 p.m., following Monday�s half-day rally, which was monitored by a crowd of authorities double the size of its protesters. Sreyneat�s group wanted to go home to Chbar Ampov from the Japanese and Chinese Friendship bridges, where protesters dispersed after being blocked by authorities, but she said they were afraid police would follow them home.
�I thought of going back home but when they kept following us, we decided not to go home, because we didn�t want them to know my house and come to disturb us at home,� she said.
Sreyneat said they noticed plainclothes officers were following the tuk-tuk, and activists asked the driver to make random turns in an attempt to throw officers off their tail. She said at least one motorbike followed the tuk-tuk for the entire afternoon, but there appeared to be up to six or seven motorbikes at some moments in their ride.
At one point, one of the four passengers urged the tuk-tuk to stop and asked the officers why they were following them.
The group eventually went to the U.N. human rights office in Chamkarmorn district�s Phsar Doeum Thkov commune, where they spent two hours talking with officials, Sreyneat said.
She said they knew they faced arrest upon leaving and the group asked an official for shelter, but the U.N. official denied the request, saying the development organization wouldn�t want to be accused of colluding with Khmer Thavrak or acting outside its role.
�I asked a U.N. officer to help monitor when we are being followed. I told them that I was being harassed and asked whether I could stay there or not, but they said they couldn�t allow that,� she said.
The U.N. did not respond to a request for comment about the events. Earlier on Monday, its human rights office expressed concern over the reported arrests, and said in an email that they were monitoring developments.
Sreyneat said the group left as the office closed, and when they arrived at the house in Prek Pra commune, Metta was immediately arrested by six plainclothes officers.
�I do not know why they arrested only Metta,� she said. �They think Metta is a leader who is inciting or whatever.�
Sreyneat said she was relatively new to the group, initially just supporting Khmer Thavrak from a distance before joining recent protests. She said she was nervous after being followed and then witnessing her colleague�s arrest, but Sreyneat said it was not enough to deter her.
�I am determined not to panic, and I have persuaded myself to be strong because we have not stolen or robbed anyone. We [campaign] for the nation and only demand justice, freedom and democracy,� she said. �So I have done nothing wrong and if [authorities] think of violating my rights � let them arrest [me] and let them be happy to arrest [me].�
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 7, 2020
- Event Description
Three activists � including a monk � were arrested over two days at a series of small protests ongoing in Phnom Penh, with the Interior Ministry ordering action against two groups �causing chaos in society.�
In a statement released on Monday, the Interior Ministry accused Khmer Thavrak and Mother Nature of inciting instability and disrupting security and public order.
They were �causing chaos in society using social media and some news media to broadcast articles, leaflets, photos and videos as well as holding demonstrations without legal permission,� the statement said. The groups were not registered as an association or NGO with the ministry, it added.
�The Interior Ministry would like to appeal to people to please not participate in the illegal activities of these groups,� it said, ordering relevant authorities to �take action in accordance with the law to guarantee public order and national security.�
They must prevent �all causes of anarchy and chaos in society as all Cambodian people celebrate Pchum Ben,� it said.
Khmer Thavrak has been engaged in a series of protests since last month, sparked by the arrest of unionist Rong Chhun in late July over comments he made alleging that Cambodia was losing land to Vietnam. In August, Khmer Thavrak attempted to march under the banner of �I Love the Nation,� a celebration of �patriotic heroes� arrested for protecting the country�s borders.
Six of its members were arrested last month after protests held in support of Chhun, and two of them, Chhoeun Daravy and Hun Vannak, have been charged with incitement and are still in jail.
A third member, Tha Lavy, was arrested on Monday.
National Police spokesperson Chhay Kim Khoeun confirmed the arrests of Lavy, Mean Prummony, and Koet Saray on Sunday and Monday amid protests in Phnom Penh.
Kim Khoeun said they had staged protests without permission and in violation of Covid-19 public health measures, but the reason for the arrests was that they had endangered national security.
�If it did not affect social security, [authorities] would not have made the arrests,� Kim Khoeun said.
�Their arrests are not related to their demonstration � don�t confuse it. It�s different,� he said, but declined to say what the national security concerns were.
Prummony and Saray � members of another group, the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association � were arrested on Sunday, while Lavy was arrested Monday, he said.
About 50 protesters gathered near Freedom Park in Russei Keo district on Monday around 8:30 a.m. They faced barricades and a force of about 100 officers from police, military police and security guards hired by local authorities.
After verbal exchanges and being pushed away from entering the park, the protesters walked to the U.S. Embassy to submit a petition before returning. Failing again to enter Freedom Park, the small protest disbanded around 1:30 p.m.
So Metta, a Khmer Thavrak activist who participated in the demonstration, said the authorities� actions violated their rights.
�Where is our freedom? This is a public place for people,� Metta said.
Muong Sopheak, a young protester, said the goal was to lead nonviolent demonstrations demanding social justice, and the participants had no intention to incite opposition against the state�s authority.
�I came to express myself peacefully,� Sopheak said.
In a statement on Saturday, Khmer Thavrak said it would protest every day until September 15. �The demonstrations we lead are an exercise of the freedoms stated in the Constitution of Cambodia, which is the nation�s top law,� it said.
Cambodian Center for Human Rights director Chak Sopheap, said the space for freedom was dwindling. Politicians, journalists, human rights defenders, unionists and ordinary people were finding it hard to fulfill their work without fear, she said.
�When people are afraid, there will be less accountability, and Cambodian governance will have no checks and balances,� Sopheap said.
The government should listen to people�s concerns and give them the opportunity to express themselves, she said.
One of the two activists arrested on Sunday, Saray, was a monk and therefore defrocked at Wat Botum ahead of his arrest, said Khim Sorn, Phnom Penh�s chief monk.
Monks may not hold demonstrations, Sorn said.
�When asked, he said holding demonstrations was his principle, and he has to do it, so we need to let him leave the monkhood to become an ordinary person,� he said.
Meanwhile, three activists from Mother Nature, an environment group, were arrested on Thursday amid plans to raise awareness around the conservation of Boeng Tamok, one of the capital�s �last lakes.�
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Online, Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 7, 2020
- Event Description
On 6 and 7 September 2020, three human rights defenders and members of Khmer Thavarak,Koet Saray, Tha Lavy and Eng Malai were arrested by police in Phnom Penh, for planning to takepart in a peaceful demonstration to ask for the release of several imprisoned human rightsdefenders. The three defenders have since been appeared in court,charged with �incitement tocommit a felony or cause social unrest� and moved to Phnom Penh Correctional Centres (CC) 1and 2.Khmer Thavarak is a youth group that was set up in early 2020. The movement advocates againstsocial injustices and raises concerns about pressing environmental issues in Cambodia. They havebeen at the forefront of raising human rights concerns in the country, and have also been reachingout to large audiences through their social media platforms to educate and raise awareness onvarious social issues.On 6 September 2020, Phnom Penh police arrested human rights defender and Buddhist monk,Koet Saray over his plans to participate in a peaceful assembly that was to take place on 7September 2020 at the Freedom Park in Phnom Penh. The demonstration was to call for therelease of imprisoned human rights defender Rong Chhun, and to call for the release of imprisonedmembers of Khmer Thavarak, Hun Vannak and Chhoeun Daravy. Koet Saray was presentedbefore the Phnom Penh court on the same day, where he was charged with �incitement to commita felony or cause social unrest� and later sent to pre-trial detention in Phnom Penh�s CC 1.The following day, on 7 September 2020, two other members of Khmer Thavarak were arrested byPhnom Penh police. Human rights defender Tha Lavy was arrested while exiting a tuk-tuk at theFreedom Park, while he was on his way to the demonstration. Woman human rights defender, EngMalai was arrested on the same evening, after leaving the local Office of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights in Phnom Penh. On 8 September 2020, both defenders werepresented before the Phnom Penh Court, where they were charged with �incitement to commit afelony or cause social unrest� and sent to pre-trial detention, Eng Malai in CC2, and Tha Lavy inCC1.These events closely follow the arrest of three environmental rights defenders, Long Kunthea,Phoung Keorasmey and Thun Ratha of Mother Nature Cambodia, who were also charged withincitement, for planning to organise a one-woman march to the Prime Minister�s residence to raiseawareness about the filling in the Boeung Tamok lake.Following the initial arrest on Monday, the Ministry of Interior released a statement accusing KhmerThavarak of inciting instability and disrupting security and public order, and appealed to the publicto not participate in any of the youth movement�s �illegal� activities. The Ministry called for legalFront Line Defenders is deeply concerned by the progressively hostile environment for humanrights defenders in Cambodia. Front Line Defenders condemns the arrest of human rightsdefenders, Koet Saray, Tha Lavy and woman human rights defender, Eng Malai, as it believes theyare being targeted for their legitimate and peaceful work for the protection of human rights.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2020
- Event Description
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.
They were arrested on Friday, interviewed by the prosecutor and investigating judge at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over the weekend and charged on Sunday with �incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest� under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code, which carries a prison sentence of between six months and two years as well as a fine of up to 4 million riel. Ratha was sent to pre-trial detention in Correctional Centre 1, and Kunthea and Keorasmey were sent to Correctional Centre 2.
In a separate case, authorities on Sunday also arrested two members of the Active Citizens for Justice youth movement, which had organised a gathering at Freedom Park next week to call for the release of imprisoned union leader Rong Chhun.
Venerable Koet Saray, an ordained Buddhist monk, and Mean Prommony, the vice-president of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association, were arrested in Phnom Penh over their plans to gather at Phnom Penh�s Freedom Park and call for the release of union leader Rong Chhun. Chhun was arrested in late July and charged with incitement over remarks he made to a radio station about the Cambodia-Vietnam border.
Phnom Penh Municipal Hall had previously issued a statement prohibiting the planned gathering, claiming organisers would not be able to control the number of attendees and accusing them of �inciting� members of the public to protest. The Active Citizens for Justice announced on Saturday that they would go forward with their planned gathering between September 7 and September 15.
With the arrest of Venerable Koet Saray and Mean Prommony, a total of eight people have been arrested for organising or participating in peaceful demonstrations calling for the release of Rong Chhun. More than 142 civil society groups have called on the government to release Chhun and drop all charges against him.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2020
- Event Description
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.
They were arrested on Friday, interviewed by the prosecutor and investigating judge at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over the weekend and charged on Sunday with �incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest� under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code, which carries a prison sentence of between six months and two years as well as a fine of up to 4 million riel. Ratha was sent to pre-trial detention in Correctional Centre 1, and Kunthea and Keorasmey were sent to Correctional Centre 2.
In a separate case, authorities on Sunday also arrested two members of the Active Citizens for Justice youth movement, which had organised a gathering at Freedom Park next week to call for the release of imprisoned union leader Rong Chhun.
Venerable Koet Saray, an ordained Buddhist monk, and Mean Prommony, the vice-president of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association, were arrested in Phnom Penh over their plans to gather at Phnom Penh�s Freedom Park and call for the release of union leader Rong Chhun. Chhun was arrested in late July and charged with incitement over remarks he made to a radio station about the Cambodia-Vietnam border.
Phnom Penh Municipal Hall had previously issued a statement prohibiting the planned gathering, claiming organisers would not be able to control the number of attendees and accusing them of �inciting� members of the public to protest. The Active Citizens for Justice announced on Saturday that they would go forward with their planned gathering between September 7 and September 15.
With the arrest of Venerable Koet Saray and Mean Prommony, a total of eight people have been arrested for organising or participating in peaceful demonstrations calling for the release of Rong Chhun. More than 142 civil society groups have called on the government to release Chhun and drop all charges against him.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2020
- Event Description
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.
[Woman assaulted by Prampi Makara district security force] Play this video Woman assaulted by Prampi Makara district security force
Seng Chanthorn, the wife of former Kampong Thom provincial council member and Cambodian Independent Teachers� Association unionist Sun Thon, was blocked by Prampi Makara security guards from publicly demonstrating outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday morning alongside a group of wives and relatives of members of the forcibly dissolved opposition party. As a number of security guards grappled with the women, one guard violently threw Chanthorn to the road. She was taken to Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital for treatment and further tests.
Chanthorn�s husband was imprisoned in early June on charges of conspiracy, incitement to commit a felony and inciting military personnel to disobedience. Some of the charges relate to actions allegedly committed as far back as July 2018.
Since early June, family of the imprisoned former opposition members have been dragged, kicked and assaulted during the course of peaceful demonstrations calling for their release. 23 former members of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party remain behind bars.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Related Events
- Cambodia: “Friday Wives” protest is again dispersed violently by the police, Cambodia: community-based defender injured by security forces during peaceful protest
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 3, 2020
- Event Description
Members of the environmental group Mother Nature spent Thursday trying to trace the whereabouts of three of its prominent activists, who were arrested by Phnom Penh police in the middle of producing the group�s latest campaign video.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesperson San Sokseyha confirmed Thursday afternoon that Thun Ratha, Long Kunthea and Phuong Keorasmey had been arrested and detained for questioning. Ratha faced questions over broadcasting without permission from his house, while Kunthea and Keorasmey were arrested for posting news about Boeng Tamok lake, the spokesperson said.
�Our Chbar Ampov police questioned them related to the post that can be seen on the Mother Nature Cambodia page,� he said. �They posted news about the filling up of the lake and so on and they broadcasted and planned to meet leaders at home.�
On Tuesday, Mother Nature�s Facebook page posted that Kunthea planned to march by herself from Wat Phnom to Hun Sen�s house next to Independence Monument from 11 a.m. on Thursday. She wanted to express to the premier her concerns over filling and construction in Tamok lake, one of the last substantial wetlands in Phnom Penh.
Mother Nature founder Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported in 2015 and has been consistently denied re-entry to Cambodia, told VOD he was coordinating with the activists from his home in Barcelona.
He said the group was still trying to piece together details of Kunthea and Keorasmey�s arrest.
The three activists had planned to keep the demonstration to one person in order to avoid causing disruptions to traffic and drawing crowds, either of which might have been considered a disturbance of public order, Gonzalez-Davidson said.
Kunthea, dressed in white, was to walk the route to Hun Sen�s central Phnom Penh estate on her own, with Keorasmey streaming from her phone for the group�s live social media show. Ratha would be broadcasting from a simple studio set up in his home, Gonzalez-Davidson said.
But by the end of the day, all three were in police custody.
Gonzalez-Davidson said he did not know how Kunthea and Keorasmey were arrested, but he had found out that the two women were being held for questioning at the Chbar Ampov district police station.
�You�re sending 20-year-old girls to jail for wanting to meet the prime minister � they�re not even protesting,� he said.
Ratha was arrested at his home in Pur Senchey district�s Choam Chao I commune, he said. Though he was unsure whether officials confiscated any equipment from Ratha, officials left a handwritten, thumb-printed note on the door, saying that the house was closed by authorities for broadcasting news without permission.
�I�ve never seen anything like this,� Gonzalez-Davidson said. �No journalist or activist has been arrested for saying they plan to post things on Facebook.�
The note taped against the house was signed by deputy municipal police chief Bun Soksekha, deputy chief of the municipal information department Chheang Buntha, Phnom Penh municipal court deputy prosecutor Kuch Kimlong and other officials.
Information Ministry spokesperson Meas Sophorn said the ministry had received information about the three arrests, but he declined to give any details, saying authorities were processing the case.
�The ministry has no additional comment on this work since the case is in the procedure of the authorities, and the ministry will continue to follow this case,� he said.
Authorities have taken strict measures against youth protesters in recent months, most recently arresting four activists who were prominent in demonstrations calling for the release of unionist Rong Chhun. Authorities have also thwarted a bicycle tour and a photo exhibition to raise awareness about the conservation of Koh Kong Krao island, as well as memorials and marches for murdered political analyst Kem Ley.
There were not many people left who were willing to voice their criticisms of the government, Gonzalez-Davidson said, but he felt that the arrests were stirring anger among the general public.
�The status quo is changing,� Gonzalez-Davidson said. �Cambodia is becoming more and more of a Stalinist [government], very similar to Laos and approaching North Korea territory in terms of jailing people for posting on Facebook. But that doesn�t mean we will stop talking about it.�
Pat Rasmey, the wife of Ratha, said she believed her spouse�s arrest was due to his social work, and she would make her voice heard too.
�He dares to speak straightforwardly on the current social issues,� she said. �If they do not release my husband, I will protest the next day.�
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 15, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities in Cambodia have arrested a second rapper on charges of “incitement” in days, a court official in the country’s Siem Reap province said Tuesday, after he released songs suggesting that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s lack of leadership had led to economic decline.
Long Puthera, who penned the track “Wipe Your Tears and Continue Your Journey, Khmer Eyes,” was arrested “late last week” and jailed on charges of “incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest” under Article 495 of Cambodia’s Penal Code, Siem Reap Provincial Court spokesperson Chhuon Sopanha told RFA’s Khmer Service.
“The judge ordered him detained on charges of incitement,” he said. “The accused has the right to an attorney.”
The rapper had regularly posted songs on his YouTube page under the name Thxera-Kampuchea and had thousands of followers.
Long Puthera’s acquaintances told RFA that they had been unable to contact his family members since his arrest, as they live in a different province.
The young musician is also friends with fellow rapper Kea Sokun, known for his song “Khmer Land,” which touched a political third rail by criticizing the Cambodian government’s handling of its border dispute with Vietnam.
Kea Sokun was arrested Sept. 4 in Siem Reap province and also charged with incitement after authorities booked his wedding photography business for a pre-wedding photo shoot and took him into custody when he arrived, his brother Chheang Chhat told RFA last week.
Chan Chamroeun, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, told RFA Tuesday that his organization is investigating the two cases and working to provide lawyers to defend the pair of rappers.
He said that the two young men had simply sang songs reflective of current Cambodian social issues and had not breached any laws.
“The authorities should have allowed for their freedom of expression—this freedom is important because it helps the government understand the concerns of the public,” he said.
“The authorities should allow for constructive criticism so that the government can identify loopholes in the system and fix them.”
Wave of arrests
Last week, amid an ongoing wave of arrests of voices critical of Hun Sen’s leadership, Rhona Smith, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Cambodia, wrote in a Facebook post that “the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly are protected by international human rights norms and standards as well as by the Cambodian Constitution.”
She urged authorities to ensure that those arrested are promptly tried and that their due process rights be fully respected.
On Friday the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said it had documented the arrest of 24 human rights campaigners since popular labor leader Rong Chhun, the president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, was taken into custody July 31, including eight in September alone.
While 13 were released after pledging to refrain from further rights activities, 12 remain in detention—most of whom face charges of “incitement to commit felony,” including three environmental activists.
The wave of arrests come three years after opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) President Kem Sokha’s September 2017 arrest over an alleged plot to overthrow the government with the help of Washington. Cambodia’s Supreme Court banned his party in November that year for its supposed role in the scheme.
The move to dissolve the CNRP marked the beginning of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the political opposition, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for his ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in parliament in the country’s July 2018 general election.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 24, 2020
- Event Description
Protesters calling for the release of jailed unionist Rong Chhun were prevented by authorities from marching toward the Japanese Embassy in Phnom Penh on Monday, just days after Japan’s foreign minister met with top Cambodian officials in the capital.
Before the group of about 30 union members, relatives of Chhun and youth activists were stopped, the demonstrators had submitted a petition to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights office in Phnom Penh seeking intervention in the case of Chhun.
The president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions was detained about three weeks ago on a charge of incitement to commit a felony over his comments about border markers between Cambodia and Vietnam.
Em Bunnarith, a unionist who worked alongside Chhun, said the group abandoned its attempt to deliver a petition at Japan’s embassy on Monday because they did not want additional trouble with authorities.
“This obstruction gives a bad image, and an image of the decline of respect for human rights, showing the international community that our Cambodia’s democracy really dropped below zero,” Bunnarith said.
Chhun was arrested late on July 31 and provisionally jailed the following day in relation to statements he made on the alleged loss of Cambodian territory to Vietnam, which officials have denied and called “fake news.” His arrest has triggered a spate of demonstrations, with youth activists arrested and injured during protests before last week’s rescheduled Khmer New Year holiday.
Chamkarmorn district deputy governor Keo Samnang, who led the district authorities’ effort to halt the protesters on Monday, said demonstrators were not banned from submitting a petition to the embassy, but authorities stopped the march because it disturbed public order.
“We wanted them to take tuk-tuks in order to avoid [disturbing] public order and [causing] traffic jams,” he said. “We requested them to take tuk-tuks only.”
Long Rim, a Phnom Penh schoolteacher who joined the march, said he hoped to see Chhun released, adding that he supported the unionist’s activism related to Vietnam border issues and his concern for workers and teachers.
“The government and some civil servants already said that we are a country with the rule of law,” Rim said. “[So] why did [authorities] come to arrest Rong Chhun at night like that? It is an immoral act that we cannot accept.”
The group’s petition said that Chhun’s arrest was unjust because he had been merely expressing concerns over the border, adding that he served as an internationally-recognized union leader.
“We all hope that his excellency and her excellency, and all democratic countries will intervene for the release of Rong Chhun immediately and without conditions,” the petition states.
Bunnarith, Chhun’s colleague, said similar petitions had been submitted to the embassies of the U.S., France and the E.U. The group also appealed in their petition to diplomatic representatives of Germany, the U.K. and Thailand, as well as the International Labor Organization.
In 2018, Japan was among a few countries that declined to send election monitors to Cambodia after the Supreme Court dissolved the main opposition CNRP the year prior, a move that some nations called democratic backsliding.
Japan continues to support Cambodia with new health and social development aid, and has not taken measures to sanction the government or Prime Minister Hun Sen’s close associates as the E.U. and U.S. have.
President of the outlawed CNRP Kem Sokha met with Japanese Ambassador Masahiro Mikami in May, along with a range of other nations’ ambassadors in recent months.
During his first visit to Cambodia on Friday and Saturday, Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu praised cooperation between the two countries in the fields of politics, health care, the economy, security and culture in a post on the Japanese Embassy’s Facebook page.
He did not directly address the arrests of Chhun or other activists amid the Covid-19 pandemic, but said that Japan would continue to support Cambodia’s democratic development, adding that youth were a pillar to this process.
In a statement on Thursday, Human Rights Watch urged Motegi to raise the issue of rights abuses while visiting Cambodia, and “express grave concerns about harassment, intimidation, physical attacks, and arbitrary arrests against the country’s union leaders, land rights activists, human rights defenders, journalists, and the political opposition.”
Before Motegi’s arrival, Justice Ministry spokesperson Chin Malin welcomed the foreign minister in a Facebook post, saying that the Japanese government focused on development and respected other countries’ sovereignty.
“So, any group trying to ask Japan to put pressure and interfere in the internal affairs of Cambodia, a sovereign state, will inevitably suffer embarrassing failures,” Malin said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Right to access and communicate with international bodies
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Labour rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 26, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 26, 2020
- Event Description
The Appeal Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court decision to arrest and jail unionist Rong Chhun over his claims that Cambodia had ceded land to Vietnam, denying him release on bail as his supporters continued to rally outside the court.
Chhun, the president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions and a representative of the border-focused advocacy group Cambodia Watchdog Council, was arrested on the evening of July 31, then charged with incitement to commit a felony and detained the next day over his statements about border markers between Tbong Khmum province and Vietnam.
Speaking to reporters after the closed-door hearing, defense lawyer Chuong Choungy said Appeal Court Judge Khun Leang Meng rejected Chhun’s bail request and petition against his provisional detention sentence.
Choungy said the judge claimed the imprisonment was to prevent Chhun from committing further offenses and to ensure the accused followed court procedures, which Choungy called a violation of his client’s freedoms.
The attorney also questioned the legality of Chhun’s nighttime arrest.
“[We] lawyers think that authorities violated the law, so that’s why [we] appealed this imprisonment,” he told reporters.
Choungy said his client had posted on social media last month after visiting border markers 114 and 119 in Tbong Khmum, saying that Chhun wanted to know the truth about the area and urge the government to prevent Vietnam from encroaching on Cambodian territory at the border — long an incendiary political issue.
“Authorities based [the charge] on a post on social media and accused him, and he claimed that what he did is for the benefit of society and for [national] territory,” he said. “Rong Chhun said he did not incite to cause chaos.”
But officials have denied Chhun’s claims that Cambodians have lost land at the border to Vietnam, and called his statements “fake news.”
During the hearing, about 50 people, including Chhun’s relatives and youth activists, gathered outside the court, holding pictures of Chhun and other detained activists to demand their release.
Chhun’s arrest has sparked several protests near the Phnom Penh Municipal Court this month, which culminated in the arrests of youth activists, including Hun Vannak and Chhoeun Daravy, as well as Khmer Win Party president Suong Sophorn after he too commented on border issues.
Long Rim, a teacher who joined Wednesday’s protests, echoed statements from Chhun’s lawyer, saying he felt the union leader’s comments were intended to improve society and his imprisonment was unjust.
“I do not think that what he did was a mistake [worth] being charged, being punished and being persecuted,” Rim said. “So I cannot be silent. I have to participate. I have to demand [the court] to drop all charges and let him be free.”
During a speech earlier this month, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned that anyone who continued to criticize the government’s actions at the Vietnam border, and claimed demarcation was resulting in Cambodia losing land to its neighbor, would be arrested.
On Tuesday, the premier tasked the government’s Joint Border Committee to visit Cambodians in Tbong Khmum who claimed to have lost their land to Vietnam due to border demarcation, and potentially hold a seminar to explain border issues to anyone concerned.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 26, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 13, 2020
- Event Description
Six youth activists have been rounded up and arrested hours after rallying for detained unionist Rong Chhun, including a young woman dragged by her hair into a vehicle from outside a cafe.
So Metta, an activist who requested to use a pseudonym, told VOD that a group of about 10 officers � some of whom were plain-clothed and some in Prampi Makara district guard uniforms � grabbed one of the six, Chhoeun Daravy, around 4 p.m. on Thursday outside an Amazon coffee shop near the court.
Daravy had been sitting with about 10 people when the plain-clothed officers dragged her by the hair from behind and pushed her into a black Lexus SUV waiting outside, Metta said. The officers beat Daravy as they put her in the car, she said.
�They grabbed her hair and beat her up,� said Metta. �The authorities beat � people without mercy.�
Reached again Thursday evening, Metta said another of those arrested, Hun Vannak, had returned to the rented house where some of the activists were staying after Daravy had been arrested. Vannak recorded a live Facebook video while police surrounded the house, she said.
Metta said five of the six activists arrested were members of Khmer Thavrak, which translates to �Khmer Strong,� a youth group that has been central to many of the recent protests against the detention of Chhun, as well as environmental and social causes.
Municipal police chief Sar Thet said the six youth activists arrested on Thursday included three men and three women, five of whom were arrested at a rented house in Pur Senchey district.
�One was arrested based on the court�s order while others were based on red-handed crimes because they went and caused disorder and insecurity,� Thet said, adding that the activists remained in municipal police custody.
He earlier said that Daravy had been arrested for incitement to disturb social security based on a court-ordered arrest warrant, and officers were searching her house for evidence.
She was currently in the hands of municipal police and would be sent to the court for prosecution, he added. The incitement charge carries a potential jail sentence of up to two years.
Naly Pilorge, a spokesperson for human rights group Licadho, confirmed protesters Chhoeun Daravy, Hun Vannak and Heang Hai were among those arrested.
The arrests came after authorities and protesters again clashed outside the municipal court as Chhun, the union leader, was questioned inside over charges of incitement.
About 50 protesters, including members of Chhun�s family, had gathered in the morning outside City Mall, near the court, holding banners and wearing T-shirts with Chhun�s image.
At around 9:30 a.m., about 50 officers, including Prampi Makara district guards, advanced on the protesters to move them away from the corner. For about 10 minutes the guards were seen beating and kicking protesters who refused to leave.
Chea Kunthin, one of the protesters who said she was injured during a rally last week, was treated by a doctor after the demonstration at the office of Licadho, which was monitoring the protest, Pilorge said.
Pilorge declined to describe Kunthin�s injury, citing medical confidentiality rules, but said the woman left Licadho�s office on Thursday afternoon. Later, Pilorge said the organization could not reach Kunthin, but could not confirm if she was among those arrested.
Chhun, a prominent unionist and former head of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, was arrested two weeks ago in relation to statements he made on U.S.-run Radio Free Asia that Cambodia was ceding hundreds of hectares to Vietnam as part of border demarcations � a topic that has long been a lightning rod for ethnically charged opposition fervor. Government officials said Chhun�s claim was false, and the courts charged him with incitement to commit a felony.
His arrest sparked ongoing protests and criticism from rights groups. In response, City Hall on August 3 announced a ban on gatherings outside the court for reasons related to public order, traffic and Covid-19.
Kunthin, who is a member of Khmer Thavrak, said earlier on Thursday that she had suffered bruises in the clash.
�We didn�t do anything against the law,� Kunthin said. �Why do they use violence against us again and again? It�s shameful that the authorities don�t love the people, and use violence against them.�
Another protester, Yin Moliny, said the demonstration had been peaceful.
�I had no intention to clash with the security guards � but they came and pushed us. So what can I do as an innocent person? We did not fight back. Where is the law?� Moliny said. �They came here to mistreat people, not to protect people. They get a salary from the people and they mistreat the people. It�s unacceptable.�
Prampi Makara district governor Lim Sophea could not be reached for comment.
Four opposition activists were also arrested last week after participating in protests calling for Chhun�s release.
Sam Sokong, Chhun�s lawyer, said the court had questioned the unionist on Thursday morning about why he had been investigating the border issue. Chhun had told the court that he had merely interviewed witnesses, and he did not intend to cause trouble in society, Sokong said.
�Patriotic� Protest
A day earlier on Wednesday, about 20 protesters, including members of Khmer Thavrak, briefly marched in Phnom Penh holding Cambodian flags and wearing T-shirts proclaiming �I Love the Nation.�
They started at Boeung Keng Kang district�s Olympic market under the watch of about 100 security officers. They were stopped around 11 a.m. between the market and Wat Moha Montrei, less than 500 meters away, as guards shouted at the protesters, blocked their path and took their flags.
A protester, Tha Lavy, said the march was about supporting �patriotic heroes� arrested trying to protect the national border.
�When they arrested those who demonstrated patriotism in protecting the national border, our people did not concern themselves with the national problem, and let powerful people use their power to arrest our patriotic heroes,� Lavy said. �We cannot accept it, and want to spread a message for people to love our nation.�
Vannak, another of those arrested on Thursday and also a member of Khmer Thavrak, said on Wednesday that the group was turning its protests about Chhun�s release into a campaign for Cambodians to care more about their country.
�Most people are not very patriotic yet compared to other countries,� Vannak said. �So we have changed our plan from [only] demanding the release of Mr. Rong Chhun into a campaign to encourage Cambodians to love their nation more, think of common interests, think of heroes who sacrificed their lives, who sacrificed their time for our common interests.�
City Hall spokesman Met Measpheakdey told VOD on Wednesday that authorities had blocked the march because the protesters had not sought permission beforehand.
�They gathered and marched and did things that were not in accordance with legal principles that require them to do better than this,� he said.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 5, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities and protesters clashed outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday as a group of about 20 demonstrators � at least two of whom were injured � called for the release of jailed union leader Rong Chhun.
Security guards stopped a group of protesters from approaching the court, where officers blocked the sidewalk on the other side of the street to prevent protests following a judge�s order on Saturday to detain Chhun on incitement charges in Phnom Penh�s Prey Sar prison.
As the protesters marched away from the court along Sihanouk Boulevard, a group of about 10 uniformed security guards forcefully tried to surround them and stop their movement, a VOD reporter observed. Guards were seen pushing, dragging and kicking protesters, with some demonstrators resisting, and two individuals said they received minor injuries.
University student Chea Kunthin, 18, said she was injured on her arm and leg when she was kicked by guards, and urged the international community to respond.
�[Security guards] get salaries from the people, [so they need] to serve the people, but they instead used their authority to beat people and beat young girls,� she said. �I have just become an adult but got three or four kicks [for protesting].�
So Metta, a protester from youth group Khmer Thavrak, said she was also kicked and stomped on by guards, and was disappointed that authorities responded with such force against a peaceful protest for Chhun�s release.
�We held a peaceful [march] and we did not cause any violence, but authorities tried to push and abuse us women,� said the 31-year-old coffee seller. �They dragged, kicked, and they seriously violated our rights. I would like to condemn the authorities. I cannot accept this.�
Chhun was arrested on Friday night last week on incitement charges in relation to comments he made on the alleged loss of Cambodian territory to Vietnam, which officials have denied and called �fake news.� Since his detention, protesters have tried to gather in front of the courthouse, though both City Hall and the Justice Ministry issued statements on Monday calling unpermitted gatherings and demonstrations illegal.
Prampi Makara district governor Lim Sophea could not be reached on Wednesday while City Hall spokesperson Met Measpheakdey declined to comment, saying he was in a meeting.
Ny Sokha, from human rights group Adhoc, said authorities were violating protesters� constitutionally-guaranteed rights by using violence against a crowd that was peacefully voicing dissent.
�Meeting, gathering and holding a peaceful demonstration are all freedoms that are stated in the law,� he said. �If people using their rights were restricted and abused, we think that it is a kind of serious human rights violation for a democratic country like our Cambodia.�
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Student, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 4, 2020
- Event Description
A group of police officers showed up at the home of detained Cambodian union leader Rong Chhun on Tuesday demanding to speak with members of his family, according to his nephew, who accused authorities of harassment in retaliation for his uncle�s criticism of the government.
Rong Chhun was officially charged with �incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest� under Article 495 of Cambodia�s Penal Code and jailed at Prey Sar Prison in Phnom Penh Saturday, a day after his arrest for claiming the government has allowed Vietnam to encroach on farmland along their shared border.
The arrest and formal charging of the outspoken president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU) and former member of the country�s National Election Committee (NEC) prompted protests over the weekend and again on Monday in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, where he faces two years in prison if convicted.
On Tuesday, Rong Chhun�s nephew, Rong Vichea, told RFA�s Khmer Service that a group of some 10 police officers arrived at the family home in the capital and insisted that they question the union leader�s relatives.
�They also asked for the identity of anyone who had come in or out of our house,� he said, adding that while police did not verbally threaten them, �their appearance made us feel intimidated.�
�Please, NGOs, help facilitate uncle Rong Chhun�s release and get him justice.�
Rong Vichea said he had traveled to Prey Sar Prison to visit Rong Chhun, who asked to convey his gratitude to his supporters.
�He said, �don�t be intimidated, stay strong, and continue to fight for social justice,�� Rong Vichea said.
On July 20, Rong Chhun�a member of the Cambodia Watchdog Council (CWC) umbrella NGO of unions representing teachers, workers, farmers, and students�had visited Trapeang Phlong commune, in Tbong Khmum province�s Ponhea Kraek district, where Cambodians claimed recently placed border posts had caused them to lose land to neighboring Vietnam.
The following day, he issued a statement on behalf of the CWC in which he cited irregularities with the placement of border posts 114 to 119 that resulted in the loss of �hundreds of hectares� (one hectare = 2.5 acres) of ancestral land belonging to area farmers.
On Friday, Cambodia�s official Cambodia Border Committee rejected Rong Chhun�s claims that any farmers had lost land, saying his organization had disseminated �fake news� based on �groundless accusations.�
The CWC says that farmers are losing land because Cambodia is demarcating the border based on a 1985 treaty from Vietnam�s 1979-89 occupation of the country following its ouster of the Khmer Rouge regime.
Unresolved border issues between Cambodia and Vietnam, former French colonies from the 1860s to 1954, have sparked incidents in the past, with the construction by Vietnam of military posts in contested areas quickly challenged by Cambodian authorities in Phnom Penh.
A joint communique signed by Cambodia and Vietnam in 1995 stipulates that neither side can make any changes to border markers or allow cross-border cultivation or settlement pending the resolution of outstanding border issues.
Threat to Hun Sen
Rong Chhun has been arrested twice before�once in October 2005 over comments he made about a border agreement with Vietnam, which led to a three-month stint in prison, and again in January 2014 while calling for the release of demonstrators detained during protests over the 2013 national election.
He last week had joined a group of more than 200 garment workers who gathered to submit a petition outside the home of Prime Minister Hun Sen to ask for his help following their factory�s closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Experts say Rong Chhun posed a threat to Hun Sen because of his recent activities, which included writing to the prime minister last month calling on the government to proactively address issues that the European Union has said prompted it to end a preferential trade scheme with Cambodia.
The EU in mid-February announced plans to suspend tariff-free access to its market under the �Everything But Arms� (EBA) scheme for around one-fifth of Cambodia�s exports, citing rollbacks on democracy and human rights�a move that would reinstate tariffs on garments and footwear beginning Aug. 12, unless it is overturned by the bloc�s governments or its parliament.
Hun Sen has said that EU demands to maintain the EBA are unreasonable and an encroachment on Cambodia�s internal affairs.
Rong Chhun has also drawn praise for giving up a position of power with the NEC to return to leading the CCU after the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November 2017 for its role in an alleged plot to overthrow the government.
The move to dissolve the CNRP was part of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the political opposition, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for his ruling Cambodian People�s Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in parliament in the country�s July 2018 general election.
Fresh calls for release
Reports of police intimidation against Rong Chhun�s family came as observers continued to excoriate Cambodia�s government over the union leader�s arrest and demand his release.
His case also received attention from Washington which, in a statement delivered to RFA by the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, said it is �closely following� the situation.
�We have consistently raised concerns with the Cambodian government about taking meaningful steps to reopen the political and civic space,� said Chad Roedemeier, the embassy�s spokesperson.
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a strongly worded statement demanding that authorities immediately drop charges and release Rong Chun.
Phil Robertson, HRW�s deputy Asia director, said the union leader�s charges appear to be linked to his recent advocacy for the land rights of villagers living near the border with Vietnam, as well as other activities.
�The arrest of Rong Chhun is the latest example of unrelenting government repression against activists trying to protect ordinary Cambodians� basic rights,� he said.
�The European Union should add this outrage to the long list of rights abuses that need to be resolved in negotiations over �Everything But Arms� trade preferences.�
HRW noted that in recent years, Cambodia�s government has increased its harassment of independent union leaders and labor advocates, including through the 2016 Trade Union Law that the group said has severely curtailed the ability of unions to register, bargain collectively, and represent workers.
�Prime Minister Hun Sen should stop muzzling labor unionists, human rights defenders, and other critics of government policies,� Robertson said.
�Foreign governments should publicly raise the plight of Rong Chhun and jointly appeal to the Cambodian government to put an end to this onslaught on human rights.�
�A blatant attack�
The growing chorus of voices calling for Rong Chhun�s release was also joined Tuesday by the Global Union Federations, a consortium of global labor organizations which noted in a statement that the former president of the Cambodian Teachers� Association �has always been at the forefront of struggles for the protection of workers� rights.�
The groups called Rong Chhun�s arrest amid his trade union activities and criticisms of Cambodia�s handling of the coronavirus pandemic �a blatant attack by the government� on freedoms of expression and association.
They urged the government to follow recommendations by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, Rhona Smith, including ending harassment of civil society organizations, and allowing peaceful demonstrations and stopping excessive use of force by police monitoring such gatherings.
They also called for several recently passed laws that restrict political parties, nongovernmental organizations, and trade unions to be brought into line with international standards.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 31, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities in Cambodia arrested outspoken union chief Rong Chhun from his home in Phnom Penh on Friday in connection with a statement he made claiming that the country had ceded land to Vietnam along their shared border, according to officials.
Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions and a member of the Cambodia Watchdog Council, was taken into custody on charges of �incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest� under Article 495 of Cambodia�s Penal Code, Ministry of Justice spokesman Chhin Malin told RFA�s Khmer Service, confirming an earlier report by government-aligned Fresh News.
Fresh News had quoted Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson Kuch Kimlong as saying Rong Chhun had been arrested �for allegedly distorting news on [the] border issue,� adding that he had committed a crime �in flagrante delicto,� or was caught in the act.
On July 20, Rong Chhun had visited Trapeang Phlong commune, in Tbong Khmum province�s Ponhea Kraek district, where Cambodians claimed recently placed border posts had caused them to lose land to neighboring Vietnam.
The following day, he issued a statement on behalf of the Cambodia Watchdog Council in which he cited irregularities with the placement of border posts 114 to 119 that resulted in the loss of �hundreds of hectares� (one hectare = 2.5 acres) of ancestral land belonging to area farmers.
However, on Friday, Cambodia�s official Cambodia Border Committee rejected Rong Chhun�s claims, saying his organization had disseminated �fake news� based on �groundless accusations.�
�Rong Chhun colluded with bad actors who claimed their ancestral land was taken by Vietnamese soldiers who ousted them from their farms,� the committee said in the statement.
Kuy Pisey, vice president of the Cambodia Border Committee, told RFA following the release of the statement that the current border demarcation is �based on documentation� and that no farmers have lost land.
She said the government controls around 60 hectares (150 acres) in Ponhea Kraek district that area farmers never controlled and accused the Cambodia Watchdog Council of trying to �confuse people with fake news.�
�What the government has done is not a joke�we are committed to protecting our territory,� she said.
Rong Chhun, who is also the former president of Cambodia�s Teachers� Association and a former member of the country�s National Election Committee, stood by his July 21 statement in an interview with RFA on Friday.
�I am only a union member�I don�t need to be popular,� he said, adding that the Cambodia Border Committee�s accusations �do not reflect my statement.�
�It is the truth, based on the villagers who said they lost around 500 meters (1,640 feet) of their land to the border � The border committee must be brave enough to accept the truth.�
Not long afterwards, police took Rong Chhun into custody for questioning. He is currently being held at an undisclosed location within Phnom Penh, according to family members.
Whereabouts unknown
Soeung Sengkaruna, a spokesman for local rights group Adhoc, told RFA that he visited the Phnom Penh Municipal Police headquarters, but learned little of Rong Chhun�s situation.
�We want to find out his condition�is he safe and healthy,� he said, adding that it was too early for him to comment on the charges facing Rong Chhun.
Um Sam An, a former lawmaker from the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) who once served a prison term for criticizing the country�s handling of the border issue, told RFA that �the government is shutting up nationalists.�
He claimed that farmers are losing land because Cambodia is demarcating the border based on a treaty from 1985, when Vietnam occupied the country following its ouster of the Khmer Rouge regime six years earlier.
�What Rong Chhun was trying to do was to protect villagers from losing their land,� he said.
�I praise Rong Chhun�s conscience and condemn the government for his arrest.�
Border dispute
Rong Chhun�s arrest follows the discovery by Cambodian authorities of 31 military shelters, housing armed Vietnamese soldiers, in Kandal province�s Koh Thom and Leuk Daek districts, which prompted Cambodia�s embassy in Hanoi to issue a May 13 diplomatic d�marche, demanding that the structures be taken down.
By the end of May, only three had been removed, according to Cambodia�s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Authorities in Vietnam�s An Giang province had claimed troops were deployed to guard the area against illegal entrants who could potentially cause an outbreak of the coronavirus, but border activists, including Rong Chhun, said the move amounted to an invasion of Cambodian territory.
Unresolved border issues between Cambodia and Vietnam, former French colonies from the 1860s to 1954, have sparked incidents in the past, with the construction by Vietnam of military posts in contested areas quickly challenged by Cambodian authorities in Phnom Penh.
In June 2015, activists from the CNRP were attacked by Vietnamese villagers when they went to inspect an area in Svay Rieng province where they said a road built by authorities in Vietnam�s Long An province had encroached into Cambodian territory.
A joint communique signed by Cambodia and Vietnam in 1995 stipulates that neither side can make any changes to border markers or allow cross-border cultivation or settlement pending the resolution of outstanding border issues.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 24, 2020
- Event Description
Police and security guards blocked about 100 workers who attempted to march to Prime Minister Hun Sen�s house on July 23 to submit a petition seeking a resolution after their factory shut down without providing benefit payments.
Some 50 police officers and Tuol Kork district security guards stopped the workers on Kampuchea Krom Boulevard in Phsar Depot 1 commune while they were on their way to the prime minister�s house after departing from the Labor Ministry, where they had first submitted their petition.
The workers decided to proceed to Hun Sen�s house as the government had failed to find a solution to their problems after employees had submitted a complaint with the Labor Ministry earlier this month. The Violet Apparel workers are asking that the ministry come to an agreement with the factory owner that would guarantee them seniority indemnity and compensation pay in the wake of the factory�s suspension and subsequent closure due to economic strain in the wake of Covid-19.
The workers previously protested at the factory in Phnom Penh in early July, when the owners suddenly announced that the company would close permanently, and would not pay employees full benefits. More than 1,000 workers have been affected by the closure.
�The Labor Ministry just received the complaint and they did not resolve our problems,� said Kin Chreb, a 32-year-old employee of the factory who participated in the march.
�We peacefully walked toward uncle�s [Hun Sen�s] house but they [police] do not allow us to walk,� she said.
�We demand that the factory owner pay our compensation and other benefits after closing the factory,� Chreb said, adding that workers are owed about $1,000 each, depending on how long they had worked at Violet Apparel.
�As of now, we have not received anything,� she said.
Another worker, Chhor Lin, 34, said she was displeased that authorities and police officials had blocked the group from seeking a resolution from the prime minister.
�Yes, we are angry [that police blocked the march] because what we were doing is in accordance with the law,� she said.
�We had no choice but to march to seek help from Samdech Hun Sen because the Labour Ministry has not resolved the problem for us,� Lin said.
She added that because the factory had abruptly shut down without warning, providing notice pay was essential.
�All workers have not yet received money since the factory closed,� she said. �For me, I am owed about $2,000.�
After police blocked the march, the demonstrators returned to the Labor Ministry where they later met with officials who had promised to find a solution for them.
Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said via Telegram that the ministry was working on the case.
�The ministry will continue to resolve this according to the law,� he said, declining to explain further.
Yang Sophorn, president of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU), said she had begged the Labor Ministry and government leaders to reach a settlement for workers at Violet Apparel factory.
She said that in May, the factory owner had promised to pay workers their last salary and all bonus pay including seniority indemnity payment, notice payment, and compensation. But on July 1, they rescinded their offer to cover notice payments and compensation, in line with a recent Labor Ministry directive permitting factory owners to forgo bonuses that they can�t afford to cover.
�The law clearly states that if the factory closure is unreasonable, workers are owed all benefits such as last salary, seniority, indemnity, notice payments, and compensation,� Sophorn said.
�In this circumstance, the workers really need money to support their daily lives,� she said.
Earlier this month, the Labor Ministry sent CATU President Sophorn a warning letter for engaging in activities that violate the Law on Trade Unions, accusing her of inciting garment workers to pressure and threaten their employers. The ministry requested that she stop organizing for workers at Violet Apparel (Cambodia) Co., Ltd factory immediately, saying she had broken the law by leading workers in a protest.
According to a GMAC statement from June, about 400 factories have suspended operations and more than 150,000 workers have lost their jobs due to the global Covid-19 outbreak.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Labour rights, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 17, 2020
- Event Description
Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) have again released evidence against the �human rights group� LICADHO, this time finding �misleading and biased methodology� in their latest anti-MFI briefing paper.
Khmer Times has also found faked and misleading donations published on their official website as questions are now raised about LICADHO�s true status as a civil society organisation.
The most recent briefing paper in question was released on June 30 and entitled: �Worked to Debt: Over-Indebtedness in Cambodia�s Garment Sector.�
It was co-authored by the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU), Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL) and Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO).
The group concluded that, based on the hardship of the 162 garment workers surveyed, without immediate debt relief, many of the employees will resort to selling their land or their homes, eating less food or taking out even more loans to repay their debts.
However, after a detailed study of the paper, the CMA found that the survey methodology was lacking in scientific terms, biased and lacked understanding of microfinance and that there was not enough information to be verified.
As mentioned, the survey only collected information from 162 people from three of the hundreds of thousands of factories and hundreds of thousands of workers, it stated.
Other interviewees were also recruited through �union leaders in each factory,� not randomly, which is not a reliable method because of their possible bias.
In addition, they said, the data presented in this report is inconsistent with the details of the Credit Bureau of Cambodia and the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC). The report also does not disclose the size of loans, sources of income other than factory salaries, the data of which is necessary to assess the actual impact.
The findings come only two weeks after Khmer Times reported that LICADHO had also misled the plight of cross border migrants in a video released in early May this year entitled �Driven Out: One Village�s Experience with MFIs and Cross-Border Migration�.
As blatant evidence showed, two interviewees, among the four featured in the four-minute video, had their financial situations seriously misled or possibly faked. They had also been staged to look more destitute than they were.
Khmer Times has also been investigating LICADHO�s claimed financial donors, because it lists several well-known and respected organisation as �gold donors� (USD$5,000 or more) such as the World Food Programme (WFP) on their official website signed by its president Kek Galabru.
However, when contacted to verify those listed, the WFP said, �We have no relationship with LICADHO. �Our pipeline officer who has been with the WFP for more than 20 years also confirmed we have never provided any contribution to LICADHO,� it added.
The UK and Australian embassy�s in Cambodia said that their donations had been given in 2010 and 2011 respectively. The US embassy, which provided funding through USAID, said, �The US embassy has a long history of support for Cambodian civil society groups, including LICADHO.�
However, it did not reply to direct questions asking whether the embassy fully supported the validity of LICADHO�s research nor give exact timings or amounts of donations.
German and European Union offices acknowledged Khmer Times� request for LICADHO donation claims but did not provide any response.
There are now questions as to the real political agenda of LICADHO and its status as a civil society organisation because its briefing papers are increasingly now being quoted as factual evidence by those with an established anti-government agenda.
Ex-President of the now-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party Sam Rainsy has been quoting LICADHO in various international media outlets as evidence that the government needs to overhaul the industry.
He wrote, �Research published jointly by LICADHO and local trade unions in June shows the realities of microfinance during COVID-19. Without immediate debt relief, thousands of Cambodian workers will have to sell their land or their homes, or eat less to repay their debts�.
He added foreign financial institutions that �invest� in Cambodian microfinance including, French bank BRED, Triodos of the Netherlands, and Sumitomo Mitsui of Japan, all of which have stakes in ACLEDA Bank are a part of the problem too.
Human Rights Watch also quoted LICADHO this week when it said, the Cambodian government and the NBC should urgently suspend debt collection and interest accruals for micro-loan borrowers who are no longer able to meet their debt payments because of COVID-19.
The micro-loan providers are likewise failing in their human rights responsibilities to borrowers, they added.
That said, various government bodies have already acknowledged � that like any financial industry around the world � Cambodia�s microfinance industry can make improvements in regulation and policy.
They outlined the need for lenders to assist struggling borrowers at all times and especially as the COVID-19 pandemic hits the global economy.
The NBC understood this when it enforced, against industry requests, regulations of an 18 percent per annum interest ceiling in 2017. This decision was based upon long-term and widespread discussions and in consultation with verified independent research.
The Association of Banks in Cambodia in April expressed its full support to implement the NBC�s �Circular on Loan Restructuring� to maintain financial stability and relieve the burden of borrowers whose main sources of income are affected by the pandemic.
Khmer Times has and will continue to report fairly on any shortcomings of the microfinance industry as well as the shortcomings of organisations such as LICADHO, in the hope to truly understand and better assist the enterprises.
For reasons only known to the Director of LICADHO Naly Pilorge � who has written extensively for international publications on the importance of transparency and openness in Cambodia � LICADHO refuses to enter into any dialogue with this publication.
Khmer Times has even offered to organise an open policy discussion between Cambodia Microfinance Association, LICADHO and any relevant organisations to discuss any recommendations or concerns with the industry, but Pilorge has again chosen not to comment.
This can be seen to be to the detriment of those she purports to stand up for.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 16, 2020
- Event Description
One forestry activist was beaten and another died after he was injured in a motorbike crash while both had been investigating illegal timber transportation in two separate incidents in which the activists had attempted to confront those they accused of forestry crimes.
Environmental activist Heng Sros said on Friday that Sen Sothea, a forestry activist in Stung Treng province, died after the two men crashed their motorbike Thursday evening while investigating a company they believed to be behind forest clearing in Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary.
Sros said that he and Sen Sothea, 46, had traveled to Boeng Char commune in Kratie province�s Sambor district to investigate timber transporting near the Think Biotech concession, which also stretches into Stung Treng province on the eastern border of the Prey Lang sanctuary.
Sros said he and Sen Sothea were threatened by guards from Think Biotech and they decided to retreat.
�We started taking photos for about half an hour and suddenly, the head of the company�s security guards came and threatened us to leave from that area and go to another place,� Sros said. �They did not allow us to get close to the company and they did not allow us to be in the path that timber was being transported.�
�They threatened that if we did not leave, they would bring more security guards and round us up and mistreat us by all means. So, we decided to drive the motorbike to escape from them and find a safe place,� Sros said.
As they were leaving the area on the same motorbike, Sros said the pair hit a hole in the road causing them to crash. Sen Sothea, who was driving, was seriously injured. He died later on Thursday while he was transported to the Sambor District Referral Hospital. Sros said the two had drank a small amount of locally made wine before they were confronted by guards. Sros said Sen Sothea was survived by his wife and two children in Stung Treng province.
Lu Chu Chang, director of Think Biotech and its sister company Angkor Plywood, said he learned of the incident on Friday morning. He said he had attempted to contact commune authorities to find out what happened, but had not received information from them.
Forest monitoring group Prey Lang Community Network said in a statement that Sen Sothea had been a participant and core group member since 2005 and had regularly investigated and reported illegal forest encroachment and other forestry crimes.
Think Biotech and Angkor Plywood have been frequently accused of forest clearing and road building within the 430,000-hectare Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary, which spans Kratie, Stung Treng, Preah Vihear and Kampong Thom provinces, lost at least 7,500 hectares of forest cover last year, according to satellite data.
Soeng Senkaruna, spokesperson for human rights group Adhoc, urged authorities to investigate the case to determine if there was a threat made by the company�s guards against the two activists.
�Even though he died related to a motorbike accident, it is related to the [alleged] threat. This threat made him leave the place where they were investigating forestry crimes in that area,� Senkaruna said. �Whether there is a threat or not, authorities should clarify it and if there is a threat against them, [authorities] should take action against those who threatened them.�
Bun Chhoeun, Sambor district�s police chief, told VOD that he assigned local officers to investigate the allegation.
�Just wait for the commune police administration to investigate and if we find it is true, I will get approval from my superiors and might take action,� Chhoeun said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 8, 2020
- Event Description
In a separate case, Chhorn Phalla, a forestry activist in his early 40s from Lumphat district�s Seda commune, said on Thursday that Ratanakiri officials had consistently ignored his complaints about forestry crimes, and he was beaten by villagers last week over his accusations.
During a press conference organized by Adhoc in Phnom Penh on Thursday, Phalla said he had filed eight complaints in about four years to the Ratanakiri Provincial Court, accusing provincial officials and other residents of condoning and benefiting from forestry crimes.
At a public forum in Seda commune on July 8, the activist told attendees that authorities were ignoring his legal complaints. Then, Phalla was beaten until he lost consciousness by individuals who he said he had filed complaints against.
After the alleged assault, the activist said he asked Lumphat district governor Nou The for help, but The told him to stop filing complaints against provincial authorities.
�District governor Nou The, he threatened me. He said that if I still protest over forestry crimes, he will arrest and imprison me,� Phalla said.
When contacted by VOD on Thursday, The said he would not comment on the case over the phone.
�I don�t have a habit of talking through the phone,� he said. �As a request, please gather four, 10 or 20 journalists to visit Seda commune to hold a press conference with people. Hold a press conference like Phalla and come to hear the real words from people that tell the truth.�
Ratanakiri Provincial Court spokesperson Keo Pisoth could not be reached for comment.
Phalla also appealed to national authorities to stop forestry crimes throughout the province and said he would submit a report about the attack to officials once he recovered from his injuries.
�I would like Samdech [Prime Minister Hun Sen] to help find justice for us,� Phalla told reporters on Thursday. �[I invite] all ministries to visit and inspect directly at the site, and if Samdech has heard [my complaint], I can hand over documents directly to Samdech because I am a victim. I am a protector [of forests] with him.�
At the press conference, Adhoc�s human rights officer Ny Sokha said it is a crime for public officials to threaten citizens who make complaints, and he worried the governor�s actions could prevent individuals from trying to protect Cambodia�s natural resources.
According to the Criminal Code, any intimidation or threat that is meant to persuade someone not to file a complaint is punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 6 million riel ($1,500), while an �effective� threat is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 10 million riel ($2,500).
�If there is no action, I think that from now on, those human rights protectors, forestry protectors, state property protectors, natural resource protectors might no longer dare to act because when they come out, they are abused and authorities do not find justice for them,� Sokha said. �This has a bad influence [on activism]. So, I think the government might not ignore [this case].�
Sokha said Phalla and seven other activists from Ratanakiri were staying outside their village, Samut Krom, for fear of possible repercussions.
Government spokesperson Phay Siphan said he was not familiar with Phalla�s case, but he encouraged the activist to contact Environment Minister Say Samal.
�[Samal] is very welcoming of help to protect the forests,� Siphan said. �The government as well as the Environment Ministry are always welcoming of such things.�
Ministry spokesperson Neth Pheaktra did not respond to requests for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to information
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 8, 2020
- Event Description
Youth activists and monks were prevented from commemorating the 4th anniversary of the killing of political commentator Kem Ley on Wednesday at the Caltex gas station in Phnom Penh, where the popular figure was shot.
Chamkarmon District Administration on Tuesday banned any public memorial services in remembrance of Kem Ley, who was shot by Oeut Ang on July 10, 2016, drinking his morning coffee at a Caltex gas station in Phnom Penh.
Youth activists, monks and Kem Ley�s supporters said they would continue with their plans to remember the political commentator, which is expected to last four days, till July 10.
Around 50 mixed security forces tried to prevent Kem Ley�s supporters from conducting a small wreath laying ceremony, and instead slowly pushed them across the street to Monivong Boulevard. The activists and monks were then forced to pray on the street, with dozens of security personnel watching over them.
Security personnel also detained a 34-year-old man named Khan Chanthorn and who was wearing a t-shirt with Kem Ley�s image. He was questioned at Boeung Trabek commune police station before being released later, with Police Chief Hong Chanthen calling it an �invitation� to speak.
�So, he wore a [Kem Ley] t-shirt, we called him to be questioned, and then we ordered him to return. There was nothing,� Hong Chanthen said.
Last year, Kung Raiya, a local activist, was arrested a day before a similar commemoration for Kem Ley for selling t-shirts with the commentator�s picture and popular quotes. He was convicted in May for incitement but had already fled the country.
Khan Chanthorn said multiple police officials questioned him about his reason for attending the service and who paid for his expenses. He said he had known Kem Ley for five years, before the latter�s murder.
�They asked me �how much did you get paid to come?�� he said. �They said if I used my time to do business or take care of my wife and children, it will be better. It�s useless to have protest because there is progress in social development.�
Thun Ratha, a member of the environment network Mother Nature Movement, said the police should not have stopped the activists and monks, because their activity was lawful.
�If our act is illegal, you all will not see me speaking. I will be lifted up to put in the police truck. But what I did is legal. It�s 100 percent legal,� he said.
Some of the monks and activists then began a march to Takeo province to Kem Ley�s home, where is a memorial to the political commentator. Kem Ley�s family had to leave the country after his death and were later relocated to Australia.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 1, 2020
- Event Description
The Labor Ministry this week warned a labor leader and her union that it could be dissolved over her allegedly illegal incitement of workers to protest over a garment factory closure that left workers without contracts and compensation.
The same union, Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU), and two rights groups were also accused by one of the nation�s largest banks of trying to damage financial institutions� reputations.
About a thousand workers from Violet Apparel (Cambodia) Co., Ltd. in Phnom Penh�s Toek Thla commune protested at the factory on Wednesday, demanding benefits that the union said its members were owed after the company announced an immediate termination of their contracts, CATU president Yang Sophorn told VOD on Thursday.
Violet Apparel�s management had said the company would end workers� contracts on Wednesday, saying there were no orders from buyers due to the Covid-19 pandemic and related economic crisis, after employees returned to the factory following a two-month work suspension, Sophorn said.
The workers were calling for additional compensation under the Labor Law, which was not promised by the company, the union leader added.
Bou Samnang, administration head at Violet Apparel, declined to comment late Friday. The factory employed more than 1,400 workers, according to the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia�s website.
In a letter dated Wednesday, the Labor Ministry accused Sophorn of inciting and leading workers to hold an illegal protest at the shuttered factory.
The ministry letter said Sophorn had encouraged workers to threaten and put pressure on employers in order to get a settlement against the spirit of the Labor Law and related regulations.
The letter claimed that Sophorn led workers to hold activities that caused a traffic jam on the road into the factory and caused trouble for her own personal gain, which was against the law. The ministry also accused her of encouraging workers to gather, which went against the Health Ministry�s Covid-19 health safety guidelines.
�Starting from the day of receiving this warning letter, please immediately stop the above listed illegal activities. In case there is no change or defiance against this warning letter, your professional organization could face a complaint to dissolve or other actions under the law,� the letter states.
Speaking with VOD, Sophorn expressed her disappointment and denied the ministry�s accusations against her, saying that she had not incited workers or conducted illegal activities.
Based on the law, as the union�s leader, she had the right to meet with and find solutions for her members, Sophorn said.
Her presence at the factory on Wednesday was to meet, discuss and find a solution for union members because the company had promised workers final wages, severance pay and year-end bonuses, but they were also entitled to compensation for late notice of termination and damages, according to Sophorn.
�The letter was addressed to me and accused me strongly. It said I have threatened the employer and that I have incited workers to hold an illegal protest. So, at this point, I denied and can ask workers which one I incited and which employer I threatened,� she said. �I have never threatened anyone.�
She added, �If someone says something unreasonable and doesn�t allow me to respond�where is my freedom of speech? What happened to the law?�
Ung Chanthoeun, a union worker employed at Violet Apparel for 17 years, said Sophorn had not incited workers to protest, but came to meet them after they had started protesting over the termination of their contracts.
�I was there and Yang Sophorn did not incite or lead the protest. Workers were already gathered,� Chanthoeun said. �In this case, workers asked Ms. Sophorn to take their case to the Arbitration Council.�
Khun Tharo, a program manager at labor rights group Central, said the ministry�s warning letter to Sophorn was a kind of threat to union leaders who participate in protests and a violation of basic labor rights.
�The ministry should conduct an inspection or urge employers to fulfill their legal duties properly,� Tharo said.
Sophorn�s union, CATU, and rights groups Licadho and Central said in a report this week that tens of thousands of garment workers, who are facing slashed work hours and wages amid the global economic downturn, will struggle to repay mounting microfinance debt. The organizations cited a survey of more than 150 microloan-holding CATU workers, the majority of whom said they were already eating less food or had taken another loan to repay their debts.
�Garment workers have worked tirelessly to provide food for their families,� Sophorn said in a statement released with the report on Tuesday. �Now they can barely afford to feed themselves. Without debt relief or social protections, I�m worried that things are going to get worse and worse for these workers.�
On Thursday, Acleda Bank, which offers microloans, issued a statement in response to Tuesday�s report from CATU, Central and Licadho, accusing the civil society groups of trying to infringe on people�s rights and dignity, confusing those using financial services and claiming the groups were causing social disorder in order to gain benefits from donors.
Acleda said the report lacked professional research and an understanding of banking and financial laws, as well as affected the reputation of the bank and other financial institutions.
The report has �incomprehensive information� and �does not reflect the real situation� of the country, Acleda said.
Acleda appealed to the groups to cease their research activities, which have critically examined the microfinance sector, and to authorities to �take legal action against any person or group that incites to cause instability,� and harms the national economy and investor confidence.
Licadho�s monitoring manager Am Sam Ath told VOD on Friday that the survey of union workers was conducted after seeing the impacts on workers after they were suspended from work.
The civil society groups� report aimed to bring more attention to the effects on workers while they were facing an economic crisis, Sam Ath said, adding that he was not worried about any legal action from Acleda.
�We are not afraid over the statement to take action because in that statement, it did not point at the three civil society groups. It points to any person who incited and caused negative impacts on the banks and microfinance institutions,� said Sam Ath, explaining that the groups had not caused harm.
On Friday, the Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) issued a statement criticizing a separate May report from Licadho that highlighted the experience of one village in Banteay Meanchey province with microfinance debt and cross-border migration.
CMA said it had reinterviewed two of the villagers who Licadho spoke with last year � even though the rights organization did not disclose the subjects� identities nor the village where they live � and found �irregularities� in their stories compared to what Licadho�s report detailed.
�In addition to the irregularities, from CMA�s observation and interviews, villagers and local authority, all claimed that formal loan service from MFIs was crucial in improving everyday economic activities and livelihood of the people in the area which also contributed to community development. The claim is completely opposite from LICADHO�s report conclusions,� the industry association said.
Licadho�s director Naly Pilorge said on Friday that the group stood by their research methodology, findings and recommendations, and respected the wish of people interviewed by the group last year to remain anonymous.
�We take this opportunity to once again urge the CMA to conduct an independent, countrywide survey of indebted borrowers and publish the results publicly,� Pilorge said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 22, 2020
- Event Description
Today, on 22 June 2020, a group of six environmental activists, including one monk, presented at Botumvatey Pagoda Park to exhibit images of Koh Kong Province�s Koh Kong Krao Island to the public. The exhibition of the pictures of Koh Kong Krao Island which started at around 4.30pm is part of their campaign called �Save Koh Kong Krao� in which they demand the Cambodian government to classify this island as a protected national sea park to enable it to preserve its natural resources. Authorities arrived to prevent the exhibition declaring that the youth group required prior permission from the Phnom Penh Municipality in order to display the images.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 19, 2020
- Event Description
Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday convicted and sentenced in absentia the activist Kong Raiya to two years in prison. However, he will only serve four months and 18 days. This is over the sale of t-shirts bearing the images and quotes of slain political analyst Kem Ley in July last year. Raiya has already served more than four months in pre-trial detention.
Judge Ouk Reth Kunthea said Raiya, 28, was charged with �incitement to commit a felony and committing a misdemeanor� under Articles 494, 495 and 88 of the Criminal Code.
�The court convicts and sentences Kong Raiya to two years in prison. But he will only serve four months and 18 days prison time. The rest of his sentence will be suspended. He is now out on bail,� Judge Kunthea said.
Raiya was arrested on July 9 last year after he urged activists to participate in marking the death anniversary of Mr Ley which was banned by City Hall. He also put up t-shirts for sale on Facebook.
On the t-shirts Raiya wrote �If you do nothing, you will be victimised. It is just not your turn yet,� quoting Mr Ley.
He was released on bail from Prey Sar prison on November 29 last year.
Mr Raiya could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Mr Sam Sokong, Raiya�s lawyer, said yesterday the judgment was unjust because his client only wanted to sell t-shirts, not call for a change of government.
He said his client did not incite anyone to commit a crime. He only printed Mr Ley�s quotes and portrait on t-shirts based on freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 12, 2020
- Event Description
The Siem Reap Provincial Court has launched a preliminary rape investigation into prominent activist monk Luon Savath, in relation to Facebook videos released last week alleging the monk had inappropriate relations with four women, a charge he has denied.
The alleged videos were released on a Facebook account called �Srey Da Chi-Kraeng� and purportedly showed Venerable Luon Sovath having salacious conversations with a woman and her three daughters. Apart from posting these videos, the account, which was created two weeks ago, has had no other activity.
The activist monk, who is in hiding, has �vehemently� denied the accusation calling it politically motivated. However, the Monk Council in Siem Reap announced on June 3 that he had been expelled from the clergy, accusing him of having sexual intercourse.
Additionally, local police executed a search warrant this week and confiscated materials from the monk�s home.
On Friday, Siem Reap court spokesperson Chuon Sophanha said a victim had complained about the monk and that authorities were investigating the monk for rape.
�We suspect rape since we have the complaints from the victim,� he said.
He refused to provide any details of the alleged crime or if the court had evidence to proceed with the investigation. He also denied confirming if the court had issued an arrest warrant.
�You should not ask who are involved with this since it can affect the investigation and [Luon Sovath] can flee,� he said.
Siem Reap Police Chief Tith Narong said on Friday that Luon Sovath was suspected of committing an offense, but directed queries to the Siem Reap court.
�It is related to audio messages and a complaint from the victim,� he said. �[We] followed the court warrant which is to bring [Luon Sovath] to court.�
On Wednesday, Tith Narong told VOA Khmer that Luon Sovath had not committed a crime, but changed his response on Friday.
According to Article 239 of the Cambodian Criminal Code, a person can be imprisoned for five to ten years for rape, and up to 15 years if the crime was committed under aggravating circumstances.
On Wednesday, Luon Sovath, who had not spoken publicly since the videos were published, said the videos were doctored and that he had not committed any of the alleged crimes. He said the case was politically motivated.
In a long Facebook post, he said police had seized a lot of his property, including an SUV, an icebox, refrigerator, phones, camera equipment and had even questioned two of his �nephews.�
On Friday, Luon Sovath briefly responded to a request for comment, again denying the allegations leveled against him and calling the Facebook account �Srey Da Chi-Kraeng� fake.
�I haven�t chatted or called anyone from my Facebook accounts,� he said. �[I want] to be silent so this can pass.�
�They can accuse anyone since they have the extreme power to create this setup,� he added.
The four videos in question have been circulating on Facebook, and seemed to originate from one account, �Srey Da Chi-Kraeng� that was created on May 30. The videos, according to the accompanying text on Facebook, are recordings with four women � a mother and three daughters.
The video recordings are of an unidentified person, or persons, sitting in a dimly-lit room and having Facebook audio conversations, ranging from 7 to 10 minutes each. The video is shot so that only the person�s hand holding the smartphone can be seen.
This Facebook account links to three other accounts, suggesting they are the three daughters. However, on one of these accounts, the user posted last week that she and her family were being wrongly involved in this issue.
�The page Srey Da Chi-Kraeng is badly intended to mistreat me,� the user said in the post.
In another post from June 2, the user said her sisters and mother had not done �bad things� with Luon Sovath. These Facebook users did not respond to requests for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to property
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2020
- Event Description
Today, on 3 June 2020, a group of 18 youth environmental activists were banned from cycling from Koh Kong to Phnom Penh by Koh Kong district authorities. The activists were taking part in a campaign to �Save Koh Kong Krao Island� where they were attempting to cycle to the capital to submit a petition to Prime Minister Hun Sen. Their petition requests the government to classify Kong Kong Krao island as a protected national sea park to enable it to preserve its natural resources.
When authorities interfered with the procession, each activist was required to undergo a temperature check. Activists refused the authorities request to present their identity cards, however agreed to write and submit a list of their names. The authorities also wanted to review their petition and asked them to thumbprint a letter declaring that they would not submit the petition to the local authority � but the activists refused both requests. At around 11:30am 10 of their bicycles were taken by Koh Kong district police. At around 2:00pm Koh Kong district police invited all the activists to have a discussion over the confiscation of their bicycles, requesting to meet with one activist at a time, but they refused the police�s request because they had already informed the authorities of the purpose of their campaign.
Koh Kong provincial hall spokesman Sok Sothy told The Post that authorities had taken the bicycles and blocked the group from moving forward because they had not cooperated with the authorities.
“We asked them to come in for a Covid-19 screening and they did not cooperate,” he said. He said the group had gathered without legal permission.
“They said they want to submit the petition to Samdach, but the government has announced a ban on large gatherings. They come from many groups and areas, including Koh Kong, Battambang and Preah Sihanouk and we have to restrain them,” he said.
Sothy said if the youth group intended to submit a petition to Hun Sen, they should have submitted a letter to the provincial administration to follow up on their journey and avoid any unpleasant incidents.
He said if the group had cooperated with the authorities from the beginning, there would have been no problems.
- Impact of Event
- 18
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2020
- Event Description
A Ratanakkiri province-based TV3 reporter has requested an extension to a court summons he was issued last week which stemmed from a story he covered about a land dispute at an abandoned Ratanakkiri airport site.
The summons, issued by deputy prosecutor Ra Borandy and dated June 3, said Phal Dam, the 52-year-old journalist, was due to appear in the provincial court at 9am on Monday to respond to allegations made by Banlung town deputy governor Put Dany, who accused Dam of �incitement to commit a crime�.
Dam told The Post last week that he had not committed any crimes and he did not know why he was being accused.
Concerning the story that caused the controversy, he said he interviewed residents who criticised the authorities� for allowing land grabs at airport sites and their refusal to deal with land disputes.
Dam said: �I don�t know Put Dany, but I�ve just found out that he is the deputy governor of Banlung town. Now I am preparing the relevant documents concerning the case and researching facts.
�Moreover, I am looking for a lawyer to help, as I do not yet understand what charges are being brought against me.�
He said on Sunday that he had applied to postpone his appearance last Friday in court and mentioned the summons was unclear.
Dany could not be reached for comment.
Provincial Department of Information director Kol Phanna said last week he had received information about the case, but he did not know the reason for the lawsuit. He urged the two parties to settle the matter out of court.
He said there had been prior complaints against the reporter concerning clarification in his reporting, although they had never led to legal action.
Phanna said: �I do not see this summons as a threat to the freedom of the press. Every person has his or her reputation to consider, so if reporters are reporting professionally and ethically, I don�t believe that they will be sued, and if they have enough evidence, they should not be afraid.�
Nop Vy, the executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Association (Cambo-JA), said the lawsuit was a violation of the rights of the press.
According to the law on journalism, Vy said, if journalists write or publish something that is not clear, those involved should clarify or write a letter to the media organisation.
�If there�s an error related to news writing, we correct it by using the journalism laws, not by using the courts. If journalists face issues like this over small things, no journalist would dare write about the inaction of officials, and more officials would become corrupt,� he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 1, 2020
- Event Description
Banteay Meanchey police officials detained and later released human and environmental rights activist Hun Vannak on Monday, as security forces were deployed for a planned protest by market vendors in Poipet town.
Poipet residents, most of whom are market vendors in Rong Kleu Market in Thailand across the border, planned to demonstrate on Monday morning requesting that the border to be reopened to resume trade in the market. The Thai border has been closed since March to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Hun Vannak, who was at the protest as an independent observer, was documenting the planned demonstration, especially the heavy security presence that had been deployed by provincial authorities. While taking photographs and videos of the security presence, Hun Vannak said he was arrested and taken to a site near the train station for questioning.
�If there is violence against the people, then that would be a human rights violation,� said Hun Vannak, who is also part of a newly-formed youth movement called Khmer Thavareak. �And as a human rights activist, I need to monitor that.�
Hun Vannak told VOA Khmer that he was accused of collecting information for the opposition party, a reference to the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party. He was forced to delete all the photos and videos he filmed on Monday, but he refused to sign an agreement with the police nor did he speak during his questioning, which was filmed by the police.
The youth activist previously worked for environmental protection NGO Mother Nature, and was imprisoned for 18 months in early 2018 for his activism against sand dredging in Koh Kong province.
Seth Los, deputy chief for the Banteay Meanchey provincial police, said authorities only wanted to question Hun Vannak and had not arrested him. He added that they educated Hun Vannak and released him after asking him not to indulge in any �illegal activities.�
�We invited him to sit with us to ask him where he come from and what his work is,� said Seth Los. �After we got the answers, the deputy prosecutor educated him and allowed him to go back to his house.�
Asked about the heavy security presence in Poipet, Seth Los said it was in response to the planned demonstration, refusing to provide additional details.
Din Puthy, head of the Cambodia Informal Economy Reinforced Association which helps informal workers in the border town, said the protest on Monday was canceled because of the heavy security presence.
The civil society member said market vendors and transportation workers were hurting financially because of the border closure and authorities needed to open the checkpoint to allow vendors to trade.
�So, if we cannot earn, we don't have money to spend,� Din Puthy said. �They have to spend on their bank loan, children�s school fees, food, electricity, and everything. That is why they worry that they might have to go hungry.�
VOA Khmer could not reach Banteay Meanchey Governor Um Reatrey for comment on Monday.
Local publication VOD English reported last week that authorities had deployed security forces across the border town after a request for the protest was rejected by the province, especially a heavy presence of security personnel at Din Puthy�s residence.
Sum Chankea, rights civil society group ADHOC�s Banteay Meanchey monitor, said preventing residents from protesting and the detention of Hun Vannak was a serious violation of human rights.
"It is the violation of liberties and the freedom of expression, including dissemination of information,� he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to property
- HRD
- NGO staff, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 30, 2020
- Event Description
The Monk Council in Siem Reap province expelled prominent activist monk and human rights defender Venerable Luon Savath on Wednesday, based on leaked audio recordings purportedly between the monk and a group of women.
In a decision dated June 3, head of the Monk Council in Siem Reap, Chum Kimleng, alleged that Luon Sovath had conversations about �deep love� with women, which were shared on Facebook. The statement added that the conversations were between the monk, a woman and her daughters, alleging that Luon Sovath indulged in sexual activity.
�If Luon Sovath wears monk robes from now on, related authorities take legal actions,� read the announcement, which defrocked the monk effective Wednesday.
The Monk Council claimed to have investigated the video recordings, but did not provide any evidence or forensic analysis with the statement to show the voice in the recordings belonged to Luon Sovath or if he had acted in violation of religious norms.
VOA Khmer attempted to reach Luon Sovath on the phone and his social media accounts on Thursday, but the activist monk did not respond to requests for comment.
There are four videos circulating on Facebook, and seem to originate from one account, called Srey Da Chi-Kraeng that was created on May 30. The videos, according to the accompanying text on Facebook, are recordings with four women � a mother and three daughters.
The video recordings are of an unidentified person, or persons, sitting in a dimly-lit room and having Facebook audio conversation, ranging seven to 10 minutes each. The video is shot so that only the person�s hand holding the smartphone can be seen.
The Facebook account involved in the alleged call has a male voice and uses the image of Luon Sovath and his name in Khmer script. The conversations are flirtatious in nature and include discussions about giving each other massages.
VOA Khmer could identify two Facebook accounts and one page used by Luon Sovath in the past. One of the accounts, which seems to belong to the venerable monk was created in 2017, it has the same display picture as that seen in the videotaped Facebook calls.
However, VOA Khmer found another Facebook account, called Luon Sovath, using the same display picture and was created on May 29, a day before the Srey Da Chi-Kraeng account was created.
The Monk Council in Siem Reap could not be reached on Thursday to provide details of their investigation into the recordings.
Bor Bet, a monk and member of Independent Monk Network for Social Justice, received a call from Luon Sovath last week, with the activist monk alleging that �people wanted to mistreat me.�
�He told me that they want to frame him,� Bor Bet said. �[Luon Sovath said] it is a political case and done because we are human right defenders.�
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture and Religion, Seng Somony, said the ministry had received the decision to defrock Luon Sovath, rejecting the accusation that the development was politically motivated.
�It is about violating Buddhist rules, it is not related to politics,� he said, adding that there will be no further investigation into the matter.
�But if [Luon Sovath] wants to prove he didn�t do it, he can prove his innocence in front of the monk chief,� he said.
Luon Sovath has been internationally recognized for his work in documenting land rights abuses in Cambodia and was featured in the documentary, A Cambodian Spring, for his activism. In 2012, the multimedia-savvy monk was nominated for Martin Ennals Awards in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 27, 2020
- Event Description
The leader of an informal workers� union in Poipet City said excessive security forces were deployed throughout the city as a �threat� after his request to hold a demonstration over border crossing restrictions next week was denied.
Din Puthy, head of the Cambodia Informal Economy Reinforced Association, told VOD on Wednesday that authorities deployed forces around Poipet City, with about 25 security guards patrolling near his house in the city on the Thai border.
Puthy said he saw the increased presence of authorities and state surveillance as a threat.
�This deployment is a threat to [union members�] feelings and spirits,� Puthy said. �They are monitoring us, and they are afraid that we will assemble our members. This morning, some [union] members came to my house, but they dared not enter because there were so many security forces.�
He said he noticed forces patrolling near his home on Wednesday, two days after he submitted a request to hold a seven-day protest starting on June 1.
Provincial police chief Ath Khem rejected Puthy�s accusations and said the deployment of security forces in the city was to ensure public order.
�He asked permission to hold a demonstration and the provincial [government] issued a notice, informing him that he was not allowed. No one deployed forces at his house,� Khem claimed. �What position is he holding that he needs to be protected?�
In 2016, Puthy, then also the outlawed opposition CNRP�s deputy head of operations in Poipet, was detained on charges of aggravated intentional violence after authorities accused him of driving his SUV into border police officer Chhean Pisith. But video footage and eyewitness accounts revealed Pisith fell to the ground before Puthy�s car could hit him, resulting in the officer being mocked online for �acting� and flopping in front of the vehicle.
On Monday, Puthy�s informal economy association submitted a letter to Banteay Meanchey provincial governor Um Reatrey stating that over the course of next week, about 1,500 people would gather to call for the Cambodia-Thailand border to reopen to people, including Rong Kleu market vendors, cart-pushing porters and drivers of taxis, tuk-tuks and motorbikes.
The union said if Thailand did not allow Cambodian pedestrians, carts and vehicles to enter Thailand�s Sakeo province from Cambodia, authorities should close the Cambodian side of the border to goods entering from Thailand, according to the letter, which was signed by Puthy.
The unionist also raises concerns that Cambodian vendors who have goods stored at the Rong Kleu market will not be able to sell their products, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, before they expire or are damaged by water, rats or insects.
Puthy claims that while the Poipet border crossing is still closed, some Cambodians were bribing Thai authorities to gain entry to Thailand through illegal crossings, which raised the risk of Covid-19 transmission. He added that the opening of the border gate would help reduce illegal crossings.
The provincial government issued a statement later on Monday rejecting the union�s request for a demonstration and noting the authorities� actions were intended to prevent coronavirus transmission amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Puthy, also known as Mang Puthy, said he and union members would not protest after hearing the government�s response, but the public had the right to protest if they so desired.
�I changed my mind because I had informed the provincial hall, and the provincial hall issued a letter rejecting my request,� Puthy told VOD on Wednesday.
�I should not participate and the association will also not participate, but people can still keep holding the demonstration,� he added.
Soeng Senkaruna, spokesman for the human rights organization Adhoc, urged authorities to focus their energy on trying to find a solution for the people who planned to demonstrate, rather than increasing security measures.
�This is an issue because [people] try to demand a solution to the economic crisis or the challenging living conditions that they are facing because there is nothing they can do for their livelihoods,� Senkaruna said. �For these issues, I think all relevant authorities should conduct a survey of the issues [people] are facing in order to find solutions for them.�
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Labour rights, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 15, 2020
- Event Description
A journalist and radio station owner in Kampong Chhnang province was jailed on Friday on incitement charges in relation to his �exaggerated and inciting� news coverage and comments on a land dispute, officials said.
Sok Udom, owner of the 99.75 FM radio station and Rithysen news website, was provisionally detained after he was questioned in court and charged with incitement to commit a felony, said Chhuon Sivin, a provincial court spokesman.
�Sok Udom incited and provoked people to protest, accusing authorities of taking a military base and state land as personal property, which caused confusion and loss of trust in authorities and affected social security,� Sivin said.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a 4 million riel fine (about $1,000). Freedom of the press, assembly and expression are protected rights under the Cambodian Constitution.
Udom was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly inciting people to occupy land in Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary within the province, and then sent to court on Thursday, provincial police chief Khov Ly said.
�He broadcasted to incite people to encroach land in Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary in Cheab commune,� Ly told VOD on Thursday. �That is a crime and a red-handed crime.�
The arrest came as the Information Ministry revoked Udom�s media license, describing the reporter�s posts on Facebook as �exaggerated and inciting� news that violated professional standards and could cause violence, racism, insecurity and chaos in society.
On Monday, Udom posted to his Facebook page, Rithysen, about an alleged illegal construction in Kampong Chhnang City, which he claimed was owned by a Vietnamese national.
He then posted a video of a protest on Tuesday in Teok Phos district�s Cheab commune, in which residents accused provincial authorities of grabbing land within the wildlife sanctuary.
�We want to question whether the provincial governor held a meeting to take the land from people who rely on it,� Udom said in the 50-minute video. �What you are doing is tearing apart [the people�s] votes in support of the government.�
Before he was arrested on Wednesday, Udom accused law enforcement of nepotism and corruption in another Facebook post.
Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn said officials at the Kampong Chhnang provincial information department had warned Udom several times previously about his news broadcasts.
�After he was educated, we still have seen his broadcasts go against the code of journalism ethics, [and] violate the contract upheld by the Information Ministry and provincial information department,� Sophorn said. �So the ministry decided to cancel his license.�
Udom acquired a media license for the radio station in 2014 and for his website in 2018.
Mam Chhoeum, director of the provincial information department, referred questions to Phos Sovann, director of the ministry�s department of information and broadcasting, who could not be reached for comment.
Yon Sineat, a board member of CamboJA, an independent journalists� association that includes VOD staff on its board, said the Information Ministry�s decision to revoke Udom�s license before he was charged with a crime sent a threatening message to journalists reporting on the government and officials.
�Any media outlet that tries to critically report [on the government] in order to improve and develop society, provide accurate information for the benefit of the public and their ability to make decisions, or criticize in a constructive way, is not often welcomed [by the government],� she said. �Instead, they are frequently suppressed and threatened, leading to the imprisonment of some reporters. That is a direct threat to press freedom.�
Last month, the Information Ministry revoked licenses from two other online news outlets.
The online news outlet TVFB lost its license after its editor-in-chief, Sovann Rithy, quoted an excerpt from a speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen in which he said struggling motorbike taxi drivers should sell their vehicles because the government could not afford to help them through the ongoing economic slowdown. Rithy was also jailed on incitement charges.
At the end of the month, news website CKV TV Online, which is owned by Chan Rithy, also lost its media license after the Information Ministry said it violated its contract and professional standards.
Cambodia ranked 144th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders� 2020 World Press Freedom Index, slipping one place from its rating last year.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: independent journalist arrested over false charges for covering alleged land-grabbing on protected areas
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 28, 2020
- Event Description
We the undersigned groups decry the harassment of community representatives from across Cambodia on Tuesday, April 28. These community representatives were arbitrarily detained for seven hours and interrogated while trying to submit a petition asking for additional government assistance to vulnerable communities during the Covid-19 crisis. More than 30 community representatives from across Cambodia gathered in Phnom Penh to submit the petition, which has life-saving requests such as asking the government to distribute medical supplies to vulnerable communities; suspend debts from microfinance institutions (MFIs) and private money lenders; and provide direct economic assistance, including suspending rental fees for poor and informal workers and providing stay-at-home payments. During this process, community representatives were repeatedly asked by authorities, including police officers, what organisations were �behind� this petition, who authored the petition, and were questioned about whether they really faced the problems listed. Many questions focused on the community members� microfinance debt, and some representatives were asked about their personal financial situation and were required to provide proof of debts to MFIs to district authorities. At least two community representatives were additionally summonsed and harassed after they returned home to their communities by local authorities. These interrogations are insulting and appear predicated on the mistrust of vocal communities who actively exercise their right to freely express themselves. They ignore the reality that independent communities across Cambodia have advocated for their rights for decades, in particular around crucial issues such as land rights. This harassment is unjustified and should never have taken place, particularly when the Interior Ministry has repeatedly claimed that grassroots communities have the right to conduct activities free from disturbance and in accordance with the law. On the morning of April 28, community representatives gathered in Phnom Penh but were denied permission to submit the petition to the Council of Ministers. They were instead directed by authorities to Prime Minister Hun Sen�s Cabinet, but officials there declined to accept the petition because it was addressed to the Council of Ministers. Copies were successfully delivered to the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Economy and Finance. The petition was signed by 141 communities across the country and seeks to address the health and economic impacts of the Covid-19 virus, which disproportionately affect vulnerable communities in rural areas as well as Phnom Penh. It notes that government schemes such as ID Poor are not yet comprehensive or fully effective, and encourages the government to take a more holistic approach to fighting the economic impact of the virus. It also includes a call for an immediate halt on all evictions during the Covid-19 crisis in order to protect community members and authorities from the virus. After meeting with authorities and police officers at Hun Sen�s Cabinet, nine community members were asked by officials to discuss the petition further at the Daun Penh district office at around 3:00 p.m. They were detained in the district office for more than 7 hours, denied permission to leave and were never provided legal justification for their detention. During their detention, they faced interrogation from authorities until after 10:00 p.m. Some representatives were deliberately singled out and questioned individually, and then had answers compared to other representatives � interrogation techniques more
commonly used on criminals, not peaceful petitioners. Some representatives were also ordered to unlock and hand over their smartphones, and were questioned repeatedly about who authored the petition, as well as their personal financial relationships with MFIs. At the end of the interrogation, community representatives were coerced into thumbprinting documents that seek to restrict their right to continue advocating on behalf of their communities prior to being allowed to leave the district office. These community representatives should have been welcomed by their government and treated with dignity while they shared the legitimate concerns of tens of thousands of community members across Cambodia. The community representatives set out with the intention to inform their government about the problems in their communities and never demanded anything other than that their requests be considered in the government�s response to Covid-19. We strongly decry their treatment at the hands of authorities.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to information
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 22, 2020
- Event Description
Environmental activists patrolling Prey Lang forest in Cambodia�s central plains said Thursday that authorities interfered with their work and even tried to arrest them after they documented a local company conducting extensive illegal logging in the protected area.
A group known as Lovers of the Environment, which is mostly comprised of youth activists, launched a campaign on Wednesday to drive their motorbikes through Prey Lang�s wildlife sanctuary areas of O�Anamai, O�Romany, O�Krak, O�Sgnuot, and Red Mountain over the course of five days to monitor for illegal logging activities.
Heng Sros, one of the group�s campaigners, told RFA�s Khmer Service on Thursday that over the course of just two days he saw �hundreds of people� in the forest illegally cutting down old-growth trees and transporting them to sawmills run by Think-Biotech Co., Ltd. on the outskirts of Prey Lang, where they were processed and sold for around U.S. $225 per cubic meter.
Meanwhile, felled logs lay unprocessed and awaiting transport throughout the areas the group monitored, he said.
But while Lovers of the Environment worked to document the illegal logging, according to Heng Sros, local authorities followed the group throughout the forest closely watching its activities and seemingly working in conjunction with forestry officials to try to arrest its members.
�The authorities not only didn�t stop the illegal loggers, but they tried to stop our activities and attempted to arrest us, even though we are defenders of the environment who have been working hard and sacrificing our lives to prevent Cambodia�s forests from disappearing,� he said.
�They should be ashamed. The authorities must guarantee that no one can cut down the supposedly �protected forest� areas of Prey Lang.�
In two days, he said his group located �more than 2,000 felled old-growth logs� in five different locations that it documented with photos and video�most of which are resin-producing trees that local residents rely on for their livelihood.
�We were looking specifically for giant trees aged hundreds of years old,� he said, adding that hired workers �used 100�200 trucks to transport the logs.�
�I interviewed the workers and they told me that they transport the logs to sell to Think-Biotech Co., Ltd. They said if they didn�t sell the logs to Think-Biotech, the authorities and forestry officials would seize them and they would have to pay a fine.�
Heng Sros suggested that authorities are �receiving bribes� from Think-Biotech to shadow his group and threaten them with arrest.
�Protect our remaining forests�
Repeated calls by RFA seeking comment on Heng Sros�s claims from Commission of National Prevention and Suppression Against Forest Crime spokesperson Eng Hy and Agriculture Ministry spokesperson Srey Vudh went unanswered Thursday.
However, Ministry of Environment spokesperson Neth Pheaktra told RFA that while it is the right of Lovers of the Environment to carry out their campaign, �the ministry [only] supports a properly registered nongovernmental organization conducting activities to protect natural resources,� suggesting the group should have first asked for permission to enter the forest from local authorities or the Interior Ministry.
Internationally-recognized environmental activist Leng Ouch, who is chairman of local watchdog Cambodian Human Rights Task Force and a member of the campaign against forest crimes, told RFA that members of his group are willing to lay down their lives to protect the country�s forests, which he called �the natural heritage of our ancestors.�
He appealed to all government authorities and members of the armed forces to protect the country�s remaining forests.
�We are not involved in any struggle or revolution for power�all we really want is to preserve and protect our remaining forests,� he said.
�We aren�t doing this for our own interests, but the [authorities] are taking action against us.�
Think-Biotech did not respond to repeated calls for comment on Thursday. Forest under attack
Prey Lang has been ravaged by deforestation caused by illegal logging, with much of the illicit timber smuggled outside the country. In a report released last year, the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) found that the area lost 56 square kilometers (22 square miles) of forest in 2017 alone.
In late February, masked, armed rangers deployed by the Ministry of Environment blocked hundreds of community members, monks, and environmental activists from entering parts of Prey Lang to join an annual tree-blessing ceremony organized by the PLCN to promote conservation efforts against deforestation.
Last week, Ida Theilade of the University of Copenhagen�s Faculty of Science, issued a statement saying that documentation compiled by PLCN that corresponds with satellite imagery from the EU Joint Research Centre and Global Land Analysis & Discovery (GLAD) - University of Maryland showed �increased illegal logging within the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary� in recent months.
Based on weekly satellite imagery at a 30-meter (100-foot) resolution, GLAD issued approximately 1,000 forest loss alerts for Prey Lang per week since the beginning of 2020, Theilade said, noting that during one week at the end of February, when the Ministry of Environment controlled access to the forest, �the number of forest loss alerts spiked to more than 11,000.�
�We are concerned that the PLCN tree blessing ceremony was banned due to government sanctioned illegal logging of protected resin trees in the area,� the statement said.
�PLCN is still banned from entering the forest and is currently unable to conduct patrols and collect data on forest crimes, biodiversity and climate change. PLCN members can only watch as illegal loggers freely enter Prey Lang and convoys of trucks transport timber out of the forest.�
Anniversary of slaying
Also on Thursday, Cheuy Oudom Reaksmey, the son of slain Cambodian environmental activist Chut Wutty, told RFA his family plans to hold an event in Prey Lang forest on Sunday to commemorate the 8th anniversary of his father�s still-unsolved murder.
Shot to death on April 26, 2012 while investigating illegal logging in Koh Kong�s Mondul Seima district, Chut Wutty had been active in organizing communities to protect Cambodian forests against land grabs. He had also campaigned against the government�s granting of land concessions in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
During the commemoration ceremony, Chut Wutty�s family will demand justice from authorities as his killers have yet to be brought to justice, Cheuy Oudom Reaksmey said. They also plan to launch a social media campaign to remind the public about the activist�s work and sacrifice.
An official investigation into Chut Wutty�s death was closed in October 2013 when a court in Koh Kong province abruptly ended its proceedings, prompting Cheuy Oudom Reaksmey to vow at the time to continue to fight for justice in his father�s case.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO, NGO staff, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extractive industries
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 8, 2020
- Event Description
The editor-in-chief of popular online news outlet TVFB was jailed on Thursday on incitement charges in relation to a Facebook post in which he shared remarks made by Prime Minister Hun Sen this week about struggling informal workers.
Sovann Rithy, the founder and face of the Facebook-page-turned-licensed-news-outlet TVFB, now faces up to two years in prison and a maximum fine of 4 million riel ($1,000), if convicted on charges of incitement to commit a felony, according to a court statement.
The Information Ministry on Wednesday revoked TVFB�s broadcast license following Rithy�s arrest on Tuesday night.
The 31-year-old journalist is being detained in Phnom Penh�s PJ prison after he was accused by authorities of inciting social disorder with his Facebook post.
In the post, Rithy cited a quote from Hun Sen�s speech on Tuesday, in which the premier said informal-sector workers who were out of work during the coronavirus crisis would not receive economic assistance from the government.
�If the motodop driver goes bankrupt, he should sell his motorbike for spending [money]. The government has no ability to help,� the post says.
During his speech, Hun Sen said: �For those who have the ID poor card, the state will intervene. But as you asked me, motorbike-taxi drivers have asked if there is any solution. [They must] sell their motorbikes first for spending and buy rice to eat, because if they all come and ask for a solution, [we are going to] die. How could the state have this much money?�
�The state relies on taxes, and if we borrow money from foreign [countries] to pay unemployed people, we will die. No country is going to lend us money to pay for salaries,� the prime minister added.
Hun Sen said earlier in his speech that the government had little money for people working in the informal sector, Voice of America (VOA) reported.
�The government will die if we help motorcycle and taxi drivers. If you are bankrupt, sell the moto first. Why [you] keep the moto for your good looks,� he said, laughing, according to VOA.
On Wednesday, Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn told VOD that TVFB aired news that incited the public, and impacted public order and security.
�We have subsequently enforced the law against reporters at media outlets that are doing something against the law,� Sophorn said. �Having seen that the holder of this license had broadcast news that incited actions that are against the law, [the ministry] needs to enforce the law.�
The ministry was investigating other broadcast news outlets, according to Sophorn, but he did not specify which ones. In order to avoid losing licenses, the spokesman said outlets should properly cite sources, respect the law and maintain professionalism.
Following the ministry�s decision to pull TVFB�s license, the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia said in a statement that it would block two of TVFB�s URLs, tvfb.com.kh and fbtv.news. As of late Thursday, the latter site was accessible in Cambodia.
�A measure is a measure,� spokesman Im Vutha said on Wednesday. �So if you cannot see [the page], it was blocked.�
A TVFB representative could not be reached for comment.
Srey Sotheavy, executive director of the Alliance for Conflict Transformation, said the government�s actions against the news outlet were unacceptable, suggesting that authorities could have sent a warning or educated Rithy instead of doling out a harsh punishment.
�This is an act of expression, a broadcast that allows the audience to consider by themselves about the situation in society,� she said. �That this led to the closure [of TVFB] and a criminal charge [for Rithy] seems severe. This impacts individuals� rights of expression and press freedom.�
In 2018, the government ordered the Information and Telecommunications ministries to monitor and investigate businesses and broadcast news outlets for legal violations. In recent months, authorities have arrested about 20 people over social media posts related to the spread of Covid-19.
Daniel Bastard, head of Reporters Without Borders� (RSF) Asia-Pacific desk, on Wednesday called on the government to release Rithy and reinstate TVFB�s license.
�Imprisoning a journalist for quoting a statement by the prime minister word for word is more than absurd,� Bastard said in a statement. �The Covid-19 crisis must not be used as pretext for getting rid of journalists who do not blindly toe the government line.�
Cambodia is ranked 143rd out of 180 countries in RSF�s 2019 World Press Freedom Index.
During a press conference on Thursday, the Information Ministry�s Sophorn told reporters that organizations that criticized the government�s actions were violating the nation�s legal jurisdiction �by making judgements about facts before the competent institutions in Cambodia.�
In his own Facebook post on Wednesday, Sovann Sokha, Rithy�s father, apologized on behalf of his son and asked the government to pardon Rithy.
�My son Sovann Rithy has made serious mistakes, and I, as his father, have not educated him properly so that he would not act this way,� Sokha says in a two-minute video.
�I am very regretful,� he adds. �Please forgive my son.�
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 1, 2020
- Event Description
At Kampong Speu province's Superl garment factory, Soy Sros does not just make handbags for international buyers. She has led her union branch for years, speaking up for members and tracking working conditions and labor violations on behalf of the 700 unionized workers at Superl, about half of the factory�s total employees.
So when managers posted a list of names of 88 workers who wouldn�t have their contracts renewed after the end of March due to dwindling handbag orders during the pandemic-driven economic slowdown, and all of them were members of her union, Sros made a serious effort to speak with factory management.
She said she spent the entire day of March 31 trying to talk to a human resources manager about the job losses, and when the administrator refused to talk, she took to Facebook that evening out of frustration.
�The owner of Superl factory defied the government�s recommendations as well as the appeal from the Ministry of Labor, because the company has ended employment contracts for not only normal workers but also a six-months-pregnant worker,� she wrote in a post.
Sros said she meant to ask the factory to retain workers by temporarily suspending them rather than ending their contracts, as officials had urged earlier this year in an effort to prevent job losses amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, Superl management filed a complaint against Sros that landed her in jail for nearly two months, in a case that labor advocates say has been insufficiently resolved.
The Superl (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. factory supplies handbags to international brands, including Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Kate Spade and others, according to union members and shipment data from the online trade tracker Panjiva. Superl and its sister factor, Siglo (Cambodia) Co. Ltd., are part of the Hong Kong-listed Superl Holdings Group.
In an interview this month, Sros said she thought she had a good working relationship with the factory�s management, but she suspected managers were surprised by the fact that she would post her grievances online, and that the post would draw such a large response from her coworkers.
Colleagues shared her post through the night, and the next morning, a Superl representative called her in for a meeting and told her that the workers would not be fired, just suspended for one month while demand for handbags was slow. The factory also wanted her to retract her Facebook post and state that she had written false information. While Sros did decide to take down the post, she refused to admit any wrongdoing.
�[Superl managers] asked me to sign a warning letter as well as sign another letter to accept that it was my fault, everything was my fault,� she told VOD. �They wanted everything back to normal, but I didn�t agree with them because everything I posted was based on what happened, based on facts.�
On April 2, Sros said she was called into the factory office to meet police officials, who arrested her and questioned her for about 48 hours before sending her to the Kampong Speu provincial prison on a charge of incitement to discriminate.
�I didn�t expect that the factory would do that to me,� she said at the Phnom Penh office of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW), the union that represents her factory. �I thought that we were partners and we worked together for everyone�s progress.�
While workers were temporarily suspended for a month, compensated for the suspension and brought back to work in late May, Sros was imprisoned for one month and 26 days. She said she slept in a cramped space up against other prisoners and was often sick while incarcerated.
�My parents were very upset and they had been stressed out and worried about me,� said Sros, who is a single mother of two, providing for both her children and parents. �They imagined how difficult life was over there, and also all my family is depending on me.�
Sros was released on bail in late May, but the charge against her is still pending. If convicted, she faces one to three years in prison and fines of up to 6 million riel ($1,500).
A Kampong Speu Provincial Court prosecutor declined to answer questions from VOD without being provided the name of the judge in charge of Sros� case.
Sros� lawyer declined to speak with VOD publicly and Sros could not be reached on Friday to confirm that she was still facing the charge.
But Khun Tharo, program manager at labor rights group Central, which has been following Sros� case, said the incitement charge against her had not been dropped and the case was still pending before an investigating judge.
International Appeals
Pav Sina, CUMW�s national president, described the court�s decision to release Sros on May 28 as a surprise. The day before, a Kampong Speu judge had denied Sros� request for bail, but the next day, prison authorities called CUMW and asked the union to pick up Sros from prison.
Sina said the sudden change was due to outside pressure. He had contacted four international labor rights groups � IndustriAll, Clean Clothes Campaign, Workers Rights Consortium and Solidarity Center � to assist with Sros� case.
�The campaign [to free Sros] would not have succeeded without international involvement,� he said. �As we see how it happens in Cambodia, the local legal system doesn�t work properly, so our union had been in touch with the big international organizations�[which] had pressured the big brands.�
Andrea Shaw Resnick, global head of investor relations and corporate communications for Tapestry, the parent firm of the Kate Spade and Coach brands, told VOD in an email on June 10 that Tapestry contacted Superl management in both Hong Kong and Cambodia.
Shaw Resnick said the company is looking into Sros� case and Superl Group has complied with requests for information, but Superl had denied allegations from Sros and the union that the company is targeting union workers.
�It is our understanding that Superl Cambodia and CUMW have met and discussed the incident directly,� she said. �We have also been told that they will meet together again, along with [the] worker at issue from the incident.�
In late April, Capri Holdings, the luxury fashion group that includes Superl buyer Michael Kors, announced in a press statement that it had signed the U.N. Global Compact, a pledge that businesses will uphold human and labor rights, including freedom of association, allowing effective collective bargaining and stopping discrimination in employment.
The company did not respond to emailed questions. When reporters tried to reach Superl management in Cambodia, a Chinese factory manager, who would not give his name, declined to comment.
Chek Borin, head of the Kampong Speu provincial labor department, also declined to answer questions, saying Sros� case was not under his jurisdiction.
Charges Remain in Place
Shortly after the union leader was released, the factory withdrew its complaint on June 3, and 10 days later Sros signed an agreement with Superl�s general manager, Chan Dao Zen, to drop the company�s criminal complaint to the Kampong Speu court and present the agreement between the company and union leader if Sros is called to court.
The document, viewed by reporters, grants Sros almost all of her demands: She resumed work, was given back pay and was promised that the company would not discriminate against her, though she did not receive damages.
The labor incident between Sros and Superl comes a few months before the E.U.�s decision to partially withdraw Cambodia�s �Everything But Arms� (EBA) duty-free trade benefits with the bloc is set to go into effect in August, in part due to labor rights abuses.
In its February decision, the European Commission said that open criminal and civil cases against labor activists and union leaders are infringing on workers� rights and �should be resolved without delay.�
William Conklin, Solidarity Center�s country director, said the travel goods sector, which includes handbags like those made at Superl, is fairly new to Cambodia after a U.S. duty-free trade scheme was extended to travel goods produced in the country in 2016. He said he hoped that brands would take Sros� case seriously.
Getting her job back and back pay does not address what she had to go through, according to Conklin.
�The fact that [the dispute] has seemingly been resolved is a good outcome, but she spent two months in jail and she had health issues, and it would be a traumatic experience for anyone,� he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Labour rights, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 13, 2020
- Event Description
Noted environmentalist Ouch Leng and three activists were arrested and detained in Kratie province on Friday, with the court continuing to question the four over possible charges relating to “breaking and entering a dwelling.”
The Kratie Provincial Court questioned the four environmental activists on Sunday after Sambo district police arrested them when they were investigating illegal logging inside the Think Biotech land concession in the Prey Lang protected area.
The four activists are Ouch Leng, head of the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force and the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize winner; Khem Soky and Srey Thei, from the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN); and Men Mat, who was physically assaulted by company workers while inside the Think Biotech compound on March 13.
Soeng Senkaruna, an investigator with rights group Adhoc, said the four activists were questioned by two prosecutors all day Sunday, which may continue into Monday.
He said a brief meeting with Ouch Leng revealed that prosecutors were questioning the activist in relation to Article 229 of the Criminal Code, for “breaking and entering into dwelling place” and Article 360 relating to “theft” under aggravating circumstances.
“Yes, we met Ouch Leng for a lunch break. He told us that the prosecutor had asked him about two articles of the Penal Code, Articles 299 and 360, including one about the [NGO] Association Law,” Sen Karuna said.
While the four activists have not been officially charged with a crime, Article 299 holds an up to one-year prison sentence, whereas the more serious charge of theft under aggravating circumstances holds a prison sentence of 15 to 30 years.
Aggravating circumstances under Article 360 requires for “violence intentionally causing the death of the victim,” though police and government officials have not indicated any death in the activists’ attempt to uncover illegal logging operations in the concession.
VOA Khmer could not reach representatives at Think Biotech or officials at Kratie Provincial Court.
Chhay Kim Khoeun, spokesperson for the National Police, did not provide additional details about the arrest, but only confirmed that police officers were working on the case and would provide information later.
“We don’t know if they are legal environmentalists or community officials, and have no paper to prove it yet,” he said.
Activists from several NGOs, including monks, congregated outside the Kratie court over the weekend, requesting the release of the four activists.
Nay Vanda, director of rights NGO coalition CHRAC, said he had been monitoring the peaceful protests and marches calling for the release of the four activists.
“While we are monitoring the interrogation process, there are environmental activists and youth activists marching around Kratie's markets and towns calling for their release,” Nay Vanda said.
On Saturday, 24 independent civil society representatives released a joint statement on the arrest of the activists, calling the physical assault by Think Biotech security guards an “abuse of power,” calling for the company to be held responsible for the attack.
The civil society groups also said they viewed these arrests as “a threat to environmental and forest activists, who are peacefully monitoring and reporting on deforestation activities in Prey Lang and other forested areas,” adding that Cambodian laws encouraged citizens to actively participate in the protection of natural resources.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Mar 17, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 11, 2020
- Event Description
A labor union representing garment factory workers on Tuesday demanded authorities find five masked men who attacked a local union officer in Phnom Penh, leaving him bloodied and in need of stitches.
Soeung Pros, deputy president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union’s (CCAWDU) chapter at the W&D garment factory, was hospitalized on Monday after the daylight assault in front of the factory in Meanchey district, according to a union statement.
“CCAWDU would like to condemn the perpetrators and the accomplices, and ask all related authorities including the court to clearly investigate the case to find justice for the victim,” the union said.
Pros, who has led union protests in the past, was attacked from behind during his lunch break by a man wielding a belt and four others. The unionist was knocked to the ground and sustained cuts to his head resulting in three stitches, the statement said.
He is being treated at the capital’s Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital.
About 900 fired W&D workers returned to work in March last year after Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly demanded their reinstatement, ending a nearly three-month labor dispute that stemmed from demands for unpaid seniority benefits.
Hun Sen had earlier called workers’ demands and related strikes “illegal.” More than 1,000 workers were fired in January 2019 for striking after the company had declined to pay seniority bonuses that workers claimed they were owed.
Pros told VOD that while one man beat him with the metal buckle of a belt, another holding a metal bar stood nearby, but didn’t attack him.
All five men wore surgical masks covering their faces. After the beatdown, they drove away on two motorbikes, with the drivers also wearing helmets, he said.
Pros said he wasn’t sure who would attack him, since he had never had an argument with anyone.
“I don’t know how to draw a conclusion because I am just a workers’ representative,” he said.
Em Pheary, police chief for Steung Meanchey III commune, said authorities received information about the case on Tuesday and were looking into it, including checking if there were cameras at the scene.
“We need the victim to clarify so it is easy for authorities to investigate. If we don’t cover all bases, how can we investigate?” Pheary said.
Cambodian Labor Confederation president Ath Thorn said police were “skilled enough” to arrest the assailants by checking footage from nearby surveillance cameras that could be used as evidence.
He considered the assault against Sros just another threat against the apparel workers’ union stemming from Sros’ previous protests and defense of workers’ rights at the W&D factory.
“It is another unjust act,” Thorn said. “If violence happens, it affects the government’s effort in improving the condition of labor rights in Cambodia.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 3, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 21, 2020
- Event Description
Hundreds of community members, environmental activists, monks and civil society members were stopped by authorities from entering parts of the Prey Lang protected forest this afternoon. Several different groups of participants were stopped while traveling to the intended site of an annual Buddhist ceremony, which is held to raise awareness about illegal logging and conservation of Cambodia’s largest protected area.
Authorities from the Environment Ministry and local officials, some armed with guns, told several different groups across four provinces that they required permission from a “higher level” to be allowed to enter the forest and asked for “official permission letters” from participants. Such permission is not required by law.
Several participants also reported that local authorities threatened local villagers to pressure them not to allow participants to sleep in their villages during their travel or participate in the ceremony, which lasts for several days.
In contrast to today’s actions, just last week 500 officials from the Environment Ministry held an event in Prey Lang and encouraged youth activists and community members to take action in order to help conserve the forest, which spans Kratie, Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear and Stung Treng provinces.
Community members were previously forced to cancel the annual event in 2018 due to threats from authorities. At the time, an Environment Ministry spokesperson said those fears were unfounded and told local media that his ministry would collaborate to protect the forest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 3, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 28, 2020
- Event Description
A court in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh has rejected a request by two former RFA reporters to return their passports and identifying documents after an appellate court ruled last week to continue a reinvestigation into espionage charges against them, according to their lawyer.
Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin—who had worked as an editor, reporter and news anchor, and a photographer and videographer for RFA’s Khmer Service, respectively—were taken into custody in November 2017.
They were charged with “illegally collecting information for a foreign source” after RFA closed its bureau in the capital in September that year.
In a written verdict dated Jan. 28, which RFA’s Khmer Service obtained a copy of on Monday, Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge Pich Vicheathor ruled that the court will not return the passports or identification cards of the two former RFA reporters as the reinvestigation into their charges continues.
Pich Vicheathor said that his decision was also made in accordance with recommendations by the prosecutor to dismiss the reporters’ request, which was filed by their defense lawyer, Sam Chamroeun, two weeks earlier in a bid to “reduce the illegal restrictions on their freedoms” after an appellate court removed their obligation of judicial supervision.
Sam Chamroeun told RFA Monday that he does not agree with the judge’s decision, saying that any confiscated items that are not being used as evidence should be returned to their owners, and that refusing to return their documents “seriously affects their ability to seek justice.”
“As of now there is no separate order to restrict their freedoms besides the past verdict that placed them under judicial supervision,” he noted.
“While they are not obligated to be kept under judicial supervision, the judge still decided not to return their passports and ID cards, which serve no purpose as evidence. Such a decision undeniably affects the justice of the case and affects the freedom of my clients.”
Sam Chamroeun said that in more than 15 years of work as an attorney he had never once seen a judge ruling to keep confiscated items that are irrelevant to a case, and especially not when the accused are no longer being kept under judicial supervision.
He urged the court to reconsider and return the reporters’ passports and identification cards immediately.
Reporters speak
Speaking to RFA on Monday, Yeang Sothearin said there is no need for the court to hold his documents because they do not constitute evidence of the charges against him and vowed to appeal the decision.
“The judge seemingly does not want to give back our freedom,” he said.
“I am not sure if he is angry with us about a certain issue. The judge should have leniently ruled on our cases and given us complete freedom. There is no advancement in the investigation process. They should have provided us back with our freedom so that we may enjoy our rights as normal citizens.”
Uon Chhin said he is disappointed with the decision, saying it indicates that his freedom remains restricted, despite being out on bail, and adding that he also plans to appeal the ruling.
“I’m very disappointed with this ruling which, in effect, means we both are still under judicial supervision,” he said.
“There is nothing different from being under judicial supervision if our passports and ID cards have not been returned.”
Local rights group and spokesperson for ADHOC Soeung Senkarona said he believes the court’s intent is to restrict the freedom of the two and called the decision a form of “discrimination.”
He said that the court should not keep the documents of the reporters because they have fully cooperated with the court throughout all stages of their trial.
“Their passports and ID cards are no longer necessary for the procedure of the court unless the two intend to escape and not to appear per summons from competent authorities or the court,” he said.
“In complete contrast, we see that the two have shown intentions of good cooperation with authorities and the court.”
Soeung Senkarona urged the court to accelerate a hearing on the merit of their case and if no sufficient evidence is presented, the court should “drop their cases and unconditionally render complete freedom for the two.”
High profile case
The two face charges of “illegally collecting information for a foreign source,” under Article 445 of the Criminal Code—an offense punishable by a prison term of from seven to 15 years. Additional charges were added in March 2018, alleging that the two men had illegally produced pornography.
On Dec. 30, the court rejected an appeal by the two reporters to halt a reinvestigation into the pornography case, allowing a new investigation into those charges to proceed.
RFA closed its nearly 20-year-old bureau in Phnom Penh on Sept. 12, 2017 amid a crackdown by the government that also saw the Supreme Court dissolve the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) a month later.
The move paved the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to sweep the ballot in national elections in 2018, effectively turning Cambodia into a one-party state.
Cambodian journalists working for RFA had reported over the years on corruption, illegal logging, and forced evictions, among other stories largely ignored by pro-government media, and authorities had already closed independent radio stations carrying RFA reports, using a pretext of tax and administrative violations.
The arrest of Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin came after a warning from Cambodia’s Ministries of Information and Interior that any journalists still working for RFA after its office in the capital closed would be treated as spies.
They were released on bail in August 2018, but were placed under court supervision, which barred them from changing their addresses or traveling abroad, and required them to check in with their local police station once a month.
Local and international rights groups and legal observers have long condemned the treatment of the pair in the courts as part of a wider attack on the media and civil society in Cambodia and called for the country's trade and aid partners to press for their release.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders ranked Cambodia 143rd out of 180 countries in its 2019 World Press Freedom Index.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to property
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 9, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 1, 2020
- Event Description
Three land rights activists say they were beaten at the Banteay Meanchey provincial military police headquarters alongside a fellow detainee who later died after being transferred to the provincial prison.
Tuy Sros, 34, and four others were arrested on December 28 amid a protest in front of the provincial hall over a land dispute. Four days later, on January 1, Sros died while being transported from the prison to a hospital, according to local authorities and his family.
The provincial administration, in a statement dated January 1, claimed Sros had died from alcohol withdrawal.
But three of the four surviving detainees — An Ruon, Nov Noeun and Him Kiry — have since asked rights group Adhoc for legal help so they can take the military police to court, alleging violence at the hands of officers.
The five activists were “handcuffed and pushed into a car, and beaten, and pushed, necks twisted and beaten in the face,” Noeun told VOD on Sunday. “All five of us were pushed into a car and then dropped off in front of a flagpole. I supposed that we would stand to honor the national flag. We were made to sit in front of the flagpole. Then they lined us up and started kicking each of us three or four times. Me, they kicked three times and they added another punch and I lost a part of my tooth.”
Ruon, another of the activists, told VOD that the military police’s deputy provincial commander, Sar Bunsoeung, had ordered his subordinates to beat all five for answers. Noeun and Kiry made the same claim.
“They beat me repeatedly, bleeding all over my head. I got a cut on my eyelids from the beatings. They kneed me, kneed on the spine and dragged and beat me on the head, and then put a helmet on me, then dragged and twisted my neck,” Ruon said.
Sros’s wife Buy Kimlak and Yib Mak, the fifth detainee, could not be reached about why they had not joined the three others in seeking legal representation.
Kimlak, however, earlier told VOD that her husband’s corpse had bruises all over it. She had also visited him in prison after he was transferred from the military police headquarters to the provincial prison on December 31, and he was weak and barely conscious, she said.
She denied that he was unhealthy or an alcoholic, as the provincial administration claimed.
“He was a good man and very smart. He didn’t have any problems. He was working in business every day, buying chickens every day. And he went on patrol and patrolled every day because he was a village security guard,” Kimlak said.
Authorities passed responsibility between each other.
National military police spokesman Eng Hy denied the abuse accusations, saying the provincial military police headquarters had nothing to do with the alleged violence.
“I’ve already said that this case is not within the jurisdiction of the military police. This case is within the jurisdiction of the provincial authorities and therefore the provincial authorities can explain it,” Hy said.
Ung Siphan, director of the provincial prison, said Sros’s death had nothing to do with his prison.
Prison was not a place for forcing answers out of suspects; prison was just a place to hold people while waiting for court processes, he said.
“No, brother. We didn’t touch him. Frankly, we have thousands of prisoners coming in and out, and till now there’s no such history — we’ve never touched any prisoner,” Siphan said.
Provincial police chief Ath Khem said police were not involved in the case.
Bunsoeung, the deputy commander accused of ordering the violence, could not be reached for comment. Born Bin, provincial military police commander, could not be reached over five days. Banteay Meanchey governor Um Reatrey also could not be reached.
Adhoc provincial coordinator Soum Chankea said he had received the request for legal help from the three activists and would be preparing legal representation for them.
On December 28, about 200 protesters from Changha commune in O’Chrou district gathered in the provincial capital to claim that security forces had burned down villagers’ homes two days earlier. Sros’s wife, Kimlak, said about 200 families had been accused of encroaching on state land and were facing violence at the hands of authorities.
However, the provincial hall statement of January 1 said authorities had visited the families on December 16 to educate them that they had been cheated by brokers and were occupying privately owned land held by several different individuals. On December 26, the administration sent security forces “to crack down on the anarchic group and dismantle huts (which did not have people living in them, and were not houses).”
The group began to protest on the 27th and continued the next day, it said.
The five arrested activists were charged with intentional violence, with the four surviving men released on bail earlier this month.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Killing, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 4, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 2, 2019
- Event Description
Sath Chanbuth, a Rasmei Kampuchea Daily and Apsara TV journalist, appeared for questioning on Monday at the Mondulkiri provincial court on allegations of incitement and defamation in line with a lawsuit filed by Lieutenant Colonel Sophat Serivuthy.
The defendant was questioned by Mondulkiri provincial court prosecutor Eang Sokun over a video he released where he interviewed about 10 indigenous families of O’Raing district’s Dak Dam commune who accused Serivuthy of planting fence posts in an attempt to grab their land.
“The court must conduct a proper [and fair] investigation. I disseminated correct information and have a reliable source from among the residents,” Chanbuth said.
Mondulkiri provincial court prosecutor Mam Vanda said the questioning was a primary procedure to collect further evidence regarding the allegations filed by the plaintiff.
“We questioned him because we wanted to collect evidence regarding the complaint. We allowed relevant parties to show evidence. The defendant can testify and the plaintiff has the burden to prove the defendant’s guilt.
“A summons is a procedure of the court. But I don’t know yet when the court will summon him. We’ll have to check his testimony first,” he said.
The plaintiff’s lawyer Seng Singheng told The Post on Monday that in July this year, Chanbuth allegedly disseminated false information accusing his client of land encroachment. Serivuthy was said to have asked Chanbuth to amend his report and take down the video but the latter refused to do so.
“I expect the court will process it in accordance with the legal procedure,” he said.
Alliance of Cambodian Journalists (CamboJa) founder May Titthara said the plaintiff should have issued a statement to correct the report instead of taking the matter to court.
He said legal action against journalists posed a threat to freedom of the press.
“As a journalist, he [Chanbuth] must find relevant documents and credible sources to support his allegations [against Serivuthy]. He should also seek legal advice from a lawyer,” Titthara said.
Serivuthy could not be reached for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 9, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 13, 2019
- Event Description
The Cambodian authorities should immediately drop fabricated incitement charges against two former Cambodia Daily journalists, Human Rights Watch said today.
On December 13, the Rattanakiri provincial court set December 25 as the first trial date for Aun Pheap, 55, and Zsombor Peter, 41. Neither currently live in Cambodia. Their lawyer said he had never received notification from the court that the investigation had been completed and a trial was imminent.
“The decision to take Pheap and Peter’s case to trial seems intended to intimidate all of Cambodia’s journalists,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Prosecutors should drop these bogus charges and the government should end its efforts to restrict press freedom by criminalizing independent reporting.”
On August 28, 2017, the Rattanakiri provincial prosecutor filed “incitement to commit a felony” charges against both journalists. If convicted under articles 494 and 495 of Cambodia’s criminal code, they face up to two years in prison. Aun Pheap had been working as a reporter and Zsombor Peter as a reporter and associate editor at the Cambodia Daily. Both left Cambodia because of fears of being arbitrarily arrested and detained.
The case arose out of Pheap and Peter’s interviews with registered voters in Rattanakiri province prior to the Pate commune council elections on June 4, 2017. In 2012, Pate had been the only commune in the province that elected opposition political party candidates, leading local officials to tell journalists not to interview local residents. When Pheap and Peter refused the demand, the officials accused them of inciting voters to support the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
In June 2017, Pheap and Peter won the Excellence in Investigative Reporting award from the Society of Publishers in Asia for their reporting on military involvement in Cambodia’s illegal timber trade. Both had frequently written about illegal logging and government corruption in Rattanakiri and other provinces in Cambodia.
Government harassment of independent journalists has increased over the past two years, Human Rights Watch said. In July, Rattanakiri provincial authorities issued a letter demanding that all journalists report to them with identification and inform officials of their intentions before reporting on any stories in the province, VOD reported.
Two Radio Free Asia journalists, Uon Chin and Yeang Sothearin, continue to face baseless espionage charges, after being arbitrarily arrested and detained in 2017. While they were released under judicial supervision, the charges have not been dropped. On October 3, a judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to convict them, but instead of dismissing the case, sent it back for re-investigation. On January 20, 2020, the Court of Appeal will hear Chin’s and Sothearin’s appeals of that decision.
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government has attacked and shut down independent media outlets. In September 2017, the Cambodia Daily, one of the country’s longstanding independent local newspapers, was forcibly shut after being handed a dubious unpaid tax bill of US$6.3 million. In May 2018, the government coerced the sale of the last independent local newspaper, the Phnom Penh Post, to a Malaysian businessman with reported ties to the Cambodian government by imposing a similarly questionable unpaid tax bill of US$3.9 million. The newspaper was subsequently transferred to a ruling Cambodian People’s Party member.
Radio Free Asia (RFA) closed its office in Phnom Penh in September 2017, after 20 years of operations in Cambodia, citing threats to its staff. A few days after RFA’s office closure, the Interior Ministry threatened journalists who had worked for RFA with legal action if they continued reporting for RFA.
“Cambodia’s persecution of journalists is sending a message that independent, investigative reporting is not only unwelcome, but could get you thrown in jail,” Robertson said. “The European Union and other foreign governments should publicly call for these charges to be dismissed and urge the government to allow journalists to do their jobs without harassment.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: Two journalists charged with incitement
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2020
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 18, 2019
- Event Description
Six representatives of villagers involved in a long-running land dispute with a sugar company in Koh Kong have been summoned for questioning again by the provincial court over disputed allegations brought by tycoon Heng Huy.
The six were initially summoned along with four others earlier this year over a complaint filed by Huy, who accused them of public defamation and incitement to commit a felony. Four of the 10 have been questioned while the six others asked for a delay at the time.
They face up to two years in prison if convicted.
Koh Kong Provincial Court prosecutor Ros Saram summoned three people to appear for questioning on December 17, and the other three on the following day, in court documents dated November 18 and received by the six representatives on Wednesday, said Chhan Chhoeun, one of the six.
Chhoeun told VOD on Friday that he was ready to testify in court as scheduled. He was not worried because he had done nothing wrong, he said.
“I will tell the court what the reality is. Mr. Heng Huy’s company really encroached on people’s land. How did I defame him?” Chhoeun said. “I only spoke about our land being encroached on.”
Chhoeun said 197 families from Sre Ambel district lost their land because Heng Huy Agriculture Group had encroached on their plots since 2007.
Huy could not be reached for comment.
Another land disputant representative, Ith Toeng, said it was unjust for the court to call villagers for questioning based on Huy’s complaint. He had encroached on people’s land, she said.
“The court seems to be biased in favor of an oknha, while hundreds of people, it has never investigated. [The court] never came to ask for the location of the people’s land but instead believed in the tycoon alone,” Toeng said.
She called on the government to resolve the land dispute and asked the court to consider canceling the summonses.
“I asked the court to clearly inspect before issuing summonses for us to see whether we really have a land dispute with Mr. Heng Huy or not, and please drop accusations against the 10 villagers,” she said.
Pen Vuthea, a monitor with human rights group Licadho in Koh Kong, said the summonses were a threat to keep people from protesting over their lost land.
In order to show concern for people, the government must resolve the dispute soon, and the court should drop the charges against the 10 representatives, otherwise people will continue to protest, Vuthea said.
“For the authorities, if there are still people protesting and going up to Phnom Penh to find a solution, it looks like the government is not finding a solution for people who are the landowners and have lost their land,” he said.
More than 300 people from Koh Kong protested in Phnom Penh this week, calling on the ministries of interior and land management to resolve their land disputes with companies that were granted concessions by the government, including Heng Huy.
In July, the Land Management Ministry rejected the claims of about 100 Koh Kong land protesters who demonstrated outside the ministry in Phnom Penh, and requested that legal action be taken against them.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Offline
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Agricultural business
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 3, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 9, 2019
- Event Description
Two VOD journalists were detained for three hours at the Poipet military police headquarters on Saturday after reporting on border security in the area.
CNRP acting president Sam Rainsy had vowed to attempt a return to Cambodia via Thailand that day, leading to the deployment of armed forces to the Thai border as well as dozens of arrests of CNRP supporters in the lead up.
Rainsy only got as far as Kuala Lumpur on November 9.
VOD reporter Vann Vichar said he and cameraman Chorn Chanren were detained by military police from about 3 to 6 p.m.
Officers went through all his equipment, including communications on his phone between him and his wife, Vichar said.
“After detaining me for about half an hour, they separated me from Chanren. They brought me to a room to question me and check my laptop and smartphone, going through all messages, group conversations and files,” he said.
“They listened to voice chats. After questioning, they wrote reports to send to their superiors. I don’t know how high it went,” Vichar added.
Poipet city governor Keat Hul and Banteay Meanchey provincial governor Um Reatrey declined to comment on the detentions. Poipet city military police commander Nuon Ninaro hung up on a reporter when contacted by VOD.
Information Ministry spokesmen Phos Sovann, Meas Sophorn and Ouk Kimseng could not be reached.
Ninaro, the military police commander, told Khmer Times that his officers had suspected the two journalists of being “involved” with Rainsy’s supporters.
“We just called them for questioning and then allowed them to go back,” Ninaro said.
In a statement on Sunday, the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, whose co-founders include VOD editors, said the journalists had at the time been interviewing fish sellers frustrated at being unable to cross the border.
The association’s executive director, May Titthara, added that the detentions amounted to a threat.
“The government and authorities must guarantee the rights of journalists by allowing them to report the news without fear,” Titthara said.
Cambodian Center for Human Rights coordinator Vann Sophath, who was also at the Poipet border at the time to monitor the situation, said journalists have the right to cover events happening in public places.
“Freedom of the press in Cambodia is not yet being broadly respected to an international standard,” Sophath said.
In recent years, Cambodia has steadily declined in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, falling from 137th worldwide in 2017 to 142nd last year and 143rd this year.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 3, 2019
- Event Description
A Cambodian judge Thursday ordered a reinvestigation in the espionage case against two former Radio Free Asia journalists, saying he could not rule on their guilt or innocence without enough evidence.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge Im Vannak ordered the new investigation on the day he was scheduled to deliver a verdict in the case against the two reporters, Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin.
The 2-year-old case has added to concerns about a crackdown on criticism and dissent by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who extended his rule of more than three decades in a general election last year after the main opposition party leader was arrested on treason charges and his party banned.
In a statement, John Lansing - the out-going CEO of the US Agency for Global Media, the agency that oversees RFA and other U.S. international broadcasters such as VOA - called the court's action "unacceptable" and said the international community should respond accordingly.
"While these continuing acts of intimidation and repression are meant to instill fear, they only underscore USAGM'sresolutesupport forits journalists and networks, including RFA," Lansing's statement read. "Together, we will continue to provide the Cambodian people with accurate, objective and professional journalism and to shine a light on the political and humanitarian crises facing the country."
The two former reporters for Washington-based RFA were arrested in November 2017 and charged with espionage and producing pornography. They denied the charges.
Hun Sen has accused the United States of trying to end his rule.
RFA earlier in 2017 shut down its Phnom Penh office complaining of a “relentless crackdown on independent voices.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 15, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 3, 2019
- Event Description
On 3 September 2019 at 8h30 am, the Ratanakiri Provincial Court has unfairly summoned Mr. Pen Bunnar ADHOC Senior Officer to appear. He is accused for “incitement to commit crimes On June 2017, Seda’s community required the support of ADHOC concerning a land issue. Indeed, the community was trying to prevent land clearing in the Lumphat district and ADHOC is providing a legal support to the communities with their land rights issues in the course of a program financed by USAID. On June 22 and 23, 2017, the communities tried to obtain help from the authorities with the monitoring and support of ADHOC represented by Mr. Pen Bunn. Then considering the lack of interest concerning this case from the government, they determined that the legal way was the best option to solve this issue. Mr Pen Bunnar and other community members have lodged a complaint against the land clearers but the court refused to take its responsibilities in this case. Instead, a lawsuit was launched Mr Pen Bunnar the ADHOC’s member that was supporting communities.”. Tomorrow convocation is for the second trial since the defendant have been already summoned by the investigating judge Mr Sreng Simsorya on 12 August 2019. On the first trial, where Mr Pen Bunn wasn’t present or represented because he couldn’t hire a lawyer and come to Phnom Pen in time (he got informed very late). During this first court, a few community members lied, under the pressure of the trial, and told the court that Mr Pen Bunn he was encouraging people to clear the lands. In exchange, the accusers received the right to use the cleared land from the court. ADHOC is very concerned that Mr Pen Bunnar could face charges and/or arrest and detention under Article 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. This is a basic and vicious attempt to attack a defender of human rights and a violation of community’s rights. This trial is placed under the mark of corruption and is threatening a dedicated human right advocate from our organization. We call upon local, regional and international partners, embassies and UN representatives to intervene before the situation continues to deteriorate.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 3, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 22, 2014
- Event Description
Two outspoken critics of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen are to be dragged to court this month on vague charges of "incitement to commit a crime," but the defendants say they have done nothing illegal. Prominent activist monk Luon Sovath received a summons dated Oct. 22 and signed by Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor Meas Chanpeseth accusing him of "incitement to commit crimes in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and abroad" in 2011, under Penal Code article 495. U.S.-based Cambodian dissident Sourn Serey Ratha, who leads the Khmer People Power Movement (KPPM)-a group labeled a terrorist organization by Phnom Penh-received a similar summons from the court dated the same day, also accusing him of incitement in 2011 in the Cambodian capital and abroad. Neither of the summonses, which ordered the two men to appear in court together in the capital on Nov. 25, specified what crimes they had incited or how their cases were linked. Under the Penal Code, incitement is vaguely defined in article 495 as directly provoking the commission of a crime or an act that creates "serious turmoil in society" through public speech, writings or drawings, or audio-visual telecommunication. The warrant sent to Sourn Serey Ratha also accused him of "creating a disturbance against voters" and "conspiracy" in the run up to the July 2013 general elections and beyond, though it did not elaborate on what acts the charges were related to. Prior to ballot, the KPPM had printed T-shirts with slogans urging the public not to vote amid allegations of widespread irregularities. In August 2013, the group had distributed leaflets calling on the Cambodian armed forces to turn their guns against the country's "dictator" instead of against mostly opposition supporters protesting over the disputed general elections. Luon Sovath faces up to five years in prison if convicted, while Sourn Serey Ratha faces a total maximum punishment of 15 years. Luon Sovath told RFA Monday that he would attend the hearing and said local nongovernmental organizations had provided him with two lawyers for his defense, but he questioned why he was facing criminal charges. "What is meant by an incitement to commit crimes?" he asked. "In Buddhism, incitement means to provoke people to kill, rob or lie, but what I have done? Has anyone seen me incite people?" Luon Sovath said that he had attended a United Nations conference in New York in 2011 where he met Sourn Serey Ratha "but I was not involved with what he does in the U.S.," referring to his group's aim of regime change in Cambodia. "I came with a human rights NGO to give a presentation on the land dispute issue in Cambodia," he said. Sourn Serey Ratha also denied the charges against him and told RFA from the U.S. that his lawyer would represent him at court in his absence. "Our struggle depends on international laws to fight against the dictatorship[in Cambodia]," he said. "We are not involved with any armed forces or illegal acts." An earlier hearing for both Luon Sovath and Sourn Serey Ratha had been scheduled for Sept. 18, but was delayed because the monk was traveling abroad. A report by the Cambodia Daily at the time cited Sourn Serey Ratha as saying that he had sponsored a trip by Luon Sovath to the U.S. in 2011 and helped raise nearly U.S. $30,000 for the monk's human rights work in Cambodia, but that they did not communicate after that. The report had quoted deputy prosecutor Meas Chanpeseth as saying that the two would be tried together because they are involved in the same case, without elaborating. Luon Sovath, who is known as the "multimedia monk," is known for his presence at protests against land grabs and election fraud where he regularly documents the events through video and photography. He became the first Southeast Asian recipient of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2012, the aim of which is to provide protection through international recognition, according to the award's official website. Sourn Serey Ratha had filed, on behalf of the KPPM, a complaint with the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) two years ago accusing Hun Sen of "crimes against humanity" but it was eventually dropped. The complaint alleged that the Cambodian government has forcibly evicted more than 100,000 people from land the group says they have "legal title" to, and that members of the government are personally profiting from the use and sale of such land. The U.S.-based group cited "credible reports" of beatings, unjustified imprisonment, and killings of individuals who question or legally resist the forced evictions. The KPPM's complaint is believed to have upset Hun Sen.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 24, 2014
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has summoned two prominent union leaders for questioning on Friday October 24th over charges that they incited violence and property damage at a garment worker protest in Phnom Penh in January during which military police fatally shot at least five people. The summonses are dated October 9 and ask Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, and Yang Sophoan, who heads the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, to "bring any documents related to the case above if they have them." Mr. Chhun and Ms. Sophoan said they each received the summonses Monday 27th October and would attend the questioning session. They have both denied any wrongdoing and claimed they were not at the protest. However, Mr. Chhun on Monday added a slight caveat to his previous denial. "I am not worried about being arrested because I was not present at the demonstration," he said. "But if I was there, I am not guilty because I just joined to demand a higher minimum wage for workers." They and other union leaders facing the same charges are currently under court supervision, restricting their activities in the midst of ongoing garment sector wage negotiations between the unions, factories and government.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Labour rights, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 11, 2014
- Event Description
On the afternoon of October 11th 2014, police in Oddar Meanchey beat a staff member from human rights organization Equitable Cambodia after they refused to allow officers to search their car without a warrant and gain access to a camera. Police stopped the car as it was transporting villagers back to their community, following interviews with Equitable Cambodia staff at an office belonging to ADHOC. Following the illegal search and beating of the staff, police confiscated the car and deleted a number of photos from the camera. The staff from Equitable Cambodia are now in Oddar Meanchey Provincial Police Station negotiating with police but are not currently detained. The violence comes after Equitable Cambodia staff were detained last month during a visit to Bos village in Oddar Meanchey, to investigate a case where approximately 100 families were affected when their rice fields were destroyed to make way for sugarcane plantations.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 19, 2014
- Event Description
Ath Thorn, head of Cambodia's largest independent labour union, was placed under court supervision yesterday, the second such prohibitive order for the union leader. A judge told Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), that he cannot attend public demonstrations, and must report to police once per month, along with other requirements. The court also ordered Pav Sina, head of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, and Chea Mony, who leads the Free Trade Union, to also stay away from demonstrations and check in under the same timeline. "It is not fair, because we have not done what[the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC)] and the authorities have accused us of," Thorn said, referring to the organisation behind the complaint, which was filed on behalf of some 170 factories affected by a nationwide garment worker strike from late December to early January of this year. A total of six union leaders are charged with several crimes, including intentional violence in aggravating circumstances, connected to the strike, which led to the deaths of at least five people. Charges against the union members are baseless, because they accuse them of committing acts at places they were not present, said Dave Welsh, country director of labour rights group Solidarity Center. Courts are charging union leaders with these crimes now to give the government leverage during minimum wage negotiations and ahead of the decision on next year's industry floor wage, which is expected by the end of October, Welsh said. "I think the basis for the charges and the issue of supervision are farcical," he added. "They're purely political and it's being done in the event that[the government decides on] a minimum wage that is not satisfactory to unions". Thorn was already under court supervision for a separate case in which he is a defendant, stemming from a strike at SL Garment Processing a few months before the nationwide protests last year. In that case, he is accused of inciting violence that injured the plaintiff, an SL security guard. One bystander was killed by stray gunfire from security forces during the strike. The C.CAWDU president already ignored the first court order on Wednesday, when he led a small march favouring a $177 minimum wage next year.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 9, 2014
- Event Description
On Tuesday, 9 Sept. 2014, Cambodian authorities detained two employees of Equitable Cambodia (EC) without just cause. Ms. Meg Fukuzawa, a research consultant who has dual citizenship in the United States and Japan, and Mr. Lida Sok, a Cambodian research officer, had been in Oddar Meanchey province since last Monday to conduct field research on the human rights impacts of forced evictions resulting from the development of industrial sugarcane plantations. The plantations are owned by the Mitr Phol Group, one of Coca-Cola's top three global suppliers. Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok were working to collect research data to provide to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, which is investigating Mitr Phol's activities in Cambodia. Around 4:30 p.m., four police vehicles attended Bos village where Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok had been conducting their research. In 2008, the rice fields of approximately 100 families in Bos village were seized to make way for sugarcane plantations. When officers approached the researchers, they immediately asked Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok to accompany them to the Oddar Meanchey provincial police station. The officers' requests were denied, as by then, it was dark and the EC staff were concerned about traveling by motorcycle at night. An hour later, Long Sokun, the Deputy Police Chief of Oddar Meanchey, arrived at the village and asked to see Ms. Fukuzawa's immigration documents. Ms. Fukuzawa did not have her passport in her immediate possession. At approximately 8:30 p.m., a police vehicle attended Bos village and Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok were transported under duress to the provincial police station. The officers did not inform them of the reason for their detention, nor was an arrest warrant produced. They were held in police custody and interrogated about their research activities for over three hours, after which Mr. Sok was released from police custody. However, he chose to remain with his colleague to act as her translator and to provide support while she remained in custody. At the police station, Ms. Fukuzawa attempted to show both Mr. Long Sokun and his assistant scanned copies of her Japanese and American passports, which were sent to Mr. Sok's telephone. On both occasions, she was told that it was not necessary to provide such documents. Ms. Fukuzawa was held in police custody overnight and transported to the Department of Immigration in Phnom Penh on the morning of 10 Sept. 2014. After an interview was conducted with the Director of the Department of Immigration, Ms. Fukuzawa was released from police custody at 3:30 p.m. Police indicated to the researchers that they were asked to leave the village for their own safety because it was a remote area. Neither Ms. Fukuzawa nor Mr. Sok were concerned about their safety while undertaking their research at the village. The community members had treated the visitors with respect and hospitality. It was only after police arrived and detained them against their will that Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok felt their safety was at risk. Ultimately, the authorities claimed that Ms. Fukuzawa was detained because she could not produce her original passport when questioned by the police in Oddar Meanchey. No charges were laid nor fines imposed. Equitable Cambodia condemns the arbitrary detention of its employees, both in Oddar Meanchey and Phnom Penh. The absence of a passport upon request by police does not result in criminal sanctions. Moreover, neither individual was engaging in illegal activities. As such, there were no credible grounds to justify Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok's detention in police custody, the former lasting nearly 24 hours. Without warrant or reasonable grounds to seek detention, police and immigration officers violated Ms. Fukuzawa and Mr. Sok's constitutional right to not be arbitrarily detained and deprived them of their liberty without just cause.[ We the undersigned condemn the continued intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders in Cambodia. We call upon the competent authorities to investigate those responsible for ordering the illegal and unjust detention of Meg Fukuzawa and Lida Sok.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 29, 2014
- Event Description
This morning at around 9.20am, four community activists from Boeung Kak Lake Community were arrested at Wat Chas, Chrouy Changvae district. The activists had arrived to support rural land communities from Pailin, Banteay Meanchey, Battambang and Svay Rieng, who are preparing a march to petition the National Assembly and Prime Minister Hun Sen this morning. The four activists arrested are Song Sreyleap, Tep Vanny, Kek Chanrasmey and Kong Chantha. They are currently being detained at Chroy Chong Va district office. Authorities have now locked the communities inside the grounds of Wat Chas. Update: The Supreme Court today upheld the convictions of three Boeung Kak activists - including Tep Vanny - for allegedly obstructing and insulting public officials during a 2011 demonstration outside Phnom Penh City Hall. Their six month sentences were also upheld. Vanny, Bo Chhorvy and Kong Chantha were originally sentenced in September 2016, five years after an effort by some 100 community activists to deliver a petition to City Hall grew violent when security forces tried to disperse them. Authorities accused them and another activist, Heng Mom, of attacking and "insulting" security officials. According to a statement from rights NGO Licadho, neither the plaintiff's lawyers nor witnesses were present during the appeal process. "As in earlier court hearings on this case, insufficient evidence was presented to meet the legal standards for proof," the statement reads. The statement also notes that no "enforcement order" was issued, meaning Chhorvy and Chantha can be arrested at any time to serve their sentences. Vanny has been in Prey Sar prison since August 2016, and is already serving a 30-month sentence for her alleged role in a demonstration outside Prime Minister Hun Sen's house.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 22, 2014
- Event Description
This morning approximately 100 land activists from Borei Keila, Lor Peang and Boeung Kak Lake communities marched to the Council of Ministers to submit petitions for the resolution of their respective land disputes. Their peaceful assembly was disrupted by riot police and Daun Penh district security guards, who temporarily detained three activists amid an unsuccessful push to disperse people. This morning, Prime Minister Hun Sen plans to meet at the Council of Ministers with a number of top officials to discuss unresolved land disputes across the country.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to property, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 17, 2014
- Event Description
When the ruling CPP and opposition CNRP sat down Monday for a third round of electoral reform talks, the ruling party took a surprising new direction in its policy priorities. Rather than bring up voter lists, electoral bodies or access to the media, the CPP delegation wanted to talk about the political neutrality of civil society groups-particularly those who report on the country's democratic process. -News Analysis The CPP proposed a law to ensure the neutrality of civil society organizations and a review of independent election monitors working in Cambodia. Many had released reports highly critical of July's national election. "It is very serious when the civil society groups are not neutral, because it creates a very bad impact on the public and elections," said CPP lawmaker Sik Bunhok. "We are not targeting on any particular NGOs and civil society organizations, but we want to see them all respect the law and be responsible for doing anything wrong," he said. "Thus, we need to write in the law a requirement that any civil society groups must be responsible before the law if their claims... cause problems with the election," Mr. Bunhok added. A group of 12 civil society groups, calling themselves the Electoral Reform Alliance, released in December the Joint-Report on the Conduct of the 2013 Cambodian Elections, the most comprehensive analysis thus far of the July's fiercely disputed national election. The report, using information gathered by six election monitoring groups, showed that widespread election irregularities- including flawed voter lists and extensive distribution of temporary identity cards-ultimately favored the CPP, which officially won the election with 68 out of 123 National Assembly seats. The CNRP has boycotted parliament since it was convened in September, demanding that the CPP either agree to an investigation into the election or hold a new election before 2018. As the CPP fought off claims from the opposition that its government is illegitimate due to the flawed elections, the ERA report-and its authors-have been placed at the center of Cambodia's ongoing political quarrel. In a 60-page response to the ERA report in January, the Council of Ministers proclaimed that the civil society groups behind it, which include many of the country's most prominent election and human rights NGOs, were collaborating with the CNRP. "The Joint-Report which was compiled based on the research by various so-called "independent organizations,' whose agents are also called "independent,' does not reflect the adherence to those principles and neither do the current activities of these NGOs in Cambodia," the Council of Ministers response said. The response went on to say that the post-election efforts by the CNRP to undermine the credibility of July's election "were planned and designed in close cooperation with a number of non-governmental organizations allied with the CNRP, which have received technical, financial and political support from abroad." Although the newly formed CPP government has promised deep reforms, it has continued to confuse criticism with political opposition, said Koul Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, a contributor to the ERA report. "[The CPP] doesn't want any report regarding election irregularities," Mr Panha said. "They want to see a legitimate[election] outcome. They want to say "Everything is perfect. The election is free and fair and everything is fine.'" "But there have been complaints from the public, so they should deal with that," he continued. "They should recognize the problem and then move forward, otherwise how can they reform?" Chea Vannath, a political analyst and former president of the Center for Social Development, said that the tension between the ruling party and civil society groups is a function of the CPP's refusal to embrace democratic principles enshrined in the Constitution. "Neutrality[among civil society groups] is to say what you are supposed to say based on democracy, good governance, transparency and accountability, not because of political bias," she said. "From the ruling party's point of view...all that is considered biased," she added. Thun Saray, president of local rights group Adhoc, said that, in the absence of independent electoral institutions within the government, the role of civil society groups as a check on the ruling party's power was critical. "Civil society has to be neutral and independent from both parties, but when we see the elephant try to step on the mouse we cannot keep silent," Mr. Saray said. "We have to speak when we see injustice or unfairness," he added. "If we keep silent we are not neutral anymore, we are on the side of the elephant."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 9, 2014
- Event Description
A worker with the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) has been intimidated and received death threats while trying to document the plight of three families involved in a bitter land dispute with a developer in the country's capital, according to the center. The worker, Vann Sophath, was shooting a video at the dispute site in Phnom Penh's Sangkat Boueng Kak 1 on May 9 when he was confronted by around six civilians known to work as security guards for the developer, Khun Sear Import Export Company, CCHR said in a statement. "Vann Sophath went to the site while the Khun Sear Company security guards were demolishing the home of one of the three families," the statement said. "He was interrupted by a group of Khun Sear Company security guards, who were armed with knives, axes and hammers. They pushed him out of the site as other[s] threatened to cut him on the head." CCHR said that one of the security guards screamed at Vann Sophath, saying, "Old fool! I will not allow you to be free" and ordered others to take photos of the worker and his car's license plate. Vann Sophath left the site shortly after being threatened. CCHR plans to file a complaint with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court against the Khun Sear guards because of the threats made against Vann Sophath, said Chhay Chhunly, project coordinator for CCHR's Human Rights Defenders Project, which closely tracks those working to protect human rights in Cambodia "We think this is a serious threat," she told RFA's Khmer Service. "This group is a brutal group. They have attacked the villagers[involved in the land dispute with the company]." Chhay Chhunly said that the security guards had also threatened other rights activists, but that they had targeted Vann Sophath because he was filming the three families at the site. "We want to produce a documentary which profiles the victim families," she said. Earlier incident Vann Sophath and his team first visited Sangkat Boueng Kak 1 on April 25 to begin shooting interviews with the family of Ly Sreakheng-one of the three households involved in the dispute with the Khun Sear Import Export Company, which has offices on property adjacent to their homes and has been seeking to extend its property to include the residents' land. During the shoot, around 10 company security guards "tried to interrupt by verbally attacking Mr. Sreakheng," CCHR said, while one of them photographed the team, focusing on Vann Sophath's face. CCHR said that Ly Sreakheng and the two other families have been living on the plot since 1982, prior to which it had been occupied by the Vietnamese army after invading Cambodia in 1979 and driving out the notorious Khmer Rouge regime. The three families have repeatedly attempted to register the land under the country's 2001 Land Law, but have been ignored by the authorities, CCHR said. On Oct. 4, 2010, Cambodia's Council of Ministers granted the land to Khun Sear and, in order to facilitate the transfer, the Phnom Penh municipal government in 2013 issued a certificate stating that the site belongs to the state. Since then, Khun Sear has claimed ownership of the land and has repeatedly harassed the three families, destroying crops, disconnecting electricity, damaging property and beating the residents, CCHR said. In October last year, ahead of a protest march on City Hall by dozens of residents involved in land disputes in the capital, the three families found three poisonous cobra snakes had been placed near their homes. Days earlier, after company employees had threatened the families about killing their pets, two of their cats and one of their dogs were poisoned to death and left on the doorstep, unidentified persons sprayed insecticide on one of the houses, and others harassed customers at one of the families' businesses, according to a statement by rights groups. Ly Sreakheng and his family members have requested intervention from nongovernmental organizations, including CCHR, regarding security and mediation in finding a solution to the land dispute. Bitter problem Land disputes are a bitter problem for Cambodia, where rural villagers and urban dwellers alike have been mired in conflicts that the U.N.'s special rapporteur for human rights to Cambodia has warned could threaten the country's stability. The country's land issues date from the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime, which forced large-scale evacuations and relocations, followed by a period of mass confusion over land rights and the formation of squatter communities when the refugees returned in the 1990s after a decade of civil war.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to housing, Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 2, 2014
- Event Description
After refusing for days to disclose the location of 23 protesters arrested last week and then charged in court, prison officials revealed Wednesday that the group is being held in a notorious jail in Kompong Cham province. Ten people were arrested on Thursday and a further 13 were arrested on Friday during protests by striking workers that saw at least five people shot dead by military police. Keo Sovanna, chief of Kom�_pong Cham's Correctional Center 3 (CC3), confirmed speculation earlier this week by rights groups Adhoc and Licadho that the 23 protesters-who have not yet been convicted of any crime-are being held at his maximum security jail. "We've detained them in the same building[here], since we don't have the rooms available to detain them separately," he said. Mr. Sovanna declined to comment further when asked about the health conditions or treatment of the 23 prisoners. The group includes union leaders, activists and striking workers, who have been charged at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court with the intentional destruction of property and intentional violence under aggravating circumstances. On Monday, Licadho and the Community Legal Education Center described the CC3 facility as "among the harshest prisons in Cambodia." Am Sam Ath, technical supervisor with Licadho, said that medical teams from his organization had visited the CC3 prison Wednesday and met with the prisoners. Each member of the group had been beaten both before and after their arrest, he said. "Vorn Pao's condition is the most serious," Mr. Sam Ath said, referring to a prominent union leader who heads the Independent Democracy of Informal Economic Association. "He recently had a kidney operation, and he has been repeatedly kicked in the area and has severe pain at the site of the operation. All the others detained have been badly beaten too." Chan Soveth, senior investigator at Adhoc, said a team from his organization had also seen the 23 and confirmed all had been repeatedly kicked and beaten. Mr. Soveth questioned why pre-trial detainees had been sent to a maximum security prison hours from Phnom Penh. "CC3 is a place where inmates convicted of serious crimes and then sentenced to at least 10-year prison terms are detained," Mr. Soveth said. "It is very abnormal that the courts and prison departments have detained the 23 people who have been charged there while they are only in pretrial detention." Kuy Bunsorn, director-general of the general prisons department at the Ministry of Interior, who refused to disclose the location of the 23 prisoners earlier this week, said it was not abnormal that the prisoners had been sent to CC3, which lies almost two hours east of Kompong Cham City. "Under the French, prisoners were taken to Koh Tralach prison where nobody could reach them or see them," Mr. Bunsorn said, referring to a colonial prison island off Cambodia's southwestern coast that is today a part of Vietnam. UPDATE 24/03/2014: Bail denied for the protestors. Several of the protestors are in a poor state of health due to the fact that they had been subjected to police brutality during the violent crackdown on protests. Only two of the original 23 activists arrested have been released. UPDATE 01/04/14: On April 18 2014, the 21 activists will be tried in 3 seperate trials. On April 4 2014, a Phnom Penh court will consider the request for medical leave of Sokun Sombath Piseth of the Center for Labor Rights of Cambodia. His hand was badly broken in the course of his arrest, but he has been denied medical care since. UPDATE 04/04/14: Vorn Pao and Sokun Sombath Piseth have had their bail requests rejected again in two seperate rulings. Piseth's hand requires urgent surgery after beatings he received upon his arrest, but his bail request was rejected due to CC3 prison's failure to provide sufficient details about his condition. According to the latest information, all of the 23 workers and rights defenders, including Pao and Piseth, will be tried at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court at 8am on April 18. UPDATE 07/05/2014: The trial of the activists has once again been delayed, this time to May 20th. After a day of trial on April 25, the trial had been rescheduled until May 6th, when it was again delayed. The trial sessions at this time were heavily criticized by NGO observers, who noted that judges displayed an open bias towards the prosecution. Exchanges between the prosecution and the defence became heated and the court decided that purportedly in the interests of the defendants' security the trial should be delayed. UPDATE 09/05/2014: On 9 May 2014, the Supreme Court of Cambodia upheld the February 11 Court of Appeals decision to deny the 21 detained workers and labor rights activists bail. UPDATE 30/05/2014: the 23 were given suspended sentences of between 1 and 4 years and released. 4 of the 23 were ordered to pay fines of 8 million Riel (2000 USD).
- Impact of Event
- 23
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to fair trial, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 12, 2012
- Event Description
A Cambodian journalist who exposed illegal logging and forest crimes involving the local elite has been murdered, police said Wednesday, after his battered body was found in the trunk of his car. Hang Serei Oudom, 42, a reporter for the local Virakchum Khmer Daily newspaper, had been missing since Sunday afternoon and his body was found on Tuesday in northeastern Cambodia's Ratanakiri province, said Ek Vun, the police chief for Balung City, the provincial capital. Authorities are working to identify suspects involved in the murder of the reporter, who had recently written a string of stories about deforestation and timber smuggling in Ratanakiri, where logging and mining in recent years have taken a big toll on the environment. "We have already collected the necessary evidence and we are investigating the case," provincial governor Pao Ham Phan said. Police also found the reporter's camera and press card in the car, which was abandoned at a cashew plantation. The Ratanakiri-based reporter had been beaten with sticks and had bruises on his head and other parts of his body, Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) provincial investigator Chhay Thy said. Intimidation The Club of Cambodian Journalists condemned the murder as a threat to freedom of expression in the country and appealed to the authorities to arrest those responsible. "The Club of Cambodian Journalists regards the murder as an attempt to intimidate professional journalists. The suspects also attempted to obstruct journalists from upholding freedom of press and expression," the group said in a statement. In his most recent article on Sept. 6, Hang Serei Oudom accused the son of a military police commander of smuggling logs in military-plated vehicles and extorting money from people who were legally transporting wood, according to Agence France-Presse. The Cambodian Center for Human Rights and Southeast Asian Press Alliance issued a joint statement calling for a thorough investigation into the case, saying the reporter had uncovered several cases linked to the country's powerful, well-connected elite.Illegal logging Hang Serei Oudom's murder follows the death in April of environmental activist Chut Wutty, who was gunned down while investigating illegal logging in southwestern Cambodia's Koh Kong province. According to military police, Chut Wutty had been leading two journalists from a local newspaper to show them what he thought were illegal logging activities when he was killed. A security guard from a logging company was charged in connection with the murder, but conflicting accounts given by the authorities about the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death prompted calls from rights groups for a thorough investigation. Rights groups said Hang Serei Oudom was the first Cambodian journalist killed since 2008, when reporter Khim Sambo and his son were shot dead in Phnom Penh. Khim Sambo, who wrote for the pro-opposition Moneakseka Khmer newspaper, had published an article on nepotism and corruption within Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party. Police have completed Hang Serei Oudom's autopsy and sent his body to the family for the funeral. They have still not established the motive for the murder.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Death, Intimidation and Threats, Killing
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 19, 2013
- Event Description
Outspoken land activist Kuch Veng will regain his freedom in 15 days after the Pursat provincial court yesterday handed down a guilty verdict with a one-year sentence, then suspended nearly three quarters of that term. Veng has been in prison since May 19 on charges of fraud that rights groups and supporters believe to be politically motivated and tied to his activism against developer Pheapimex. Long Lun, Veng's lawyer, said the court had insufficient evidence against his client and he was considering launching an appeal. Veng stands accused of having defrauded a villager of $4,500 in 2010. His arrest came following a series of protests against Pheapimex, which is owned by Choeung Sopheap, wife of CPP senator Lao Meng Khin. Thousands in Pursat and Kampong Chhnang have been affected by the company's vast economic land concessions, and many have accused it of further land grabbing. Veng's verdict was originally set to be handed down last month, but the judge postponed it after hundreds of villagers camped outside the court in support of the activist. Only 30 appeared yesterday in the hopes of forestalling further delay, a community representative said. Lon Serey, a community representative from Krakor district who attended the hearing and verdict decision, said the judge appeared to disregard substantial evidence in Veng's favour. "This decision is very unfair," Serey said. Rights group Adhoc offered a similar conclusion, saying there had been insufficient proof of Veng's guilt. "If we listen to the hearing, the judge did not have evidence to incriminate," Pursat provincial coordinator Phuong Sothea said. Presiding judge Mao Sina could not be reached for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 18, 2013
- Event Description
Police said Sunday they have arrested four people believed to be involved in a conspiracy hatched by a dissident Khmer-American group plotting to topple the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen. Two men and two women were arrested on Thursday suspected of at�_tempting to hand out 1,000 yellow roses to soldiers and police across the city along with small cards urging them to turn their weapons "against the despot," the national police said in a statement on Saturday. The campaign was organized by the Khmer People Power Movement (KPPM), the same U.S.-based group that ordered the printing of hundreds of polo shirts urging Cambodians not to vote in last month's national elections and for which three others remain in pre-trial detention. The government has often accused the group of attempting to organize a private army to topple the regime, though it has yet to provide any evidence. "On August 15 the competent authorities arrested four suspects who were producing and distributing hundreds of leaflets with content to incite armed violence to overthrow the Royal Government," the national police said in the statement. The suspects, it added, "distributed the leaflets following orders from Sourn Serey Rotha who remains abroad, is president of the Khmer People Power Move�_ment, and has established illegal armed forces and was summoned by the court on the charge of in�_citement to commit a felony." The statement did not name the suspects or specify their alleged crimes. Nor did it provide evidence of the illegal armed forces supposedly created by KPPM. In separate comments posted to the national police website, spokesman Kirth Chantharith said the suspects were all charged with Article 495 of the Criminal Code, which covers incitement to commit a felony and carries a prison sentence of up to two years. Contacted on Sunday, Mr. Chantharith declined to provide their names and referred questions to the Phnom Penh Munic�_ipal Court. Court officials handling the case could not be reached. Contacted in the U.S. by phone, Mr. Serey Rotha admitted to or�_dering the flowers and cards in the hope of sparking a "rose revolution" across Cambodia. Addressed to "every heroic soldier" and titled "The Nonviolent Rose for Change," the cards read: "Turn your guns against the despot and sacrifice your life to protect the people who have the same Khmer blood because Cambodian troops and Cambodian people are Khmer and we have to protect each other." The "despot" Mr. Serey Rotha was referring to was Mr. Hun Sen. He and his group have accused the prime minister of running sham national elections-including last month's, which show a win for Mr. Hun Sen's ruling CPP but re�_main mired in unresolved reports of widespread irregularities. His group has also tried convincing the International Criminal Court to try Mr. Hun Sen for alleged crimes against humanity in relation to land evictions. "The dictator never falls down by the polling paper; the dictator always falls by the power of the people," Mr. Serey Rotha said. Having lost faith in the ballot box, he said his "rose revolution" was looking instead to the Arab Spring for inspiration. "The Arab countries can rise up to change the dictator, why not in Cambodia?" he said. But Mr. Serey Rotha maintained that he was advocating a non-violent approach because he was calling on soldiers and police to protect the people from the violence of the government. "That's non-violent because they point to protect the people.... Who[are] the people? They[are] the innocent people," he said. "We propose the non-violent weapon, and the non-violent weapon is the flower and the pen." Mr. Serey Rotha condemned the four arrests on Thursday and called on Cambodia's foreign donors to pressure the government into releasing the suspects. Earlier this month, opposition CNRP president Sam Rainsy posted comments to his Facebook page calling on police and soldiers to "stand up" with the people and "demand" a change of government. Facing accusations from the government of trying to incite a coup, Mr. Rainsy has denied any violent intent. He posted the messages in the wake of a military buildup in Phnom Penh to prepare for the mass demonstrations the CNRP-which also claims to have won last month's election-is planning to call unless the CPP concedes defeat. In a statement Sunday, the CNRP condemned Thursday's KPPM arrests and also called for the suspects' release. "This action strongly violates private rights and the freedom of expression of the people, which are guaranteed by the law and the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia," it said. Though national police did not name the suspects, rights groups, relatives and commune police identified them as: Hiv Borin, 33; Tut Chanpanha, 30; Sok Dalis, 28; and Lim Lypaeng, 32. Human rights group Licadho, which is providing legal representation for Mr. Chanpanha and Ms. Dalis, said all four suspects were questioned by the court on Saturday and charged the same day under both articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. Am Sam Ath, a technical supervisor for Licadho, said Mr. Chanpanha and Ms. Dalis had committed no crime. He said they were part of group of friends formulating their own plans online to hand out flowers to soldiers and police-along with a much tamer note-when Mr. Serey Rotha offered to supply the flowers but made no mention of his own, far more militant cards to go with them. He said Mr. Chanpanha and Ms. Dalis were both arrested while picking up the flowers and had no cards with them at the time. "They came to pick up the flowers and they had nothing to do with the[cards], and when they were arrested they were not holding the[cards] in their hands," Mr. Sam Ath said. "They just wanted to give the flowers with a message of peace for the nation. They did not incite; they just called for peace." Ms. Lypaeng's husband, Kao Sokchea, who runs a printing shop with his wife, professed her innocence Sunday. Speaking inside their small shop on Street 169, Mr. Sokchea said he was not there on Wednesday when a man-a regular customer whose name he claimed not to know-came to his wife with his order for the cards. He said his wife was summoned for questioning at the commune police station the next day and subsequently arrested. "It's not right because my wife was not involved in any conspiracy," he said. "My shop did not make the design. I trusted him[the man who placed the order] and did not read the card because he was a long-time client."
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to political participation
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 22, 2013
- Event Description
IN a brutal show of force, dozens of police and thugs dressed in civilian clothes descended on a peaceful vigil at Wat Phnom last night, and set upon the roughly 20 protesters with slingshots, batons and electric prods. At least six people were injured, while an additional five were treated at Calmette Hospital for slight wounds. An unknown number of people - journalists and rights workers among them - sustained injuries from electric prods and marbles fired from slingshots by men in facemasks who appeared to be under police protection. The forces arrived at about 10pm last night, just as the protesters were clearing up the area where they had staged a demonstration for peace - spelling out the word "justice" with candles. As they left the area, according to witnesses, police and a group of young men began shooting marbles into the group with slingshots. "They were hidden behind the stupa and wearing civilian clothing," Boeung Kak activist Bo Chorvy said. Several witnesses said the group appeared to be intent on catching high-profile activist Tep Vanny, who ran into a car when the clash began and was allowed through the gates of the US Embassy - only after the windows of the car had been smashed in by the attackers. Her mother, Si Heap, was among those badly wounded after a longan-sized marble was slung between her eyes. Also seriously injured was activist Nhet Khun, 73, who was shot in the chest with a marble and may have suffered a lung injury, according to witnesses at Calmette. Doctors were not immediately available for comment. "The police arrived with[electric prods] and ran after me and my friend and began kicking him," said Phan Chunreth, who sustained a head injury after being kicked to the ground by police. "It was the police who did that, but the other men came at us with sticks." As journalists and human rights workers approached the scene shortly after 10pm, thugs armed with electric batons, sticks and slingshots chased them down the street while police looked on. Several journalists and rights workers were shocked with the electric prods and hit with marbles as they ran away, while a Post journalist had his camera smashed. According to Chorvy, a US Embassy vehicle attempted to enter the area but was forced to turn around by police. Stunning as the brutality was, however, a marked lack of police presence chilled many. Unlike at the incidents at Stung Meanchey and the Kbal Thnal overpass, few - if any - officers were sent to the scene after violence broke out. Over the course of an hour and a half, only a single truck carrying a dozen military police officers drove through the nearly deserted streets leading to Wat Phnom. "I think they're trying to kill all Cambodians," an agitated Bopha Vi said, while watching the thugs wave tasers in the air in the distance. "The boys try to kill us and the police try too." Military police spokesman Kheng Tito said he was unaware of the incident but defended the actions saying, "the people wanted to do something, but our force stopped[them], would not allow them to do anything." On 27 September 2013, a Joint Urgent Appeal was issued by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia; the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Cambodian government has not responded.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to information, Right to property, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 1, 2013
- Event Description
Land activists who were brutally cracked down on at a protest in September submitted video and pictorial evidence of masked suspects slinging marbles, beating and electric shocking them to Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday. The group of 70 Borei Keila and Boeung Kak activists are suing Phnom Penh officials for their alleged involvement in the attack on a peaceful vigil at Wat Phnom in September by plain-clothed men as a large security detail stood guard. Eleven people were injured in the unprompted clash, including journalists and rights workers. Su Sophal, who sustained injuries from the crackdown, said he and nine other victims filed a lawsuit at the municipal court last month against four Daun Penh district officials: Sok Penhvuth, deputy chief; Kim Vutha, director of order and regulation; Pich Socheata, council official; and Soa Nol, deputy police chief. "In the morning[yesterday], we took evidence including nine photos and a CD which show the intentional abuse by the suspects ... and handed them to the[municipal] court," Su Sophal said. Meas Chanpiseth, deputy prosecutor, received the evidence and told the protesters that officials are investigating. The protesters also submitted the additional evidence to the national police. Since the Wat Phnom attack on September 22, police and other security officials have frequently employed violence to disrupt land dispute protests, most recently at City Hall on Wednesday. "The court seems to not take up any measures to protect the land activists who are arrested and detained one after one because of those police officials," housing rights activist Tep Vanny said. "However, we hope that the lawsuit will be considered by the court and that the truth will be found. We will get justice." Sok Penhvuth, Daun Penh district deputy chief, and Pich Socheata, an official at Daun Penh district hall, could not be reached for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 11
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to property, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 22, 2012
- Event Description
A prominent Cambodian housing rights activist was released on bail Friday after more than a year in prison, but says she has not yet been served "full justice" and fears she could still be sent back to jail. Yorm Bopha, held on charges widely condemned as trumped up to silence her activism, left Phnom Penh's PG Jail after the country's top court ordered her case re-investigated. The Supreme Court ruled the outspoken 30-year-old mother of one, who campaigned for the rights of evictees from Phnom Penh's Boeung Kak community, should be temporarily released pending a review of her case by the Court of Appeal. Rights groups had demanded her unconditional release, saying there was no evidence to support her conviction on charges of taking part in the beating of two men last year. Stepping out of her jail cell to a cheering crowd of hundreds of enthusiastic supporters, Yorm Bopha hugged her son and husband and broke down crying. "I welcome the Supreme Court's verdict ordering me released temporarily, but I have not received justice yet because the Supreme Court has sent my case back to the Court of Appeal," she told RFA's Khmer Service. "I was only released temporarily, and I am not satisfied because I haven't yet received justice in full." She said she feared she could still be re-imprisoned after the appeal hearing. Rights groups welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to release her, but urged the Court of Appeals to free her unconditionally and clear her name. "It has been clear from the very beginning of this case that Yorm Bopha has been targeted for her activism in the context of the Boeng Kak community's struggle for their rights," Cambodian Center for Human Rights director Ou Virak said in a statement. "While today's decision to temporarily release Bopha from jail is a welcome step, we must urge the Appeal Court to act quickly and to put an end to the suffering of Bopha and her family once and for all." Yorm Bopha's case has drawn widespread attention inside and outside the country since she was arrested in September last year, with thousands signing Amnesty International petitions calling for her release. "Yorm Bopha's case is symbolic of a worrying trend in Cambodia over recent years where human rights defenders face harassment, threats, arrest, imprisonment and worse for their peaceful activism," said Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International's Researcher on Cambodia who attended Friday's appeal hearing. "She should never have been imprisoned, locked up and separated from her young son and family," he said in a statement. Yorm Bopha was convicted of "intentional violence" in December last year and sentenced to three years in prison for allegedly ordering an attack on two motorbike taxi drivers she said she did not even know. This June, the Court of Appeal ruled that Yorm Bopha was not a direct perpetrator of the assault but the instigator behind it, reducing her sentence to two years. Unsatisfied with the decision, Yorm Bopha took her case to the Supreme Court, outside of which some 100 supporters gathered to await Friday's verdict. After a several-hour hearing, Supreme Court Judge Khem Ponn said the Appeals Court must reinvestigate the case because the evidence was inconclusive. The plaintiffs' father, Vann Sarath, who had filed the complaints against Yorm Bopha, said he was disappointed with the decision and wanted the activist to remain behind bars. "Yorm Bopha is released temporarily only because of court procedures. As the victim's father, I am not satisfied and it is unfair to the victims," he said. Rights groups have said the case is aimed at intimidating protesters from Boeung Kak-where thousands were pushed out of their homes after the government leased to a development company in 2007-and other land rights campaigners into dropping their protests. Forced evictions across the country have displaced thousands of families and prompted protests and violent clashes between residents and armed security forces.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 2, 2013
- Event Description
After nearly two years of silence on its draft NGO Law, the Ministry of Interior on Sunday said it was aiming to have the highly contentious piece of legislation ready for the Council of Ministers early next year and voted on by July. Meas Sarim, deputy director-general of the Interior Ministry's local administration department, said they also hope to consult once again with NGOs about the bill before it reaches the Council of Ministers. Asked when the bill would reach the Council, Mr. Sarim replied, "Probably 2014, in the first quarter of the year, and in the first half of the year we will pass the law." The Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations would require NGOs to register with the government in order to have legal standing, set minimum conditions for who can form such groups and require them to file reports on their activities and finances each year. However, NGOs fear the government will use the bill's vague wording to clamp down on groups it perceives to be too critical of the ruling CPP, and few draft laws have attracted as much international criticism in recent years. In early 2011, the country director of the USAID warned that the U.S. might refuse to increase its aid to Cambodia if the government passed the bill as it stood at the time. Later that year, the U.N.'s human rights envoy to Cambodia, Surya Subedi, urged the government not to pass it. The U.N.'s high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, said the law risked "undermining" human rights in Cambodia, as it extended to the government broad discretion to reject an NGO's application, and lacked an appeal process. Amid intense international pressure, and with critical commune and national elections on the horizon, Prime Minister Hun Sen in late 2011 said the government was in no rush to pass the law and would wait until 2014. On Sunday, Mr. Sarim of the Interior Ministry said the government still needed the law to ensure that NGOs followed relevant rules and regulations and to keep track of the thousands of nongovernmental groups at work in the country. "Previously some NGOs did not follow the Interior Ministry's regulations," he said. "Some NGOs were operating but did not inform the ministry of their activities. If the ministry doesn't know of their activity, the ministry cannot manage them." Naly Pilorge, director of the human rights NGO Licadho, said Cambodia already had enough laws to regulate nongovernment groups and had no practical need for another. With the opposition CNRP still refusing to take its 55 seats at the National Assembly in protest over July's national election, she said it was also the wrong time for parliament to table such legislation. "In light of existing legislation to provide legal and tax regulations on NGOs, such as the 2011 civil code, and the absence of elected opposition MPs[members of parliament] in the National Assembly, we believe any attempt to draft and pass an Association and NGO law would be another attempt by the ruling party to eliminate and stifle selective civil society groups," she said, especially those working on human rights, evictions and other sensitive issues. "There is enough legislation now to ensure accountability and transparency of associations and NGOs without introducing another law which aims to control and restrict rather than enable and protect," she added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2019
- Event Description
Authorities in northwestern Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province on Tuesday summoned a former local representative of the now-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) after he and others gathered in support of the return of acting party chief Sam Rainsy from self-imposed exile. Ly Soun, ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) deputy chief of Svay Chek commune, questioned CNRP commune seat representative Minh Hor and two other members of the party-which was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November 2017-in a bid to force them to end their support for the return of Sam Rainsy, Minh Hor told RFA's Khmer Service, adding that he will not be intimidated by authorities. Minh Hor had held the public "unity strengthening gathering," which was attended by about 30 CNRP supporters, on Feb. 28 to discuss how to welcome Sam Rainsy back to Cambodia, where he has pledged to return from more than three years of exile to in 2019, despite threats by Prime Minister Hun Sen to arrest him for a host of convictions that are widely seen as politically motivated. According to Minh Hor, Ly Soun asked the three CNRP members on Tuesday why they held an event to show support for Sam Rainsy's return, and whether the acting CNRP president "joined the meeting" by phone or video conference. The CNRP representative said that despite the efforts of the local authorities to intimidate him by questioning them, "their tactic didn't work" because he and other party members had already "sacrificed themselves for the country" and believe that "only Sam Rainsy and[former CNRP president] Kem Sokha can restore Cambodia's democracy." "I am very disappointed by the authorities' actions, but our spirits are strong and we cannot be intimidated, despite the many threats from Hun Sen that he will "destroy' the opposition party," he said. "Our spirits are strong and we are united," he added. Hun Sen on Monday said that Kem Sokha will not be released from detention despite hitting the 18-month maximum allowed by law in pre-trial detention, a move denounced by the opposition as a violation of the constitution. Kem Sokha was arrested in September 2017 for alleged acts of "treason" and the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the CNRP two months later, which paved the way for Hun Sen's CPP to win all 125 seats in parliament in a July 2018 general election. CNRP activist Yat Phyrom, who witnessed Tuesday's questioning, agreed with Minh Hor's assessment that the move was part of a bid to intimidate the opposition. "As I a citizen, I will continue my activities[with the opposition party] to protect the constitution, which states that people have the rights to freedom of expression and assembly," he said. Svay Chek commune chief Chrouk Sophal confirmed to RFA on Tuesday that she had summoned and questioned the CNRP activists, but said that it was in connection with a comment Minh Hor had posted on Facebook that defamed local authorities involved in a land dispute, and had nothing to do with politics. "It was about defamation," she said, adding that she could not provide any further comment, as she was busy with a meeting. Sum Chankea, Banteay Meanchey provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, told RFA that Cambodia's constitution protects the right of the people to gather and their freedom of expression, and that the CNRP activists were not in breach of the law by holding the event in support of Sam Rainsy. Police officers or local authorities who abuse those rights, on the other hand, are violating the law, he added. "Authorities dare to[question] people because there is no institution that will prosecute them for doing so," he said. "In a democracy, those who abuse the freedom of expression are held accountable." Call for removal In an interview with RFA on Monday, Sam Rainsy called on his supporters, as well as the workers and farmers of Cambodia, to "stand up" and "peacefully bring down the Hun Sen regime" if the prime minister fails to reverse course on a crackdown on the political opposition, independent media and NGOs in effect since the lead up to last year's general election. The U.S. has since announced visa bans on individuals seen as limiting democracy in the country, as part of a series of measures aimed at pressuring Cambodia to reverse course, and the European Union, which was the second biggest trade partner of Cambodia in 2017, has said it will drop a preferential trade scheme for Cambodian exports based on the country's election environment. Sam Rainsy again pledged to return home within the year, "as long as global pressure remains at its peak," saying that Hun Sen is facing "political suicide" if international sanctions are leveled on Cambodia, and that he is willing to consider working with the CPP to resolve the political crisis if the prime minister-who has ruled the country for more than three decades-is first "removed from office." "The CNRP does not demand a regime change-we extend an embrace towards the ruling party, as only these two parties can determine the destiny of Cambodia," he said. "We are considering working with the CPP, but we request that Hun Sen be removed. Removal of Hun Sen is the first step." Speaking to RFA from Finland, political commentator Kim Sok said that the two sides should hold talks to resolve the political crisis with the national interest in mind. "As for conditions for the talks, I think it should be about promoting democracy-a democracy with fair competition, which is a standard in democracies," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 16, 2019
- Event Description
Cambodia's Ministry of the Interior on Wednesday arrested a member of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party after he posted a Facebook message saying the European Union plans to impose a tariff on Cambodian rice, sources in the country said. Kong Mas, a political activist from Svay Rieng province, was taken into custody at a coffee shop in the capital Phnom Penh by around 10 officers accompanied by a government prosecutor, fellow CNRP member Em Sokvan told RFA's Khmer Service. "The police said they were arresting him because of his Facebook post. They said they wanted to question him," Em Sokvan, who had been drinking coffee with Kong Mas when he was detained, told RFA. Police offered no further details on the reasons for the arrest, Em Sokvan said, adding that Kong Mas is now being held at National Police Commission headquarters in Phnom Penh. Reached for comment, national police spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun denied knowledge of the arrest. But speaking to RFA, Kong Mas's lawyer Sam Sokong said his client will be held for questioning for 24 hours before attorneys or family members will be allowed to meet with him. "Police told me that he has been accused of "incitement,' but I don't know what that means," he said. In a Facebook posting on Wednesday, Kong Mas said that EU officials plan to impose a tariff on Cambodian rice of $200 per ton. The EU move, which includes Myanmar and targets a surge in imports of rice from both countries, sets a three-year period in which tariffs, set in the first year at 175 euros (U.S. $200) per ton, will decline in the second year to 150 euros and in the third year to 125 euros, media sources say. The policy goes into effect this week. Politically sensitive Threatened EU trade sanctions are a politically sensitive topic in Cambodia, which banned the CNRP and jailed its leader in 2017, paving the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats on offer in parliamentary elections in July 2018. According to the European Commission, the EU ranked in 2017 as Cambodia's second-largest trade partner, importing goods worth 5 billion euros (U.S. $5.8 billion) from the country. Key EU imports from Cambodia include textiles, footwear, and agricultural products. Speaking to RFA on Jan. 16, CNRP activist Sun Makara described the arrest of Kong Mas as "politically motivated," calling the opposition activist a brave man unafraid of intimidation by authorities. "The authorities used to call Kong Mas to offer him a position[in Hun Sen's government], but he always refused," he said, adding, "He has really done nothing wrong." Also speaking to RFA, Soeng San Karuna-spokesman for the Cambodia-based rights group Adhoc-said that if authorities have arrested Kong Mas simply for posting on Facebook, they will have violated the country's constitution. "If they take actions like these against dissidents, they have violated human rights," he said. Petition to work Also on Wednesday, former National Election Commission member and advisor to the Cambodian Independent Teachers' Association Rong Chhun filed a complaint with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, asking that the court reverse a move by the Ministry of Education to refuse permission to 10 CNRP-affiliated teachers to work. Elected to commune council positions before their party was dissolved by Supreme Court order in 2017, the 10 had petitioned to be allowed to resume teaching, but were turned down. "We want the court to annul the Ministry of Education's decision," Rong Chhun said. Meanwhile, Cambodian king Norodom Sihamoni on Tuesday issued statements rehabilitating two former opposition politicians, Kong Koam and his son Kong Bora, allowing them to return to political life in Cambodia. The two were among 118 officials slapped with a five-year suspension of political rights as part of a decision by the Supreme Court in November 2017 to dissolve the CNRP for its role in an alleged plot to topple the government. Prime Minister Hun Sen's CPP then ran effectively uncontested in July 29, 2018 general elections, drawing condemnation from Western nations who called the ballot unfree and unfair amid a wide crackdown on the political opposition and other rollbacks on democracy. Speaking to RFA, political analyst Kim Sok called the politicians' reinstatement a defeat for plans by Hun Sen to weaken the CNRP, now organized and active in exile, by allowing opposition officials to return to politics only if they each make individual requests for a "pardon." "Hun Sen has failed in his plans, because only two people have now asked to go back into politics," Kim Sok said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 11, 2018
- Event Description
Ninety-five NGOs have issued a joint statement condemning the convictions of six union leaders for their roles in a minimum wage protest at Veng Sreng Boulevard in Phnom Penh in 2013. On December 11, Ath Thorn, Chea Mony, Mam Nhim, Pav Sina, Rong Chhun and Yang Sophorn were each handed two-and-a-half year suspended prison sentences by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and ordered to pay compensation of 35 million riel ($8,750) to two victims, Chea Sophany and Tim Vuthy. The four original charges against the union leaders - intentional acts of violence with aggravating circumstances; intentionally causing damage with aggravating circumstances; threats to destroy property followed by an order; and blocking public traffic - had all been changed to charges of instigating the acts. The NGOs' statement criticised the court for not providing sufficient credible evidence. "At trial, prosecutors failed to produce any evidence to establish that the six had committed the crimes they were charged with, nor were any witnesses produced to prove the accused had acted violently during the protests." "Importantly, no evidence was submitted to prove that the six union leaders had instigated any of the acts with which they were charged. Further, none of the actual perpetrators of violence or damage were named or charged," the statement read." The NGOs urged the government to guarantee fundamental rights and permit the reopening of public spaces in order to allow genuine freedom of association for the Cambodian people and to ensure that independent trade unions can freely operate in the interests of their members. Pav Sina, the president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said he had already filed a complaint to the Appeal Court on December 18. The NGOs' statement called for the convictions against the six union leaders to be immediately quashed. "While the delivered sentences do not require the six convicted leaders to go to prison, they face imprisonment on these charges if they commit any other felony or misdemeanour within the next five years - a period that coincides with the next national elections in 2023." "As the criminal charges stem from independent trade union activity, we are concerned these suspended sentences will be used to imprison the convicted union leaders if they engage in any protest action over the next five years," the NGOs wrote. The president of the Cambodia Alliance of Trade Union Yang Sophorn said she had also filed an appeal last week and welcomed the NGOs' statement. "I am happy that the NGOs support our work. We were not involved in any activities destroying anyone's property," she said. Ministry of Justice spokesman Chin Malin considered the statement an example of freedom of expression. "It's their right to issue[the statement] but dropping the charges is the court's decision and the decision has already been made," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 5, 2018
- Event Description
On Monday 5 November 2018, Mr. Poek Sophorn, a staff member of non-governmental organization Ponlok Khmer, was presented with a summons to appear for questioning at the Preah Vihear Provincial Court on 14 November 2018, over charges of being an accomplice to arrest, detention and unlawful confinement (Articles 29 and 253 of the Criminal Code of the Kingdom of Cambodia). According to the information contained in the summons, the charges relate to events which took place back in 29 December 2014 in Prame commune, Tbaeng Mean Chey district, Preah Vihear province. No further details are provided in the summons, which contravenes Mr. Sophorn's right to know the charges against him. The summons did not contain the correct family name and personal details of Mr. Sophorn, who declined to accept the summons and asked the police to bring it back to the Court for corrections. On the same day, Mr. Lut Sang, another Ponlok Khmer worker, was informed that the local police tried to deliver a summons to him as well. He was on field mission at the time and therefore has not received the summons. He is unaware of the charges associated with this summons. Ponlok Khmer is a small NGO based in Preah Vihear province, that works to promote sustainable development and the protection of Cambodia's natural resources, including by empowering vulnerable and indigenous people to ensure the protection of their rights. In addition, at least four community members from the Kui indigenous group in Prame commune also received summonses on 5 November 2018 to appear at the Provincial Court on the same day as Mr. Sophorn. They are summonsed over charges of arrest, detention and unlawful confinement (Article 253 of the Criminal Code) in relation to acts allegedly committed on 29 December 2014 in Prame commune. It has been reported that a total of ten community members received the said-summonses, however CCHR was only able to see four of them. Since 2012, the commune of Prame has been the theatre of a land dispute involving the local Kui indigenous community and two companies, Lan Feng and Ruy Feng in relation to two economic land concessions attributed in 2011 for the purposes of growing rubber, acacia and sugar cane, and located on the Kui indigenous community's ancestral land. On 29 December 2014, bulldozers came to clear out the farmlands of the villagers for the ELC. The villagers, who have been awaiting a resolution to the land dispute, stopped the bulldozers in an effort to attract the attention of the authorities and the companies and to resume negotiations for a dispute resolution. In the absence of any reaction, on 30 December, the villagers pressured the bulldozer drivers to drive back to Prame commune, to meet with the authorities. The bulldozers' drivers left with the authorities on that day. As no resolution was found, the community members refused for the bulldozers to be taken away. The bulldozers were kept at the commune office till 2017, where they were reportedly taken away by the authorities as evidence for further proceedings. Mr. Lut Sang and several community members have already summoned for questioning over the 29 December 2014 events, back in June 2015, in relation to charges of arrest, detention and unlawful confinement. Since no further development occurred since, they believed that the case had been closed.
- Impact of Event
- 11
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 15, 2018
- Event Description
Cambodian workers taking part in protests against Prime Minister Hun Sen in other countries should be identified and beaten by gangsters or made to suffer "traffic accidents," a ruling party official says in a recording taken from a phone call, and now circulating widely on Facebook. Speaking in a minute-long sound bite, Labor Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour urges an unidentified colleague to set up a network to target and attack Cambodian migrant workers opposed to Hun Sen, who recently won re-election in a national vote widely condemned as unfree and unfair because he had banned the only credible opposition party before the vote. "Let's find some gangsters and thugs and then use them to beat up the identified targets. Just do whatever you can to break them down," Heng Sour says, adding that if the attackers are later arrested, they will probably be sent back to Cambodia after serving short terms in jail. "And when they return to our country, we will feed and support them," he said. Citing protests by Cambodians working in Japan during Hun Sen's visit to Tokyo at the beginning of October, Heng Sour noted that protesters had destroyed a large photo of the prime minister, adding that a subordinate named Sreng had now learned the names of leading activists involved. "Now we will take action against them," Heng Sour said. "And if they come back[to Cambodia], we will make sure that they suffer traffic accidents." "We cannot tolerate those who insult our leader," he said. Spreading fear Speaking to RFA's Khmer Service, Son Seyha, Deputy Director of the Humanitarian Association of Cambodia and a representative of Cambodian workers in Thailand, said that Heng Sour's threats have already spread fear among Cambodians working abroad. "I urge the government of Cambodia to get to the truth in this case," he said, noting that Heng Sour has already denied the voice on the recording is his and has blamed the controversy on a plot against him by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). "This is a matter of life and death for Cambodians working in South Korea and in other countries, and for those still in Cambodia who support the CNRP," he said. Speaking from Japan, CNRP activist Hay Vanna told RFA he has already notified Japanese authorities regarding the threat, adding that he knows the man named Sreng mentioned in the recording. "I know the suspect named Sreng," Hay Vanna said. "He fled Cambodia to live in Japan when Cambodia fell to the communist regime." "But now he has returned to Cambodia and works to bring Cambodian workers to Japan, and I guess he has worked very closely with Heng Sour to do this," he said. Also speaking to RFA, Yim Sinorn, a CNRP activist and representative of Cambodian workers in South Korea, said that he has now translated Heng Sour's sound bite and given it to authorities in South Korea, adding that he knows Heng Sour and has spoken to him in the past. "I used to respect him," Yim Sinorn said. "But I am very surprised after listening to the vicious death threats contained in this recording." "His plan to kill[Hun Sen's] opponents and set up traffic accidents to hurt people should never have come from an educated person like him." "I cannot accept this," he said. According to Cambodia's Labor Ministry and NGOs, about 1.6 million Cambodians were working in Thailand in early 2018, with nearly 6,000 shown working in South Korea and 2,300 in Japan the year before.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 26, 2018
- Event Description
(Jakarta, 27 September 2018) - The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), CIVICUS, Freedom House, and Front Line Defenders condemn yesterday's conviction of four human rights defenders from the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and a National Election Committee (NEC) official, in what we see as a clear attack against their legitimate human rights work. On 26 September 2018, senior ADHOC staff members - Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Lim Mony, and Yi Soksan - were convicted of "bribery of a witness' under Article 548 of the Criminal Code, while a NEC official and former ADHOC staff member Ny Chakrya was found guilty as an accomplice under Articles 29 and 548 of the same Criminal Code. Each has been given a five-year sentence by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, with 14 months and one day considered served and the rest of the sentence suspended. The accused have longstanding histories of promoting human rights in Cambodia, supporting victims of human rights violations and survivors of gender-based violence. In 2017, they were selected as finalists for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders,[1] in recognition of their important work. This wrongful conviction adds to the long list of attempts by the Cambodian Government to curb fundamental freedoms and dissenting opinion by orchestrating intimidation, prosecution, and imprisonment of human rights defenders.[2] The case relates to the legitimate assistance provided to a victim of government harassment in 2016, which was within the mandate of ADHOC's human rights work. The one-day trial[3] on 18 this month that led to the conviction failed to provide necessary evidence for a conviction, as five witnesses were absent. There was a glaring absence of a cross-examination that undermines their rights of the defence, and the prosecution failed to ascertain whether Chandaraty, the victim ADHOC supported in this case, was a suspect or witness at the time of the alleged bribery. These facts leading to yesterday's conviction, point to a clear retribution against legitimate human rights work, and a failure of the judiciary system in Cambodia to protect defenders. Since April 2016, the accused had spent 427 days in arbitrary pre-trial detention, a clear violation of their right to the presumption of innocence, a well-recognised principle that is affirmed in international human rights framework and Article 38 of the Cambodian Constitution. While in pre-trial detention, Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, and Yi Soksan were also arbitrarily denied access to medical treatment.[4] Following their release on bail in June 2017, they have been unable to continue their work due to the constant fear of being sent back to prison without a confirmed trial date. We call on the Cambodian authorities to immediately and unconditionally overturn these convictions, and for them to be afforded adequate remedy for the extended period spent in arbitrary pre-trial detention, in line with international standards. We call on the Cambodian Government to ensure an enabling environment for all human rights defenders to work without fear, and for the full practice of fundamental rights and freedoms.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 31, 2018
- Event Description
Australian film-maker James Ricketson has been found guilty of espionage in Cambodia and sentenced to six years in jail. His family say they are devastated at his conviction and sentence, and have called on the Australian government to pressure Cambodia to release him. Ricketson, 69, said he had worked as a journalist and video documenter in the south-east Asian country since 1995 and was arrested in June 2017 for flying a drone at a political rally. He has been incarcerated since then, with the guilty verdict given this morning by a three-judge panel in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. Prosecutors said Ricketson used journalism as a front for spying, citing links to former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Cambodian National Rescue party (CNRP). The CNRP was Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's party's (CPP) main political opposition until it was dissolved last November. The prosecution also accused Ricketson of treason, saying he planned to overthrow Hun and illegally give information to foreign governments. Prosecutors did not name the states he was alleged to have colluded with despite Ricketson repeatedly asking them to do so during his trial. Ricketson, who made films about poverty and financially supported poor Cambodians he befriended, called the spy claims "fanciful and ludicrous". His lawyer, Kong Sam Oun, said: "James has done a lot of good here, nothing to do with spying. It is impossible to be a spy for 22 years." Before the verdict was given this morning Ricketson said: "I hope I am free today and I could go home." Bim Ricketson, James' nephew, said his family was devastated. He said his uncle was a part of the Cambodian community and loved the country's people. "He goes there regularly and has done for 22 years. Capturing the lives of the poor people there and helping them. And for that to be interpreted somehow as espionage is completely mad." "There's no way he is a spy." Bim Ricketson said the family was relying on the Australian government to pressure Cambodia to release him. "We are looking for a lot more support moving forward from the new Australian government. We know ... they have their attention on this and that they are working on it but now really is the time for a lot of support to be shown and as much pressure as possible to be brought to it, to find some kind of way out of this. "We are looking forward to what the government can do to help us at this point. There is a lot I'm sure that can be done and they are in contact with us." Ricketson's family said his health had deteriorated badly over 14 months in prison, and "we would be very concerned about his health over six years in those conditions". "I don't know where we go from here," Ricketson's brother said. Speaking from Jakarta, prime minister Scott Morrison said the former foreign minister Julie Bishop had made direct approaches to the Cambodian government, and said the government would remain involved in Ricketson's case. "It is best to deal with these things calmly and directly," Morrison said. "He can expect to give all the consular and other support from the government you would expect in these circumstances." Foreign minister Marise Payne said the Australian government would continue to provide Ricketson full consular assistance during this "particularly stressful time". She said there were still appeal avenues open to the Australian citizen. "Mr Ricketson is subject to legal proceedings under Cambodian law and must now consider his response to the court's decision using the avenues open to him. "The Australian government will consider what further appropriate support we can provide after that time." The Cambodian prime minister, who in July won a landslide victory in an election decried as undemocratic by critics, has orchestrated an intense crackdown on free speech and the media in Cambodia. In the past two weeks Hun released around 20 political opponents jailed on what critics claimed were political charges, a move that Ricketson's supporters hoped increased the chances of him being freed. He has closed newspapers and overseen the jailing of journalists, politicians and social media commenters deemed to threaten government rule. Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director Phil Robertson condemned the Australian government's "softly-quietly" approach towards Cambodia, and other autocratic regimes in south-east Asia, arguing it was not only morally bankrupt but also entirely ineffective. "The Australian government just let Cambodia walk all over them by failing to publicly and consistently challenge this ludicrous charade and demand Ricketson's immediate and unconditional release." Robertson said Ricketson's trial and sentence "exposed everything that's wrong with the Cambodian judicial system". He said court cases in Cambodia were characterised by ridiculously excessive charges, prosecutors with little or no evidence, and judges carrying out political orders from the government rather than ruling based on what happens in court. "When it comes to a conviction in a Cambodian court, clearly no facts are required. From day one, James Ricketson has been a scapegoat in Hun Sen's false narrative of a so-called "colour revolution' used as an excuse to crack down on the political opposition and civil society critics." The Australian Directors Guild has also called on the Australian government to intervene on Ricketson's behalf to have him brought home to Australia. "We call on the new foreign minister, Marise Payne, to contact her counterpart in Cambodia and seek clemency for James and for him to be sent home," chief executive Kingston Anderson said. "Based on the evidence and what we know of James we do not believe he was spying for anyone."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Event Description
VOD article states that General Dept of Taxes (GDT headed by Kong Vibol) has filed complaint to Anti Corruption Unit (ACU headed by Om Yieng Teang) against Thun Saray/President of ADHOC & his wife claiming they have not paid taxes on their rental property, ADHOC office, for 2015 & 2016. In article, ADHOC Senior Monitoring staff said that if GDT could not find any documents related to the taxes paid by ADHOC, it should have asked ADHOC to verify rather than filing a complaint to ACU which is beyond its authority
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 20, 2018
- Event Description
On 20 July 2018, ADHOC, FA member's website was hacked. ADHOC's website homepage was defaced by the hacker.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
Cambodia Daily |[Radio Free Asia] https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/hacked-07192018173610.htm
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 17, 2018
- Event Description
Last week, LICADHO staff discovered a strange phenomenon when trying to access the Phnom Penh Post website. When visiting the site, a malicious code impersonating Google (misspelled Gooogle) attempted to trick users into granting full access to their Gmail inboxes to an unknown third party called GTransfers. LICADHO analysed the code which was hidden within a legitimate script file (theme.js) hosted on the Phnom Penh Post website and forwarded its findings to partners in the region. The tampering with the website was independently confirmed by cyber security experts - including industry leader FireEye - in an ABC article. [Screenshot of the malicious overlay, as seen on the Phnom Penh Post site, claiming to be Google.] Enlarge this picture Screenshot of the malicious overlay, as seen on the Phnom Penh Post site, claiming to be Google. The presence of the sophisticated code on the Phnom Penh Post website - which was removed within the last 24 hours - can be independently verified through a US-based website called Wayback Machine which allows users to see archived versions of websites across time. As seen on this daily archive for the month of May, starting 8 May, a malicious line of code was present in the script file. The line disappeared on 15 May and LICADHO is no longer targeted by the above-described attack. Dates are all in universal time, which is used by Wayback Machine.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 12, 2018
- Event Description
An environmental activist based in the Areng valley region of southwest Cambodia's Koh Kong province on Tuesday urged authorities to launch an investigation into an attempt on his life over the weekend, saying he is no longer safe in his own home and expects his would-be killers will strike again. An unknown assailant fired several shots at activist Ven Eth at around 10:00 p.m. on May 12 as he walked around 10 meters (33 feet) from his home in Chrak Russey village, in Thmar Baing district's Chum Noap commune, to his outdoor toilet. The gunfire missed him, but struck the wall of his bathroom, he told RFA's Khmer Service, adding that he fled the area shortly afterwards to stay with an acquaintance. "I think that if I continue to stay there, they will surely return to try to kill me again-this person will not abandon their plan," Ven Eth said. "I call on competent authorities to investigate the matter and monitor this case, so as to identify the person who attempted to assassinate me. I want to return safely to my village." According to Ven Eth, his assailant may have been politically motivated-as he is a former member of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November over an alleged plot to topple the government-or sought revenge against him for his work exposing illegal deforestation. "Firstly, I am former CNRP member-I was lobbied to defect to[the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) after the dissolution of the CNRP], but ... I always refused, which has angered people," he said. "Moreover, I am also an environmental activist. This also angered people since those who destroy forests and those who protect them are always at odds." The attempt on Ven Eth's life came following a legal complaint he had lodged with local authorities in connection with what he said was an April 17 death threat made against him by Tel Chan, the vice-chief of Chum Noap and a member of the CPP. Ven Eth said he had initially lodged his complaint with Chum Noap Administrative Police Station, but received no resolution, so he moved himself, his wife and his children into hiding to protect their safety. After spending two weeks in an undisclosed location, he had returned to his village last week without his family to testify at the Thmar Baing Administrative Police Station about the death threat, and the failure of commune authorities to adequately look into the case. Ven Eth said that the two sides had "agreed to a compromise" and his case was "resolved" on May 9, but nonetheless, the attempt was made on his life three days later. "I thought that when Tel Chan made an agreement to ensure my safety, everything was resolved, plus, the issue was widely known, so I assumed that no one would dare do anything," he said. "I returned to clean before bringing my wife back home, and it was then that these people unexpectedly decided to get revenge and go ahead with their attempt on my life. So, at this time, I can't return home until the situation is fixed." In addition to pursuing complaints with the Chum Noap and Thmar Baing Administrative Police Stations, Ven Eth said he intends to ask for help from human rights organizations. He said he doesn't expect local authorities to intervene on his behalf, because they have no interest in seeing his case settled. In the meantime, while he remains in hiding, his family is running short on funds and his children are unable to attend school, he said. Authorities in Chum Noap and Thmar Baing were not immediately available to comment on Ven Eth's case. Dedicated campaigner Huor, a legal advocate with local rights group Licadho, told RFA that the authorities were obligated to investigate Ven Eth's case to a satisfactory conclusion, according to Cambodian law. "Moreover, they must seek various measures to ensure his safety, since Ven Eth wants to return to his home, instead of having to flee and remain in hiding like this," Huor said. "He has never had any dispute with anyone for as long as he has been living in Chum Noap commune ... until this threat. It seems to me that the relevant parties are exactly those who were involved in the same[threat] case, and should be subject to investigation in order to determine the truth." Lim Kim Soar, an environmental activist who regularly works in the Areng valley, told RFA that Ven Eth is a dedicated campaigner who regularly advocated against the construction of the controversial Chhay Areng dam, which opponents say would force more than 300 ethnic minority families off of their ancestral lands and destroy the habitats of endangered animals. She said that Ven Eth's case has caused other activists working in the region to fear for their own safety. "I always thought that this village and commune were safe, until I saw that regular citizens were at risk of being shot at like this," Lim Kim Soar said. "Now,[Ven Eth] has fled the village where he used to live, leaving his house locked. His house used to be a place for people to gather to drink coffee ... but now it is quiet. I feel so sorry for him." The attempt on Ven Eth's life came weeks after supporters held a low-profile ceremony in the capital Phnom Penh to mark the sixth anniversary of the still-unsolved murder of Cambodian environmental activist Chut Wutty. Shot to death on April 26, 2012 while investigating illegal logging in Koh Kong's Mondul Seima district, Chut Wutty had been active in organizing communities to protect Cambodian forests against land grabs. He had also campaigned against the government's granting of land concessions in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Noting that an official investigation into his father's death was closed in October 2013 when a court in Koh Kong province abruptly ended its proceedings, Chut Wutty's son vowed at the time to continue to fight for justice in his father's case.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Reprisal as Result of Communication, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 7, 2018
- Event Description
Several senior staff at Cambodia's Phnom Penh Post have resigned after the publication's new owner fired the editor-in-chief and demanded a story be retracted, prompting further fears over eroding press freedom in the country. Editor Kay Kimsong said he had been fired for allowing the publication of a story on Sunday concerning the paper's sale to Malaysian businessman Sivakumar S Ganapathy. The article, which ran under the headline "Phnom Penh Post sold to Malaysian investor", raised concerns over Ganapathy's links to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Malaysian government. Ganapathy is the managing director of a Malasyia-based public relations firm, ASIA PR, which lists "Cambodia and Hun Sen's entry into the Government seat" as a former "project". More than 20 current and former staff members signed a statement on Monday expressing their "disgust" after "representatives of the new owners" went to the Post's offices and "ordered" staff to remove the article from the newspaper's website. At least four senior Post personnel, including its managing editor and web editor, resigned in protest. As of 19:00 GMT on Monday, the article had not been removed from the Post's website. Editorial independence under threat Kimsong, a Post employee for the past 10 years, told the Associated Press news agency that he had done "nothing wrong" to warrant his removal. "The owner has complained that I allowed the editorial team to publish the story of the buying and selling of the paper that affected to the interests of the paper as well as the image of the owner," Kimsong said. "I acted according to journalistic professionalism, but the company said they cannot keep me in my position." Al Jazeera understands Ganapathy, who is described by Asia PR's website as "a journalist by discipline and qualification" with international experience, will issue a statement within the next 24 hours regarding the article, and staffing at the Post. Erin Handley, a reporter for the Post, told Al Jazeera the paper's new ownership appeared to be clamping down on editorial independence despite having pledged during the takeover not to do so. "When the sale was made, we were promised there would be no dismissals or changes of staff to begin with,[and] what is really key is the promise we had of editorial independence," Handley said. "Now, we are worried about our editorial independence heading into this year's national elections. The main opposition party has been dissolved and in the past year Cambodia has lost a lot of independent media, so we were widely considered to be the last independent news outlet here." 'Disastrous day for press freedom' Bill Clough, chairman of Post Media Ltd, publisher of the Phnom Penh Post, announced the paper's sale to Ganapathy in a statement on Saturday. "Recent times have been a challenge, as the worldwide decline in market share for newspaper advertising has also been felt here in Cambodia," Clough said, adding that the Post was part of "the last remaining truly independent media group in the country". The value of the sale has not been disclosed. Phil Robertson, deputy director of international NGO Human Rights Watch, said events at the Post following Ganapathy's takeover had been "disastrous". "So much for the pledge[by Ganapathy] to respect the editorial independence of the @phnompenhpost. The 'former journalist' turns out really to be the current censor for #Cambodia & #Malaysia interests still unnamed. A super dark, disastrous day for #pressfreedom in Cambodia," Roberston said in a tweet on Monday. Phil Robertson @Reaproy So much for the @sivakumar03110912 pledge to respect the editorial independence of the @phnompenhpost. The 'former journalist' turns out really to be the current censor for #Cambodia & #Malaysia interests still unnamed. A super dark, disastrous day for #pressfreedom in Cambodia https://twitter.com/BrendanOByrne/status/993396470211428352 ... 6:52 PM - May 7, 2018 1 See Phil Robertson's other Tweets Twitter Ads info and privacy Several independent media outlets have been shut down in Cambodia during the past year. In September, independent newspaper The Cambodia Daily announced it was shutting down after being slapped with a $6.3m tax bill which its publishers said was politically motivated. The Daily's closure came weeks after a government crackdown on 32 radio stations, including Radio Free Asia's Phnom Penh bureau, according to figures compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an organisation aimed at protecting press freedom. RSF alleges Hun Sen's government is leading "an all-out war on independent media outlets with the aim of ensuring victory in the general elections scheduled for July 2018". Hun Sen is widely predicted to win the July vote following Cambodia's Supreme Court's decision to dissolve the country's main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), in November.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights, Media freedom
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 27, 2018
- Event Description
PHNOM PENH - Protests outside Cambodia's parliament have reportedly been banned ahead of the forthcoming national election in July. In a meeting on April 27, Deputy Phnom Penh Governor Mean Chanyada said the city had received the "instruction" from the National Assembly, according to official minutes of the meeting obtained by VOA Khmer. "The proposal to march in front of the National Assembly is not permitted due to the fact that, in the past, the National Assembly has given instructions to the administration of Phnom Penh that no assembly or expression[is allowed] in front of the National Assembly complex to keep security, safety, and public order for the National Assembly," Chanyada was quoted as sayings. There were no clear details in the minutes of when and from whom the instruction was sent from the National Assembly that saw a drastic overhaul late last year to redistribute the seats of 55 elected opposition MPs. Ath Thorn, chairman of the Cambodian Labor Confederation, who attended the April 27 meeting with the city, confirmed the ban was announced, which he described as a step "too far". "The way they restrict shows their concern has gone too far on even a random assembly by citizens or garment workers," Thorn said. "I think the National Assembly is not a private place, it is in the public sphere." "Protecting the National Assembly is right, but the suggestion to deny any assembly following proper legal procedure, I think, is not acceptable," he added. The May Day march led by Thorn and other unionists on Tuesday was limited to a riverside space near the city's landmark site of Wat Phnom and with a large security force presence. A handful of union representatives was allowed to deliver a petition to the National Assembly. Chanyada did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. A municipality spokesman and a spokesman for the National Assembly could not be reached. The square in front of the National Assembly complex was a popular meeting point for the Cambodia National Rescue Party's campaign rallies in Phnom Penh during the 2013 parliamentary election. Two of its lawmakers were savagely beaten in a pro-government protest demanding then-opposition leader Kem Sokha resign from his position.The perpetrators were identified as ranking members of Prime Minister's Bodyguard Unit. Chheang Vun, a lawmaker for the ruling Cambodian People's Party, said he had no knowledge about the ban on demonstrations as the affair fell under the supervision of the House's secretariat, but said such an idea was "reasonable", citing "previous experiences," including the beating of lawmakers in 2015. "If there is this kind of suggestion from the National Assembly, it will be a preventative measure to protect against violence from happening," Vun said. "Just my idea: Firstly, I think we do not want any kind of assemblies that can lead to violence that affects the lawmakers and the National Assembly. Secondly, any assemblies -- at any places -- that can provoke violence must be banned." The CPP lawmaker added that the National Assembly would remain open to the public to come forward with their concerns and ideas to their legislative representatives, but said any mass assembly would be "dealt with under the laws accordingly." The order from the Lower House was cited amid wider concerns over the narrowing space for freedom of assembly in the wake of a sweeping political crackdown on Prime Minister Hun Sen's electoral challengers and critics ahead of the July vote. A State Department report, released last month, said that Cambodian government "did not always respect" its citizen's constitutional rights to peaceful assembly, noting the increase in pre-election rhetoric by the military and political elites threatening of violence against protesters. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division, said the reported instruction to ban protests was "shocking," adding that the move was another example of "arbitrary" denials of the people's basic rights. "If the leaders of the National Assembly really think this way about people's right to public assembly, they are unsuitable as democratic representatives and should resign," Robertson said in an e-mail. "What this shows is the government is afraid and any sort of public assembly will immediately become anti-government. Even worse, it shows that the government is afraid to hear the real opinions of the Cambodian workers as expressed on the street."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2018
- Event Description
Provincial police broke up a gender equality event in Tbong Khmum yesterday despite the fact that the NGO hosting the event had received permission for the celebration, members of the Coalition of Cambodian Farmers Community (CCFC) said. It was the second event held by the organisation to be disrupted by authorities in as many days. Phun Sophal, chief of CCFC in the province, said roughly 300 villagers had gathered at the event, held in honour of International Women's Day, when provincial authorities came to break it up. Sophal claimed that police had given the NGO written permission to hold the event but were upset when nobody attended a similar government-sponsored event at the commune hall. "The villagers gathered somewhere else, and they caused trouble for us in return," Sophal said. CCFC has had at least two events shuttered by police over the past two years - including one in Takeo on Wednesday - and was singled out as the only local NGO in a government-made video about "colour revolution" last year. In the video, the NGO was accused of attempting to recruit 70,000 people for a so-called "green revolution" ahead of the 2017 commune elections. On Wednesday, four representatives of CCFC were stopped from hosting an event with local farmers and interrogated by Takeo police about their supposed connection to the Cambodia National Rescue Movement, a group formed by ex-opposition members overseas that the government has labelled a terrorist organisation. Officials at the local, district and provincial level yesterday all denied issuing the order to break up the event. Choam Kravien Commune Chief Beng Rithy maintained he was following orders from district authorities. "Regarding the issues of the CNRM, we did not accuse them," Rithy said. "We just closed their forum, which did not follow the suggestions from the authorities, who did not want to have many places doing the same event." Memot District Police Chief Hong Kim Hoeun, however, said that he acted on orders from provincial authorities and did not know why the event was shuttered. Tbong Khmum Deputy Police Chief and security head Huot Sothy also denied that he ordered the closure of the forum and said the decision rested with local authorities. "For me, I just sent my forces to investigate and take videos to send to provincial authorities," he said. CCFC Secretary Theng Savoeun defended the organisation's right to hold the event separately from the similar one hosted by local officials, noting that the officials had rejected the NGO's proposed programming. "Once they get power, those authorities do not complete their duties properly and do not serve the public's interest, but instead discriminate and restrict our freedom of speech and gathering, which is protected by national and international laws," Savoeun said. UPDATE: On 13 March 2018, villagers in Romeas Hek district, Svay Rieng province are summoned dor questioning regarding links between the CCFC and the Cambodia National Rescue Movement.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 15, 2018
- Event Description
Authorities in Svay Rieng province's Romeas Hek district yesterday came to block an NGO from holding a public forum in a village, saying they had not obtained adequate permission. The Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community yesterday morning held a public forum with 40 villagers on the topic of community development in Romeas Hek district's Ampil commune. Meoun Rathana, a deputy secretary of CCFC, said that the organisation had already informed authorities but were still blocked from holding their meeting. "We held it with villagers on developing the community only, but the authority is afraid of us having a meeting with each other and talking about politics. That's why they blocked us," he said. Mr Rathana added it wasn't the first time a CCFC programme had been blocked by authorities even after it had already obtained permission "We only had 40 participants, not 100 people, so we first informed the commune level," he said. "Those officials from the commune level will then inform the district and provincial level. The authority is truly discriminating against activity by our NGO." Soun Seyha, a villager in Romeas Hek district, said participants of the meeting were victims of land disputes who were only to receive training in the agriculture sector. "We must meet with each other to share ideas and experiences in the agriculture sector but when we gather to meet, we always get banned by authorities," he said. "We think we don't have any freedom to gather and talk about community development." Sam Samol, police chief of Romeas Hek district, said authorities checked and found that CCFC had not informed them about the forum. "We did not block them, we just checked them. They did not officially inform authorities. We do not discriminate against them, they just prefer to have meetings without acquiring permission," he said. In October, authorities in Svay Rieng province also stopped CCFC from holding a chicken-raising workshop with villagers, accusing them of not having obtained permission to do so.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 16, 2018
- Event Description
The Ministry of Interior has filed a criminal complaint against at least 10 members of the fledgling Cambodia National Rescue Movement, including former opposition leader Sam Rainsy, though a court official would not confirm the nature of the charges beyond characterising them as being akin to "rebellion". Last week, Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak confirmed that five former Cambodia National Rescue Party officials who were now part of the new "movement", were facing court proceedings for violating the Supreme Court order banning 118 senior opposition members from participating in politics for five years. Though hasty amendments to Cambodia's Law on Political Parties empowered the Supreme Court to suspend parties for five years, no such provision applies to individuals. Following the near-universal condemnation of the CNRP's forced dissolution in November for allegedly fomenting "revolution", some former members of the party, under the leadership of ex-President Sam Rainsy, started the movement with the aim of calling for nonviolent demonstrations in Cambodia. However, the movement has yet to formally do so. Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Ly Sophanna yesterday confirmed at least 10 members of the movement were part of a court complaint, but, like Sopheak, he declined to confirm the actual charges involved. "[The] CNRM was created to incite people and the armed forces to rebel against the government, which is the legal authority. This action is not different from a rebellion, and it is an act of opposing national security," Sophanna said in a message. Of the 10, Rainsy, his wife and former CNRP lawmaker Tioulong Saumura, fellow lawmaker Tok Vanchan and US-based CNRP activist Ry Kea are listed on a January document announcing the formation of the movement. Former CNRP lawmakers Ho Vann and Nuth Rumdol are also listed as part of the new complaint, as is land rights activist Sia Phearum and three others - apparent CNRP supporters Sok Ly, Oun Chhim and Sory Pon. Sophanna did not clarify who the last three accused people were. Former CNRP Deputy President Mu Sochua said the government's targeting of the movement's members was indicative of its fear of the CNRM's impact on the ground. She added that Cambodians would be undeterred by such cases and that the movement will find new ways to mobilise, such as its call over the weekend to supporters to boycott bottled water sold by a firm owned by Prime Minister Hun Sen's daughter, Hun Mana. "[This] is a scare tactic of the government but it will backfire as people will react to increasing crackdowns," she said. However, Cambodian People's Party spokesman Sok Eysan rejected any trepidation on the government's part, saying that while CNRM members may not have committed "rebellious acts", they had still broken the law. "They just talk from overseas, appeal to foreign governments to put pressure, ask those inside[Cambodia] to rebel against the legitimate government and ask the army to turn their weapons at the government-these are all illegal," he said. Sia Phearum could not be reached yesterday but spoke to Radio Free Asia last night, saying he rejected the accusations that the movement was illegal. "In fact, the movement is to demand democracy in Cambodia. There are no activities that violate national or international law," he said Political commentator Lao Mong Hay said that while it would have been prudent for the ruling party to simply ignore the CNRM, any opposition-related activity was like "food in the CPP's stomach that could not be digested". Additionally, it illustrated that there remained strong anti-government sentiment that the opposition, irrespective of its form, was able to tap into, he added. "It[the government] needs to quell or suppress any sort of agent[that] could stir up this kind of sentiment, and it is yet another case of the ruling party using the law to destroy their opponents," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 8, 2018
- Event Description
A 29-year-old man from Kampong Cham was interrogated yesterday following his arrest last week - on his wedding day - for calling the Cambodian government "authoritarian" in a video clip posted to Facebook. The arrest is just the latest involving online dissent, with human rights groups saying free speech is now "under daily threat" by Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party. Mean Prom Mony, provincial investigator with Adhoc in Kampong Cham, said San Rotha was arrested by provincial Military Police on February 8 over a warrant accusing him of "public insult of the leader and public defamation", adding that Rotha's arrest took place at 7am while he was taking a shower before getting married in Poipet. Prom Mony added that Rotha was interrogated by a prosecutor on Saturday and Sunday, as well as by a judge on Sunday. Huot Vuthy, spokesman for the Kampong Cham Provincial Court, said Rotha was not only being questioned for alleged public insult, but for incitement as well, though he wasn't able to specific the charges. "We are interrogating[him] and I don't know whether[the case] will be dismissed or not," he said. While the original Facebook post couldn't be located on Rotha's profile yesterday, the video clip was widely shared in October, just a month before the Cambodia National Rescue Party - the country's only viable opposition in this year's scheduled national election - was forcibly dissolved at the government's behest. "I want to inform the people and people supporting[the] CNRP to stand up again, and please do not be scared by all the actions and intimidations of some authoritarians," Rotha says in the clip. "If you do not stand up and unite together, we will not get loose from the devil's hand." He goes on to say that "corruption cannot win over the people's solidarity power". "We know already that the authoritarian people[want] to gain victory, they use all the strategies and mind games, and they try to act in all forms to undermine the CNRP supporters' mind," he says. Keo Oun, Rotha's sister-in-law, said Rotha had recently returned from working in Thailand and was getting ready to get married when he was taken by Military Police. "The Military Police forces handcuffed[him] and[took] him into the vehicle, and his mother was crying," she said. "The Military Police said that they would just educate him and would release him six months later because he apologised and promised to stop playing on Facebook." Phil Roberston, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said "freedom of expression is now under daily threat by Hun Sen and his minions". "Pro-government trolls are especially on the look out for critical commentary on Facebook and other online forums because that is the one source of information that the government can't fully control," he wrote in an email, calling on the international community to "publicly denounce these tactics" and decline to recognise this year's election "charade". Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University in Thailand, said for years the Cambodian government has made threats against government critics who use social media or other means to express their opinions, "but since last year, astride intensifying authoritarianism, Cambodia has entered a growing climate of fear".
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 7, 2018
- Event Description
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a 30-month sentence for land activist Tep Vanny on charges relating to a 2013 protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sen's house that turned violent, leaving the Boeung Kak resident to serve out more than a year of her remaining sentence. Presiding Judge Kem Sathavy upheld the decision handed down by the Appeal Court in August, saying the defence's assertion that Vanny did not orchestrate or order the violence on Daun Penh security guards during the protest was not backed up by the evidence. "After the panel of judges discussed this case, we have seen the[arguments] Tep Vanny and her defence lawyers have raised during the hearing that she did not commit violence. That is not true," Sathavy said. Vanny was charged with committing aggravating intentional violence for allegedly ordering protesters to attack security guards, but during the 30-minute hearing prior to the decision, Vanny insisted there was "no proof or evidence" against her. Around 70 land activists from three evictee communities had attempted to submit a petition to the Ministry of Justice in 2013 asking for the release of Boeung Kak activist Yorm Bopha and for a quick resolution to their land disputes. After being turned away, they attempted to submit the petition at Hun Sen's residence near Independence Monument, but were met with 200 officers and security guards carrying shields and sticks, preventing them from getting close to the premier's mansion. In the ensuing melee, which the land activists say was started by authorities, Boeung Kak resident Bo Chhorvy received cuts and scratches to her face, even alleging that a police officer tried to grope her. The only evidence presented against Vanny in the case was the written testimony of plaintiffs and Daun Penh security guards Hao Hoeurn and Ouk Ratana. As with all the other hearings throughout the rest of the trial, the pair did not appear in court Wednesday, and did not send legal representation in their stead. Vanny was first convicted over the protest in September 2016, and also has to serve another six-month sentence for a separate protest outside City Hall in 2011. Rising to plead her innocence, Vanny reiterated that the plaintiffs had submitted no evidence to show that she instructed land activists to attack security personnel. "There is no evidence or proof that I committed violence to the civil parties. I would like them to show me," she said, breaking down during her statement. Her lawyer, Sam Sokunthea, said the evidence did not meet the requirements of Article 24 of the Criminal Code, which relates to the "principle of individual criminal responsibility". "All the testimony so far from the plaintiffs is baseless," she said. "They have no pictures to show. No audio or any witness to prove[their accusations]." Hoping to present three witnesses, Sokunthea was informed by Judge Sathavy that the hearing was based on the legalities of the case and did not require additional testimony. Sokunthea ended her comments by reminding the court that Vanny wanted to return to her two children and ailing mother, and that all but one member of her group had resolved their land dispute with the city, leaving the Boeung Kak activist with no reason to continue her protests. Following the judgment, around 30 despondent Boeung Kak residents outside the court briefly protested the verdict, holding up posters of Vanny and yelling at the court. Vanny's daughter, Kong Panha, who was able to briefly meet her mother as the judges deliberated the case, said she just wanted her mother to return home. Vanny said in court her daughter was ill and needed care. "I really want my mother to come back home because I do miss her. We are separated for one or two years already," she told reporters. Amnesty International called the criminal proceedings against Vanny "deeply flawed", with the group's director for Asia and the Pacific, James Gomez, saying authorities seemed determined to keep her in prison. A statement released by 34 civil society organisations on Wednesday said they were dismayed by the verdict and that it represented the continued harassment of human rights defenders in the country. "[C]ambodian human rights defenders such as Tep Vanny are regularly restricted from conducting their work through various forms of judicial harassment, including suspended sentences and arbitrary resurrections of dormant charges," the statement reads.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 18, 2018
- Event Description
Three prominent civil society members have been charged with "breach of trust" for allegedly misappropriating funds raised for slain political activist Kem Ley's funeral, despite the fact that nobody in Ley's family filed a complaint. "Kuch Kimlong, municipal deputy prosecutor, decided to charge But Buntenh, 37, Pa Nguon Teang, 45, and Moeun Tola, 43, with "breach of trust'," reads the Phnom Penh Municipal Court document, dated January 4, but made public on government mouthpiece Fresh News today. The document also calls for the three to be immediately placed in pre-trial detention. The charges carry a punishment of one to three years in prison, and a fine of 2 million to 6 million riel (about $500-$1,500). Activist monk Buntenh, independent media advocate and founder of Cambodian Center for Independent Media Nguon Teang and labour rights campaigner Tola have all been frequent critics of the government. They were accused of misappropriating funds by Cambodian Youth Party head Pich Sros, who has been accused of acting as a proxy for the long-ruling Cambodian People's Party. Sros also filed an initial complaint against the Cambodia National Rescue Party for alleged treasonous activity, as well as against jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha. The complaints filed against the CNRP ultimately led to its dissolution at the hands of the Supreme Court. Sros's complaint against the three activists came after Buntenh pointed out that Sros himself had spent $2,300 on costs for a fundraiser that earned a mere $750 for a memorial stupa for Ley, who was gunned down in broad daylight in an assassination widely seen as politically motivated. Sros has never disputed Buntenh's account, but maintains the fundraiser's failure was an honest one. While Buntenh and Nguon Teang are both abroad, Buntenh today said he was worried about Tola, whom he believed was still in Cambodia. "He's in danger," he said. "In Cambodia now, there is no law." However, a police official at the Phnom Penh International Airport who requested anonymity said Tola left the country for Bangkok on Tuesday. Tola could not be immediately reached for comment, but in the past has said that while he and the others had a role in planning Ley's memorial, it was the family that was in charge of managing the funds. Buntenh also dismissed the accusations against him and the others. "The court created this case .?.?. and then they tried to prosecute us. We are not accepting this type of created case," he said, adding that it was "unfair" and "a game". "They are trying to make a kind of trouble, and they try to shut down independent groups in the country," said Buntenh, who is head of the Independent Monk's Network for Social Justice. Naly Pilorge, deputy director of advocacy for human rights group Licadho, said that the organisation was "shocked at the charges". "There seems to be no indication these three individuals were involved in collecting or managing funeral funds," she said. Sros, however, claimed he had inside information from Ley's brother, Rithisith, that a crime was committed. "I got the information from Kem Ley's brother that this committee committed a crime. I feel that I applaud the effort of the court for this case," he said today. However, Ley's sister-in-law, Bou Imolyta, rejected the accusation, saying Buntenh and the others had never managed the money, and that Sros had no right to file the complaint. "The monk did not hold that money, and Pich Sros has no right to file a complaint at all. He is not the relative of the family and is not involved with the family even a bit. The ones who handled the budget were[Ley's] wife and his mother," she said. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said the charge was an example of "politically motivated legal harassment" indicating that the government is "still gunning for various NGO people who have caused them trouble in the past". "This is all about Pich Sros trying to earn a reward from the CPP, and if the courts allow themselves to be used in this way then they are worse than everyone thought. The only way justice will be served is if Pich Sros is prosecuted for filing a false case and wasting the court's time," he added.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 29, 2017
- Event Description
Cambodia's government on Wednesday launched a probe into a leading human rights organization, days after Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to shut it down, prompting an outcry from groups who called the move further evidence of the country's slide into dictatorship ahead of elections next year. Deputy director-general of the Ministry of Interior's General Directorate of Administration Chhim Kan told government-aligned Fresh News that his ministry had initiated a "study and investigation" into the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)-a rights group cofounded by opposition leader Kem Sokha, who is currently in pretrial detention facing charges of treason. The ministry "has yet to decide CCHR's fate," Chhim Kan said, adding that expert officials are awaiting the outcome of the investigation to determine how to proceed. Over the weekend, Hun Sen said that the group "will have to be shut down" because Kem Sokha "followed foreigners to create the center in Cambodia," noting that "this is the same guy who incited people to topple the government." In response to Hun Sen's comments, CCHR issued a statement affirming its "non-partisanship" and "independence from all political parties," and said any independent and impartial investigation into its activities would "find no wrongdoing whatsoever." Kem Sokha was arrested on Sept. 3 for allegedly collaborating with the U.S. to overthrow the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP)-charges the U.S. embassy has rejected. Cambodia's Supreme Court on Nov. 16 ruled that his opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) be dissolved for its part in the plot, essentially eliminating Hun Sen's competition ahead of a general election scheduled for July 2018. Hun Sen's government has faced widespread condemnation in recent months over its actions targeting the CNRP, as well as for orchestrating the closure of independent media outlets and cracking down on nongovernmental organizations. International response Local and international organizations suggested that the investigation into CCHR could lead to a wider shut down of NGOs in Cambodia, and decried it as arbitrary and lacking legal basis. Toronto-based IFEX, a global network of groups promoting free expression that counts CCHR as a member, "strongly and unequivocally" condemned Hun Sen's call for an investigation into the organization following "the politically motivated" dissolution of the CNRP and arrest of Kem Sokha. "The closure of such a principled and dedicated group as CCHR would be devastating for the safeguarding of Cambodians' rights at a time when they are under increasing threat, and would irrevocably add to the climate of censorship that has taken hold," said IFEX executive director Annie Game. "Considered alongside other important voices that have been silenced, such a brazen action would signal to the world that Cambodia's stated support for free expression and association is an empty platitude." IFEX urged the government to drop its "baseless" investigation into CCHR, in accordance with protections for freedom of expression and association enshrined in Cambodia's constitution, and called on the international community, including donors and trade partners, to pressure Cambodia over the case. IFEX's statement echoed earlier concerns over Hun Sen's comments from the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), which said in a post on its Facebook page over the weekend that his attacks on the CCHR constituted "further evidence of Cambodia's continued slide deeper into dictatorship." In the post, APHR chairperson Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian Parliament, said the push to shut down the group "is the ruthless action of a dictator, and it will perpetuate widespread fear among civil society." He called on authorities to "immediately reverse course and allow CCHR to continue its important work free from threats and intimidation," adding that international partners should worry about the implications for productive engagement and sustainable development in Cambodia, given the country's shrinking civic space. Local reaction Soeung Sen Karona, spokesperson for local rights group ADHOC, told RFA Wednesday that if authorities are going to conduct an investigation into the CCHR, it must be done transparently, instead of simply as a response to Hun Sen's comments. He added that the Ministry of the Interior must look into the benefits that CCHR has provided to society, calling the group an "unequivocal partner for strengthening respect of human rights and social justice in Cambodia." "We hope that what Hun Sen has said are simply his remarks and that those who conduct the[investigation] will do so in a professional manner," he said. "Should they fail to find any[evidence] backing up[Hun Sen's] claim, such a crucial institution should be maintained so that it can further contribute to helping society and the nation in accordance with the government's goal of respecting human rights and democracy." Since late August, the government has also expelled U.S.-funded NGO the National Democratic Institute (NDI), suspended some 20 radio stations that aired content by U.S. broadcasters Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, and forced the closure of the English-language Cambodia Daily with a hefty tax bill. Since Kem Sokha's arrest, some 20 CNRP lawmakers, along with deputy presidents Mu Sochua and Eng Chhay Eang and a number of party activists, have fled Cambodia fearing retaliation by the CPP following important electoral gains by the opposition in June's commune ballot, which are seen as pointing to a strong showing in next year's vote. Last month, a group of 55 nongovernmental organizations said a "severe deterioration in the state of human rights and democracy" in Cambodia required a reconvening of the Paris Peace Conference, which ended conflict in the nation in 1991 and led to the U.N.'s administration of its government during its transition to a system of democratic elections.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association
- HRD
- NGO, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 14, 2017
- Event Description
Two former reporters with the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asia were detained in Cambodia on November 14 on suspicion of illegally producing and disseminating news, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Cambodian authorities to immediately release the pair and drop any charges against them. Uon Chhin, a former RFA videographer, and Yeang Sothearin, a former RFA editor and office coordinator, were taken to Phnom Penh's municipal police headquarters and held for questioning, the reports said. They were still in detention today, according to news reports. Phnom Penh Police Deputy Police Chief Sim Vuthy said that the two reporters would be taken to court tomorrow to face espionage charges, according to reports. The police chief said that the two could be charged under Article 445 of the criminal code, a provision that bans providing "a foreign state with information which undermines national defense," the reports said. Convictions under the law carry maximum 15-year prison sentences. Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said that the pair were being investigated for allegedly setting up a broadcast studio for RFA, according to the same news report. Chhin and Sothearin denied the accusation, according to reports. The Cambodia Daily reported that the two former journalists were accused of secretly installing broadcasting equipment in a guest house in the capital's Meancheay district and sending news reports to the station's headquarters in Washington, D.C. The report said police seized a voice recorder, microphone, laptop, and video monitor from the guesthouse. RFA closed its Phnom Penh bureau and suspended its in-country news operations in September under official pressure related to its registration as a licensed media company. The broadcaster said it no longer had ties with the journalists and denied they were working on its behalf, according to reports. "CPJ calls for the immediate release of former Radio Free Asia reporters Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, and an end to the official intimidation of all journalists in Cambodia," said CPJ Senior Southeast Asia Representative Shawn Crispin. "Prime Minister Hun Sen's reputation as a democratic leader is at a new low. He should reverse the course of this media crackdown now." The government announced after RFA closed its bureau that its reporters would not be given official press passes to report in the country, the Phnom Penh Post report said. In recent months, authorities have closed at least 19 radio stations nationwide on charges they had violated their state operating contracts by airing RFA's news programs, CPJ has found. The crackdown comes ahead of a general election due to be held next year. Hun Sen said today that the vote would take place, despite the Supreme Court banning the main opposition party, according to Reuters.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 20, 2017
- Event Description
A senior Ministry of Defence official yesterday claimed that housing rights group Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) had received close to half a million dollars a year from the United States to foment "colour revolution" among the land dispute groups it worked with - a claim quickly rejected by the NGO. Defence Ministry Secretary of State Neang Phat was speaking at an event with soldiers in Phnom Penh when he said that former STT head E Sarom, who was temporarily detained last year at a civil society protest, confessed to getting the large sum to foment movements that would serve a purported US strategy. "At some places, the NGOs formed protesting groups. So, if we look at them, we see that they were under the umbrella of some NGOs with the plan to do a colour revolution," he said. "He[Sarom] confessed that they had received funds from $400,000 to $500,000 every year to form all these movements to serve the strategy of the Americans." Last May, Sarom, Licadho Deputy Director Thav Kimsan and Borei Keila land activist Sar Sorn were arrested near Prey Sar prison as they led the first so-called Black Monday protest seeking the release of the imprisoned "Adhoc 5". Phat claimed that those on the receiving end of the purported incitement included outspoken Boeung Kak activist Tep Vanny, the Borei Keila community and land disputants from Thma Kol, also known as the "SOS" community. He also complained about the existence of nearly 3,000 grassroots communities, all of who, he said, were anti-government. "These communities are against the government, none of them is supporting the government," he said. He added that he had no further details to support his allegations and was basing it on a police report handed to him by Deputy National Police Chief Chhay Sinarith, who could not be reached yesterday. Interior Ministry Secretary of State Pol Lim said he was not aware of Phat's claims, and nor was Prak Sam Oeun, director for the ministry's Administration Department. The Defence Ministry official's remarks come as the government mounts a concerted clampdown on the opposition, NGOs and independent media outlets, with a particular emphasis on the US allegedly backing such groups to foment a "colour revolution" - a reference to non-violent protest movements in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. E Sarom, who at the time was the NGO's executive director, could not be reached yesterday, but Soeung Saran, who now heads STT, rejected the claims that it had been funded by the US government. "STT has never received USAID or US State Department funding and does not serve any strategy of the USA or other foreign governments," he said. He said the group only focused on providing pro-poor technical assistance for urban housing and infrastructure issues, as well as helping housing rights abuse victims understand the laws relevant to them. "STT tries to work with the Government of Cambodia and its institutions to develop urban poor areas for the betterment of all Cambodians," he added. In a short statement, the US Embassy in Phnom Penh said, "We support the peaceful resolution of land disputes, but are not familiar with the NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut". Thma Kol land activist Chray Nim questioned the repeated attempts to attack NGOs that aided her community with technical resources - a responsibility, she said, the government had absolved itself of. "Actually it is the government's role and the[involved] company's responsibility to find a solution, but then they turn to scapegoat NGOs that helped us, such as Teang Tnaut," she said. The anti-US conspiracy theories yesterday claimed another casualty - the European Union - when an anonymous letter to the editor, published on government mouthpiece Fresh News, claimed the superpower and economic bloc had stepped over a "red line". "Both ambassadors are trying to express their influence .?.?. and seek to pressure the Cambodian government to release the treasonous mastermind,[opposition leader] Kem Sokha, immediately and unconditionally," the letter reads, referring to US Ambassador William Heidt and EU delegation head George Edgar. The outlet's articles and anonymous letters have proved eerily prescient in recent months, foreshadowing, among other things, the government's expulsion of the NGO National Democratic Institute and its accusations that the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party - particularly Sokha, who is currently in prison on "treason" charges - had colluded with the US to topple the government. The CNRP is currently facing possible dissolution by the Supreme Court following a complaint from the Ministry of Interior. In response, Ambassador Edgar said member states had expressed their serious concern over the arrest of Sokha and the potential dissolution and redistribution of the CNRP's seats in parliament and at the local level, but insisted that the EU remained nonpartisan. "It is up to the Cambodian people to choose whom they wish to represent them at commune and national level," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 1, 2017
- Event Description
A student group was suspended by the Ministry of Interior yesterday for a series of violations of the Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organisations (Lango), including the highly controversial Article 24, which requires organisations to remain "politically neutral". The suspension of the Federation of Cambodian Intellectuals and Students comes less than a week since the Phnom Penh Municipal Court summonsed group leader Leng Seng Hong for questioning after he called for peaceful protests in the event of the CNRP's dissolution. "The Ministry of Interior decided to temporarily suspend the activities of Federation of Cambodian Intellectuals and Students for 60 days starting from today," a ministry statement released yesterday says. The statement orders the group to rectify its mistakes, submit proper paperwork and return to neutrality, or face legal action and possible dissolution. At the time Lango was passed, leading local rights groups, including Adhoc, Licadho and the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR), said Article 24, among others, was "unconstitutional". All three groups recommended removing the article, with CCHR claiming it is "contrary to the right to freedom of expression". According to Licadho documents, sent to a reporter by Deputy Director of Advocacy Naly Pilorge, this is the first time an NGO has been targeted for violation of Article 24. Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak declined to answer questions about the case. When asked if Article 24 had been invoked before, he said "your newspaper should have more documents than me". Seng Hong himself has been summonsed to answer questions related to "incitement to commit a crime", despite advocating specifically for peaceful protests, a right guaranteed under Cambodian law. Seng Hong could not be reached yesterday. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, called the move "rights violating" and "totally absolutely unacceptable". Speaking via email yesterday, Robertson said Lango is a "politically driven battle axe against civil society" and repeated calls for donor countries to take concrete action against the Cambodian government. Cambodian analyst Lao Mong Hay said the violation of neutrality was only an issue because Seng Hong spoke out against the government. "For those opposed to the government's policies, if anyone uses their legs, they will cut off their legs. If they use their hands, they will cut off their hands," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 28, 2017
- Event Description
The Ministry of Interior yesterday ordered the temporary suspension of land rights NGO Equitable Cambodia for allegedly violating its own by-laws and the controversial law regulating NGOs passed in 2015. In a letter signed yesterday, Interior Minister Sar Kheng ordered NGO Director Eang Vuthy to "temporarily suspend Equitable Cambodia's activities for thirty working days". According to the letter, the organisation violated Article 5 of its own by-laws, as well as Articles 10 and 25 of the Law on Associations and NGOs. Article 10 sets out that NGOs must submit bank statements to the ministry within 30 days of registration and notify it of any changes to its address, statute, leadership or bank information. Article 25 orders any domestic NGO to "submit a copy of its activity report and of its annual financial report" no later than by the end of the following year. The ministry did not provide any information on the alleged violation of the organisation's internal rules. The letter also mentions a complaint by residents of Chum Norb village, in Kampong Speu province's Trapaing Chor commune, filed earlier this month against the organisation. Approximately 30 of the protesters travelled to Phnom Penh demanding its closure because it had allegedly "incited the community to separate" in a land dispute case with ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat's Phnom Penh Sugar. However, other villagers still represented by the NGO suspected at the time the protesters were hired by the sugar company. Company representative Andy Seng did not respond to requests for comment as of press time. The ministry's letter asks the organisation to submit a bank account statement, its activity and financial reports, as well as its report regarding the dispute with Phnom Penh Sugar, which was the recipient of a 2010 economic land concession. "In case they don't follow the notice, the Ministry of Interior will take legal action according to the law," the minister wrote.Equitable Cambodia could not be reached yesterday. Chey Beurn, a 60-year-old villager of Trapaing Chor commune and one of the complainants earlier this month, said he was "happy" about the decision. "This NGO deserves what[authorities] have done," he said. "They went too far, they make the communities hate each other." But another resident from the same commune, Phong Sokit, expressed concern about the closure. The organisation has supported him as he tried to solve his dispute with the company. "I feel very sad that this NGO closed. They taught us about .?.?. human rights laws," he said, adding that villagers might protest the closure. "So I feel very regretful, because this NGO has not done any harm to the villagers or the communities."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Land rights
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 5, 2017
- Event Description
Bangkok, October 10, 2017-- The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the legal harassment of Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter, two journalists who worked for the shuttered Cambodia Daily, and calls on Cambodian authorities to drop all charges against the pair. A Cambodian state prosecutor filed criminal charges against Pheap and Peter for their election-related news coverage in the eastern Rattanakiri province, and accused them of "inciting violence" while reporting, according to the independent daily Phnom Penh Post and Cambodia Daily's former editor-in-chief Jodie DeJonge. Pheap, a local reporter, and Peter, a Canadian editor, became aware of the charges on October 5, though Rattanakiri prosecutor Chea Pich filed them on August 28, according to the Phnom Penh Post. A state prosecutor on August 22 questioned the two reporters at the Rattanakiri Provincial Court, but no formal charges were lodged at the time, according to the Phnom Penh Post. According to the news report, if found guilty of incitement, the reporters each face a potential two years in prison. The charges stem from the journalists' reporting on past support for the opposition Cambodia National Rescue party in the Pate commune in Rattanakiri, ahead of June 4 national commune elections. "The incitement charges against journalists Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter should be dropped immediately," said Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative. "We urge Prime Minister Hun Sen to cease and desist his government's campaign of intimidation against independent media, and allow reporters to do their jobs without fear of reprisal." Commune chief Rmam Yout, along with two other villagers, alleged the reporters intended to "incite" violence by interviewing them about why their commune had previously elected the opposition party. Cambodia's information ministry imposed sweeping guidelines against election news coverage that could affect "public order" or cause "fear or any violence" ahead of the polls, CPJ documented. Sek Sophom, the reporters' lawyer, said the questions they asked were routine news reporting, and that there was no legal ground for the charges, according to the Phnom Penh Post. The incitement charges are the latest in a series of legal actions taken against the Cambodia Daily. The newspaper published its last edition on September 4 amid allegations that the paper owed $6.3 million in unpaid taxes dating back to 2007, CPJ documented. The paper denied it owes the amount. The information ministry refused to renew the paper's license until the tax issue is resolved. Immigration officials have since blocked the paper's American manager Douglas Steele from leaving the country, a move he likened to "country arrest" in a phone conversation with CPJ. Steele and deputy publisher Deborah Krisher-Steele are both on an immigration 'no fly' list, and authorities froze the newspaper's local bank accounts, DeJonge told CPJ by email.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Right to information
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Cambodia: Two journalists charged with incitement
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 19, 2017
- Event Description
The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) condemns recent attacks by the Cambodian Government against civil society organisations and free media in the country. These repressive measures come at a critical juncture for Cambodia, and severely compromise the legitimacy and fairness of next year's election. On 19 August 2017, the Cambodia Daily was imposed a tax bill of 6.3 million USD. The tax-officers warned that failure to pay the amount by 4 September 2017 would result in foreclosure of the offices and seizure of all assets. According to the general manager of the newspaper, Douglas Steele, the tax bill is not based on any audit of the paper's finances.[1] Similarly, two US government funded radio broadcasters, Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice of America (VOA), were sent a letter, signed by the Finance Minister, Aun Porn Moniroth, alleging that they did not have correct media licenses to operate and were not yet registered with the tax office in Cambodia. It is important to note that all three media outlets have been critical of government policies and the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen. In February, the Cambodia Daily reported on a paper written by Lee Morgenbesser,[2] which alleged that Hun Sen's rule was a "personalist dictatorship'. Similarly, last week, it published an article about an investigation, which revealed that senior staff members of Cambodia's largest human rights organisations were suffering "intensifying levels of harassment, surveillance, intimidation and threats' before the general election.[3] Prime Minister Hun Sen also criticised reports by the civil society election monitoring coalition, the "Situation Room' that the recent commune elections were not free and fair. The coalition is made up of election monitor groups, including the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL) and the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC), as well as human rights organisations like the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR). He also pledged to disallow them to monitor elections next year, blaming them for not having registered as non-governmental organisations and undermining the legitimacy of the Government. On 23 August 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the closure of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), an international development and democracy organisation, with its foreign staff given seven days to leave the country. The order was given under the Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organisations (LANGO), which imposes draconian restrictions on the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association, expression and opinion. All these rights are guaranteed under the Constitution of Cambodia and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Cambodia is a party. FORUM-ASIA urges the Government of Cambodia to stop harassing independent media outlets and civil society organisations. It also urges the Government to abide fully by its national and international human rights obligations, cooperate with the Special Mandate Holder on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, Rhona Smith, and engage with the upcoming 36th Human Rights Council session which will discuss the resolution on the human rights situation in Cambodia.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Online
- HRD
- Media Worker, NGO, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 7, 2017
- Event Description
Today - Monday, 07 August 2017 - youth activist Hun Vannak, a member of the environmental NGO Mother Nature, was arrested at approximately 12.30pm in Kohkor Village, Roka Khpos Commune, Sa-ang District, Kandal Province. Kohkor village has recently borne witness to a series of community protests against fluvial sand dredging in the area, which may have led to riverbank collapse and the loss of homes. Approximately 10 - 15 police officers arrested Mr. Vannak shortly after he left the house of a local villager in Kohkor village. The police were accompanied by 4-5 uniformed representatives of the Leng Ching sand dredging company and arrested Mr. Vannak. Mr. Vannak was accompanied by a local villager and was on his way to buy lunch when he was intercepted by police, close to the villager's home. According to witness reports, police pushed Mr. Vannak into a police vehicle without informing him of the reason for his arrest. He was taken directly to the police station in Ta Kmao for questioning. CCHR has received information that Mr. Vannak is being questioned in relation to allegedly illegally inciting the community to protest, and for allegedly illegally flying a drone. The exact nature of the alleged offenses is yet to be confirmed by the authorities. Mr. Vannak arrived in Kohkor Village on the morning on 07 August to attend a meeting by the Sa-ang district authorities and attended by the Sa-ang District Governor, the Roka Khpos Commune Chief, the Kohkor Village Chief, local villagers, and representatives of the Leng Ching Company. Mr. Vannak attended and monitored the meeting at the invitation of local villagers who asked him to monitor. Mr. Vannak live streamed the meeting via Facebook Live. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the issues related to sand dredging in the area and to find a solution between the villagers and the sand dredging companies which are operating in the locality. The villagers have been demanding an end to sand dredging in their area, as well as compensation for lost and damaged property. Villagers report that they have been meeting on a near-daily basis to discuss the dredging and to plan their advocacy. These meetings have routinely been interrupted by (mostly district-level) authorities and police. In June 2017, another Mother Nature activist, Thun Ratha, faced questioning by local police due to his support for the local community in Sa-ang. UPDATE: On 7 August 2017, the HRD was released after several hours of interrogation. UPDATE: On 13 Feburary 2018, Mother Nature activists who were convicted of incitement to commit a felony and violation of privacy by the Koh Kong provincial court were released after completing their prison terms.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 23, 2017
- Event Description
Authorities in Stung Treng province on Sunday stopped a group of indigenous activists from reaching a village slated for imminent flooding by the Lower Sesan II hydropower dam but released them after escorting them to the provincial capital. Meng Heng, a member of the environmental rights group Mother Nature, said he was traveling with the approximately 30 activists headed toward Kbal Romeas village to show their support for dozens of families refusing to abandon their homes to the dam when they were stopped by local police at about noon. "The 30 people were traveling in two trucks from[Mondolkiri] province and the Sesan district authorities stopped the trucks and brought them to the provincial police station, but they were released," he said. Mr. Heng said they were set free at about 5 p.m., after endorsing documents promising not to return without prior consent from local authorities, and headed back to Mondolkiri. Hor Vuthy, head of the provincial police's minor crimes bureau, said about 22 people were questioned and released. But he declined to say why and referred additional questions to district authorities, who also declined to explain why the activists were detained. Most of the 5,000 people living on the 36,000 hectares the dam is set to turn into a giant reservoir have already moved to resettlement sites where the government and the companies building the 400-megawatt dam-Cambodia's Royal Group and China's Hydrolancang International Energy-are providing them with new homes and farms. But more than 100 families in Srekor and Kbal Romeas villages have refused the offer, worried that life will be much harder at the sites. Families in Srekor have prepared small shelters on a nearby "safety hill" for if and when the water reaches them. The dam began closing its floodgates on July 15 for testing and is set to start producing power on September 25. On Sunday, deputy provincial governor Duong Pov said eight of the 10 gates have since been closed and that the families refusing to leave Srekor village were told on Friday that the water would reach their homes in a week. "We asked the people to cooperate with our authorities to move from the village to the safety hill, and if they volunteer we will take them to the relocation sites because we already built homes for the families," he said. "It is difficult for us to rescue them because some villagers are refusing to cooperate with our authorities." Suth Thoeun, a Srekor village holdout, said the families didn't want their help. "People don't want help from the authorities because they know how to save themselves, but if they want to[help] it's up to them because that is the job of the authorities," he said. "I will only move from the villages if the water reaches the roof of my house."
- Impact of Event
- 30
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Land rights
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 22, 2017
- Event Description
An ethnic Kuoy activist in Stung Treng province says his life was threatened after he tipped authorities off to an alleged land grab on Saturday involving two suspects who remain at large. On Saturday, Thala Barivat District Police responded to a tip from local activist Uk Mao, 53, and stopped an area landowner and a bulldozer driver as they allegedly cleared more than 1 hectare of protected forest in Sam Ang commune. According to provincial Agriculture Department Director Lieng Seng, the raid only resulted in the seizure of the bulldozer, as the suspects had already fled. The provincial Forestry Administration director, Meas Sophum, said his office was pursuing the case, without giving further details. Mao said he received a threatening phone call on Saturday evening. "You will be beheaded soon," the caller allegedly told him. "How dare you report to the authorities? .?.?. I know your house," Mao recalled the anonymous caller saying. "They were furious with me because I tipped off the authorities to halt and seize the machinery," he said, explaining that the accused clearer is a large-scale local landowner. Fearing for his safety, Mao said he requested the intervention of the commune police and rights group Adhoc. This is not the first time Mao said he had received threats for bringing attention to land grabs. In January, he reported being threatened with prosecution for defamation by commune authorities after he notified them that state and community land was being cleared and sold off. Thala Barivat District Governor Thong Srorn said he was unaware of the threats against Mao. "Clearing is illegal and they came in an anarchic way," said Srorn. "After receiving the information, we just implemented the law to arrest[the suspects]," adding that authorities continued to search for the two men. Hou Sam Ol, Adhoc's Stung Treng provincial coordinator, called on higher authorities to investigate the case. "It is like timber hauling cases - mostly only the evidence is seized while the criminals and drivers are rarely captured," he said, adding that Mao should be protected by local police.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 7, 2017
- Event Description
Battambang Provincial Court has ordered the provincial Adhoc human rights coordinator to appear in a case involving allegations of intentional violence. The summons orders Ying Mengly to appear at court on Tuesday next week and to bring any documents he has in his defence. Mr Mengly said he did not know where the alleged violence took place, but would appear in court on the due day. "I am not in the wrong, I am not afraid," he said. He added that he had helped many victims in land disputes with tycoons or powerful people in his role as a human rights defender . "I want to know who filed a complaint against me," he said. Mr Mengly said the number of complaints to Adhoc fell in Battambang province last year. Adhoc received 15 complaints, one involving torture, five over land disputes and nine related to injuries. Soueng Sen Karona, senior investigator for Adhoc, said the organisation will provide a lawyer to study the case. "We don't know who filed the complaint. Our lawyer will work on that issue," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 28, 2017
- Event Description
The NGO election consortium calling itself the "Situation Room" may be banned from future vote monitoring and the registration of its member NGOs investigated, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, after Prime Minister Hun Sen accused the group of violating the law, colluding with the opposition and serving as a base for a "color revolution." Members of the group defended its neutrality and said it had not registered with the Interior Ministry, as is required of NGOs under the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (Lango), because it was a temporary gathering of like-minded NGOs rather than a fully structured organization. Speaking at the CPP's 66th anniversary celebrations on Phnom Penh's Koh Pich on Wednesday, the prime minister ordered Interior Minister Sar Kheng to investigate the Situation Room's legal status under Lango after the group of 40 NGOs criticized the fairness of the June 4 commune elections. "An issue that needs to be solved next is-what is the Situation Room?" Mr. Hun Sen asked. "In a few days, they made the election results have serious difficulties. Did the Situation Room register with the Interior Ministry?" "Do they have a right to create a base like this?" he asked of the group's election monitoring headquarters. "Or is this the common base for the principles of a color revolution?" The group's criticism of the election, especially pre-vote campaign activity, echoed concerns leveled by the CNRP, he said, suggesting collusion with the opposition. "If they're not legal, what have they been doing? How will they be punished?" he asked, urging Mr. Kheng to look into the group's legality. Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the ministry saw the coalition as an unregistered NGO, and would now investigate the registration of the member NGOs and call individuals in for questioning. The Situation Room's members, as listed on a news release earlier this month, are a roll call of the country's most prominent civil society organizations (CSOs), including election NGOs the Committee for Free and Fair Elections (Comfrel) and the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free Elections (Nicfec); rights groups Adhoc, Licadho and the Cambodian Center for Human Rights; labor rights NGO Central; and umbrella organization NGO Forum. "It could be that we issue a letter to dissolve their activity to jointly monitor the next election," General Sopheak said. In a statement released on Saturday, the group was largely positive about the vote itself but said "significant irregularities" prior to June 4 meant that "elections in Cambodia cannot yet be considered free and fair." The group said political suppression of the opposition, threats of violence from ruling party leaders, biased courts and unequal media allotment had undermined the quality of the election. Gen. Sopheak, who threatened unspecified action against CSOs in the run-up to the vote, rejected the findings and claimed they caused "social turmoil." In a statement jointly released on Wednesday by Comfrel and Nicfec, the two organizations did not mention Mr. Hun Sen's speech, but described the Situation Room as a "neutral forum" organized by the two groups to supply election observers and evaluate vote results, among other tasks. The consortium ended on Saturday, when it released its election findings, the statement said. Lango requires all "domestic associations" to register with the ministry, a term it defines as "a membership organization...by natural persons or legal entities aiming at representing and protecting the interests of their members without generating or sharing profits." Sotheara Yoeurng, a law and monitoring officer with Comfrel, confirmed in a Facebook message that the group had not registered with the ministry, but said there was no need given its short mandate. The group lacked an organizational structure, he said, and was only a gathering place for CSOs "who have like-mind." Legal expert Sok Sam Oeun said the Situation Room wouldn't need to register if it had merely served as a gathering place for member organizations. But if it wanted to organize under a new name and put out statements, it should have registered, he said. In the NGO law, "if we form a coalition, we should register." Comfrel's Mr. Yoeurng disputed that logic. "It's a room or space for gathering ideas and opinions of CSOs to debate on elections matters," he wrote. "It's a collective opinion so we should put it together for a single statement." Prince Sisowath Thomico, a member of the CNRP's steering committee, laughed when asked if his party had colluded with the forum, denying any secret cooperation. Mr. Hun Sen "is used to accusing," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to information, Right to political participation
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 18, 2017
- Event Description
A Cambodian human rights worker held for over a year in Phnom Penh's Prey Sar Prison collapsed on Sunday in a prison restroom, with prison authorities later offering conflicting accounts of who had provided him with medical treatment. Ny Sokha, one of a group of four ADHOC activists and an election official held in a case of alleged bribery widely seen as targeting Cambodia's political opposition, was stricken with diarrhea on June 18 and was examined by doctors sent by the rights group Licadho, prison spokesperson Nuth Savana said. He amended his statement next day, however, saying that Ny Sokha's jailers had misinformed him, and that the detained rights worker had been seen instead by prison physicians. Speaking to RFA's Khmer Service, Ny Sokha's younger brother Ny Lyheng said on Monday that he visited Ny Sokha the day after his collapse, and that his brother's face was pale and hands were shaking from the effect of serum injections given by his doctors. "I met with him this morning," Ny Lyheng told RFA. "He had passed out in the prison restroom for a while before being rescued by other inmates." Though Ny Sokha had been quickly attended to by prison physicians, Ny Lyheng said, he is concerned that his brother's condition may be beyond the ability of the prison's doctors to treat. Ny Sokha's lawyer Lor Chunthy meanwhile said that after seeing his client's condition, his legal team will file a petition with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge handling the case to allow Ny Sokha to receive treatment outside the prison. "We will have a meeting tomorrow, and after this we will file our petition[with the court]," Lor Chunthy told RFA. 'Part of a campaign' Also speaking to RFA, Am Sam Ath, head of investigations for the Cambodian rights group Licadho, said that the judge handling Ny Sokha's case has refused permission for Licadho doctors to examine the detained rights worker or other members of his group. "We cannot provide a final diagnosis of his condition because Licadho's physicians are not allowed access to him," he said. Already held at Prey Sar for 12 months for investigation of their case, the group now known as the ADHOC Five were told in March that their period of pre-trial detention would be extended for a further six months. Rights group Human Rights Watch slammed the group's continued detention, calling the court's move "part of a campaign to destroy[Cambodia's political opposition] and scare Cambodian rights workers into silence." The wife of opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party member Chao Veasna, elected to a commune post in June 4 and detained in a separate case, meanwhile pleaded with authorities to provide her husband with competent care before returning him to prison from a hospital, where he is being treated for gallstones and liver disease. "I want them to provide medical treatment for my husband so that he gets some relief before sending him back," Chao Veasna's wife Vong Kimhong said. "But the prison department is too strict. I don't know how to help him," she said. UPDATE: On 29 June 2017, a court in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh conditionally released five rights defenders from prison after more than a year in pre-trial detention on charges widely seen as politically motivated.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO staff, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 11, 2017
- Event Description
About 30 villagers escorted two environmental activists from Kandal province's Sa'ang district to the relative safety of Phnom Penh yesterday after the pair were allegedly harassed by local police for helping coordinate a protest against sand dredging in the area the day before. The activists, Thun Ratha, 25, and Meng Heng, 27, of the group Mother Nature, were brought to the city in the afternoon on a remorque alongside 15 of the villagers, while the rest followed on their motorbikes fearing that the activists might be arrested, according to Heng. The pair had travelled to Koh Kor village in Raka Khpos commune on Sunday to help coordinate a protest to demand that the authorities halt sand dredging operations in the Tonle Bassac river, after about 10 homes had collapsed into the water over the past year. Ratha said police had demanded to photograph his national identification card on Sunday after his fellow activist presented a photo of his own ID card, but that he had refused. At around 10:30pm, he said, about 10 commune police officers and the local village chief showed up to the house where he was staying, demanding once again to see his identification. More commune, district and provincial police returned in the morning, Ratha said. "They told me to show my NGO work card and ID card, wanting to know where I'm from, but I declined," he said. "No law orders us to show them the document as a simple citizen. I am not a criminal." Kandal Police Chief Eav Chamroeun said he had seen a video the activists posted on Facebook in which they said they wanted to end dredging in the area. He said he believed they were going to "incite" villagers. "I wanted them to show who they are," he said. "And I told my policemen to ask them." Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, a co-founder of Mother Nature who was deported from Cambodia in 2015, said he was not surprised by the alleged case of harassment, explaining that the activists "faced this issue countless times" when organising protests against sand-dredging. Sorn Ramana, a project coordinator at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said the activists had rights to freedom of assembly and association under Cambodia's Constitution. "While no arrest was made in this case, the repeated confronting of Mr Thun Ratha by large numbers of state forces constitutes an act of intimidation and a restriction of Mr. Ratha's rights," Ramana said. Mines and Energy Ministry spokesman Dith Tina said that there are four licensed dredging companies operating legally in the in the area, identifying the firms as Leng Chin Group Co Ltd, Song Sopheap, Bassac Mekong Development Co Ltd and Porniron Co Ltd. All received a two-year dredging licences last year, Tina said, and the nearest dredging zone was about 600 metres from the collapsed homes. After a riverbank collapse occurred in the area in March, the ministry sent a specialist to inspect, and determined the collapse was "due to natural erosion of the riverbank", Tina added.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 17, 2017
- Event Description
Kim Sok, a strident government critic in prison for blaming the ruling party for the July murder of political analyst Kem Ley, was predictably denied bail on Wednesday by the Court of Appeal in Phnom Penh. Presiding Judge Nguon Im said during a closed-door hearing that Mr. Sok needed to remain behind bars to prevent him from committing further defamation, and to allow court procedures to continue unimpeded, according to Mr. Sok's lawyer, Chuong Choungy. Mr. Sok, a longtime operative for royalist political parties, re-entered the political sphere last year as a frequent guest on radio shows, commenting on the news of the day. An interview on Radio Free Asia in which he appeared to suggest that the government was behind the shooting of Kem Ley sparked a lawsuit from Prime Minister Hun Sen. On February 17, he was imprisoned on charges of defamation and incitement. Mr. Choungy said the decision to keep his client behind bars was unreasonable, and would be appealed at the Supreme Court. "Incitement and defamation are different to charges of murder, rape or drug trafficking," he said of the suggestion that Mr. Sok could commit crimes again if freed. After a previous appeal hearing, Mr. Sok claimed that representatives of the prime minister had visited him in prison and offered possible release if he wrote an apology, but also threatened to send him to a "dark prison" if he didn't. The Interior Ministry issued a statement this week denying the accusations. On 28 May 2017, Kim Sok issued a handwritten letter bearing his thumbprint, which was seen by RFA, saying he would skip eating for the sake of social justice and to call on Cambodia's citizens to use their rights to vote for change of commune chiefs in nationwide polls. Following the announcement, Kim Sok staged a hunger strike from 29 May to election day on 4 June.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 1, 2017
- Event Description
Several civil society organizations and their employees, including the leaders of the human rights NGOs Licadho and Adhoc, are under watch by the Interior Ministry for allegedly aiding the CNRP and will face legal action after Sunday's commune election if the allegations prove true, a ministry spokesman said today, a charge denied by Licadho's executive director. "We have not yet put any NGOs or civil society organizations on the blacklist but we will take action if we find those organizations are working to serve the opposition party," ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said this morning, referring to a list the government uses to initiate formal investigations. "We will not take action in this time because the activities of those organizations are not so serious," he said. "But we will take action immediately if the activities of those people affect the national interest." Though General Sopheak did not name the organizations in question, he said they included Adhoc and Licadho. "Those two organizations are under investigation because most of their activities are working to serve the opposition party," he said. "I wish to state that the two organizations are good, but individuals and leaders in the organizations are working to serve the opposition party." Licadho's executive director Naly Pilorge said she was unaware of any investigation against the organization and denied supporting the opposition. "As a human rights NGO, pre & post election work has been and still is a normal part of our work," she wrote in a message. "Our work is to provide services to victims of human rights violations including land grabbing, trafficking, gender based violence, labor etc... including cases that are of civil & political nature." Gen. Sopheak said the action was prompted by criticism from civil society organizations over the ink used in the upcoming elections. The National Election Committee admitted it purchased the ink even though samples could be erased using a hair care product, drawing concern from election monitors over potential double-voting. The spokesman said the NGOs were working at the behest of foreign donors to support the opposition. "We are now watching[to see] which NGOs and civil society organizations are working to serve the opposition party and we will take action after the commune election," he said, declining to name the actions but saying they would draw from the recently-passed Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO). NGOs in Cambodia have been treading more carefully since the passage last year of LANGO, which critics said gave the government sweeping powers to revoke the registration of organizations found to have threatened political stability or be operating with a political bias. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, released an 11-page screed in April, "To Tell the Truth," accusing foreign diplomats, media, and NGOs of colluding with Western governments to destabilize the country and support the opposition. Representatives from Adhoc as well as two election watchdogs - the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia and the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free Elections in Cambodia - could not immediately be reached for comment, while Chak Sopheap, head of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, declined to comment. Adhoc director Thun Saray fled to Canada last fall amid a court case that saw four of his employees jailed for bribery charges widely seen as politically motivated, which Gen. Sopheak said proved his guilt. Eang Vuthy, head of the housing and development NGO Equitable Cambodia, said he was unaware of the ministry's investigation, but that the organization was operating neutrally. "We just follow our mandate," he said. "We are not affiliated to any political party." An article from government mouthpiece Fresh News, which broke the story, said that the NGOs targeted were located in Phnom Penh's Chamkar Mon district, but Gen. Sopheak said that he had not read the article and declined to comment on its accuracy.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to work
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 26, 2017
- Event Description
Four activist monks were arrested after attending an opposition rally in Oddar Meanchey province on 26 May 2017, with police confiscating their mobile phones and deleting videos and photographs taken during the event, one monk said, though the account was disputed by authorities. Luon Sovath, a prominent activist monk known for regularly livestreaming events on his Facebook page, said police started harassing opposition supporters after they left a Samraong City rally attended by CNRP President Kem Sokha on Friday morning. "After people were going back to their homes...about 1 km away, the police stopped people and asked them where they want to go and where they had come from," he said later that day. A police chief ordered the monks' arrests and that their phones be confiscated, with police saying that another well-known activist monk, Prim Huon, had been "spreading lies" about the intimidation of opposition supporters at the rally in a Facebook livestream, he said. "They deleted all video and photos," Luon Sovath said, adding that the monks were also forced to delete Facebook posts from the rally. "They want to threaten the people and threaten the monks, and also they do not respect human rights, political rights or freedom of ideas." Hours later, after agreeing to delete the videos and thumbprinting a document agreeing not to post similar material, the monks were allowed to leave with their phones, Luon Sovath said. Shortly after, Prim Huon posted a video to his Facebook of himself being detained, which Luon Sovath swiftly shared. Contacted on Sunday, provincial police chief Men Ly denied the monks' story. CNRP supporters had willingly dispersed after police stopped an unscheduled and therefore illegal march, he said. "The CNRP did not argue and they knew they were wrong so they dispersed, but the monks twisted[the actions of] our authorities," he said, adding that he had no plans to pursue the issue further. Provincial election committee chief Chinh Samphour said the monks had willingly deleted the materials on their phones after a calm negotiation. "There were no CNRP activists mistreated. The monks just exaggerated," he said. But prior to the monk arrests, efforts had been made by officials and CPP supporters to disrupt the opposition rally, said Kem Monovithya, Mr. Sokha's daughter and the CNRP's deputy public affairs director. "CPP blasted music on loud speakers close to where we held our meeting. We filed[a] complaint, eventually they stopped after our meeting was also over," she said in an email. "Heavy armed forces present, blocking some CNRP cars from rallying. Authority at the same time allowed CPP to rally on routes that CNRP can't, our rally was very confined."
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to political participation, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 27, 2017
- Event Description
Sor Sorn and Nat Sreynak, both from Borei Keila community, were arrested this morning as they prepared for a Black Monday campaign gathering in front of their houses. Both were detained in 7 Makara police station until 7:15PM after nearly 11 hours in detention. The two women, who were both wearing black t-shirts, were singled out and arrested by police and para-police at Borei Keila community at about 8.45 as they prepared for a gathering to call for the release of incarcerated human rights defenders, including Boeung Kak Lake community representative Tep Vanny who was arrested during another Black Monday event on 15 August 2016. Since the campaign began in May last year, there have been at least 38 arbitrary arrests of Black Monday participants, who have mostly been detained for hours before being released without charge. Today marked Sor Sorn's fifth arrest, and Nat Sreynak's second arrest, for participating in a peaceful Black Monday gathering.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2017
- Event Description
On 23 February 2017, human rights defender Tep Vanny was convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison by Phnom Penh Municipal Court for "intentional violence with aggravating circumstances'. Tep Vanny is a land rights activist and human rights defender who works to combat corruption in Cambodia. She played a prominent role in mobilising communities in Boeung Kak Lake to fight against an eviction order agreed between the Government and a private corporation to carry out development plans which would include filling 90% of the lake for domestic and foreign tourists. Tep Vanny is one of the 13 women human rights defenders (the Boeng Kak 13) who were charged and sentenced to 2.5 years imprisonment on 24 May 2012 as a result of their work resisting these development plans. On 23 February 2017, Tep Vanny was convicted by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for "intentional violence with aggravating circumstances' under Article 218 of the Cambodian Criminal Code and sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment. She was found guilty of assaulting security guards during a protest outside the house of Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2013. Her sentence also includes a fine of five million riels (approximately __�1,178), and compensation payments to two members of the Daun Penh para-police; four million riels (approximately __�942) to the first plaintiff and five million riels (approximately __�1,178) to the second plaintiff. During the trial, no credible evidence was presented to justify the charges brought against Tep Vanny. At 8:30 a.m., around sixty supporters of Tep Vanny gathered outside the court. At 9:30 a.m., seven Makara district para-police violently dispersed about thirty-five women and children who were sitting peacefully outside the court. The women and children were forcibly dragged from the area, resulting in three of the women sustaining injuries, two of whom are from the Boeung Kak Lake community. Tep Vanny had been in pre-trial detention in Prey Sar prison, Phnom Penh since August 2016. On 22 August 2016, she was charged with "intentional violence with aggravating circumstances', regarding her role in a protest outside the house of Prime Minister Hun Sen where she demanded the release of human rights defender Yorm Bopha in 2013. On 27 February 2017, guilty verdicts of the Municipal Court were upheld against Ms. Tep Vanny and 3 other Boeung Kak activists at the Court of Appeal. The decision maintained the sentences of six months imprisonment for insulting and obstructing public officials, which were given on 19 September 2016. The defendants have 30 days to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. UPDATE: On 8 August 2017, an Appeals Court rejected Tep Vanny's appeal of her conviction for "intentional violence with aggravated circumstances" under Article 218 of the Cambodian Criminal Code. On 23 February 2017, following a summary trial during which no credible evidence was presented to justify the charges brought against her, she was sentenced to 30 months in jail. She was found guilty of assaulting security guards during a protest outside the house of Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2013. The human rights defender has been detained since her arrest on 15 August 2016. UPDATE: On 7 Febuary 2018, Cambodia's Supreme Court rejected Tep Vanny's appeal of her conviction. This ruling confirms the sentence handed down to Tep Vanny on Feb. 23, 2017 by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. As a result, Tep Vanny has been sent back to prison to serve the remainder of her 30 month sentence. UPDATE: On 20 August 2018, Tep vanny was released after a royal pardon, requested by Prime Minister Hun Sen, was signed by King Norodom Sihamoni.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights
- HRD
- Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 7, 2017
- Event Description
February 7, 2017 - Two human rights defenders have been summonsed as suspects in relation to violence that occurred when para-police blocked a peaceful World Habitat Day march in October 2016. During the altercation, both men - LICADHO's Monitoring Manager Am Sam Ath, who was monitoring the event at the time, and Boeung Kak Lake community representative Chan Puthisak, who was documenting the march - were badly beaten by para-police in targeted attacks against them. During an otherwise peaceful march through Phnom Penh to the city's Freedom Park on 10 October 2016, para-police - led by Daun Penh district para-police head Kim Vutha - blocked the march and forcibly confiscated musical instruments and banners from the marchers. At that time, para-police launched an unprovoked, violent and targeted attack on Chan Puthisak, who was filming the march. Am Sam Ath then attempted to peacefully de-escalate the situation and end the violence under his mandate as a human rights monitor. Para-police immediately launched a similarly unprovoked and targeted attack, surrounding Am Sam Ath and punching him in the face and neck repeatedly. Both men were left injured and in need of medical assistance. "Am Sam Ath and Chan Puthisak were victims of unprovoked attacks,' said Naly Pilorge, Deputy Director for Advocacy at LICADHO. "It is farcical that an investigation against them is even being considered.' Am Sam Ath and Chan Puthisak have been summonsed to appear before prosecutor Ngin Pich on 8 February 2017 at 2pm and 3pm respectively. The plaintiffs in the case, Som Sotheara and Tet Chantho, are both district para-police. "It is obvious that the only violence committed that day was by para-police, who beat a land activist and a human rights monitor,' said Song Sreyleap, Boeung Kak Lake community representative. "Authorities should help us achieve justice by investigating those who attacked us on the street.' Both Am Sam Ath and Chan Puthisak filed complaints to Chey Chomneas district police later that morning relating to the violence perpetrated against them. LICADHO, along with multiple national media sources, has extensive video footage and witness accounts of the brutal beatings, but neither complaint has so far been properly addressed. "Treating Am Sam Ath and Chan Puthisak as suspects after they were beaten themselves by para-police while trying to prevent further violence shows how biased authorities are against public assembly,' said Thav Kimsan, LICADHO director. "Especially as para-police routinely commit violence with apparent impunity.' In face of the clear evidence that the two men were victims and not perpetrators of violence, LICADHO and Boeung Kak Lake community hope that the prosecutor ends this preliminary investigation against Am Sam Ath and Chan Puthisak, and gives proper consideration to complaints against identifiable perpetrators of the violence.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 13, 2017
- Event Description
A labor organizer and local opposition party official accused of hitting a border police officer with his car last month was released on bond Friday after a closed hearing before Cambodia's appellate court. Din Puthy, president of the Cambodia Informal Economy Reinforced Association (CIERA) and the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) deputy head of operations in Poipet City, was charged with aggravated intentional violence in the Dec. 22 incident. He had been held in the provincial jail since Dec. 24. While border officer Chhean Pisith was taken away in an ambulance wearing a neck brace, video footage of the incident raises questions about whether the policeman was actually hit by Din Puthy's SUV. Witnesses told reporters the vehicle never touched Chhean Pisith, calling his account the incident into question. Defense attorney Kim Socheat told RFA's Khmer Service that bail came with restrictions to Din Puthy's movements. "He cannot change addresses without the court's approval, and he has to respond to all summons by investigating judge," he said. "The ruling is for his immediate release, so he must be freed today as well." Kim Socheat told RFA that the officer was not severely injured and had decided against filing a civil suit. "We know the civil plaintiff has already said that he was not seriously injured, and that he would not file any compensation lawsuit," he said. Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers, called the case an unfair one. "For me as well as the general public, we think this case is really unfair," he said. "This means that a number of his rights have been withheld." Still, Ath Thun and Din Puthy's wife, Hum Chrien, told RFA they were happy he may have regained some measure of freedom. "After hearing the appellate court decided to free my husband, I was very delighted so I skipped my meals to wait for his release from prison," she said. While Judge Nguon Ratana ordered Din Puthy's release, he was still being held late Friday, his wife said. "I waited there from this morning until this evening at 6 p.m., but still my husband has not yet been released," she said. "This morning, more than 40 people went to the prison to wait for his release; these people are our relatives, some members[of my husband's association] and residents here. Tomorrow we will visit the prison again to wait for his release."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 10, 2017
- Event Description
An activist for the League for Democracy Party was halted by police in Ratanakkiri province for broadcasting political messages over a loudspeaker on Tuesday, in what one election monitor said constituted a "double standard" and "an abuse of power". O'Chum district deputy police chief Chan Than said ice block seller Sieng Piseth, 27, was stopped on his motorbike by police for peddling his political message along with his wares. "We stopped him because it affects the other political parties," Than said, noting that the activity was taking place outside of an official campaign period. "If he just picked up a CD along the way and played it to see what it was, that would be OK. But he is an activist. So, we let him sign a contract promising to stop doing that. "Than warned if Piseth did it again, police would confiscate the loudspeaker. "If he wants to play it, he should just play it behind closed doors or use earphones," he said. Piseth and LDP leader Khmem Veasna could not be reached yesterday, but Koul Panha of election watchdog Comfrel slammed the move. "It's not only a double standard; it's also a problem of abuse of power. There's no law that authorises them to do that, to harass people," he said. While Cambodia has brief official "campaigning" periods just prior to elections, Panha said people had the right to publicly discuss political ideology and educate others about elections at any time. "You have the right to give a political message or enter a political debate," he said. Indeed, Prime Minister Hun Sen, and many other high-ranking officials, routinely use public addresses to sing the praises of his Cambodian People's Party, while opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party leaders do much the same on frequent province trips.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 24, 2016
- Event Description
JOINT STATEMENT - Phnom Penh, 24 December 2016 Civil society condemns harassment and obstruction of staff and film crew in Pursat province. We, the undersigned civil society organizations, condemn the harassment and obstruction of the staff of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights ("CCHR") and a film crew contracted by ActionAid Cambodia by district officials and environmental police in Thmar Da commune on 23-24 December 2016. Mr. Vanndy Buth, a CCHR staff member, and Mr. Phan Ream, Mr. Voun Boren and Mr. Soung Sopheak, three documentary filmmakers with the company One Plus Media (contracted by ActionAid Cambodia), were prevented from leaving the village of Sangkom Thmey, Thmar Da Commune, Veal Veng district in Pursat province after their car was stopped by environmental police at approximately 10.30am this morning. The team travelled to Thmar Da commune on 22 December 2016 to film footage and conduct video interviews with villagers affected by forced evictions due to development of agribusiness and a Special Economic Zone operated by timber magnate Try Pheap. The filming is an activity of CCHR and Actionaid Cambodia's joint Business and Human Rights Project, which aims to encourage greater respect for human rights among corporate actors working in Cambodia's land sector. On 23 December 2016, Mr. Vanndy Buth was the subject of threats from local authorities. The Veal Veng District Governor issued an invitation to him to meet at his office that day to discuss the video documentary; when Mr. Vanndy Buth declined, local police approached him on two separate occasions to tell him that the District Governor wanted to meet him that day. With the support of the local community, the team attempted to continue their work. However, they were ultimately forced to stop as authorities blocked the road and prevented them from filming at the site of the disputed land. On the morning of 24 December 2016, the team resumed their work. However, at 09.20am today, as the team prepared to depart, the environmental police shouted that they should not be allowed to leave. The team retreated while the local community came to support. However, at approximately 10.30am their car was stopped while attempting to leave the village and the team were briefly detained at the environmental police station. At approximately 11am they were allowed to leave in their vehicle, accompanied by a community member. The environmental police have given no reason for this obstruction of the team's movements or the restriction of their work, nor did the District Governor give any reason for wishing to meet with CCHR's staff. Today's events come in the context of an escalating crackdown on fundamental freedoms over the past year, and represent a further example of the increasingly severe restrictions placed on the ability of civil society in Cambodia to freely carry out their work. These threats and actions appear to be nothing more than a blatant attempt to obstruct the legitimate work of civil society organizations to investigate and raise awareness of forced evictions and land rights abuses in the area, and we condemn this clear violation of the rights to freedom of association, assembly and expression of the civil society organizations and communities involved, as well as the right to liberty of movement. We call on the relevant local authorities in the area to immediately cease all threats and harassment against members of civil society, as well as all attempts to illegitimately interfere with their work. This statement is endorsed by: No. Name of CSO Name Contact 1 ActionAid Cambodia Ms.Hun Boramey +855 (0)12 200 341 2 Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)Mr. Duch Piseth +855 (0)12 71 23 71 3 Cambodian League for the Promotion & Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) 4 Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL) Mr. Moeurn Tola +855 (0)93 556 643 5 Equitable Cambodia Mr. Eang Vuthy +855 (0)12 791 700 6 Heinrich B�_ll Stiftung Mr. Ali Al-Nasani +855 (0)23 210 535 7 Housing Rights Task Force Mr. Sia Phearum +855 (0)12 852 325
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Land rights, Right to information, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker, NGO staff, RTI activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 8, 2016
- Event Description
A Cambodian court on Tuesday found opposition party president Sam Rainsy guilty of defamation for claiming that Prime Minister Hun Sen's social medial team bought "likes" on Facebook from "click farms" abroad to increase his support. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court ordered the head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) to pay 10 million riels (about U.S. $ $2,500) and 15 million riels (about $3,720) in fines and compensation. Judge Im Vannak also said the court's decision would be broadcast for three days through the media, according to a report in The Cambodia Daily. He also said Sam Rainsy had damaged the honor of Som Soeun, a government minister involved in Hun Sen's social media campaign who filed the defamation lawsuit in March. Sam Rainsy told RFA's Khmer Service during a live interview that strongman Hun Sen "should be liable for compensating the Cambodian people for all his lies and purchasing "likes' for his Facebook[page]." "American companies and Facebook can confirm that Hun Sen's Facebook is full of fake "likes,'" he said. "He is again a coward for fabricating his popularity and asking his petty people to sue me in his stead." Sam Rainsy, who has been in exile abroad for a year to avoid a two-year prison sentence handed down in a separate defamation case, has other cases pending against him. He went on to say that it was "hilarious" that Hun Sen's Facebook page, which is available only in the Khmer language, had received almost a million likes from people in foreign countries such as India where Khmer is not spoken. "How could about a million Indians know and support Hun Sen when they don't even speak the language on his Facebook posts?," asked Sam Rainsy "So, the bottom line is millions of his like have been purchased." Reporters at The Phnom Penh Post in March analyzed the countries of origin for "likes" on Hun Sen's Facebook page after he had surpassed 3 million fans and found that only 20 percent of them originated in Cambodia. Their analysis showed that in the previous month more than half the "likes" were from abroad-mostly from India and the Philippines-calling into question their legitimacy. "He is afraid to face me' The opposition leader said that he could never win in the Cambodian courts, despite presenting strong evidence, because they are "puppets of the government." "The court cases brought against me by Hun Sen's government are attempted to refrain me from competing in the next elections," Sam Rainsy said, in a reference to Cambodia's next general elections in 2018. "Hun Sen is a coward," he said. "He is afraid to face me. However, I will do my best to make sure I can return to Cambodia to join the upcoming elections." Sam Rainsy's lawyer told Reuters that the opposition plans to appeal the court ruling. On Monday, Sam Rainsy rallied to the defense of CNRP Senator Hong Sok Hour who was sentenced to a seven-year prison term for posting a disputed copy of the border agreement between Cambodia and Vietnam on Facebook in 2015. In an open letter, Sam Rainsy accused strongman Hun Sen of using the courts to punish a political opponent and "pervert the election process by creating and maintaining an atmosphere of fear and intimidation." Deputy CNRP party leader Kem Sokha has been hiding out in the party's headquarters in Phnom Pehn for several months because of an alleged affair with a young hairdresser a five-month jail sentence for refusing to appear in court to testify in a related case. The CNRP sees such court cases by Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) as attempts to disrupt its activities in the run-up to local elections next June and general elections the following year that could bring an end to the prime minister's 31 years in power. CNRP candidates will run against those of the CPP in the general elections, seeking to prevent Hun Sen from winning a fifth term in office.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 17, 2016
- Event Description
An opposition lawmaker was sentenced to 18 months in prison for defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen and a land rights activist lost her bid for freedom on Thursday as the Cambodian courts continued to hold their hard line against dissent. Opposition Senator Thak Lany received an 18 month sentence and an 8 million riel (U.S. $2,000) fine for a speech to her supporters in northeastern Ratanakkiri province in which she allegedly accused Hun Sen of ordering the murder in July of political analyst Kem Ley. The court also has ordered her to pay 100 riels (25 cents) in compensation to Hun Sen. Thak Lany's husband Chhun Bunsan, who watched the court proceedings, said he does not believe his wife would dare to incriminate Hun Sen, telling RFA's Khmer service a recording of her speech was edited. "I think the recording of her speech was edited to make it sound like she was saying Hun Sen killed Kem Ley," he said. "I don't think she would say that." He said Thak Lany is living in political exile in Sweden. Thak Lany's attorney Sam Sokong didn't present evidence during the trial showing the recording was edited, because he has no faith in the lower court. He told RFA he plans show a video clip in which Thak Lany gives the speech before the appeals court. "We had no faith in the lower court's handling of the exculpatory evidence, and we were not prepared to submit it earlier," he said. "We will submit it with the higher court. We are more hopeful that our case is better addressed by the appeals court." Thak Lany may have been able to take refuge in Sweden, but Boeung Kak land rights activist Tep Vanny doesn't have that option. The Cambodian appeals court denied her request to be released from jail. "Judges are afraid of losing their jobs' Investigating Judge Nguoth Ratana ruled out Tep Vanny's request for provisional release, saying the government feared that she would cause violence. After the ruling, Tep Vanny accused the government of attempting to silence land rights activists. "Decisions by these courts is very influenced by the people in power and the rich," she said. "Judges are afraid of losing their jobs if they don't follow the orders from the top. Their discretion is compromised by their patronage relation with those in power." On Sept. 19 Tep Vanny was convicted of insulting and obstructing public officials and was sentenced to six months in prison in relation to a protest in November 2011 near Hun Sen's residence. Her attorney was absent from the courtroom in what some human rights organizations called an abuse of her right to a fair trial. The seizure of land for development-often without due process or fair compensation for displaced residents-has been a major cause of protest in Cambodia and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Myanmar. In one of the most egregious land grabs, some 3,500 families were evicted from the land surrounding Boeung Kak lake, which was filled with sand to make way for a development project with close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling CPP. While Tep Vanny and Thak Lany were being sentenced, Buddhist monk But Buntenh refused to show up in court for a hearing on a lawsuit filed against him by Mam Sonando, a popular radio host who last year founded the Beehive Social Democratic Party. "I would be seen as abetting the court' But Buntenh, the founder of the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice and Cambodia's most prominent activist monk, told RFA the court was the wrong forum for the complaint. "It was unwise of Mam Sonando to file a lawsuit against me with the court in the first place," he told RFA. "He should have lodged it with the (Cambodian Supreme Patriarch). It's very paradoxical that he resorted to Cambodian courts for a solution when for over the past twenty years he has been criticizing these courts as corrupt and unjust." But Buntenh's claim that Mam Sonando tried to purchase a position as a lawmaker and an official with the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) led to the lawsuit. "If I showed up for the flawed proceedings, I would be seen as abetting the court to further abuse the procedures," he said. "On top of that I have never received the summons." "Let's not make this a big deal' While the legal sparring went on in court, CNRP lawmaker Nhem Panharith told RFA that Kem Sokha, the acting leader of the party, has indicated that he is willing to attend the next plenary session of the Cambodian parliament. "I have received information from him that he is willing to attend the parliamentary plenary," he told RFA. CPP lawmaker Chheang Vun said he would not be surprised if Kem Sokha and other CNRP lawmakers to return to national assembly. "Let's not make this a big deal. There will be business as usual whether they attend the plenary or not," Chheang Vun said. "They should know that as lawmakers they are obliged to serve their constituents. It is as simple as that."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 27, 2016
- Event Description
As a U.S. diplomat pushed Cambodia's warring political parties to reopen talks, the country's top trial court added six-months to the pretrial detention of five people charged in connection with the government's case against opposition leader Kem Sokha. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court said it had extended the detention of the four employees of the human rights group ADHOC and the deputy secretary-general of the National Election Commission as it attempts to find more witnesses and evidence in the government's case agaisnt the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader. An attorney for the accused decried the extra prison time, telling RFA's Khmer Service the additional detention violates their constitutional rights. "The legal proceedings are flawed," said attorney Sam Sokong. "The investigating judge should have exercised his due diligence efficiently during the six months while my clients had been under provisional detention to find additional witnesses and evidence against them." On May 2, Cambodian authorities arrested Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) staffers Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Yi Soksan, and Lim Mony and National Election Committee (NEC) Deputy Secretary-General Ny Chakrya in a wide-ranging probe into a sex scandal involving Kem Sokha. "Drop all charges and release them' Sam Sokong urged investigating Judge Theam Chanpisith to release the defendants as no new evidence has come to light. "Now that the period has lapsed and no new evidence has been established, he ought to use his discretion to drop all charges and release them," he said. On Sept. 9 the Phnom Penh Municipal Court ruled that Kem Sokha was guilty of refusing to appear for questioning in the government's case against him, and he was sentenced to five months in prison and given a fine of 800,000 riel ($200). Kem Sokha is accused of procuring a prostitute in relation to his alleged affair with hairdresser Khom Chandaraty. Despite being summoned twice in May, he refused to appear in court to answer questions about the allegations and has remained holed up in CNRP headquarters. The ADHOC employees and Ny Chakrya are charged with bribery or being an accessory to bribery for allegedly attempting to pay Khom Chandaraty hush money. The charges are viewed by many as an attempt by Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to smear the opposition before local elections in 2017 and national elections in 2018. Hun Sen and the CPP have ruled the country for more than three decades, but Cambodia's ruling party suffered a dramatic drop in support during the country's last election in 2013, and could see even more erosion in the upcoming elections. On Sept. 9 Kem Sokha was convicted failing to appear before the court in the case and sentenced to five months in prison and fined 800,000- riel (U.S. $200). A diplomat's appeal While the court was keeping the Kem Sokha five in jail, Daniel Russel, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, was appealing to party leaders to resume talks. Russel received assurances from both Kem Sokha and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn that the two sides could work things out. "Daniel Russel stated very clearly that there can be no free and fair elections if leaders of the opposition party and the opposition party in general cannot take part due to intimidation and restrictions," CNRP spokesman Yem Ponhearith told RFA. Prak Sokhonn meanwhile informed Russel of positive developments in the political situation, Foreign Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry told reporters after the meeting, according to the Associated Press. Addressing a group of reporters, Russel said the U.S. wants to play a conciliatory role in the escalating war of words between the two opposing political factions. "Rather than pass judgment, we are here to consult and put heads together with our Cambodian counterparts on how we can advance the goals of due process, rule of law and economic growth," he said, according to a report in the Khmer Times. UPDATE: On 13 March 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal's decision to extend the pre-trial detention of senior ADHOC staff and human rights defenders, Lim Mony, Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda and Yi Soksan, subsequent to the initial passing of the six month detention mark at the end of 2016. The fifth human rights defender involved in the case, Ny Chakrya, will appear before the Supreme Court on 24 March 2017. UPDATE: On 27 April 2017, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court extended the pre-trial detention of senior ADHOC staff and human rights defenders, Lim Mony, Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Yi Soksan and Ny Chakrya by an additional six months, purportedly to further investigate their case. The five human rights defenders have already spent a year in pre-trial detention.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- HRD
- Lawyer, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 28, 2016
- Event Description
Cambodian twin brothers and environmental activists Chum Huor and Chum Huot were detained briefly by immigration officers on Friday while trying to cross the border into Vietnam, one of the two men told RFA's Khmer Service. The pair, who were traveling by motorbike, had been attempting a short cut through Vietnam to cross back into Cambodia to visit the Pak Nam temple in Kandal province's Koh Thom district, Chum Huot told RFA by phone. "They may have thought we were going there to stir up trouble over border issues at the temple," Chum Huor said. "We were the only two people who were stopped, questioned, and not allowed to cross the border. Other people could travel freely, and some didn't even need to show their identification to the authorities," he said. "This was very unjust," he added. After being held for three hours at the border, the two men were released after fixing their thumbprints to a document provided by authorities, but were not allowed to cross into Vietnam, he said. Also speaking to RFA, Kim Sarin--head of the refugees and immigrants department of Cambodia's Ministry of Interior-said the two brothers were stopped because they had failed to obtain passport stamps authorizing an earlier trip to Thailand. "It was illegal to leave and re-enter Cambodia without them," Kim Sarin said. "We won't allow them to leave Cambodia unless they produce proper immigration documents regarding their previous travels." Active in protests Chum Huor and Chum Huot, close friends of assassinated government critic Kem Ley, had fled Cambodia on July 14, four days after the pundit's murder and after they had posted criticisms of the government's investigation into the murder online. They have also been active participants in campaigns and protests to stop the building of the 260-megawatt Don Sahong hydropower dam being built along the Mekong River in southern Laos, less than a mile from the Cambodian border. Environmental activists say the dam will block transboundary fish migration routes and disrupt the livelihoods of villagers living near the dam and along the river and its tributaries. Chum Huor and Chum Huot are "prominent activists who are engaged in raising social issues related to the border and the environment," Am Sam Ath, technical adviser to the Cambodian rights group Licadho, told RFA on Friday. "They used to encounter similar[travel] restrictions when they tried to go to Laos to protest the construction of the dam," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Event Description
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered police, immigration and aviation authorities to "use all ways and means" to prevent opposition leader Sam Rainsy from returning from exile, as he has pledged to do before elections in 2017 and 2018, RFA's Khmer Service learned on Friday. Sam Rainsy, president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), has been out of the country, living in France or traveling since November 2015, the latest of many stints in exile to avoid what supporters and analysts say is persecution at the hands of long-time strongman ruler Hun Sen. He has vowed to return to help the CNRP contest local elections set for 2017 and national elections scheduled for 2018, and recently reached out to King Norodom Sihamoni to seek a pardom for himself and other opposition figures convicted or jailed by a legal system controlled by Hun Sen. But there is no order for Sam Rainsy arrest. The order to ban Sam Rainsy from entry came in a letter circulated by the Council of Ministers ordering the General Department of Immigration to work with agencies including the Secretariat of Civil Aviation to keep him out of the country. Immigration spokesman Keo Vannthan told RFA he received the cabinet letter on Oct. 18. The letter ordered airline companies operating flights to Cambodia to stop Sam Rainsy from boarding planes to Cambodia and to report to authorities in the event he purchases a ticket to Cambodia. Any plane carrying Sam Rainsy would be turned back without being allowed to land in the country, said the letter. Although there was no new arrest order, immigration police are required prevent him from entering the country, it said. Sam Rainsy, however, told RFA in a call-in radio show on Friday that he will "definitely return to Cambodia during the 2017 election campaign" regardless of whether his request for a royal pardon is granted or rejected. "I am not surprises about the government's order. But the letter shows that I am not guilty, that I did nothing wrong, since it only bans me from entering Cambodia, but does not call for my arrest,"he said. "I do not want to cause trouble to passengers aboard the plane with me. It is not necessary for me to enter Cambodia via plane. I can enter Cambodia by sea or by land." Sam Rainsy cited the precedent in 2013, when King Sihamoni granted him a royal pardon. At the time Hun Sen had signed off on the Royal Pardon, which absolved Sam Rainsy of defamation charges, allowing him to return to Cambodia without being put in jail. Even though he was ineligible for candidacy in the 2013 general election, thousands of his supporters thronged the streets when he returned. In November 2015, Sam Rainsy was removed from parliament by the Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party, when a warrant was issued for his arrest after being convicted of defaming former Foreign Minister Hor Namhong with the claim that the CPP politician ran a prison in the 1970s for the bloody Khmer Rouge regime.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 19, 2016
- Event Description
Environmental activist Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, deported by immigration officials nearly a year ago, has been charged by the Koh Kong Provincial Court along with two co-founders of his NGO Mother Nature, according to the wife of one of the group's three detained activists. Tha Sophea, wife of jailed activist Sem Samnang, said yesterday that when she visited her husband at the provincial prison on January 30, he told her that Davidson along with monks Sok Chantra and Prom Dhammajat have been charged by the court as accomplices to the same alleged crime that resulted in the original arrests. Try Sovikea, Sun Mala and Lem Samnang were arrested in August over their anti-sand dredging activities and charged with threatening to cause destruction, defacement or damage and ordering others to do so. They were denied bail in September. "According to my husband, the court charged[Davidson, Chantra and Dhammajat] of being accomplices; they said that my husband's protest was backed by those ... people," Sophea said. Asked to verify whether Davidson and the two monks have been charged, Koh Kong Provincial Court director Huon Many, insisted he didn't know, telling reporters to "ask the prosecutor since the warrant has not reached me yet". But he then went on to hint at the basis of any potential charges. "If there is an additional charge, it will be laid on the[financial] backers, since the investigation showed that there are people who provided the money," he said, referencing the investigation against the already detained activists. "It's time for me to return": Read Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson's letter to the editor The provincial court director today confirmed that the investigation has wrapped, though a trial date has not been set. Prosecutor Bu Bunheang declined to comment while investigating judge Chhun Davy could not be reached. Am Sam Ath, technical coordinator for rights group Licadho and defence counsel for the detained Mother Nature activists, said yesterday that his team was pushing for the court to publicly confirm the charges. Speaking yesterday, Davidson - who was deported last February 23 - characterised the actions by the court as "illogical" given that he is currently barred from entering the country and unable to appear in court. "It's denying my right to a fair trial," he said, adding "I'm not going to lie and say I'm not afraid of going to jail." Meanwhile, opposition lawmaker Son Chhay, in a letter signed off on by National Assembly President Heng Samrin yesterday, requested that the Ministry of Mines and Energy disclose environmental impact assessments as well as government revenue from the sand-dredging operations in Koh Kong province at the centre of the Mother Nature case.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 3, 2016
- Event Description
The Observatory has been informed by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) about the sentencing of Mr. Ven Vorn, an Areng Valley environmental activist and a community leader for the indigenous Chong minority in Koh Kong Province. According to the information received, on March 3, 2016, the Koh Kong Provincial Court found Mr. Ven Vorn guilty of "harvesting timber products and/or non-timber forest products without a permit" (Article 98 of the Forestry Law) and sentenced him to a one-year suspended prison sentence. Mr. Ven Vorn was released on the same day from Koh Kong Provincial Prison, where he had been detained since his arrest on October 7, 2015 (See background information). The Observatory welcomes the release of Mr. Ven Vorn but strongly condemns his conviction and the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment to which he was subjected, which only aimed at sanctioning his legitimate human rights activities. The conviction of activists involved in high-profile cases and their release on suspended sentences has become an often-used tactic by the Cambodian authorities to criminalize legitimate activism. Accordingly, the Observatory calls on the Cambodian authorities to put an end to all acts of judicial harassment against all human rights defenders in Cambodia. The Observatory recalls that Messrs. Sim Samnang, Tri Sovichea and San Mala, members of the organisation "Mother Nature"[1],have been arbitrarily detained since August 17, 2015[2]. The Observatory calls on the Cambodian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the three and drop all charges against them. Background information: On September 2, 2015, 17 persons, including Mr. Ven Vorn, were arrested outside Koh Kong Provincial Court. They were picketing to demand the release of the three jailed activists, Messrs. Sim Samnang, Tri Sovichea, and San Mala, who had been involved in protests against a hydroelectric dam (see below). Mr. Ven Vorn was subsequently released. On October 7, 2015, Mr. Ven Vorn was re-arrested and sent to Koh Kong Provincial Prison. The arrest followed the decision of Investigating Judge Mr. Min Makara, who had questioned Mr. Ven Vorn on the same morning and charged him with "harvesting timber products and/or non-timber forest products without a permit" (Article 98 of the Forestry Law) and "destruction of evidence" (Article 533 of the Criminal Code). Both of the above-mentioned charges related to the construction by Mr. Vorn and a group of local activists of a small visitor centre and community meeting place for local activists involved in a campaign against the proposed construction of a hydropower dam in the Areng Valley. According to activists and environmental groups, the hydropower dam poses a threat to their land, livelihood, and the natural environment. For this project, Mr. Vorn and others had purchased approximately 10 cubic metres of wood from a vendor in 2014, which authorities claimed had been procured by the vendor through illegal logging. On February 17, 2016, Mr. Ven Vorn appeared before the Koh Kong Provincial Court to hear charges of "harvesting timber products and/or non-timber forest products without a permit" (Article 98 of the Forestry Law) and "destruction of evidence" (Article 533 of the Criminal Code). The court dropped the charge of "destruction of evidence" due to a lack of evidence. Mr. Ven Vorn faced up to five years of imprisonment and a fine of up to ten million Riel (about 2,250 Euros). Mr. Ven Vorn had been previously questioned on April 3, 2015 at the Koh Kong Provincial Court in relation to the same alleged illegal logging incident before being released on the same day.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Indigenous peoples' rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 16, 2016
- Event Description
A university student who called for a "color revolution" in a Facebook post last year was on Tuesday sentenced to 18 months in prison by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, a decision that critics immediately labeled an attempt to muzzle freedom of expression. "The court has decided to sentence Kong Raya...to one year and six months on charges of incitement to commit a felony committed in Phnom Penh," Presiding Judge Heng Sokna announced to a packed courtroom shortly before 3 p.m. Mr. Raya was arrested by police from the Interior Ministry's central security department while walking to class at Phnom Penh's Khemarak University on the afternoon of August 21. The 25-year-old political science student was subsequently charged with incitement for asking in a Facebook post two weeks earlier if anyone would "dare to make a color revolution with me?" His lawyer, Sam Sokong, decried his client's 18-month prison sentence , calling it an absurd punishment for a young man guilty only of expressing himself online. "He thought that in a democratic society freedom of expression would be respected. But when he exercised his right he was charged for it," Mr. Sokong said. "I think freedom of expression was violated in our country." "The sentence itself is serious, based on the possible sentence stated in the law," he added. Incitement to commit a felony carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment. Speaking outside the courtroom, a defiant Mr. Raya said he would appeal the verdict and questioned the integrity of the country's judiciary. "This is nothing unusual for the courts in Cambodia. It is just like this," Mr. Raya said. "This is not only unjust for me, but also unjust for the entire Cambodian people." Am Sam Ath, technical supervisor for rights group Licadho, said the decision constituted a "threat" by the government aimed at stifling political debate through fear. "It is a strategy and an example to hinder or threaten the expression of other youth," he said. Opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua agreed. "It is a chilling warning to the youth who have taken to Facebook as a channel for self-expression," she said. One month before Mr. Raya called for a "color revolution," a term almost exclusively used to describe nonviolent demonstrations, Prime Minister Hun Sen's opinions on the subject were made clear in a statement released by the Council of Ministers. "Hun Sen asked the armed forces to ensure that a "color revolution' cannot take place in Cambodia," the July statement read. Council spokesman Phay Siphan said on Tuesday that while the decision to imprison Mr. Raya was made at the "discretion of the court," he hoped the public would take heed. "Asking the people to be together and hold a color revolution is not acceptable," he said. "As a message sent out to the country and across the nation, anyone, don't try to provoke any revolution in Cambodia." The message was received loud and clear by some of Mr. Raya's peers. Chrey Bora, 24, a Khemarak University student, on Sunday dropped off a petition calling for Mr. Raya's release to various government bodies. "I think most all the students of all universities in Cambodia...they feel afraid of posting and sharing any news related to the government," he said. "It seems like a communist country; people do not have enough rights."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 21, 2016
- Event Description
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OMCT & FIDH): The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the Court of Appeal's decision to uphold the conviction of Mr. Ven Vorn, an Areng Valley environmental activist and a community leader for the indigenous Chong minority in Koh Kong Province. According to the information received, on September 21, 2016, the Court of Appeals upheld the conviction and one-year suspended sentence of Mr. Ven Vorn. In a brief verdict, the defendant's appeal was reportedly rejected without justification. During a previous appeal hearing, held on September 9, 2016, the Presiding Judge upheld the arguments brought by the prosecution while ignoring defence arguments[1], and repeatedly asked why Mr. Ven Vorn decided to appeal his conviction despite being handed a suspended sentence entailing no jail time. The Observatory recalls that on March 3, 2016, the Koh Kong Provincial Court found Mr. Ven Vorn guilty of "harvesting timber products and/or non-timber forest products without a permit" (Article 98 of the Forestry Law) and sentenced him to a one-year suspended prison sentence. Mr. Ven Vorn was released on the same day from Koh Kong Provincial Prison, where he had been detained since his arrest on October 7, 2015 (see background information). The Observatory strongly condemns the Court of Appeal's decision to uphold the conviction of Mr. Ven Vorn as well as the arbitrary detention to which he was subjected, as they only aim at sanctioning his legitimate human rights activities. The conviction of activists involved in high-profile cases and their release on suspended sentences has become an often-used tactic by the Cambodian authorities to criminalise legitimate activism. The Observatory calls on the Cambodian authorities to put an end to all acts of judicial harassment against Mr. Ven Vorn as well as all human rights defenders in Cambodia. Background information: On September 2, 2015, 17 persons, including Mr. Ven Vorn, were arrested outside Koh Kong Provincial Court. They were picketing to demand the release of the three jailed activists, Messrs. Sim Samnang, Tri Sovichea, and San Mala, who had been involved in protests against a hydroelectric dam. Mr. Ven Vorn was subsequently released. On October 7, 2015, Mr. Ven Vorn was re-arrested and sent to Koh Kong Provincial Prison. The arrest followed the decision of Investigating Judge Mr. Min Makara, who had questioned Mr. Ven Vorn on the same morning and charged him with "harvesting timber products and/or non-timber forest products without a permit" (Article 98 of the Forestry Law) and "destruction of evidence" (Article 533 of the Criminal Code). Both of the above-mentioned charges related to the construction by Mr. Vorn and a group of local activists of a small visitor centre and community meeting place for local activists involved in a campaign against the proposed construction of a hydropower dam in the Areng Valley. According to activists and environmental groups, the hydropower dam poses a threat to their land, livelihood, and the natural environment. For this project, Mr. Vorn and others had purchased approximately 10 cubic metres of wood from a vendor in 2014, which authorities claimed had been procured by the vendor through illegal logging. On February 17, 2016, Mr. Ven Vorn appeared before the Koh Kong Provincial Court to hear charges of "harvesting timber products and/or non-timber forest products without a permit" and "destruction of evidence" (Article 533 of the Criminal Code). The court dropped the charge of "destruction of evidence" due to a lack of evidence. Mr. Ven Vorn faced up to five years of imprisonment and a fine of up to ten million Riel (about 2,250 Euros). Mr. Ven Vorn had been previously questioned on April 3, 2015 at the Koh Kong Provincial Court in relation to the same alleged illegal logging incident before being released on the same day.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 10, 2016
- Event Description
State security guards stormed a demonstration on Monday in Phnom Penh and beat the technical supervisor of Licadho, one of the country's most prominent rights groups, as hundreds of marchers protested against land seizures. The march to belatedly mark World Habitat Day began in heavy rain at the former site of the Dey Krahorm neighborhood, where residents were violently evicted by a private company in 2009. Evictees and land rights activists were hoping to march to the Land Management Ministry to deliver a petition denouncing such seizures. Dozens of police officers-outnumbering the initial gathering-moved the protesters northward as it gathered more participants. The crowd had grown to about 300 as it moved down Sisowath Quay, past the Royal Palace and away from the Land Management Ministry. Tensions came to a head at about 9:30 a.m. when Daun Penh district security guards blocked the path of protesters attempting to change course and rushed the crowd, destroying protesters' banners and photographs of jailed rights workers, and attacking Am Sam Ath of Licadho, who was attending as an observer. Mr. Sam Ath-as well as other witnesses-said he had been calling for calm when the guards turned on him and others. He was hit in the head and face and suffered cuts and bruising. Others were also left bloodied. "I told them, "Please don't use violence.' And they started beating me," Mr. Sam Ath said. "It shows that Cambodia doesn't respect human rights." The protesters-some wearing the black T-shirts from the "Black Monday" campaign-had been moving north on Sisowath Quay along the riverside before turning around near Wat Ounalom. At Street 178, police blocked the way, pushing the march west on to the tree-lined street and toward the Royal University of Fine Arts. The protesters got as far as Street 19, where they were confronted by dozens of guards in five security guard trucks. Staring down the crowd, district security guard chief Kim Vutha asked: "Who are your leaders? Why do you pass here?" Bov Sorphea, one of the organizers, responded that there had been a road block. In response, Mr. Vutha said to his guards: "Let's move forward." As the guards rushed into the crowd, one of them smashed a model house being used as a prop, and another chased a drummer into an art gallery. The guard emerged with a red drum, and was pursued by protesters who tried to grab it back. Many in the crowd scattered. City Hall later said the guards had been provoked and that protesters should not have attempted to evade the cordon. "We tried to round them up to rally at Freedom Park, and while traveling they caused chaos," said Met Measpheakdey, a municipal spokesman. "That was one of the reasons we didn't want them to go against what we allowed." "Some female protesters in the march also used umbrellas to beat our security guards," he added. "We haven't decided yet whether to take legal action against them." Chan Puthisak, an evictee from Phnom Penh's Boeng Kak neighborhood, said he was pushed against a parked car and one of the security guards ran toward him as he used his smartphone to record a video. "I raised my arms. They just beat me," he said. "Am Sam Ath came to stop the violence. So he was beaten instead of me." After someone struck him on his head with a fist, Mr. Sam Ath was swallowed into a mass of ponchos as photographers and television cameramen circled the group. Mr. Sam Ath said by telephone from the Licadho office in the afternoon that he had filed a complaint about the attack at the Chey Chumneah commune police station. "They beat me on the mouth, eyebrows, nose and jaw, and bruised the back of my neck," he said. In a statement issued later in the afternoon, and signed by 60 organizations, Naly Pilorge, director of Licadho, said the attack was the latest example in a long line of peaceful protests suppressed through violence. She described it as "a favored strategy for authorities terrified of citizens claiming their rights." "It remains to be seen whether this case will also-like so many of the others-result in complete impunity for the perpetrators," Ms. Pilorge said. "It is long overdue for the courts to start prosecuting para-police officers involved in systematic and recurring acts of violence." After the scuffle on Street 178, the marchers eventually arrived at Freedom Park at about 10:30 a.m., where an official from the Land Management Ministry received their petition, and a group of police officers came to return the confiscated drum. Hoeu Chanda, the ministry's deputy director-general for the general department of housing, promised to forward the petition. "Please, brothers and sisters, place your hopes on the government, especially the Land Management Ministry," Mr. Chanda said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Land rights, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 21, 2016
- Event Description
A Cambodian opposition party politician was hacked to death on Wednesday night while he was walking home in his rural village, in what police believe is a personal conflict, RFA's Khmer service has learned. Cambodia National Rescue Party member Khin Eab, 55, was killed in a grisly murder by a hatchet-wielding assailant, Long Sarin, the police officer in charge of the investigation told RFA. Khin Eab was the CNRP's deputy leader for Khtum Koeut village in the Tboung Khmum province that lies in the central lowlands of the Mekong River. Long Sarin told RFA that the murder did not appear to be politically motivated, but rather the result of a personal conflict. "The victim's relatives told me that the victim used to have a minor dispute with the neighbors, and we are investigating this case," he said. Police have yet to make any arrests for the attack, or identify a suspect or person of interest. While local authorities think the murder was the result of a dispute, people close to the victim are unsure. Seng Seang Ly, who heads the CNRP in the province, said he considers the murder a brutal act affecting CNRP officials in the locality and urged authorities to immediately find justice for the slain activist. "This murder case concerns me deeply," Seng Seang told RFA. "That they can do the same to any of us, and the authorities just say it is related to a personal feud is troubling. Such a case should not happen as the commune election is approaching." Commune elections are slated for 2017, and while registration is proceeding there have been reports of potential fraud that appear to be aimed at suppressing and intimidating opposition voters. National elections are scheduled for 2018. Neang Savath, an official with the human rights organization ADHOC in Tboung Khmum province who viewed the crime scene, told RFA that police have been too quick to reach a conclusion. "To avoid the accusation that there is a political motive, the authorities must show who the killer is," Neang Savath told RFA. Cambodian police have a checkered past when it comes to solving the murders of political opponents and government critics. The latest case came in July 10 when popular government critic Kem Ley was gunned down by a man police identified as a former soldier. While the authorities say Kem Ley was killed over a debt, there are few in Cambodia that believe it. Other activists and critics have also been killed under murky circumstances with little to show for police investigations.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Killing
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 19, 2016
- Event Description
Four women land rights activists were sentenced to six months in prison by a court in Cambodia on Monday for insulting and obstructing public officials during a 2011 violent land rights protest. Seizure of land for development is a major cause of protests in Cambodia and other countries in the region, including Laos. Last year was the deadliest on record for land rights campaigners, with more than three people killed each week protesting agribusiness firms, loggers, mining firms and hydro-electric dams, according to London-based NGO Global Witness. The court in the capital Phnom Penh found activists Tep Vanny, Heng Mom, Kong Chantha and Bo Chhorvy guilty following a three hour trial and sentenced them to six months in prison over a protest in November 2011 which turned violent. Suong Sophal, a lawyer for Phnom Penh Municipality told the court that the four women joined the protest in 2011, blocked roads, insulted and hit officials at the scene. Two security guards were injured, he said Following the verdict, the activists yelled "injustice! injustice! injustice!" Tep Vanny has been in pretrial detention since last month over a 2013 protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sen's house. The other three activists remain free. All four have a month to appeal the verdict. Activists Vanny and Chantha said they would appeal. "I did not commit the crime," Vanny said. Around 50 protesters gathered outside the court on Monday calling for the case to be dropped while hundreds of police deployed to keep the peace looked on.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 9, 2016
- Event Description
A Cambodian opposition leader has been sentenced to five months in prison as political tensions continue over challenges to the autocratic rule of the prime minister, Hun Sen. Kem Sokha, the vice-president of the Cambodia National Rescue party (CNRP), was sentenced after a trial lasting several hours. His defence lawyer, Sam Sokong, said Kem would appeal against the verdict. "The trial conducted today did not comply with procedures," he said. Kem, who was not in court, was convicted of twice ignoring summons to answer questions relating to a case involving his alleged mistress. He refused, saying the legal moves were part of attempts by the ruling Cambodian People's party (CPP) to cripple the opposition. Riot police were outside the court and nearly 1,000 opposition supporters gathered in front of the CNRP headquarters, with riot police watching them from about 500 metres (1,640ft) away. There were no reports of violence. The CNRP politician Ou Chanrith said the party was not surprised by the verdict and urged supporters to continue challenging government suppression. The case is one of several hanging over opposition leaders in what is generally seen as an attempt to disrupt their organising efforts before local elections next June. The next general election is not until the middle of 2018, but being in power at a local level is an advantage when national polls are held. Before the verdict, Kem appeared before his supporters and accused the government of using the courts to prevent him from speaking out and taking part in the elections. A statement issued this week by the UN high commissioner for human rights expressed concern "about the escalating atmosphere of intimidation of opposition politicians, their supporters, civil society and peaceful demonstrators in Cambodia". It noted "a host of legal charges" faced by Kem and 29 opposition supporters. Advertisement The statement said 14 of them had been given long prison sentences, despite serious concerns about the fairness of the proceedings. "We urge the authorities to adhere strictly to international fair trial standards during the criminal proceedings," it said. The CNRP president, Sam Rainsy, did not return from a trip abroad last November after a previous conviction for defamation was reinstated and his parliamentary immunity was removed by the government's legislative majority. It had been generally assumed that the conviction, which carried a two-year prison sentence, had been lifted by a pardon in 2013 that allowed Sam to return from exile. He also faces a series of separate charges that could see him imprisoned for 17 years. Activists and non-governmental organisations, which are generally critical of the government, have been subjected to similar legal pressures. There has also been violence against two opposition politicians, who were beaten up by a pro-government mob last year, and the murder of the prominent social critic Kem Ley in July, allegedly by a man he owed money. The opposition, which has strong support in the capital, Phnom Penh, has called on its followers to protest. But recent attempts at street demonstrations, which have previously been effective, were thwarted by a government show of force. Hun has been Cambodia's leader since 1985, but it appeared that his grip on power was waning when the CNRP won 55 seats in the national assembly and left his CPP with 68 in the 2013 general election. The opposition claimed that they had been cheated and boycotted parliament. Seeking to legitimise his continued rule, Hun reached a truce with the CNRP in 2014, making some minor concessions over electoral and parliamentary procedures. But relations between the government and the opposition deteriorated last year after the latter accused neighbouring Vietnam, with which Hun's government maintains good relations, of land encroachment. The move proved politically popular and the government reacted by stepping up intimidation of the CNRP through the courts. In the past, the CPP was often accused of using violence or the threat of violence against opponents, but the strategy appears to have changed in recent years. UPDATE: On 27 March 2018, Cambodia's Appeals Court upheld the continued detention without bail of opposition leader Kem Sokha, as Prime Minister Hun Sen boasted that he personally ordered the arrest last year that has earned Phnom Penh international condemnation and cuts in aid from donor counties.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 7, 2016
- Event Description
Authorities in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh have agreed to allow the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party to stage a rally outside of its party headquarters on Friday, but witnesses say the government is preventing supporters from entering the capital city. On Wednesday the Phnom Penh city government agreed to allow the rally that is set to coincide with the start of CNRP acting president Kem Sokha's trial for failing to appear in a pair of cases connected with his alleged affair with a young hair dresser. The CNRP and many human rights organizations see the trial as part of an attempt by Prime Minister Hun Sen's government to use Cambodia's legal system to sideline the opposition before local elections in 2017 and national elections scheduled for 2018. Party officials and activists have tried to get the trial postponed or the charges dropped, and are hoping that a public show of support for Kem Sokha and other CNRP lawmakers will sway the court. "We would like to call on the court to postpone the trial of[CNRP] lawmakers," CNRP spokesman Eng Chhay Eang told supporters. "Otherwise, we will continue our political advocacy." Phnom Penh Municipal court spokesperson Ly Sophanna told RFA's Khmer Service that the court does not accept requests from opposition party lawmakers, and CNRP officials said they have yet to receive a notice from the court. CNRP defense attorney Sam Sokong also told RFA that the court has yet to respond to their request to postpone the trial and that the defense team will not attend. Kem Sokha is also expected to stay away from the court. Kem Sokha is not the only opposition lawmaker standing trial on Friday as CNRP lawmaker Um Sam An's trial on "incitement" charges is also set to begin. In April Um Sam An was jailed after Hun Sen ordered police to arrest anyone accusing the government of using "fake" maps to cede national territory to neighboring Vietnam. Stops outside the city Phnom Penh authorities' agreement to allow the opposition rally apparently ends at the city limits as witnesses say authorities are preventing passenger vehicles carrying supporters from various localities in Svay Reing, Takeo, Tboung Khmum, and other provinces from coming to the rally. In Takeo province, CNRP executive chair Mao Sophal told RFA that police sent four party activists to the Koh Andet district police secretariat after their motorbikes were stopped as they to attempted to get to CNRP headquarters. In the Angkor Borey district, 10 CNRP activists were also detained, he said. "In Takeo province, military police and police forces were deployed everywhere," he said. CNRP executive chair in Svay Rieng province Mao Vibol told RFA that law enforcement officers were deployed in villages, communes, and districts to intercept motorbikes and vans transporting CNRP activists. "Two activists were sent by the authorities to the Chantrea district police secretariat, but were released after being questioned and threatened," he said. "There were similar cases in other districts such as Romeas Hek, Rumduol, and Kampong Ro." After being blocked from traveling to Phnom Penh, some activists decided to return home, while others were still trying to find a way to get to CNRP headquarters. Mao Vibol told RFA that the authorities' actions are biased and violate citizens' rights. "By doing this, they are not the authorities of the people, not in a democratic society," he said. "I would like to send a message to the Svay Rieng authorities that this act is unlawful." "Destroying democracy' While the CNRP attempts to mount its protest, Interior Minister Sar Kheng lashed out at the opposition on Wednesday, saying the CNRP is responsible for "destroying democracy" in Cambodia. He added that a letter CNRP officials delivered to foreign embassies this week, calling for them to hold the government of Cambodia to the terms of the 1991 peace agreement that ended the Cambodia-Vietnam War was "an affront." In an open letter, Kheng accused the opposition party of "damaging the nation's interest." "While they accuse the government, in fact it is the parliamentarians from the opposition party that are destroying democracy and the political institutions of the country," he wrote. CNRP lawmaker Mu Sochua, who led the party's petition dive, told RFA that Cambodians can clearly see who is right and who is wrong. "When there is a victim, corruption, and arrest, and they use the court for cover, then that is a violation of human rights," she said. "Besides, with the international[community] and independent analysts in agreement, it is clear to see that human rights in Cambodia are declining to a critical point," she added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2016
- Event Description
Six women from Phnom Penh land communities and four balloon sellers are currently being held in Dangkor district police station after their arrest this morning during a gathering outside Prey Sar's CC2 prison. About 100 people from land communities and other groups had gathered outside the prison this morning to call for the release of detained human rights defenders, including Boeung Kak Lake community representative Tep Vanny. As the group attempted to gather outside CC2's gate, police and para-police confiscated balloons. They arrested the ten people - Yeay Mamy from Boeung Kak Lake community; Phoung Sopheap, Meas Sreypao, Sok Raksmey, Kiev Sary and Cheav Sreynich from Thmor Kol community; and balloon seller Seng Thy along with his son, Theoun Phanha, and nephews Poa Vichea and Chum Sobinkeo - before taking them to the police station. Tep Vanny has been incarcerated in CC2 prison since 17 August. She had been arrested during a Black Monday gathering two days prior, swiftly tried and convicted of "insulting a public official' within a week. She remains in pre-trial detention facing charges of intentional violence relating to a protest in March 2013, as well as further charges of obstructing and insulting a public official relating to protests in 2011. These old cases were reactivated just last week. The four balloon sellers were released at about 12pm, after about three hours in detention. The six land community members remain detained. UPDATE: 5.9.2016 Six land activists detained in Dangkor district police station since yesterday were finally released this afternoon as groups marked the 18th week of the Black Monday campaign. The six women - who include a 76-year old injured during their arrest - were held overnight in the police station following their arrest yesterday during a peaceful gathering to call for the release of incarcerated human rights defenders, including Boeung Kak Lake community representative Tep Vanny who was arrested during a Black Monday event on 15 August. Earlier this morning, police and para-police shut down a separate Black Monday event held by Borei Keila community, ripping down and burning Black Monday posters and signs.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 4, 2016
- Event Description
Cambodia's National Assembly has adopted a Law on Trade Unions but labor groups, human rights advocates, and opposition politicians warn that it could be used to stifle the workers' movement in the country. Despite the delay in its passage caused by protests, the bill was unanimously approved by the members of the ruling party without amendment. The draft law was discussed last year but it was widely criticized by various groups for containing provisions that undermine civil liberties. The law was proposed at a time when workers have been staging sustained protests in factories and in the streets demanding wage increases and improvements in their working conditions. Factory strikes, fainting garment workers, and the political activities of labor groups have attracted widespread international attention, forcing the government to make a commitment to improving the welfare of the country's workers. Multinational garment companies also pressured the government to ensure that workers are receiving the right amount of wages and benefits. So when the government finally announced its plan to pass a new law on trade unions in response to all this, some saw it was a plot to weaken the labor movement. The suspicion was validated when the text of the document was released. Labor and rights groups immediately condemned the measure as a tool of state repression rather than a genuine attempt to address a longstanding problem. These voices pointed out that even if protests succeeded in raising public awareness about the proposed law, it was still passed without adequately addressing their concerns. What are some of the contentious issues related to the law? First, the scope of the law excludes informal workers, civil servants, teachers, and domestic workers. A separate law is required to provide legal protection for these workers, raising questions about the motivations for this lack of inclusiveness. Second, registration requirements for union formation are overly strict and do not conform to international standards. A rather high minimum threshold of 20 percent of workers on a factory floor is set for union formation even if that level is only 10 people in many countries. Third, the inclusion of age, residency and literacy requirements for prospective union leaders can be read as restrictions on the right of workers. Fourth, labor groups have decried the financial reporting requirement as being overly burdensome. Fifth and lastly, there are also predictably provisions that would make strike action difficult, if not altogether impossible. All these issues combine to undermine workers' right to free association in Cambodia. The concerns about Cambodia's new law are shared not only by labor and rights groups, but international organizations more generally. This is evidenced by efforts by specific institutions to convince Phnom Penh to address lingering concerns. For instance, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia has released a detailed study of the law providing specific recommendations to the government. On the issue of the rigid requirements for union leadership, for example, it suggested "to ensure that the requirements for foreigners are the same as those for nationals, equal for those serving in unions as for those serving in employer associations, criminal history, literacy, and language." It also urged the removal of the clause "which sets a limit of one collective bargaining agreement for each enterprise or establishment, to ensure the article's compatibility with the principles of freedom of association." Meanwhile, the International Labor Organization Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR, has noted that the law has "several key concerns and gaps." "These are mainly related to insufficient protection of the right of all workers and employers to freely set up organizations of their own choosing, and of the right of these organizations to decide on their internal matters without interference," the institution said in a statement. It called for "effective tripartite consultations and advisory mechanisms" to remedy the inadequacies of the law. Domestically, the issue has been viewed as part of a broader attempt by Cambodia's government to restrict rights and freedoms. One opposition lawmaker accused the ruling party of passing a law "to bring trade unions under control." Unsurprisingly, the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) under Prime Minister Hun Sen has denied this. A government spokesperson defended the law by stating that is a balanced approach to promote both the concerns of employees and employers. He added that the law is suitable to Cambodian standards, which sidesteps the real issue of the government's failure to adhere to international standards. In this context, Cambodia's trade union law is but one of several new measures that are being criticized by human rights groups. Other controversial laws include the Telecoms Law, which some believe will allow the government to violate the privacy of citizens, and the law on NGOs which has been roundly rejected by civil society groups for being draconian. The Cambodian government asserts that these laws will make the bureaucracy more responsive and efficient. But as the debate on the trade union law demonstrates, the CPP will need to do much more to convince its constituents as well as the international community that it is genuinely committed to promoting democratic reform in society, as opposed to stifling rights and freedoms while consolidating its own power.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2016
- Event Description
Cambodian authorities jailed a pair of Boeung Kak Lake activists today for their role in a "Black Monday" protest after charging them with incitement to commit a felony. If convicted, Tep Vanny and Bov Sophea face up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 4 million riels (U.S.$ 975) for the Aug. 15 demonstration that was part of a larger effort to win the release of jailed human rights workers and press the government to resolve land-grab issues across the country. Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson Ly Sophanna, in a post on the mobile messaging app Telegram, said the court decided to detain the women in Prey Sar prison and that their trial will resume Aug. 22. Tep Vanny told reporters when she and Bov Sophea arrived at the courthouse that authorities had asked them where they obtained the dummies, black earrings, candles, incense sticks, U.N. and Cambodian flags, and other materials used in their protest. "There is no law banning citizens from using those materials for advocacy campaigns," she said. In the peaceful Aug. 15 protest that police broke up, the two women buried headless dummies in sand pits, saying they represented the court, court officials, critic Kem Ley's killer, and those behind the murder. Their missing heads represented "brainlessness," the protestors told RFA. Government critic Kem Ley was murdered on July 10, and many in Cambodia don't believe the government's story that he was killed by a former soldier over a debt. The seizure of land for development-often without due process or fair compensation for displaced residents-has been a major cause of protest in Cambodia and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Myanmar. In one of the most egregious land-grabs, some 3,500 families were evicted from the land surrounding Boeung Kak Lake, which was filled with sand to make way for a development project with close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). Spanish researcher deported While authorities sent the two Cambodian women to Prey Sar prison, they deported a Spanish researcher who joined them in their Black Monday protest. Interior Ministry chief investigator Ouk Hay Seila told RFA's Khmer Service that Marga Bujosa Segado had violated Cambodian labor law and was also active in the land activists' demonstrations. "We deported her just now via Bangkok Airway to her own country," he said. Activists wearing black have demonstrated for the past 15 Mondays in an effort to win the release of four human rights workers and an election official who were jailed on charges widely seen as attempts to muzzle political opponents of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the CPP. Hun Sen and other officials have condemned the protests as a "color revolution." Over the years, Hun Sen has repeatedly inveighed against "color revolutions," named after a series of popular movements that used passive resistance to topple governments in countries of the former Soviet Union during the 2000s. Um Sam An bail appeal denied The jailing of the Boeung Kak Lake activists comes as the supreme court rejected opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmaker Um Sam An's bail request. His attorney, Hem Socheat, said the lawmaker's legal team may file a complaint to the Constitution Council of Cambodia, asking it to interpret the constitutional question surrounding the lawmaker's immunity. "What the investigative judge and the supreme court said is that they do not have the authority to examine the lawmaker's immunity," he said. The council was established under the constitution adopted in 1993 to decide if the laws approved by the national legislature are constitutional and to oversee litigation related to the election of the Cambodian National Assembly and Senate. Cambodian lawmakers have immunity from prosecution for opinions expressed in the exercise of their duties. A two-thirds vote of the legislature is necessary to strip a lawmaker of his immunity unless the legislator is caught in the act of committing a crime. Um Sam An was jailed after Hun Sen ordered police to arrest anyone accusing the government of using "fake" maps to cede national territory to neighboring Vietnam. The lawmaker says he found a map in the United States Library of Congress that he claims is different from the one Hun Sen and the government used to represent the final official say on the border issue. On April 12, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court officially charged Um Sam An with two criminal offenses over his accusations that the government had ceded land to Vietnam along its border. So Chantha, a political science professor who lectures at several Cambodian universities, said the court's stance on the lawmaker's case is not neutral. "In any cases relating to politics, we see that the court never gives a fair decision or trial," he said. So Chantha told RFA the caught-in-the-act clause in the constitution shouldn't apply because "what Um Sam An did, he did it in an attempt to take part in safeguarding Cambodia's sovereignty." UPDATE: 22/8/2016 Two land rights activists in Cambodia were convicted Monday of insulting a public official for their version of a "Black Monday" protest earlier this month. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Tep Vanny and Bov Sophea guilty and sentenced each of them to six days of imprisonment and an 80,000 riels (U.S. $20) fine - a verdict the activists and their supporters said is unjust. "It is very unjust for us as victims," Bov Sophea told RFA's Khmer Service in a telephone interview. "We only called on Prime Minister Hun Sen to solve the land issues. I believe the court's ruling against us is nothing short of an attempt to silence us." Bov Sophea and Tep Vanny were originally charged with the more serious offense of incitement to commit a felony for their protest, in which they buried headless mannequins in sand pits to represent the mindlessness of government officials. Under the new charge, Bov Sophea was released for time served, but Tep Vanny was still being held. The arrest and conviction failed to dampen Bov Sophea's enthusiasm as she vowed to continue with the protests. "Such action only adds fuel to the fire of our wrath," she said as she called on the government to free Tep Vanny. "Please release Tep Vanny immediately," she said. "It's not acceptable to imprison her." 'Who have we insulted?' Another land-rights activist, Song Srey Leap, told RFA the convictions are nonsensical because their protest wasn't aimed at a single individual. "Who have we insulted? We used the headless dummies to refer to the institutions, and not any particular individuals," she said. "Since they have treated us like that, it means the government colludes with the court officials to protect the corrupt and bad people who have mistreated us." An official with the Cambodian rights group Licadho said the government's only reason to pursue the women was because they are well known for their activities. "The court's ruling badly affects people's rights," said Lichado official Am Sam Ath. "Tep Vanny and Bov Sophea were arrested and detained because they are prominent activists." Tep Vanny and Bov Sophea gained prominence as activists fighting the Boeung Kak Lake land grab, when some 3,500 families were evicted from land surrounding the urban lake. The lake was filled with sand to make way for a development project with close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). Seizure of land for development-often without due process or fair compensation for displaced residents- is a major cause of protests in Cambodia and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Laos. Black Monday began as an effort to win the release of four human rights workers and an election official who were jailed on charges widely seen as attempts to muzzle political opponents of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the CPP. The protest, which gets its name from the color of the cloths that protestors wear, has become a more generalized form of demonstration. Hun Sen and other officials have condemned the protests as a "color revolution." Over the years, Hun Sen has repeatedly inveighed against "color revolutions," named after a series of popular movements that used passive resistance to topple governments in countries of the former Soviet Union during the 2000s. Update: Cambodia: Ongoing judicial harassment of land rights activist Ms. Tep Vanny The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Cambodia. New information: The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources of the ongoing judicial harassment of land rights activist Ms. Tep Vanny, who has been in pre-trial detention since August 2016 in relation to a protest in March 2013. According to the information received, on January 25, 2017, Supreme Court Judge Kim Sathavy announced that Ms. Tep Vanny's second appeal for bail had been denied, following a 45-minute hearing conducted by the Judge on January 18, 2017. Ms. Tep Vanny's trial before Phnom Penh Municipal Court is due to be held on February 3, 2017. The Court of Appeals had previously denied Ms. Vanny's request for bail on November 17, 2016. The Observatory recalls that Ms. Tep Vanny is being detained on charges of "intentional violence with aggravating circumstances" (Article 218 of the Criminal Code) for participating in a protest held by members of the Boeung Kak Lake community in March 2013 in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen's house in Phnom Penh. This case is just one of three cases which were re-activated in August 2016 while Ms. Tep Vanny was awaiting trial on separate charges stemming from her participation in a peaceful __�Black Monday' protest (see background information). If found guilty, Ms. Tep Vanny could face two to five years in prison. The Observatory strongly condemns Ms. Tep Vanny's ongoing arbitrary detention, which only aims at sanctioning her legitimate human rights activities, and calls upon the Cambodian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her. The Observatory further recalls that under Cambodia's Code of Criminal Procedure, pre-trial detention can only be ordered in "exceptional" circumstances. Until all charges are dropped against Ms. Tep Vanny, the Observatory urges the Cambodian authorities to ensure that all judicial proceedings against her are conducted in full compliance with her right to a fair trial, as provided for under international law.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 10, 2016
- Event Description
Prime Minister Hun Sen's government is expanding its efforts to muzzle speech as it prohibited a Cambodian-born Australian lawmaker from entering the country and escalated its legal war against its domestic political opponents. On Wednesday the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs classified Victoria lawmaker Hong Lim as persona non grata after he referred to the Hun Sen's government as a "savage regime." While the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh defended Lim's freedom of speech, saying in a statement that "Australia has a robust tradition of different views being aired," it also pointed out that Lim is MP for the state of Victoria and "does not speak on behalf of the Australian Government." "We recognise the concerns this particular matter has raised," the embassy wrote in a statement. "Australia values its strong and enduring relationship with Cambodia and we look forward to this continuing." Australia and Cambodia have a deep diplomatic relationship that includes the large role Canberra played in the Cambodian peace process in the 1980s and the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia in 1990s. Both countries work together to combat human smuggling trafficking, child sex tourism, narcotics trafficking and terrorism. In 2014 the two countries signed a controversial agreement allowing refugees from Australia to resettle in Cambodia. The deal was met with protests as Cambodians wondered how their country could afford to take care of the refugees when a rich country like Australia can't or won't. The deal was also widely condemned by human rights organizations and Antonio Guterres, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees at the time, called it a "worrying departure from international norms," adding that countries must not shift their refugee responsibilities among themselves. Australia agreed to supply Cambodia with $35 million in aid as part of the deal, but there are worries that most of the money would get siphoned off by corrupt officials before it reaches the refugees. Legal effort takes on domestic politicians While Hun Sen's government was busy keeping a foreign lawmaker critical of the regime out of the country, it is also ramping up legal pressure on domestic lawmakers critical of the regime. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday re-issued a summons for opposition party Senator Thak Lany, ordering her to appear before the court on August 17. She did not appear in court on August 8 in response to an earlier summons. Her attorney, Som Sokong, told RFA's Khmer Service that he will show up for the court hearing, but is unsure if Thak Lany will attend. Hun Sen has sued Thak Lany and Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Sam Rainsy for defamation over remarks they allegedly made that tie the July 10 murder of critic Kem Ley to the prime minister. Thak Lany denies she made the remarks, saying that her comments were edited to make her look like she was lodging the criticism. While Hun Sen hasn't been shy about bringing the force of the Cambodian legal system to bear on his opponents as a way to mute their criticisms, they often attempt to speak out when they can. "Constitutional coup' Jailed CNRP Lawmaker Um Sam An accused Hun Sen of staging a "constitutional coup" on Wednesday as he was being ushered to a prison vehicle following a supreme court hearing on his request for provisional release. "Hun Sen and his Cambodian People's Party (CPP) have staged a constitutional coup by putting me behind bars while I am protected by parliamentary immunity," he told reporters. "Ironically, he who fights to reclaim the ceded land is incarcerated while he who cedes the land is at large." Um Sam An was jailed after Hun Sen ordered police to arrest anyone accusing the government of using "fake" maps to cede national territory to neighboring Vietnam. The lawmaker says he found a map in the United States' Library of Congress that he claims is different from the one Hun Sen and the government used to represent the final say on the border issue. On April 12, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court officially charged Um Sam An with two criminal offenses over his accusations that the government had conceded land to Vietnam along its border. Um Sam An's counsel Hem Socheath told RFA that he has the right to speak his mind as an elected official with parliamentary immunity. Cambodian lawmakers have immunity from prosecution for opinions expressed in the exercise of their duties. A two-thirds vote of the legislature is necessary to strip a lawmaker of his immunity unless the legislator is caught in the act of committing a crime. "As an elected MP, my client enjoys his parliamentary immunity and freedom of expression. This right is guaranteed in the constitution," Jem Socheath said. "He did not commit an in flagrante delicto crime as accused. He was arrested in 2016 for a Facebook comment he made in 2015."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 2, 2016
- Event Description
A Phnom Penh court charged six people on Monday for allegedly attempting to hush up a woman who is at the center of a sex scandal involving a top official with the opposition party. Officials accused four members the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), a member of the country's election commission and a UN worker of instructing the woman to deny her alleged relationship with Cambodian National Rescue Party lawmaker Kem Sokha. ADHOC staffers Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Yi Soksan and Lim Mony were detained at the notorious Prey Sar prison, while NEC Deputy Secretary-General Ny Chakrya is in custody of the Phnom Penh Police commissioner, officials told RFA. The fate of UN staffer Sally Soen is unknown, but Cambodian Anti-Corruption Unit chief Om Yentieng said a warrant was issued for her arrest. Court officials said the ADHOC workers were charged under Article 548 of the criminal code for bribing a witness, whereas Ny Chakrya and Soen are charged as accomplices. While the court is seeking charges under the Article 548, it is unclear what grounds there are for the charge. Attorneys for the ADHOC staffers and Ny Chakyra told RFA's Khmer Service the government's case looked thin, as prosecutors have not said any bribe money changed hands. Political attack While Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party have ruled Cambodia for three decades, the CNRP has made inroads in the recent elections. Opposition party officials and human rights workers see the moves as an attempt by Hun Sen and his followers to quash any potential rivals. Hundreds of government security forces were deployed outside the Phnom Penh courthouse in an effort to keep at bay the hundreds of protestors demanding justice on Monday. "The charges brought against the six human rights defenders are blatantly politically motivated and a direct attack against those serving the people who fall prey to Cambodia's government," said Naly Pilorge, director of the Cambodian human rights group LICADHO. "These mounting attacks represent an alarming tightening of the noose around civil society and those who work to uphold human rights, and clearly show that the government's ultimate aim is total control ahead of the upcoming elections," she added. Defamation suit Questions about the government's motives in the sensational case are being reinforced by attempts by a top official to sue government critic Ou Virak, who heads the Future Forum think tank. In reference to the sex scandal Ou Virak said on an RFA radio program that the ruling party's strategy is to put pressure Kem Sokha and his finances. Sok Eysan, the CPP's spokesman demanded 4 hundred million riel ($100,000) as a compensation for defamation. The suit was filed soon after Prime Minister Hun Sen posted a message in his Facebook page saying: "The CPP has sued Future Forum Ou Virak in Phnom Penh Court." Ou Virak told RFA that he was waiting for the court summons before deciding what to do, but said he was worried more about the chilling effect the government's actions will have on young people. Earlier this month prosecutors told local media that Khem Chandaraty admitted that it was her voice on leaked audio recordings of conversations between herself and Kem Sokha. The recordings were posted on her Facebook page, which she said was hacked. Although she previously denied that the voices belonged to her and Kem Sokha, she recanted her story last week under questioning by police on charges of prostitution and false testimony. Kem Sokha has refused to address the allegations. UN immunity Wan-Hea Lee, the UN High Commission for Human Rights representative in Cambodia, told RFA's Khmer Service that the UN has asked the government for an explanation, saying UN workers receive a degree of immunity. "UN officials have immunity from legal processes arising from their actions undertaken in the line of duty," she said. "The UN seeks to find together with the Royal Government a mutually agreeable way to cooperate with the proceedings." While the UN was taking a measured approach, Wan-Hea Lee said the arrests were a concern. "The handling by the courts of the cases against the staff of Adhoc and NEC is an important test of judicial integrity and independence, with too much having already been aired that would contravene the principle of presumption of innocence," she said. "My office will be following these cases closely and hopes to see proceedings fully respect fair trial rights standards," she added. Politicians take sides On Sunday, Hun Sen rejected the UN's immunity defense, telling port workers at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port yesterday, that immunity won't help anyone if they had committed a crime. "Please, all NGOs or workers at United Nations, do not depend on immunity," the Phnom Penh Post reported. "You may have the mother or father of all immunities, but when it comes time to arrest you - you will be jailed." Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, called the ruling party a "stupid group" for using the Anti-Corruption Unit to "ill-treat" civil society groups and the opposition - likening it to treatment meted out by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, according to an article in the Phnom Penh Post "Now there are more and more new events showing clearly that they[the government] do not have any different way of getting rid of us besides provoking us continuously," said Rainsy according to the report. Sam Rainsy has been staying in France or traveling since an arrest warrant was issued for him in November over a 2008 defamation case and he was removed from offices and stripped of his legislative immunity "Please do not be afraid at all," he said. "On the contrary,[we] must strengthen our spirit and unite together."
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, NGO staff, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 10, 2016
- Event Description
Kem Ley, a popular political commentator and frequent critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen, was shot dead at a Phnom Penh gas station on Sunday morning, according to military police. Eng Hy, spokesman for the National Military Police, said Kem Ley was identified by officers at the scene. "According to reports we just received, it's Kem Ley," he said. "He is dead." Mr. Hy declined to answer further questions about the case. Officers at the scene-a convenience shop at the Caltex gas station at the intersection of Monivong and Mao Tse Toung boulevards-said the shooting happened at about 9 a.m. and that the shooter had fled the scene. Kirth Chantharith, spokesman for the National Police, said at about 10:30 a.m. that officers had already arrested a man over the shooting. "Police made an arrest immediately after the shooting happened," he said, declining to give any further information. A longtime analyst of Cambodia's fractious political scene, Kem Ley founded the grassroots Khmer for Khmer advocacy group in 2014 with the aim of helping spark the formation of localized political parties across the country. The Grassroots Democracy Party was formed by his colleagues the following year, but Kem Ley himself disavowed any personal political ambitions of his own. He had continued to regularly appear on the radio and in the press to discuss political issues of the day.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Extrajudicial Killing
- Rights Concerned
- Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 3, 2015
- Event Description
Phnom Penh Municipal Court has issued a warrant for the arrest of a prominent activist and former monk currently living in self-imposed exile who it says has been found guilty of forging public documents and wearing monks' robes after being defrocked. The warrant, which was signed by presiding judge Khi Chher on November 3, calls on authorities to find Soeun Hay, who it says has been sentenced in absentia to two years in prison and fined 6 million riel (about $1,500) for forging documents declaring himself to be a monk and illegally wearing the religious robes. Chher yesterday refused to elaborate on the charges or tell the Post when Hay was found guilty. He said only that the verdict was delivered "in accordance with[court] procedures and evidence". Hay has been a regular feature at protests in the capital, including those calling for Vietnam to recognise the history of the Kampuchea Krom provinces. In November 2014, he was arrested by district security forces while travelling to a demonstration calling for the release of seven land activists from Phnom Penh's Boeung Kak community. He was later defrocked and sentenced to one year behind bars, but released by a Royal Pardon in April. In August, Hay went into hiding after two other Kampuchea Krom monks living at the Ang Taminh pagoda were arrested for allegedly being in possession of a number of contraband items. "I was informed in advance of plans to arrest me, so when they came to get me, they could not find me and just arrested two of my apprentices," he told the Post at the time. Hay could not be reached for comment yesterday. Am Sam Ath, a senior investigator with local rights group Licadho, said the latest verdict was likely to have been prompted by Hay's activism. "I think this arrest warrant was issued because Venerable Soeun Hay was too active in protests involving the Khmer Krom territory and protests for land-conflict victims," he said. Sam Ath called on the court to release the evidence that they have against Hay to "prove it is fair".
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 21, 2015
- Event Description
Villagers in northwestern Cambodia's Siem Reap province on Wednesday called for local authorities to protect them and said they are considering legal action against a military unit they claim is threatening them in a bid to take over their farmland. Members of the Varin commune council, in Siem Reap's Varin district, told RFA that Infantry Unit 42 has brandished rifles on multiple occasions since last week to chase them from several hectares (1 hectare = 2.5 acres) of land they use to grow cassava. The council appealed to provincial authorities to help seek a solution to the dispute and prevent the soldiers from taking over the land, which they said is their sole means of supporting their livelihoods. Infantry Unit 42 claims nearly 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of farmland in the area used by around 100 families, saying it was granted the property as a concession from the government several years ago for the use of retired soldiers, according to Varin commune chief Chhoy Oeun. But the unit has only been able to produce land titles issued by authorities from Sleng commune in nearby Srey Snorm district and has no official notices granting it the land, he said. "Based on the word of the unit, they would take over all of the land," Chhoy Oeun said, adding that he would do whatever it takes to protect his commune's property. Infantry Unit 42 has already taken over several parcels of land in the area and began confronting residents of Varin commune last week, firing warning shots over the heads of villagers to scare them away, Varin district councilman Prang Yon told RFA. "Today at 9:30 a.m., soldiers chased the villagers off again and even fired their rifles to threaten them," he said, calling the action "a serious abuse of human rights." The Varin commune council said it is considering bringing a lawsuit against the unit for its actions. General Pen Voy, the head of Infantry Unit 42, could not be reached for comment on the land dispute. Development issues The seizure of land for development-often without due process or fair compensation for displaced residents-has been a major cause of protest in Cambodia and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Myanmar. Rural villagers and urban dwellers alike have been mired in conflicts that the U.N.'s special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia last month warned could threaten the country's stability. Last year, the number of people affected by state-involved land conflicts since 2000 grew to more than 500,000, according to Licadho. Cambodia's land issues date from the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime, which forced large-scale evacuations and relocations, followed by a period of mass confusion over land rights and the formation of squatter communities when the refugees returned in the 1990s after a decade of civil war.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 9, 2015
- Event Description
A village leader in eastern Cambodia's Ratanakiri province has confiscated a petition from villagers seeking a halt to illegal logging on a nearby sacred mountain, threatening to have them arrested if they persist in their complaints, sources said. Ethnic Lao residents of Cambodia who moved two years ago from border areas to the province's Lum Phat district are now being helped by local police and other authorities to clear land on Phnom Kunthy mountain near Patang village for their own use, villagers told RFA's Khmer Service on Friday. And though villagers prepared a petition this week asking provincial authorities to help stop the encroachment, their village chief seized the document on Thursday, refusing to pass it on, one resident said. "The village chief[also] threatened us," village representative Hon Luch said, adding, "If we file the complaint again, he will order police to arrest us." Speaking to RFA, village chief Pheng Maing confirmed that he had confiscated the villagers' petition, saying that they had not informed him of their plan to complain. "Logging is definitely taking place in this area, and we have already summoned those responsible in order to resolve this issue," he added. This is not the first time that Patang authorities have threatened villagers attempting to stop the clearing of their land, said Chhay Thy, a provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, adding that local officials may also be involved in the logging. "According to our own investigation,[the loggers] are planning to clear about 600 hectares[1,480 acres] of land," he said. "When villagers filed a complaint with forestry officials, the loggers stopped for a short period of time," he said, "But the logging started up again earlier this month." Lum Phat officials are now set to investigate complaints against the village chief who seized the villagers' petition, acting district governor Nou Te said, adding that he recommends that villagers submit their complaints directly to the district. The seizure of land for development-often without due process or fair compensation for displaced residents-has been a major cause of protest in Cambodia and other authoritarian Asian countries, including China and Myanmar.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Denial effective remedy, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 7, 2015
- Event Description
This morning, Areng Valley community representative and CPP commune councilor Vein Vorn was arrested on charges relating to his activism and sent to Koh Kong provincial prison. He has been at the forefront of Areng Valley community's campaign to stop the controversial development of a hydroelectric dam by the Pheapimex group - headed by ruling party senator Lao Meng King - and their Chinese partner Sinohydro. He now faces charges under Article 98 of the Forestry Law and 533 of the Criminal Code for leading the construction of a small communal meeting space built by the Areng Valley community to support their activism. About 40 community members are currently outside the court protesting his arrest. Three activists from NGO Mother Nature, who were also active in protesting the hydrodam, have been in detention since August 17 for their role in an ongoing campaign to end alleged illegal sand dredging in Koh Kong.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 2, 2015
- Event Description
Seventeen members of a Cambodian rights group and environmental NGO were briefly detained by authorities in Cambodia's southeastern Koh Kong province Wednesday as they observed protests calling for the release of three activists held for interfering with sand-dredging operations, sources said. The 17 activists from the rights groups Licadho and Adhoc and environmental advocacy group Mother Nature were taken into custody in the afternoon and questioned on their role in the protests, which are now entering their third week. They were released without charge at around 6:00 p.m. Though the 17 were initially accused of taking part in the demonstration, the activists had come only to monitor the protest, Adhoc provincial official Nheab Samoeurn told RFA's Khmer Service on Wednesday. "We have video clips and other evidence showing that we didn't join with the demonstrators, but only stood close by so that we could take pictures," he said. Licadho provincial coordinator In Kongchit, who was among those detained, said the rights group was present on Wednesday to observe two separate protests outside the provincial court. The police officers who took them into custody had abused the law, he said. "The authorities have used excessive force and the court system itself to crack down on rights groups," In Kongchit said. "They have interfered with our right to do our work," he said. Pressure to sign Am Sam Ath, a senior investigator for Licadho who traveled to Koh Kong after the 17 were detained, said that police had attempted to pressure the group to sign a "contract" promising to seek permission from authorities before monitoring future protests. They were also told to stay away from the protests themselves and not take part, he said. "But the group refused to sign any contracts," he said, adding that the police finally decided to release them anyway. "It is a serious human rights violation to ask rights groups to "sign contracts,' and it is against the law," Am Sam Ath said. "Our job is to monitor demonstrations, protests, and other events to witness and make note of any rights violations." "This is our role, which is guaranteed by the[Cambodian] constitution and the U.N.," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 17
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 15, 2015
- Event Description
An NGO worker in Oddar Meanchey province has sought help from the rights group Adhoc after he was allegedly attacked by a military police official and six timber dealers for filing a forestry crime report against them. Saing Chak, director of Crime Prevention Cambodia, said that he filed a complaint to the provincial court on September 17 accusing the seven of attempted murder. "They got irritated since I reported to the police that they are running timber trading," Chak said. "They came and beat me at my house on September 15. If I had not managed to escape, they would have killed me already." Chak said that he had observed an alleged timber trader known as Nak transporting timber in Trapaing Prasat district and called police to notify them. The next night, Nak called him and said that he wanted to meet. When Nak arrived at Chak's house, with Anlong Veng district military policeman Pork Ka and others, the group proceeded to beat him. "He told me that he had come to beat me to death, so I asked for .?.?. Adhoc to intervene with the court to summon those people and seek justice for me in the eyes of law," he said. Ka could not be reached yesterday to respond to the allegations against him. Srey Naren, provincial coordinator for Adhoc, said Chak's injuries were consistent with his account, and that Adhoc would provide him an attorney.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to information
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 10, 2015
- Event Description
This morning, Ouk Pich Samnang was convicted of intentional violence and obstructing authorities, in defiance of testimony and lack of evidence, and sentenced to a further two years in prison relating to an October 2014 protest. He was arrested following a protest outside the Prime Minister's house by a Preah Vihear community calling for a solution to their land conflict. Police arrested him as he tried to recover from injuries caused by beatings from security guards during the protest, in which several other protesters were injured, including one who was hospitalised. No one has faced legal action for the excessive force used to disperse the protesters. During his trial, not one civil party or witness who testified identified Ouk Pich Samnang as using violence, including the chief of the Daun Penh district security guards, and three civil parties actively said he was not responsible for their injuries. He was convicted nevertheless under Articles 218 and 503 of the penal code as well as being fined four million riel and ordered to pay 10 million riel in compensation to the civil parties. Ouk Pich Samnang was among the 11 CNRP activists and supporters convicted under charges relating to insurrection following another protest in July 2014, and has been incarcerated in CC1 prison since their convictions in July 2015 after a show trial. With today's judgement, he is set to serve a total of nine years' imprisonment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2015
- Event Description
A prominent activist in Koh Kong province who has opposed the construction of the Stung Cheay Areng dam has been summonsed to court for alleged "forest crimes". The summons, issued by provincial court judge Min Makara last month, was handed to Ven Vorn on Sunday. The activist was charged with collecting forest products without permission and tampering with evidence. If found guilty, Vorn could face up to five years in prison. "If you do not appear[in court] on the aforementioned date, we will issue an arrest warrant," the summons reads. Vorn yesterday said he planned to attend the hearing, which was likely related to the construction of a community centre in the Areng Valley. "The authorities want to place false allegations against me because I am a representative of the community and protect the natural resources of the Areng," he said. Vorn was one of several activists and journalists detained last week while protesting the jailing of three activists from local NGO Mother Nature. In Kongchit, of local rights group Licadho, said the summons was intended to stifle further protests.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 22, 2015
- Event Description
Around 100 ethnic Phnong villagers held a protest Tuesday in support of five fellow residents questioned at a court in northeastern Cambodia's Kratie province over "illegal logging" amid a land dispute with a Vietnamese rubber company they say has encroached on their community forest. The villagers from 179 families living in Thmey commune, in Kratie's Borei district said the provincial court summoned the five as a "threat" to anyone brazen enough to challenge Vietnam's Doty Saigon-Binh Phouc, which they claim is destroying the forest they rely on for resources and religious purposes. Protester Set Seb told RFA's Khmer Service that her family had been unable to harvest fruits, vines and resin since Doty Saigon began clearing land early last year and said villagers could no longer earn a reasonable income from the forest. She called on the government to uphold villagers' rights to the land, so that they could continue to use the forest without cutting down its trees-in a sustainable manner according to their traditional customs. "They have been protesting to take back the land for collective property, not for private use," she said of the five villagers summoned by the court, adding that residents had also been unable to cultivate any rice due to drought, and were solely relying on the forest to meet their needs. After being questioned, the five were released by the court. Suos Vannak, an official with local rights group Adhoc, said his organization had provided legal defense to the five and dismissed allegations of illegal logging against them, saying there was no evidence to support the claims. Hum Ngor, one of the villagers questioned Tuesday, said the concession had affected his ethnic community's indigenous culture and customs. "We villagers dare to sacrifice lives to protect our forest because the forest is our lives," he said. In March 2007, the Council of Ministers approved in principle a 6,436-hectare (15,900-acre) concession to Doty Saigon, adjacent to the more than 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of forest land claimed by the Phnong villagers. Last year, authorities proposed marking off a tract measuring around 170 hectares (425 acres) for the villagers, which they have rejected. Since Doty Saigon began clearing land last year, local residents have become increasingly vocal about the forest and have even seized company tractors, though local authorities have refused to act on their behalf because a higher level of government had issued the rubber firm's land concession. Khmer Kampuchea Krom For Human Rights and Development Association program director Sann Chhumsokthun said Doty Saigon had likely filed a complaint with the court against the five villagers, who he said were "activists protecting the forest" from encroachment. He urged the government to do more to avoid causing disputes between developers and local communities. "Before the government grants licenses to companies, it should conduct environmental studies to prevent future protests," he said. Also on Tuesday, villagers and rights groups accused a company owned by timber magnate Try Pheap of encroaching on their land in Pursat province's Veal Veng district. Villager Chea Sayon told RFA he was shocked when he recently found members of the armed forces and employees of Try Pheap's company MDS Group planting mango trees on part of the 17 hectares (42 acres) he has owned and farmed since 2000. "They[the company] threatened that if I remove their trees they would have me arrested and bring me to court," he said. In addition to planting trees, the company has also been clearing parts of his and other villagers' land since 2010, after it was granted more than 20,000 hectares (49,400 acres) to build a casino. MDS provincial director Kheang Sochivoan told RFA his company was implementing the government's orders and had provided about 400 hectares (990 acres) of land to local villagers. He said villagers who claim they own property in the area lack titles to support their claims and that the company would be unable to honor their demands to relinquish the land. Provincial spokesman Koeut Chhe said local authorities are working to resolve the dispute with 21 families living in the area, and were in the process of granting five of them with land titles. He said authorities had received six complaints from six additional families, but won't be able to address them until the disputes with the initial 21 families are resolved. "We have already received the complaints and are addressing them step by step," he said. Rights groups accuse Try Pheap of running a vast illegal logging operation across the country with the government's tacit consent. In February, the London-based environmental watchdog Global Witness said in a report that China's voracious demand for luxury furniture is driving a multimillion-dollar illegal trade in rosewood in Cambodia, supported by the tycoon, who controls a network that exports the timber.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 20, 2015
- Event Description
PHNOM PENH: Cambodian authorities have charged a student with incitement to commit a crime over an alleged Facebook post calling for a "colour revolution" in the country, a right groups said on Monday. Kong Raiya, 25, an anti-government activist, was arrested on Thursday outside a university in Phnom Penh, Am Sam Ath of local rights group Licadho told AFP. The 25-year-old man was charged by a court on Saturday with incitement to commit a felony and sent to jail pending further investigation, he said. "He was arrested because of a post on Facebook calling on people to launch a colour revolution," Am Sam Ath said. "Colour revolution" is a term used to refer to a wave of anti-government mass movements in recent years, mainly in the former Soviet bloc, although it is unclear which one the student was referencing in his post. In a Facebook post on August 7, Raiya under his profile name "Soriya Koko" said he would launch a revolution in the near future. "Does anyone dare to launch a Colour Revolution with me? Any day, in the near future I will launch a Colour Revolution in order to change the vulgar regime. Even if I am jailed or die, I have to do it," he wrote. Raiya faces up to two years in jail if convicted. Cambodian officials could not be immediately reached for comment. In recent months strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen has taken an increasingly hard line towards dissent. "His arrest is a warning to other youths," Am Sam Ath said. It also follows the recent jailing of a number of opposition members and activists for insurrection over their alleged roles in a protest that turned violent last year. A Cambodian opposition senator also faces up to 17 years in jail after a court charged him over the posting of a disputed document on Facebook about the border with Vietnam. Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-ruling leaders, marked three decades in power in January. He is regularly criticised by campaigners for stamping out dissent. UPDATE (03/06/2016) A Cambodian has become the first person to be convicted in the country over a social media post. A 24-year-old university student, Kong Raya, was sentenced to 18 months in jail on Tuesday, after being found guilty of inciting crimes with an anti-government post he made on Facebook, a Phnom Penh court said. A translated version of Raya's post, made on Aug. 7, 2015, reportedly read: "Does anyone dare to make a colour revolution with me? One day, in the future, I will make a colour revolution to change the regime for Khmer society, and even if I'm jailed or killed, I will still make it." Cambodia Daily quoted the political science undergrad outside the courtroom after the verdict, who said he would appeal the decision. "This is nothing unusual for the courts in Cambodia. It is just like this," he said, presumably referring to the length of the sentence. "This is not only unjust for me, but also unjust for the entire Cambodian people," Raya said. A "colour revolution" is an umbrella term used to refer to civil resistance movements in history. Cambodia's government has cracked down hard on protests in recent years from opposition parties. The country's leader, Hun Sen, marked his 30th anniversary in office last year, and has been the subject of criticism from global organisations like Human Rights Watch, which portray him as a iron-fisted leader with an oppressive grip over the country. Raya, a political science undergrad, was arrested back in August last year when he arrived for class at Khemarak University. Although his post threatened an uprising, he did not outline how he would mount his plan. Critics of the arrest also say his punishment was disproportionate, since he did not garner any support for his cause, nor did he successfully persuade anyone to join him. "It is just the expression of an idea, and that is not a crime," an activist at Cambodian nonprofit group Licadho, was quoted saying.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2015
- Event Description
Three activists from environmental NGO Mother Nature were summoned to appear at the Botum Sakor district police station in Koh Kong province on Friday to answer for their involvement in a campaign to chase off a sand-dredging company accused of destroying the environment, officials said. According to copies of the summonses, district police chief Sok Phorn ordered Sun Mala, Yoeun Tinit and Tri Sovichea, all members of Mother Nature, to appear for questioning on Friday at 11 a.m. District governor Orn Virak said the three were being sought for questioning because they took part in demonstrations against Direct Access. "They were summoned for questioning following a complaint from the company," he said. Mr. Mala, 22, a co-founder of Mother Nature, said Friday that he and his two colleagues did not go to the district police station. "We refused to follow the summons letter because we did nothing wrong," he said. "I think the reason they summoned us for questioning is because the company is not happy with us for disturbing their illegal sand dredging." The Mines and Energy Ministry granted Direct Access a license to dredge parts of the Andong Teuk estuary in the district. However, Mother Nature and local fishermen say the company is dredging deeper than the license allows and in areas not permitted. They also accuse Direct Access of polluting the estuary, causing riverbank collapses and driving off fish stocks. As part of their monthslong campaign, the activists and fishermen have boarded barges operated by Direct Access and towed them away with fishing boats. In Kongchet, provincial coordinator for rights group Licadho, said he believes district authorities are trying to intimidate the group into halting their campaign. "They are protecting natural resources," he said of the activists. "Authorities should be encouraging them rather than making accusations." UPDATE: 22/ September/ 2015 Activist trio's bail appeal thwarted The Appeal Court yesterday denied bail to three environmental activists arrested in mid-August over their opposition to sand dredging in Koh Kong province. The three activists from local campaigning NGO Mother Nature - Try Sovikea, Sun Mala and Lem Samnang - were jailed on August 17 in the province's Botum Sakor district following complaints from the local authorities and the Direct Access company, which the activists suspected of illegal sand mining operations. The three were accused of "threatening to cause damage" by taking part in direct actions against the firm over several days. Am Sam Ath, senior investigator with rights group Licadho, said he was disappointed by the decision. He argued they should have been released as they met the requirements under Cambodian law: they have permanent addresses, promised to take part in every stage of the court case and have full-time jobs. He added that the defence lawyers would forward the case to the provincial court again in early October. But on August 31, a Koh Kong judge, Chhun Davy, already denied the three bail.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 12, 2015
- Event Description
The backlash began Wednesday against a new Education Ministry directive that bans political activities and unauthorized associations at academic institutions, with the country's largest teachers' union and various youth groups accusing the government of hypocrisy. The directive, signed by Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron and dated Monday, threatens to shutter schools and remove academic staff and students if they are deemed to have tarnished an institution's political "neutrality." On Wednesday, the Cambodian Independent Teachers' Association (CITA) released a letter protesting the ban, which it said violates their constitutional rights and strangles independent education. "[CITA] considers the regulations...an attempt to curb the rights and freedoms of associations that are protecting the rights of teachers and strengthening the education sector," the letter said. CITA notes that a number of CPP-aligned youth associations are allowed to operate freely and actively within schools, encouraging students and teachers to join. It names the Cambodian Red Cross, headed by Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife, Bun Rany, and the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia, headed by the prime minister's son, Hun Many. Its letter said the ban violates the Constitution, the Education Law and the Law on Civil Servants, and calls for the directive to be revoked. CPP spokesman Sok Eysan defended the existence of CPP-aligned groups, which help produce "bamboo shoots," or fresh recruits, for the government, but said the ruling party would abide by the new directive and cease recruitment activities on school grounds. "These[youth] groups have existed for a long time, even in the Samdech King[Norodom Sihanouk] regime, and...they help grow bamboo shoots," he said. CNRP spokesman Ou Chanrith said the new directive would have little impact on the opposition party, as it had never targeted academic institutions to rally support. "The CNRP has never created a group in schools. Only the CPP has created such groups, and that is not right, so I agree with this point," he said. Kao Poeun, executive director of the Khmer Institute for National Development, which works to increase youth engagement in democracy building, said the ostensible goal of the ban, to reduce partisan influence within the education system, was laudable. "If the directive decreases the political involvement of school directors, then it is a good thing, because nowadays, school directors are high-ranking government officials and involved in politics," Mr. Poeun said. The new rules, however, would likely result in less political engagement among students, he said. "The directors should be the focus. Students should not be the focus, as they make up the majority of our society and are its future, so they need to be engaged," he said. Tim Malay, president of the Cambodian Youth Network, said the directive was merely the government's latest attempt to quash free political thinking among young Cambodians. "Schools are places that teach and train students to understand their society, and this includes politics and deforestation," he said. "They can help improve their country by fighting injustice and corruption." "Many universities[already] prohibit student networks because it impacts their political interests, but they allow other groups that support the CPP," he added. Sophal Ear, a Cambodian-American political scientist who authored the book "Aid Dependence in Cambodia: How Foreign Assistance Undermines Democracy," said that any regulations that suppress the development of critical thinking abilities undermine the entire purpose of higher education. "Academic freedom is the cornerstone of universities, and restrictions will allow error to creep into the university," he said, recalling an incident in which a number of CPP-aligned students protested against former U.N. human rights envoy Surya Subedi during a lecture he delivered at Cambodia Mekong University in 2013. "A few years ago, the Human Rights special rapporteur was heckled by young people when he spoke. Should the university administrators be fined? Dismissed?"
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Censorship, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Academic freedom, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Academic, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 12, 2015
- Event Description
In a verdict denounced as unfair by their union leader, and pointedly compared to the same court's kid-gloves handling of former Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith, four union officials have been sentenced to 13 months in Svay Rieng provincial prison for blocking a road at a protest last year. The four officials, all from the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW), were also fined 3 million riel ($735) each but have not been sent to prison yet, according to Pav Sina, president of the CUMW. "We will file a complaint to the Appeal Court this week against the Svay Rieng provincial court's verdict, but if the Appeal Court upholds this verdict, those four officials will be arrested and sent to jail," he said. Sina said the four officials were innocent of blocking the road on August 18 of last year, and were merely responding to a request for intervention from hundreds of protesting workers from Bavet town's You Li International Garment factory. "Hundreds of protesters blocked National Road 1, and our officials went down to convince them to open the road, but the police took pictures when my officials stood with the workers. That's why they accused us of provoking the workers to block the road," said Sina. Identified as Toun Saren, Suth Chet, Chea Oudom and Cham Samnang, the four CUMW officials were sentenced on Monday with provoking a criminal act. Toun Saren, who is also the secretary-general of the CUMW, said he suspected the harsh sentences came from local authorities eager to crack down on the union. "It was the local police officials who filed a complaint about us, because they do not like our union and they want to destroy our union in this province," he said. Pav Sina compared the case of the union officials to that of Bandith, the former Bavet governor who was convicted of "unintentional violence" and given an 18-month sentence for shooting into a crowd of striking garment workers with his pistol in 2012, injuring three women. Bandith evaded arrest following his conviction in 2013 for more than two years, turning himself into authorities on Saturday. "Chhouk Bandith tried to kill workers, but he got only 18 months in jail, and my officials tried to stop[workers] blocking the road, but they got 13 months in jail," he said, pointing blame at Bavet town police chief Keo Kong. Bandith's case had been dropped entirely by the Svay Rieng provincial court at one point, only to later be reopened at the request of an Appeals Court prosecutor. Sina said that if the original verdict against the four union leaders is upheld, he would lead a demonstration against the court in Svay Rieng. Bavet police chief Keo Kong declined to comment yesterday. You Li International Garment could not be reached.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Labour rights
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 26, 2015
- Event Description
Cambodian authorities arrested six demonstrators today as they protested against the recent passing of a controversial law regulating non-governmental organisations, officials and a rights group said. The six demonstrators - five men and a woman - were among dozens who rallied outside of the parliament building in the capital Phnom Penh. Critics say the law will hinder the ability of NGOs to operate in the deeply impoverished nation. Those who were detained had dressed themselves in prison uniforms and chained their feet together, an AFP photographer said. Their arrests came as riot police chased other demonstrators away from the parliament building. "The six people were arrested during a rally to express their opinion against the law," Am Sam Ath, of local rights group Licadho, told AFP. "They are being questioned" at a local police station, he added. Long Dimanche, a spokesman for Phnom Penh City Hall, confirmed the arrests, saying police detained the group because "their activities are inappropriate and are not allowed by the law". It was not clear yet if the five men and one woman would face any charges, he added. Cambodia is home to some 5,000 NGOs, many of whom provide key services, particularly for the poor majority. Rights groups, Western diplomats and the UN have criticised the new legislation which has been pushed by the country's strongman, Prime Minister Hun Sen. Under the new law, which was passed earlier this month, all domestic and international NGOs will have to report their activities and finances to the government. Failure to comply will result in fines, legal action, bans and "other criminal punishment". NGOs can also be disbanded if their activities "jeopardise peace, stability and public order or harm the national security, national unity, culture, and traditions of Cambodian society". The law was passed in both Cambodia's legislative houses despite a boycott from the country's main opposition party and a string of vocal protests. It still needs to be signed off by the monarch - a step that is all but a formality once legislation is approved by lawmakers. Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-ruling leaders, marked three decades in power in January. He is regularly criticised by campaigners for stamping out dissent. - AFP, July 26, 2015.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 20, 2015
- Event Description
Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Pa Socheatvong yesterday accused civil society organisations of paying land rights demonstrators to protest against a controversial NGO law that recently passed the National Assembly. During a speech at a ceremony for the opening of a primary school, Socheatvong insisted that those against the draft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations (LANGO) are taking advantage of the land rights advocates, and preventing them from getting jobs. "What do they do for a living besides protesting on the street? Marching on the street for $5 or $10 per day is these demonstrators' career," he said. "Land activists can do other things to earn a living; can civil society release them, let them find work and stop using them?" Critics of the LANGO, which the Assembly passed last week, point to parts of the law that give government ministries the right to block an NGO's registration or deregister existing organisations, among other troubling aspects. After hearing about the governor's speech, Boeung Kak community activist Tep Vanny said that Socheatvong was the one taking advantage of the land rights protesters for political gain with his rhetoric. "We protest[the law] for our own benefit," Vanny, who denied being paid to protest, said. "The United Nations and European Union are against this law as well; I think it would be wrong if we did not stand up against it." Housing Rights Task Force secretariat director Sia Phearum said that housing activists have come out against the LANGO, because a weakened civil society in Cambodia would hurt their cause.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 17, 2015
- Event Description
Foreigners who join protests against the government will now be subject to arrest and deportation, Phnom Penh's governor and the government's spokesman said yesterday, in the latest effort by the CPP to curb outside influence in the country's political affairs.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Censorship, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 18, 2015
- Event Description
Five women are currently being held in Phnom Penh's 7 Makara police station after being arrested during a peaceful anti-LANGO (Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations) event this morning. The event began at 8.30 at Phnom Penh's night market when around 50 people gathered to hand out "Say NO to LANGO" stickers and fliers in some of the city's main shopping areas. Shortly after 10 o'clock, when the group had reached O Russei Market, security guards and police arrived to prevent the group going any further. They then arrested the five women, four land rights activists from Boeung Kak community and one from Borei Keila. Having been held at the O Russei 2 commune police station for around two hours, they were then escorted through the streets by police to their current location. They have been told that they must wait for the arrival of Phnom Penh city governor Pa Socheatvong. Around ten other activists and NGO staff are waiting with them. They have now been in detention for over four hours.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 1, 2015
- Event Description
Local NGO official summoned to court after speaking out about alleged torture of villagers embroiled in land dispute UPDATE: By Lauren Crothers PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Charges against a Cambodian human rights advocate summoned to appear in court later this month are "spurious" and designed to stifle his advocacy, an international human rights group said Friday. Ny Chakrya, who heads the human rights and legal aid section of Cambodian rights group Adhoc, received the summons Wednesday after speaking out in May about the alleged torture of two villagers embroiled in a land dispute in Siem Reap. He had condemned the behavior of the authorities at the press conference. The allegations of torture have been leveled against the police and military, which allegedly came at the behest of the deputy district governor. Chakrya had also called upon the Supreme Council of Magistracy to take action against a judge and prosecutor at the provincial court, after they spoke out in defiance of his allegations. He claimed that such actions tested their supposed independence. The advocate has since been charged with defamation, "acts of slanderous denunciation", and "publication of commentaries to put pressure on jurisdiction" for his remarks. He is set to appear before the Siem Reap Municipal Court on July 13. On Friday, Adhoc circulated a statement issued by Front Line Defenders in which the Dublin-based organization expressed "grave concern at the judicial harassment of human rights defender Ny Chakrya". Calling on the authorities to drop the charges "immediately and unconditionally", the statement said the group believed they were issued only as a means of restricting Chakrya's work. He has been advocating for the largely indigenous community at the heart of the land dispute, which centers around 90 hectares of land cleared by an agricultural firm. It criticized the court summons, saying it considers it "another attempt to silence human rights defenders in Cambodia and their legitimate work providing support to victims of human rights violations". Chakrya joins a long line of human rights defenders in Cambodia who have come under the grip of the courts, which are widely slated as being beholden to the ruling Cambodian People's Party. Supreme Council of Magistracy secretary-general, Sam Pracheameanith, could not be reached for comment Friday. UPDATE: 14/ 07/ 2015 Court begins Chakrya queries Reporters and supporters of human rights activist Ny Chakrya were barred from entering Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday, as he sought to avert charges being laid against him in a case described by advocates as "judicial harassment". Chakrya, head of the human rights and legal aid section of local NGO Adhoc, faces potential charges of "public defamation", "acts of slanderous denunciation", and "publication of commentaries to put pressure on the judiciary", brought against him by prosecutors at Siem Reap Provincial Court. The accusations are based on comments he made during a May 12 press conference in Phnom Penh condemning the arbitrary arrest and detention of Ven Lorn and Beourn Sok, two residents of Chup Romdeng village in Siem Reap province's Svay Leu district, who are involved in a high-profile land dispute. On June 17, Lorn and Sok both were found guilty of inciting a group of residents to destroy and intrude on the property of agricultural development company Community Takhmao Development Agricultural & Industrial. They received six- and eight-month prison terms, respectively. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, an organisation that seeks to prevent the repression of rights workers, branded the proceedings against Chakrya "judicial harassment", aimed at derailing his efforts to provide legal assistance to victims of human rights violations. Emerging from the court yesterday after the two-hour preliminary hearing, Chakrya remained bullish about the case against him. "The evidence we have presented shows it does not make sense for them to accuse me of defamation, framing, or putting pressure on the court's jurisdiction," he said. According to Chakrya, his proof includes documents from Siem Riep's provincial government that he says back the claims of the men he was defending at the press conference. Nevertheless, he remained cautious about his prospects of escaping charges and a potential lawsuit. "Confident? No," he said. "But I have very strong evidence." Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor Seang Sok declined to comment on the case, while the deputy prosecutor in Siem Reap Sok Keo Bandit and the investigating judge Ki Rithy could not be reached for comment. Chakrya's statements were made in front of dozens of supporters gathered outside the courthouse, with more than 40 leaving their homes in Tbong Khmum province before daybreak to visit the capital and lend him their support. According to Un Songcheng, who said she was spending $10 on transportation and losing $5 in wages as an agricultural labourer to be there, people from her community felt compelled to offer Chakrya their support because of the work he has done to help them in their battle for land rights. "He is a patriot and he helps the weak people; he has not done anything illegal, so we came here to support him, because we are worried that he might face injustice," she said. With prosecutors set to present more evidence to the court, it is still unclear whether Chakrya will face formal charges. UPDATE: 20/ 07/ 2015 Phnom Penh court charges Ny Chakrya A Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor said yesterday that he has decided to charge prominent human rights monitor Ny Chakrya in a case that rights groups have described as a bald-faced attempt to suppress criticism of the Kingdom's judiciary. The case stems from two Siem Reap Provincial Court officials - investigating judge Ky Rithy and deputy prosecutor Sok Keo Bandith - who filed a complaint against Chakrya, accusing him of public defamation, acts of slanderous defamation and putting pressure on the court's jurisdiction after Chakrya conducted two press conferences speaking out on what he characterised as the court's illegal detention of two villagers involved in a land dispute. Deputy Phnom Penh prosecutor Seang Sok said yesterday that after reviewing the case, he had decided to lay charges against Chakrya, and had forwarded the case to the investigating judge on Saturday. "The investigative judge will make the decision as to whether to continue the procedure or not," he said. Chakrya, head of the human rights and legal aid section at rights group Adhoc, said he would "follow the procedure", but maintained that he had committed no wrong, and condemned the case against him as an attempt to intimidate human rights activists. He and another Adhoc employee, lawyer Pouk Yarann, had accused the two officials of unlawfully detaining two villagers - since convicted - for inciting fellow land disputants to destroy the property of Community Takhmao Development Agricultural & Industrial. Chakrya later filed a complaint against Keo Bandith and Rithy accusing them of a lack of independence in their handling of the case. The two men and their attorney, Chan Vichet, could not be reached. However, Keo Bandith has maintained they have "adequate evidence for arresting and detaining the two suspects;[and were] not afraid of facing the law if Adhoc found evidence" of wrongdoing. A probe into the land dispute led by the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee also found the two were wrongly imprisoned, and blamed the dispute on "local and provincial maladministration". Chakrya's fellow rights monitor Am Sam Ath, technical supervisor at Licadho, yesterday said Chakrya had been within his rights in criticising the conduct of the court. "If the court is still working against him, it shows clearly the risks and the dangers of NGO officials that[make] demands of law enforcement, and that respect for democracy in this country is being threatened gradually," he said. UPDATE: 22/ 10/ 2015 Activist's arrest could come soon, judge says The investigating judge involved in ongoing legal proceedings against human rights activist Ny Chakrya has said a warrant for the man's arrest is under consideration after Chakrya failed to respond to a subpoena to appear in court yesterday. However, Chakrya's employer, rights group Adhoc, said the subpoena is not legally binding because it was not delivered to him personally. Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge Veng Hort yesterday would not respond directly to questions about the subpoena's validity and whether it was delivered to Chakrya personally. "If he had no clear reason[for his absence], we will take the second option: summoning him to court. If the second option is not effective, we will use the third: arrest," he said. Article 188 of the Cambodian Criminal Procedure Code states: "A judicial police officer, a judicial police agent, or bailiff shall deliver the subpoena to the cited person. The cited person receives a copy of the decision and shall sign the original subpoena, which will then be returned to the investigating judge. The judicial police officer, judicial police agent or the bailiff shall notify the investigating judge of any difficulty in their mission of delivering the subpoena." According to a statement released on October 9 by Adhoc, the subpoena was only shown to Chakrya's wife, who was allowed to take a photo of the document but not provided a copy, and no signature or fingerprint was given. Chakrya faces charges of public defamation and pressuring the court's jurisdiction over comments he made during two press conferences in May in Siem Reap, during which he denounced the detention of two villagers involved in a land dispute. Responding to the subpoena earlier this month, Chakrya defended his comments at the May press conference. "What I said in the press conference was true, the investigative judge and deputy prosecutor arrested and detained two villagers without evidence," he said. The case was initiated by two Siem Reap Provincial Court officials - investigating judge Ky Rithy and deputy prosecutor Sok Keo Bandith - whose complaint against Chakrya was dismissed by the Siem Reap Provincial Court. The case was then taken up by Phnom Penh Municipal Court. The case has been slammed by the International Committee of Jurists, which branded it "legal harassment" and a "rights violation".
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 30, 2015
- Event Description
Police in Takeo province on Tuesday arrested nine union officials during a protest outside an electronics factory where workers have been striking for almost three weeks, demanding wages equal to their peers in the garment sector.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Labour rights, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 1, 2015
- Event Description
A rights group and journalist organization on Thursday slammed a lawmaker from Cambodia's ruling party for barring an opposition MP from addressing the media with his concerns over a controversial draft law on nongovernmental organizations currently under review by parliament. In a statement, Cambodia Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC) condemned senior Cambodian People's Party (CPP) member and National Assembly (parliament) spokesman Chheang Von for shutting down a press briefing by Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) MP Um Sam An at the legislature. "CHRAC reminds members of the National Assembly not to arbitrarily interfere with the rights and privileges of other members of Parliament to freely address the press and properly serve the interests of the people they represent," the statement said. "We strongly recommend that the National Assembly, in this time of tension regarding the ongoing drafting of laws, preserve a public space for press and deputies within the premise of parliament," it said. "We trust that the National Assembly of a democratic country will respond in accordance with the Constitution of Cambodia and with their internal rules to preserve a peaceful environment and a culture of dialogue." Chheang Von, who is also chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Commission, told the media Wednesday that the draft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (LANGO) would essentially remain intact, despite government assurances that it was still under review. The government approved the draft law on June 5 and sent it to the National Assembly on June 16 for review by its commissions on foreign affairs and the interior to ensure it complies with the constitution. Chheang Von said it was imperative to pass the law as soon as possible in order to guarantee social stability and prevent foreign interference, adding that a final decision on the law would be made by July 8. After giving the interview, Chheang Von banned Um Sam An from speaking to reporters about his concerns over the draft law on the grounds of parliament without first obtaining permission from National Assembly president Heng Samrin. Um Sam An addressed the press anyway, saying Chheang Von was violating his rights as a lawmaker, as well as the rules of the National Assembly and constitution, by refusing to let him speak. He said that CNRP lawmakers would refuse to support the LANGO if recommendations they made on amending it were not incorporated into the final draft, before guards escorted reporters out of the building. Chheang Von also threatened to destroy the equipment of an RFA reporter who was taking photos at the National Assembly at the time. "Violation of the press law' CHRAC's criticism of Chheang Von's actions was echoed in a statement Thursday by the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ), which also denounced the ruling party MP for throwing reporters out of the National Assembly. "The CCJ is saddened that National Assembly spokesman Chheang Von expelled reporters from the Assembly building and used inappropriate language and behavior against them," the statement read, adding that the group considered the act "a serious violation of the press law." "The CCJ urges all state institutions, lawmakers and civil servants to implement the press law, and to refrain from abusing it. They must recognize journalists who are performing their professional duties." The statement came as a group of bodyguards for Cambodia's Council of Ministers blocked several reporters from interviewing Um Sam An on Thursday about several recent confrontations between Cambodian activists and villagers from Vietnam over territory along the two countries' shared border. The lawmaker and reporters were asked to leave the building. Both international and domestic NGOs and rights groups oppose the LANGO because they say it would jeopardize their rights and restrict their activities in the impoverished country. A group of United Nations officials also have criticized the proposed law, prompting the government to warn them not to interfere in Cambodia's internal affairs. But Prime Minister Hun Sen earlier this week repeated that he will stand by the LANGO, despite continued opposition, and said he had no doubt the law would be passed by parliament.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 30, 2015
- Event Description
Rallies, organized throughout Phnom Penh by community members, garment factory workers, trade union members, as well as staff of associations and human rights organizations, who in unison opposed a controversial draft law, intended to restrict the freedoms of expression, assembly and association of civil society, were blocked by dozens of security forces officers in the morning of 30 June 2015. Mr Yi Soksan, a Senior Investigation Officer of local human rights organization ADHOC, who was on duty to monitor the rally coming from Niroth pagoda, reported that dozens of security forces officers were deployed on National Road 1 to block the rally. "The rally coming from the National Road 2 was also prevented by Phnom Penh Municipality security forces officers from moving any further", witnessed by Mr Nay Vanda, another human rights monitor of ADHOC, who was stationed at this particular rally. Mr Pen Bunnar, ADHOC's land and natural resources activist, who was monitoring a rally coming from National Road 7, Makara flyover, said many security forces officers were deployed to prevent the rally at Phsa Depo. At Chroy Chongva roundabout, a large group of land activists and community members were pushed by security forces officers and prevented from continuing their protest, just in front of the gate of the Embassy of France, near Calmette Hospital. The protesters tried to break away from the security forces, however, their attempts failed after a large group of anti-riot forces came to block the surroundings. Nonetheless, protesters managed to reach the gate of the National Assembly around 10am, arriving, therefore, just at the end of the parliament's plenary meeting. Protesters sang and danced, demonstrating their support against the controversial draft law, currently in front of parliament for discussion. The draft bill is widely criticized for aiming at the restriction of civil society's freedoms of expression, assembly and association in Cambodia.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to Protest
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 25, 2015
- Event Description
Three activists from the environmental NGO Mother Nature and a human rights monitor were detained in Phnom Penh's Chamkar Mon district for about three hours Thursday after City Hall deemed a planned march to the National Assembly illegal. The activists said that about 10 to 15 people planned to march from the Phnom Penh Center on Sothearos Boulevard to the National Assembly to deliver a petition asking the government to intervene in a dispute between villagers in Koh Kong province and a sand dredging company. But at about 8:30 a.m. district security guards swooped in, arresting the three activists and the monitor from human rights group Adhoc, stopping the march before it could begin, witnesses said. City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche said the municipality pulled the plug because officials decided the size of the demonstration had grown too large. "There were hundreds of people demonstrating and marching to submit a petition in front of the National Assembly without a letter of permission," Mr. Dimanche said. "It affected public order.... They cannot do activities like that." However, according to the detained activists, other members of Mother Nature and Nay Vanda, deputy head of the human rights and legal aid section at Adhoc, who watched Thursday's events unfold, there were no more than 20 people involved with the march. "In total, there were about 10 to 20 people," Mr. Vanda said. "They had the right to nonviolently express their concerns about sand dredging." After being detained Thursday, the activists-Sorn Chandara, 23, Chek Nitra, 21, and Deoum Kundy, 20-were transferred to the district headquarters along with Dit Sokthy, 31, the Adhoc monitor. Deputy district governor Chor Kim Sor questioned the four before releasing them before noon. When the questioning was finished, Mr. Kim Sor declined to comment on what had transpired. However, Mr. Dimanche from City Hall said the activists were "educated" and the Adhoc monitor was only mistakenly detained. "We didn't know who was who," he said. "Those who go against the authorities...we have to round them up." After his release, Mr. Chandara, one of the activists, said the security guards used violence against them. "The security guards arrested us and then slapped our faces and confiscated our petitions," he said. "Is that not illegal?"
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 1, 2015
- Event Description
Military police in Kampot province on Monday said they would arrest a vocal member of a Chhuk district community locked in a land dispute with the provincial government if he failed to produce land titles for the hundreds of families claiming part of the contested plot. The landless families have been squatting on 1,300 hectares of land in Decho Aphivat commune that they claim was promised to them in 2012 as part of Prime Minister Hun Sen's nationwide land-titling project. Since then, however, the plot has been set aside as social land concession for the families of some 240 military veterans, according to deputy provincial military police commander Sem Soeun. Mr. Soeun said a total of 200 landless families are living on the plot, and that the province would be willing to give them a portion of it if they can provide documents proving they are entitled to reside there. In a letter dated Friday, Ly Kimhong-whose family is among the 200-was ordered to appear at the Kampot military police headquarters Monday to be questioned over his involvement in a number of demonstrations over the disputed land in Decho Kbal Damrey village. On Monday, Mr. Soeun said Mr. Kimhong "will be arrested if he doesn't have documents to prove that those people own the land, because he created problems and incited the people." Mr. Soeun said military police wanted to question Mr. Kimhong over an incident in late April, when he led a group of people in an attempt to halt the demarcation of the plot. But Mr. Kimhong did not show up Monday, he said, adding that military police would summon him again later this week. "If he does not come, we will make a report and send it to the court," Mr. Soeun said. Contacted Monday, Mr. Kimhong-who claims to have a land title recognized by the village and commune but not the province-said he did not go to the military police headquarters because he feared he would be arrested for leading the protests. "I was worried I'd be arrested because the authorities have attempted to catch me many times," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to property, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 27, 2015
- Event Description
An opposition activist questioned yesterday over allegations that he participated in an "insurrection" last year has claimed his innocence, saying he "did nothing" but was abused by security guards anyway. San Kim Heng, one of 11 activists and lawmakers of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was questioned throughout yesterday over his alleged role in a protest near the capital's Freedom Park that turned violent on July 15. Judge Lim Makaron grilled Kim Heng at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, inquiring about his motives and actions on that day, including why he went to a location closed by the government and what he did while participating in the demonstration. "I just joined, I did nothing," Kim Heng said. "As one of the people, I just asked to have Freedom Park opened." Additionally, he told the court that he was beaten two or three times by security personnel at the scene while he was helping an old lady who was pulled from her motorbike. "I saw security guards tearing[protest signs], and when people told them to stop, they beat the people," he continued. Makaron asked whether Kim Heng had fought back against the security guards, and the activist maintained that he only used his hands to push back the guards and had no weapons on him at the time. Deputy prosecutor Keo Socheat then asked him if he had witnessed any CNRP lawmakers giving speeches on the day of the demonstration. Kim Heng denied seeing any speeches, claiming that he had heard rallying cries from the distance and that any speeches were over by the time he had arrived at the protest. Accompanied by his lawyer, Choung Choungy, CNRP Information Department head Meach Sovannara, who also appeared in court but was not questioned yesterday, told reporters after the session that he was dissatisfied with the drawn-out nature of the proceedings. "[We], the accused, are upset. Such a trial is a waste of time," he said. "My passport was confiscated, so going abroad is impossible. We are sad that we have not gotten freedom yet." Still, Sovannara said he would remain patient. He called on leaders of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, as well as CNRP members, to fully engage in the "culture of dialogue" between the two parties and resolve the case speedily. Choungy echoed his client's sentiment. "It affects the rights of my clients, and my aim as a lawyer is to finish this case, because when it is concluded, all my client's rights are guaranteed," he said. The trial of the 11 CNRP members has been postponed until June 3. UPDATE: 10/ 06/ 2015 More grilled on park violence Three more opposition activists were questioned yesterday in connection with an alleged uprising following the disputed 2013 general election, as lawyers for the accused aired anger over what they considered biased questions. Sum Puthy, Neang Sokhun and An Paktham faced judge Lim Makaron and deputy prosecutor Keo Socheat at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over their alleged role in the "insurrection" on July 15, 2014, in which citizens and activists took to the street to demand the capital's Freedom Park be reopened. The demonstration turned violent when protesters fought back against Daun Penh district security guards, who had terrorised demonstrations for months, leaving 39 people injured. The inquiries mainly focused on why those involved joined the protest in the first place; who led the demonstration; and what roles Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers Mu Sochua and Ho Vann played on the day in question. "I just went to watch[the protest]," Puthy told Makaron. "I did not join. I did not hold anything[weapons]." The judge continued, asking Puthy whether he heard attendees making speeches through megaphones or if opposition supporters were also wielding weapons like some security personnel were. "They were beating each other," Puthy said, adding that both security personnel and plainclothes civilians were wielding weapons, though not many civilians he saw were carrying bats. Puthy also told the court that he saw people running in a nearby garden, some of whom were wearing helmets and holding weapons. Socheat then proceeded to grill Sokhun, asking whether or not Sochua and Vann were present at the demonstration. "I saw them joining in, but I did not see them doing anything," Neang Sokhun claimed. After the hearing, Sam Sokong, one of the lawyers for the activists, told reporters that the session was biased, saying that his clients may not be given justice based on how they were approached. "If we consider the answers of all the accused, we see that the evidence and their answers[indicate] that they[did] not lead an insurrection or join an insurrection," he said. Nine of 11 accused activists have already been summonsed in connection with the case. Next Wednesday, two more activists - Meach Sovannara and Tep Narin - are scheduled to be questioned in the same case. Many, however, have skipped their questioning sessions, with lawmakers citing their parliamentary immunity and busy work schedules as reasons. Some have called on the government to end the case in light of the recent cosying of ties between the opposition and the ruling Cambodian People's Party. UPDATE: 22/ 07/ 2015 Freedom Park 11 jailed Eleven opposition activists, including a US citizen, were handed lengthy prison sentences yesterday for their roles in a protest at Phnom Penh's Freedom Park last year that turned violent and left dozens injured. In a decision that came as a surprise to many, judge Lim Makaron ruled that the Cambodia National Rescue Party members were guilty of trying to foment an "insurrection" by taking part in a demonstration led by CNRP lawmakers at the public square on July 15, 2014. "The 11 activists were sent to jail after the lawyers boycotted the trial today," Sam Sokong, lawyer for the defence, said after the ruling. He added that the lawyers had boycotted the proceedings because the court had called for the trial to resume on a daily basis. "The court did not listen to the lawyers and continued the trial.... They moved quickly and decided to issue a guilty verdict," he said. Meach Sovannara, a Cambodian-American and head of the CNRP's information and media department, was convicted of "leading an insurrection" and sentenced to 20 years in jail. CNRP activists Oeur Narith and Khin Chhumroeun, the president of the party's youth wing, received the same sentence. Eight other party activists were sentenced to seven years for joining the "insurrection". Observers have long asserted that the case against Sovannara and the other activists was being used by the ruling Cambodian People's Party to exert pressure on the opposition during the long negotiations over new laws governing elections. In April, the activist was released on bail just hours after the formation of the new National Election Committee - a key part of the negotiations - leading some to express optimism that the case would be thrown out amid a "culture of dialogue" between Prime Minister Hun Sen and CNRP president Sam Rainsy. Thirty-nine security personnel and at least six protesters were injured when opposition demonstrators turned on a group of notoriously violent Daun Penh district security guards at the July protest following a scuffle between the rally-goers and the advancing guards. The main contingent of the guards quickly retreated as the protesters fought back, leaving several ill-equipped guards among them to suffer the full force of the CNRP supporters' rage, pent up over months of violent crackdowns on opposition protests. Sokong yesterday said that his clients should have been afforded more time to seek additional legal assistance before a sentence was passed. "The court seemed to hatch a plot to close this case[yesterday] even though there were no lawyers present," he said. "If lawyers boycott the court, it must give them more time." The case has been heard intermittently since December, with questionable evidence presented to the judge, according to rights groups. Jamie Meach, Sovannara's wife, who resides in the US, said yesterday that she had lost all confidence in the Cambodian justice system and would now seek urgent consular assistance from the US Embassy and from Washington if her husband wants to leave Cambodia. "I relied on the lawyers and the court in Cambodia, but I have lost hope. So I must seek intervention from this side, but I don't know if he will be able to come back[to the US] or not," she said. "If he wants to come back, I will seek help from the US Embassy and US Congress, because he is an American national. If he wants to come, it will be OK." Judge Makaron could not be reached for comment. CNRP spokesman Yem Ponharith declined to comment on the decision, saying the party's "culture of dialogue" with the CPP "is in the interests of the Khmer people". Rainsy, who last night left for a three-week trip to France, did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Phay Siphan, Council of Ministers spokesman, said the detente between the two parties could not be allowed to interfere with the judge's decision, because political leaders "do not have superiority over the courts". Local advocacy group Licadho decried yesterday's proceedings as "a show trial with a predetermined ending, apparently set up only to intimidate the CNRP", and called for the verdicts to be overturned.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 4, 2015
- Event Description
Election administrator Rong Chhun was issued a warning yesterday not to partake in activities that could be perceived as breaching the neutrality of his membership of the National Election Committee. Chhun attended Labour Day marches, organised by unions but also attended by opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party MPs, on Friday, prompting the ruling Cambodian People's Party to issue a statement threatening it would "take action" against the former union boss if he did not respect the "neutrality" of the NEC. Hang Puthea, NEC spokesman and member, said following a three-hour closed-door meeting of NEC members yesterday that no formal action would be taken against Chhun over his attendance at the rallies. "The meeting was to remind all NEC members that we must carefully avoid conducting activities that affect public opinion, as it affects the independence and neutrality of the NEC," he told reporters. "All NEC members expressed determination to make efforts to carry out their duties according to the laws, regulations and election procedure, to ensure that the NEC is independent and neutral." Puthea, however, would not comment on whether the NEC would sanction Chhun if he continued to attend similar events in the future. Chhun, the former head of the Cambodia Independent Teachers Association, said that all NEC members were subject to the letter of the law when it comes to taking part in public events. He has previously said that he was entitled to attend the May Day rallies as they are part of an international celebration. "In fact, everything depends on the law. All[NEC] leaders have agreed to take the[NEC] law as a basis for action," he said. "I have followed the law. No one is above the law." He added that he would continue to attend similar events in the future unless it was specifically banned under the law. CPP spokesmen Sok Eysan and Suos Yara, who issued the statement about Chhun, declined to comment yesterday. In the CPP statement, Yara said Chhun's presence at the marches showed a clear conflict of interest as CNRP politicians were also there. CNRP spokesman Yem Ponharith dismissed the allegations, saying Chhun was "not involved in any political propaganda" and could attend in a personal capacity without breaking NEC rules. The NEC is comprised of four candidates chosen by the CNRP - including Chhun - and four by the CPP, as well as a "neutral" ninth member, Puthea.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 2, 2015
- Event Description
An activist working for human rights group Adhoc in Mondolkiri province said Tuesday that a district governor threatened to arrest Adhoc staffers if they held planned workshops on human rights and democracy next week. Sok Ratha, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said that his lead investigator, Eang Mengly, delivered a letter about the workshops to Keo Seima district governor Sun Vanvuth on Monday. "When our official brought the letter to him yesterday he refused[to let us hold the workshops] and asked us: "Does your organization know the law?'" Mr. Ratha said. "He claimed that our letter of notice is not the work of civil society, but it is the work of a political party. He threatened us that if we do it[hold the workshops] on May 11 and 12, he will order the[police] force to put us in handcuffs." When contacted by phone Tuesday, Mr. Vanvuth hung up on a reporter. Mr. Ratha criticized the alleged threat. "It is a serious human rights violation because the Constitution declares that all Cambodian people have the right to join meetings or any training workshops," he said. Mr. Ratha said that Adhoc still planned to hold the workshops as scheduled.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2015
- Event Description
A contentious draft law aimed at regulating Cambodia's NGOs could be passed by the National Assembly as early as next month, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday. "[The draft law] is a matter of disagreement, but the government has had it drafted since 2012," Hun Sen said during a speech at the Centre for Deaf and Mute Children in Phnom Penh. "It will pass through the Council of Ministers no later than May before it is sent to the National Assembly, and the draft law will be passed without any obstacles." The Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations, which has been in the works since at least 2006, has been a cause of concern for many activists who say the complex registration process and stringent annual reporting demands on finances and other activities are a thinly veiled attempt to curtail their freedom of movement. Without naming names, Hun Sen asserted that the same NGOs calling for transparency in government must be candid about their operations and funding sources, saying they could otherwise hide that they are supporting or being bankrolled by international terrorist groups or organised crime syndicates. "Previously, we dissolved one NGO suspected of financing terrorists, and another suspected of money laundering," he said. "We are going to die if[they] are financed by al-Qaeda[or] ISIS, and we cannot control it." Hun Sen also lashed out at NGOs he said have attacked Cambodia's human rights record and sent reports to the UN with the goal of obtaining funding from international donors. "In 2005, during the ASEAN-UN Summit in New York, I informed[then-UN secretary-general] Kofi Annan that I didn't expect a good human rights report on Cambodia, since a good report would mean no jobs for human rights activists in Cambodia. This is the reality," he said. Still, Hun Sen assured that the law was not meant to put NGOs out of business - just those that are not registered. "If you are not registered, you will be handcuffed," he said, adding later that "the aim of the law is not to bar the activities of NGOs; the aim of the law is to ensure transparency". While some activists agree that disclosing financials is necessary, others see the law as a bid to control a sector that has routinely picked up the slack in a country where many services normally performed by the government remain the domain of NGOs. "It is legitimate and appropriate to require NGOs to disclose their sources of funding and how the funds are spent," said Kol Preap, executive director of Transparency International Cambodia. "[But] there is concern that the purpose of this NGO law is to further restrict freedom and to control the activities of NGOs." In the view of Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC) adviser Billy Tai, "Hun Sen has a vested interest in trying to legitimise the law, especially after the recent chatter around it as well as the[UN] human rights committee's concluding observations." Ny Chakrya, head of local human rights NGO Adhoc, voiced concern that the law would simply limit the work of NGOs in the Kingdom. "The government has always considered NGOs the enemy," he said. "The criticism[of the government] by NGOs shows that the government has much work to do[in terms of] respecting human rights in Cambodia." Charya further insisted that there are already many relevant laws on the books that control NGOs, so there is no use passing a specific law to monitor them. UPDATE 5 June 2015 Rights Groups Seek Consultation With Cambodian Parliament on NGO Draft Law Rights groups want Cambodia's parliament to hold a consultation with civil society about a controversial draft law on nongovernmental organizations approved Friday by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, which has long demonstrated animosity toward organizations outside of state control. Local NGOs said the government approved the most recent draft Law on the Association and the Non-Governmental Organization (LANGO) without consulting them, fearing that the legislation will restrict their activities in the developing country. Soeung Saroeun, executive director of the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, an NGO that promotes good governance, said the government should have widely discussed the draft law with the NGOs before sending it to parliament. Nevertheless, he said he hoped that the National Assembly would allow NGOs to provide their input before passing it. "We used to discuss this issue with parliamentarian Chheang Vun[spokesman of parliament] and with other members of the Fifth National Assembly Commission," he told RFA's Khmer Service. "We hope that they accept our consultation, and we expect that our three points of concern will be resolved." The three matters in question are restrictions on NGOs' community activities, uncertainty about whether unregistered NGOs could continue operating, and the disbandment of NGOs, Soeung Saroeun said. Rights groups fear that the draft law incorporates few amendments to an earlier draft released in 2011, which was later withdrawn following heavy local and international criticism. 20 years to draft law Although NGOs said they have not yet seen the latest version of the document, government spokesman Phay Siphan said the government had discussed the draft law several times with the groups as well as with the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). "We spent 20 years on drafting this law and made changes and collected data[as needed] before finally coming up with this[approved] draft law," he told RFA, adding that Hun Sen has said that the legislation aims to protect the interests of NGOs. Two main changes in the draft law will help ease the performance of civil society's work by cutting down on the red tape of setting up NGOs as well as reducing restrictions on their activities, Phay Siphan said. The government would send the draft law to parliament in one week, he said. About 5,000 NGOs operate in the impoverished nation, actively assisting with its development in the areas of human rights, democracy, health care, social work and agriculture. Many domestic and international NGOs have said they find it odd that the Cambodian government has claimed it is creating the law to protect their interests, but yet has excluded them from participating in drafting the law. At the end of last month, Phay Siphan said the government would make the recent draft available to NGOs after it had been reviewed by the Council of Ministers and signed off on by Hun Sen. UPDATE 10 June 2015 A copy of the long-secret draft law on NGOs obtained yesterday seemingly confirms civil society's longstanding fears that the legislation's language could be used to hamper, rather than help, the Kingdom's NGOs. The law on associations and non-governmental organisations (LANGO) - a draft of which was last seen by the public in 2011 - purports to be aimed at "safeguarding the rights and freedoms" of NGOs and protecting their "legitimate interests". Critics, however, say the law's provisions place an onerous burden on civil society. Despite government claims that critics would be "surprised" by the draft's friendliness and flexibility, an unofficial copy reveals a number of vaguely worded provisions and seemingly harsh restrictions. A local NGO, for instance, must have "at least five founding members .?.?.[who have] never had a position of leadership of any association or[local NGO] which had been deleted from registration". The Interior Ministry can also deny a request for registration if the organisation's "aims and objectives .?.?. jeopardize peace, stability and public order or harm the national security, national unity, culture, and traditions of the Cambodian national society". Those not registered are "not allowed to conduct any activities" in Cambodia, it says. Even if approved, NGOs "must be neutral toward all political parties", and the government can request full details of activities and finances if it deems it "necessary" to do so. Any associations thought to "jeopardize peace" will be punished "in accordance with the existing criminal law". If local NGOs operate without government approval they could be fined between 5 million and 10 million riel ($1,230 to $2,460), while foreigners could face deportation "and other criminal punishment". Before being green-lighted on Friday, two articles were removed by Prime Minister Hun Sen - one stating that "administrative expenses .?.?. shall not exceed 25 per cent of the total budget", and the other ordering that an organisation "declare its agreement on aid projects to the Council for the Development of Cambodia". Both articles dealt only with international groups. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said if passed in its current form the law will be "an unmitigated disaster for civil society". The law would serve as "an axe that Hun Sen and the government will no doubt use to chop off the heads of NGOs and associations active in protecting human rights, exposing official corruption, and demanding accountability for elites' looting of land and natural resources". But Meas Sarim of the Interior Ministry's General Department of Administration said the law had improved since 2011. "I really don't understand why NGOs are so concerned about this," he added. The opposition will meet today to discuss the draft, said CNRP lawmaker Mu Sochua. UPDATE 17 June 2015 Draft NGO Law reaches National Assembly The draft of a controversial law proposing to regulate the country's sprawling NGO sector has arrived at the National Assembly, where a spokesman said it would likely be put up for public discussion before a vote UPDATE: 23 July 2015 Cambodian Opposition Party Senators Refuse to Debate NGO Draft Law Senators from Cambodia's opposition party will not participate in a debate on controversial legislation passed by the lower house of parliament earlier this month on the regulation of nongovernmental organizations that operate in the developing country, an opposition Senate lawmaker said. Kong Koam, leader of the Sam Rainsy Party, said his fellow lawmakers in the upper house would boycott the discussion of the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (LANGO), which the body's Legislation Commission is reviewing, when the Senate opens the floor to debate by Friday. Those responsible for the legislation have yet to properly consult with other stakeholders such as local and international NGOs and associations according to the spirit of the country's constitution, he said. "It's not good idea to apply such a law after its adoption," he told RFA's Khmer Service. "We want this law to have a detailed review of and consultation on every aspect first." Last week, opposition party Senators said they would boycott the vote in the upper house if their colleagues failed to amend the legislation. The legislation was unanimously approved by 68 ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) representatives in the lower house on July 13. Fifty-five lawmakers from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) boycotted the vote in the lower house. NGOs, associations, unions and land activists have demonstrated outside the National Assembly[parliament] building in the capital Phnom Penh, urging the government to drop the law. Three days after its passage by the lower house, the United Nations Office of High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) urged the Senate to reject the legislation, arguing that it contradicts international human rights law by violating freedom of association. Opponents also say that LANGO runs counter to an international covenant on civil and political rights, which Cambodia signed in 1992. The legislation would require the 5,000 domestic and international NGOs that work in Cambodia to register with the government and report their activities and finances or risk fines, criminal prosecution and shut downs. It also would let authorities de-register NGOs if they are not "politically neutral" and deny registrations on vague grounds that the groups have endangered the country's security and stability or jeopardized national security or Cambodian culture UPDATE: 27/ 07/ 2015 Cambodia's Senate Passes NGO Law, Despite Ongoing Protests against It Ruling-party Senators in Cambodia's parliament on Friday predictably approved a controversial law that lets the government regulate the roughly 5,000 nongovernmental organizations that operate in the developing country. A majority of Senators __� 44 from the Cambodian people's party (CPP) __� passed the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (LANGO), while 11 from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party boycotted the session in protest against the bill that places restrictions on NGOs and associations. Senate President Say Chhum permitted eight CPP Senators to give 10-minute speeches in support of the legislation, during which they said would protect the interests of NGOs as well as the rights, freedom, dignity, security, safety and social order in Cambodia. The Senate will send the law to the Constitutional Council next week for a legal review before it is submitted to King Norodom Sihamoni for final approval, despite continued opposition to it by civil society groups, said Mam Bun Neage, spokesman of the upper house of parliament. About 500 civil society, human rights and land activists staged a peaceful protest outside the Senate building in the capital Phnom Penh to urge Senators to reject the legislation and return it to the lower house. They also submitted a petition to the nearby embassy of Japan, a major donor of aid to Cambodia, arguing that the law would prevent people from being able to seek justice and take away NGOs' freedoms of expression and assembly. "We think the government will enforce the law," said one protestor who declined to be named. "The law will be completely adopted as the government wanted. We think this law will strongly affect the next elections. We will wait to see whether the number of CPP seats in parliament will increase or decrease." Cambodia's next parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held by February 2018. The civil groups vowed not to vote for any parties that supported LANGO. Letter to the king The day before the Senate passed the law, Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's general secretary, sent a letter to the king, calling on him to reject LANGO, which was passed by the National Assembly on July 13. He said that the law would violate Cambodia's constitution and an international covenant on civil and political rights. The law requires the 5,000 domestic and international NGOs that work in Cambodia to register with the government and report their activities and finances or risk fines, criminal prosecution and shut downs. It also lets authorities de-register NGOs if they are not "politically neutral" and deny registrations on vague grounds that the groups have endangered the country's security and stability or jeopardized national security or Cambodian culture. The government has said the law is necessary to ferret out illegitimate NGOs and ensure they do not receive financing from terrorists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 21, 2014
- Event Description
Allegations concerning the expropriation of land of community members of villages in Ta Ches commune, judicial harassment, intimidation and frequent attacks committed against them as well as denial of access to justice and resolution of their claims. According to the information received, in 2007, KDC International, a local company, purchased 195 hectares of the contested land from local farmers and during the process, allegedly appropriated more than 400 hectares of land belonging to 108 families. In early July 2014, KDC International started constructing a concrete wall around the contested land, separating community homes from their farm land. In response, in July and August 2014, community members, including Messrs. Mang Yav, Seang Heng, Ngoun Nhoeun, Srun Pha, Lao En, Kim Tuthdara, Hong Dara, Phan Sokphana, Kuch Hok and Un Ren attempted to stop the construction of the wall and were arrested by the police and charged with intentional destruction of property and violence. A related communication concerning the convictions of a human rights defender and a community member on charges of defamation was sent on 3 February 2011, see A/HRC/18/51, case no. KHM 1/2011.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to property, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 25, 2014
- Event Description
Alleged acts of intimidation and threats against the Project Coordinator of the Land Reform Project at the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR). According to the information received, on 25 April 2014, Mr. Vann Sophath and his team visited the site of a land dispute case, to film a documentary about one of the concerned families, when he was intimidated by security guards. On 9 May 2014, Mr. Sophath's filming on site was interrupted again when armed security guards threatened him and forced him off the site. One security guard took pictures of Mr. Sophath and his car's number plate. Concern is expressed at the intimidation and threats of violence targeting Mr. Sophath while carrying out his peaceful work promoting and protecting the rights of the families on the disputed land.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to information, Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 16, 2015
- Event Description
More than 200 striking workers demonstrated in front of Siko Phnom Penh Garment Factory in the capital's Dangkor district yesterday after management fired an employee who founded a new labour union there, according to a union representative. Siko warehouse chief Leng Chandara was fired yesterday after management realised he had founded a branch of National Trade Union Confederation (NTUC) in the factory, said Fa Saly, NTUC's president. "This is discrimination," Saly said. "The factory does not want to have two or three unions." According to demonstrator Nov Thida, the only approved union operating at the factory does nothing to help workers with problems, unlike Chandara. Factory administrator Chhin Yongfa yesterday said Chandara's termination was executed because he established a union in the factory without notifying management beforehand, which, Yongfa said, is contrary to the Labour Law. However, Community Legal Education Center labour department head Moeun Tola said the law requires no prior notification of a union's formation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Labour rights, Right to Protest, Right to work
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2015
- Event Description
Just days after Spanish environmentalist Alex Gonzalez-Davidson was ejected from the country after officials refused to renew his visa, a prominent Areng Valley activist has been summoned to appear in court for unspecified "forest crimes". Ven Vorn, a community representative in the remote valley in Koh Kong province, was issued a summons by the Koh Kong Provincial Court on Saturday, according to activists from the environmental group Mother Nature, which was co-founded by Gonzalez-Davidson. "The charges are most likely related to the visitor center[that] the communities and[Mother Nature] activists are building at the Areng Valley for students, guests, etc and needless to say is part of the campaign against[the] anti-dam movement," Gonzalez-Davidson said in an email from an undisclosed location yesterday. Gonzalez-Davidson was arrested and deported on February 23 for overstaying his visa. Authorities claimed he had been denied a new visa because he had blocked a road to the proposed dam site last year. "They started with me and now they are trying to get the local leaders coerced," he added. Tou Savuth, the governor of Thmor Bang district, could not be reached for comment. Vorn also could not be reached yesterday as he was in the valley, where there is no mobile phone coverage. He has been called for questioning on March 10 after Forestry Administration officers filed a complaint against him, according to the summons. "He must appear at the court on this date and bring any supporting documents if he has them," the letter reads. Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday said that a decision on whether to proceed with the 108-megawatt hydropower dam would be postponed until 2018. Sinohydro Resources, a state-owned Chinese firm, has sought to complete feasibility studies of the dam since March last year, hiring two local consultancies to carry out the work. Resistance from the activists and some in the local community has irked the authorities and prompted "threats", said Heng Samnang, a Mother Nature activist. "What they are doing now is threatening the communities who are always actively ... opposing the hydropower dam," he said. "Under the forestry law, communities living around the protected forest can collect forest by-products without requiring a licence." UPDATE: 27 March 2015 A prominent Areng Valley activist has been summonsed for questioning at Koh Kong Provincial Court next week over alleged forest crimes. Ven Vorn, a community representative in the remote valley, was originally called to appear at the court last month, but the questioning was delayed. A new summons was issued this week ordering him to appear on April 3. "This time, we will go on the scheduled day," Vorn's lawyer, Ith Mathoura, said. According to Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, co-founder of environmental group Mother Nature, the Forestry Administration (FA) filed a complaint against Vorn for his role in building a visitor centre in the valley using wood the FA said they had not been given permission to use. "The centre has been built and will continue to grow ... fulfilling the vision of turning the valley into a hub for tourists, Khmer students, researchers, etc", said Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported last month. "That the FA is not helping us but rather trying to send to jail one of the community leaders is a scandal without name."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2015
- Event Description
Interior Minister Sar Kheng has ordered immigration authorities not to renew the visa of Spanish environmental activist Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, which expires on February 20, senior immigration department officials said yesterday. Gonzalez-Davidson, of Mother Nature, an NGO, has led a campaign against the controversial Stung Cheay Areng Dam project in Koh Kong province and has attracted a large following on Facebook for his activism. The Khmer-speaking Spaniard attracted a thinly veiled threat of deportation from senior ruling party lawmaker Chheang Vun in December, three months after he and other Mother Nature activists were briefly detained for blocking security forces and authorities on an access road to the Areng Valley. Sok Veasna, the director of the department of non-immigrants and technology at the Interior Ministry's general immigration department, which handles non-permanent visas for foreigners, confirmed the order yesterday. "Our minister decided not to extend his visa, so we already made a call and would like to meet him ... to let him know that his visa will be expired and he will need to leave Cambodia," he said. "Our ministry still has his passport, however. We request him to come and pick up his passport and leave Cambodia." Veasna said Gonzalez-Davidson would not be banned from returning to the Kingdom if he leaves voluntarily. But otherwise, he would be deported and barred from returning. Sok Phal, the director-general of immigration, said that the decision was made after local authorities in Koh Kong lodged a complaint about Gonzalez Davidson's activities. When asked if he was being denied a visa because of his environmental activism, Phal replied, "Don't ask me that. I can't comment on it; I only do technical work." Koh Kong provincial governor Bun Leut said that he filed the complaint to the MoI that led to the decision. "Alex made trouble with local authorities in Thma Bang district. He took the car of his NGO to block my deputy governor's group who went to visit the villagers in the Areng area," he said. Gonzelez-Davidson said that there was "no doubt" in his mind that the decision to deny him visa renewal was related to his anti-dam activism. He also rejected the governor's interpretation of the September road-blocking incident. "He says that we were blocking the road and we stopped the authorities from meeting the villagers. To anyone who has any understanding of the situation, that is absolutely ridiculous. The only time the authorities have visited the villagers in 15 years has been to cheat, threaten or scam them." He added that the Areng Valley campaign had been "extremely successful". "They will have to deport me. I will throw as many eggs as I can at their face," he said, vowing not to leave the country before his visa expires. Senior opposition lawmaker Son Chhay condemned the decision and said he would seek to question Sar Kheng in parliament about the exact reasons why the visa had been denied. "Alex has done so much good for the country ... what he is trying to do is not for his own benefit - he was trying to protect our environment," he said. "It's not going to be easy for Sar Kheng." UPDATE 24th February: Outspoken environmental activist Alex Gonzalez-Davidson was deported from Cambodia last night after being detained along with a colleague from his conservation group. Gonzalez-Davidson and his Mother Nature co-founder San Mala were detained without charge by immigration officials at around 1:15pm in the riverside area of Phnom Penh. General Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, suggested the ministry had shown restraint in not bringing criminal charges against the activist. "We are not detaining him[for long], but just to force him out of the Kingdom. We have the right to send him to court and imprison him from one to three months, but we don't do that," he said. A senior immigration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed Gonzalez-Davidson was scheduled to go to Bangkok on an 8:35pm Thai Airways flight. In a text message from the plane, Gonzalez-Davidson said he was bound for his native Spain. Mala was released from detention shortly before 6pm. An immigration official, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media, said that the order to deport the conservation campaigner had come directly from Prime Minister Hun Sen following a speech he made yesterday morning. "Hun Sen made the direct order to arrest Alex after his speech," the official said. Wan-Hea Lee, country director of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said a UN worker had "learned that there[were] no charges against either[Gonzalez-Davidson or Mala]". Mother Nature said in a press release yesterday that "the authorities may have overstepped the law and detained Alex without proper cause". "Today, we have heard reports from communities in the Areng Valley .?.?. that a car with four Chinese workers supported by police and military has entered the valley. We will be doing everything we can to support the communities to halt what appears to be a resumption of the work," the group added. Hun Sen earlier in the day warned the defiant activist to leave Cambodia voluntarily or face being blacklisted from the country. Gonzalez-Davidson had vowed to remain in Cambodia despite the fact that his visa expired on Friday. Speaking at a graduation in Phnom Penh yesterday, the premier also warned NGOs not to rally behind the embattled environmentalist, lest they face problems of their own. "Regarding Alex[Gonzalez-Davidson], let the Ministry of Interior take measures. It's not just foreigners, it's also Khmers that will be sentenced, and other NGOs shouldn't express much," Hun Sen said. "We'll let him stay until his visa is invalid. So you should leave first then ask for a new visa, it doesn't matter.[You] don't need to make this situation get worse. If we deport you, it means[you're] on the blacklist, that's it." Gonzalez-Davidson had planned to stay for at least 37 days after his visa expired and pay the related fines, but had vowed to remain in Cambodia until he was forced to leave. A staunch advocate of environmental causes, particularly that of the threatened Areng Valley, he had previously told the Post he was certain that if he left the country to obtain a new visa, the government would not let him back in. His situation has attracted huge support on social media, where the fluent Khmer-speaking activist has become something of celebrity. Gonzalez-Davidson was unavailable to comment, but Mala, his NGO's co-founder, told the Post yesterday morning that support for his colleague in the Cambodian community was absolute. "Hun Sen is going against what the Khmer people want, as we know 100 per cent of Khmers want Alex to stay.[Hun Sen's actions are] opposite to Khmer people," he said, pointing out that Alex has grown to be considered "Khmer" by his supporters. Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia program director for International Rivers, said it would be "unethical" for engineering giant Sinohydro, which is overseeing construction of the Cheay Areng dam, to proceed with feasibility studies "given the strong-arm tactics and intimidation being used by the .?.?. government against activists working to protect the Areng Valley". In a text message to supporters before his deportation, Gonzalez-Davidson remained defiant. "Stay strong, the battle is yours to be won. For nature, our life," he wrote.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Deportation, Intimidation and Threats, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 2, 2015
- Event Description
Government spokesman and four-star General Khieu Sopheak has threatened to sue an NGO worker over his "false allegations" about Montagnard asylum seekers. In a Monday interview with Voice of America, Interior Ministry spokesman Sopheak denied reports that five Montagnards - a mother and father, their two young sons, and 9-month-old daughter - were arrested in Ratanakkiri on Sunday. Sopheak said authorities had only arrested "illegal Vietnamese immigrants", and called on Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc and the monitor who first reported the arrests, to either prove they were Montagnards or rescind the allegations. "There are no Montagnards[in the province]. I ask Adhoc to specify this clearly, or we will sue[Thy] in the court for making politically motivated allegations," he said. According to Adhoc and local villagers, 27 Montagnards remain in hiding in the province. Sopheak could not be reached for comment, while Thy said he would not back down. "I work in accordance with a human rights policy and the Refugee Convention. I just fulfil my duty; I do not work for a political party," he said, adding that Sopheak's threat was a "normal thing" that happens to human rights activists. Thy stressed that reports of the arrests on Sunday were true and confirmed by accounts from villagers and activists. He also questioned why 13 Montagnards were allowed passage to Phnom Penh in December to process asylum claims if the ministry believed that all those hiding were merely "illegal Vietnamese immigrants". The threats against Thy once again extended to social media yesterday as a Facebook account called "Lum Phatsrok", which he alleges is controlled by a senior provincial official, invited ISIS militants to "cut off" his tongue. Ignoring the threats, Thy continued to call on authorities to reveal the whereabouts of the arrested Montagnards. The family of asylum seekers have not been seen since their arrest in O'Yadav district on Sunday, and ethnic Jarai villagers in Ratanakkiri fear that they have been deported. The United Nations yesterday continued to raise concerns. "The responsible authorities are not responding to our inquiries about the arrested persons. We are very concerned about this group and will continue to liaise with the authorities to confirm their status and, if they indicate that they seek asylum, to ensure that they are able to do so," said Wan-Hea Lee, country representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Vivian Tan, regional press officer for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said UNHCR would be "very concerned if people seeking asylum, including women and children, are unable to access national procedures". Provincial officials refused to comment on the arrests yesterday. Ratanakkiri police chief Nguon Koeun told the Post to "stop calling and asking me about that".
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 26, 2015
- Event Description
Despite hopes to the contrary, 10 female land activists, including seven well-known Boeung Kak lake protesters, and a monk, had their convictions upheld yesterday morning at the Appeal Court, two and a half months after they were arrested and sentenced to a year in prison within 24 hours of their respective arrests. Although most received slight reductions in their prison terms and fines, it appeared to be of little consolation. Following the verdict, the jump-suited defendants yelled and protested the "injustice" of the decision in the courtroom before being dragged out and into waiting police vans. Two of the group - Boeung Kak community leader Tep Vanny and monk Soeun Hai - were not offered any leniency in their jail sentences by presiding judge Nguon Im. As news of the verdict arrived outside the court, waiting family members, including a number of children, were inconsolable as they clutched portraits of their mothers, wives and daughters. Thirty-six NGOs, rights groups and unions later slammed the verdicts as "indefensible", saying they followed an appeal hearing "that was characterised by an almost total absence of fair trial rights". The seven Boeung Kak women were convicted on November 11 for blocking traffic on Monivong Boulevard with a bed during a protest the day before, in which they called on City Hall to drain floodwater from their houses. Five of them - Kong Chantha, Song Srey Leap, Bo Chhovy, Nong Sreng and Phan Chhunreth - had two months shaved off their sentences yesterday. They were also ordered to pay a fine of 1.5 million riel, about $375, rather than the original 2 million. Nget Khun, the 75-year-old protest stalwart known as "mummy", had her sentence and fine halved, meaning she has less than four months remaining to serve. Vanny had her fine reduced to 1.5 million riel but saw her prison term remain intact. During the hearing, the judges denied a defence request to show a video that allegedly proved the women had not blocked traffic. Separately, the three women in the second case - arrested on November 11 while protesting outside the court during the trial of the Boueng Kak seven - had their sentences reduced from one year to 10 months. Im Srey Touch, Heng Pich and Phoung Sopheap were all convicted on November 12 for "aggravated obstruction of public officials". Pich lives at Boeung Kak, while Srey Touch is a former resident. Their fines were also reduced from 2 million to 1.5 million riel. But Soeun Hai, a monk from Stung Meanchey pagoda who was defrocked after his arrest, had his one-year sentence and 2-million-riel fine upheld. Hai took part in a number of protests last year outside the Vietnamese Embassy after a spokesman's views on the history of the former Kampuchea Krom provinces sparked controversy. In explaining his verdict and the sentence reductions, judge Im said he had tried to "offer leniency" to older and ill housewives who need to take care of their children. Hai, however, as a monk, had "damaged the national religion", and thus was not worthy of a reduction in his sentence, he said. The decision to uphold Vanny's jail sentence in full was not explained. Outside, about 200 gathered activists and supporters voiced their disappointment at the verdict. Om Sakhorn, 64, an aunt of Srey Leap, clutched a Cambodian flag as she paced in front of the court. "There is no justice in Cambodia, please let the ICC[International Criminal Court] help Cambodian people to find justice," she said tearfully. Metres away, Nou Chivoan, the 16-year-old son of Nong Sreng, lay on the ground in front of a portrait of his mother. "My mother is not guilty. Please release her," he said. On Friday the 23rd January, departing UN rights envoy Surya Subedi cited the case of the seven Boeung Kak women as one example of "how the courts are being used for political ends" in Cambodia. UPDATE 13 April 2015 Five months behind bars has done nothing to deter Phnom Penh's Boeung Kak activists from taking their demands to the streets. Just one day after their release from the capital's Prey Sar prison, the female activists - often at the helm of Phnom Penh demonstrations - vowed yesterday to continue protesting for "as long as land disputes and social injustices remain". "I will still advocate and peacefully protest to demand solutions and justice for all the victims in Cambodian society, even if I will be imprisoned or killed by the authorities," Boeung Kak leader Tep Vanny told the Post from her home yesterday. Vanny and six other Boeung Kak activists were arrested during a protest in November, and convicted a day later for violating the Traffic Law by using a wooden bed to block the capital's Monivong Boulevard. On the day of the women's trial, another two Boeung Kak women were arrested, along with Phoung Sopheap, a land activist from Phnom Penh's airport community, and Buddhist monk Soeun Hai. The four, who had been protesting outside the courtroom, were also convicted at breakneck speed for "intentionally inciting violence against a public authority". Vanny yesterday expressed her gratitude at the group's release, which was granted under King Norodom Sihamoni's annual Khmer New Year royal pardon following negotiations between Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition leader Sam Rainsy. But, she said, they should never have been arrested in the first place. Dismissing claims from the ruling Cambodian People's Party that the women had "accepted their guilt," Vanny said they had in fact been used by the party as pawns in a political power play. "The ruling party arrested and accused us, the land activists, as a pretext to put pressure on the opposition to accept[conditions for] the reformed National Election Committee. But we are not political activists, we are just community land rights protesters," she said. Vanny, like many of the other released activists, spent more than a month in prison in 2012 for obstructing public officials and illegally occupying land in a protest against Boeung Kak developer Shukaku. This time around, she said, life behind bars was even more difficult. "One day, some of our members fainted and were taken to hospital, but the prison guards said they had pretended. Later on, they locked the doors and wouldn't let us outside to get some air, saying we are Boeung Kak women and like inciting violence," she said. Just a week ago, Vanny and two of the other activists hit their heads against the wall until they fell unconscious after being denied any time outside of their cell. The guards had said "if we were furious and wanted to commit suicide, please do", she recalled. Seventy-six-year-old Nget Khun echoed Vanny's complaints. Khun - who is known universally as "Mummy" - said the cell she shared with more than 60 other inmates got unbearably hot. But Prey Sar's months-long water shortage and "dictatorial" guards meant that she could neither get water to cool herself, nor leave to get fresh air. "The food in jail is not enough ... and sleeping is difficult, too; sometimes I slept sitting with my knees upright, and sometimes I slept on the floor," she added. Kong Chantha, another of the released Boeung Kak activists, said guards tried to turn other inmates against them by using them as the reason that all prisoners were being confined in their cells. Kuy Bunsorn, director general of the Interior Ministry's General Department of Prisons, could not be reached yesterday. While the 11 activists were released on Saturday, others believed to be held for political reasons, including opposition activists and monks, are expected to be released following a bail hearing today. Opposition member "Meach Sovannara and other activists including two monks will be released tomorrow after the municipal court opens a hearing about their case," CNRP lawmaker Eng Chhai Eang said in a statement yesterday.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 22, 2015
- Event Description
A Kampong Cham Provincial Court summons over a protest shocked a former local union president and his wife yesterday, since the event in question occurred more than a year ago and the union leader's wife had no involvement in it. "I got the summons letter this morning, but I am so surprised by it, because it is not only for me but also for my wife, who did not know anything[about the protest]," said Chorn Theang, 30, former president of the Cambodian Alliance Trade Unions at Manhattan Textile and Garment Corp. "My wife ... is a housewife, so why did she also got summoned?" Dated January 16, the letter calls Theang and wife, Nath Sokleang, 33, to the provincial court to be questioned for alleged incitement at a protest near the end of 2013. Chiv Chandara, a representative of the provincial prosecutor, says in the letter obtained by the Post that the two will also be questioned for "making an obstacle for traffic". The demonstration occurred during a 10-day nationwide garment worker strike. Theang said the factory could be using the court to intimidate him. Neither the prosecutor, Chandara, or the factory could be reached.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 20, 2015
- Event Description
Some 50 Daun Penh district security guards and about as many riot police prevented 100 anti-eviction protesters from gathering at Phnom Penh's Freedom Park on Tuesday 20th January after the city deemed the gathering illegal. The protesters were from a number of eviction-hit communities, including the Boeng Kak and Borei Keila neighborhoods of Phnom Penh and communities in Preah Vihear province. The group wants the government to settle their myriad land disputes in their favor and to release 10 jailed activists, nine from Boeng Kak and one from Borei Keila. The protesters began marching from the U.S. Embassy in Daun Penh district at 9:30 a.m. But as the group approached Freedom Park, district security guards and riot police armed with shields and batons used barricades to block off Street 51 in front of the park and deny access. The group moved to an adjacent park and protested until about 3:30 p.m. before dispersing. Contacted later in the day, Phnom Penh deputy governor Khuong Sreng said City Hall decided to deny the protesters access to Freedom Park because they had disturbed the peace on previous occasions. "What they do, it is beyond democracy because it will cause anarchy," Mr. Sreng said. "It is illegal and they don't have a monopoly on freedom." He added that the protesters were also blocked because some communities represented in the group were not cooperating with City Hall. "City Hall is working to solve the Boeng Kak and Borei Keila issues," Mr. Sreng said. "But they do not come to solve the problem and they keep protesting, so City Hall did not allow them to do it." The deputy governor said the group's demand to release the 10 activists was unreasonable. "They asked the court to release the prisoners, but it is not their right.... It is the right of the court," he said. Mr. Sreng said plans for a month-long protest, which the group informed City Hall of earlier this week, were not fair to other demonstrators who might want to use the park. "In the demonstration law, it does not state whether they can hold[a protest] for a month," he said. "We are the authority and we have set[a time limit] because they are not the only ones who want to express their views." The Law on Peaceful Assembly states that demonstrations held at any of the country's so-called freedom parks can only be held between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. It does not place a limit on how many consecutive days a demonstration may run. Chak Sopheap, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said in an email Tuesday that not allowing a demonstration at Freedom Park defeated the point of the law. "Restricting a peaceful demonstration on the basis of its duration clearly conflicts also with the purpose of this law, which is to ensure the freedom of expression of citizens through the exercise of freedom of assembly," Ms. Sopheap said. "What happened today at Freedom Park was simply an unjustified limitation to the exercise of fundamental rights that had no legal ground," she added. Yorm Bopha, an anti-eviction activist from Boeng Kak, said her group chose the relatively secluded Freedom Park for the demonstration precisely so that they would not impose on other residents. "Since we do not want to march on the street and do not want authorities to accuse us of affecting public order, we came to protest at Freedom Park," Ms. Bopha told security guards. "If you do not allow us to demonstrate in Freedom Park, where will you allow us to do it?" Am Sam Ath, technical supervisor for rights group Licadho, said the city probably blocked access to the park because political tensions between the ruling CPP and opposition CNRP were once again on the rise. "Freedom Park is a place for gathering and expressing views in a peaceful way," he said. "But in our country, the government begins to restrict people's freedoms and rights when politics gets tense." On Monday, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned the CNRP that seven of its lawmakers facing incitement and insurrection charges over a protest in July to open Freedom Park that turned violent could still face jail despite their parliamentary immunity. UPDATE: 21/ 05/ 2015 Freedom Park Protesters Deny "Insurrection' The trial of the 11 opposition activists charged with "joining an insurrection" for their presence at a July 15 protest demanding authorities reopen Phnom Penh's Freedom Park continued in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday. Seven opposition lawmakers and 11 activists were jailed after last year's protest, which descended into a street brawl when the demonstrators fought back against notoriously violent government security guards who had for months terrorized their protests. The lawmakers gained immunity from prosecution when they swore in to the National Assembly the following month, but the 11 activists had their first trial hearing last month. Four of the 11 were questioned at the second session Tuesday, each telling the panel of three judges that they believed the brawl was sparked by the guards and denying the charges against them. "I saw the people carrying national flags and I saw the security guards distributing wooden batons from the back of a Daun Penh district truck," said Khin Chamroeun, chief of the CNRP's youth wing in Phnom Penh. "The people were not occupying the Naga Bridge area, they just went to demand that Freedom Park be freed." Another of the activists, Ke Khim, a tuk-tuk driver who often appears at protests in Phnom Penh but says he is not a member of the CNRP, denied he was taking part in an "insurrection" against the government on July 15. "I didn't know why the people went there but I heard information from the newspaper and radios, so I just joined there to use my freedom in a democratic society," he said. Yet Mr. Khim acknowledged that he had armed himself with a rock "for a short time" when the fighting broke out. "When the situation had chaos, I carried a piece of stone to defend myself because I was scared someone would hit me, especially when I saw a few of the authorities' spies walking and following me," he said. Ouk Pich Samnang, another of the arrested activists, said he believed plainclothes provocateurs had been employed by the state to start the fight. "The police and military police do not dare to hit the people in public, because they are afraid to violate human rights, so they hire the third-hand group created by the state and the districts of Phnom Penh," he said. CNRP member San Seyhak, the last of the activists questioned Tuesday, said he did not join the fight. "I received the voice of Khin Chamroeun through the walkie-talkie to "withdraw' and that meant "do not join the violence,'" Mr. Seyhak said. "I was far away from the violent place, so I do not know who fought each other." Presiding Judge Lim Makaron said the trial will continue Tuesday.
- Impact of Event
- 100
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 9, 2015
- Event Description
On the morning of 9th January 2015, defrocked monks Venerable Seung Hai, Venerable Khith Vannak, and Venerable Sang Kosal arrived at the Phnom Penh Appeal Court to request bail, as some 70 supporters gathered outside. Venerable Khith Vannak and Venerable Sang Kosal were appealing for bail following the delay of their previous hearing on December 30, 2014, which lasted just 15 minutes. Within one hour of arriving at the court, all three defrocked monks were denied bail and transported back to Prey Sar's CC1 prison. Venerable Khith Vannak and Venerable Sang Kosal were arrested on November 12, 2014, while carrying national and religious flags attached to bamboo flagpoles in support of land activists from Preah Vihear province. They have been charged with participation in a criminal association (Criminal Code article 499) and face up to five years in prison and $2,500 in fines if found guilty. Venerable Seung Hai was arrested on the morning of November 11, 2014, outside the Phnom Penh Municipal Court whilst protesting for the release of seven Boeung Kak Lake activists. He has already been convicted of obstructing public officials with aggravating circumstances (Criminal Code article 504) and has been sentenced to one year in prison with a $500 fine. He now stands accused of using forged public documents (Criminal Code article 630) and the unauthorized wearing of Buddhist robes (Criminal Code article 508). He faces penalties of up to five years in prison and $2,625 in fines.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 13, 2015
- Event Description
A couple was arrested in Preah Vihear province's Chheb district yesterday morning after the woman in the pair - a local land activist - protested against being moved from the area to make way for a local infrastructure project. The husband and wife also have a one-year-old baby. "They forced the villagers to move out and arrested them while the child was crying in the house," said Rorn Ravoan, a local resident. Military police, forestry police and other authorities were involved in the action yesterday morning, which targeted families of migrant workers living along National Road 9 in M'lou Prey 1 commune, because their makeshift domiciles were preventing the extension of a road. Of all the residents, Lim Sokhim, 45, the woman arrested yesterday with her husband, was the most vociferously opposed to moving. "Though the wife is the one who protested and her husband knew nothing, the authorities arrested both of them," Ravoan said. Villagers claim they have lived on the land since 2009. Ravoan said the people asked to continue living there under the agreement that they would move when road construction starts. But the authorities were not willing to be patient, Ravoan said. Sokhim and her husband Sorn Vuthy, 46, are to go before a judge today to face charges. Yean Chhay, the local village chief, said some of the migrants have lived there for a month; others have lived there from a year to three years. Chhay described Sokhim as inflexible when dealing with offers to move. "She is determined to live on the state land illegally. If she agrees to leave, the commune authorities have new land for her, but she did not listen," he said. Lor Chann, Preah Vihear provincial coordinator of rights group Adhoc, called the arrests a "cruel action and severe human rights violation". After the two were taken away, 40 villagers protested at the Preah Vihear provincial forestry administration, demanding their release. The baby was allowed to stay with the family. Long Sitha, deputy provincial prosecutor, said that the provincial forestry administration is accusing the wife and husband of grabbing state land illegally. "[The authorities] including the provincial governor, called her many times to solve the problem and negotiate, but[she] did not come," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Right to property, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 3, 2015
- Event Description
About 100 military police, riot police and government security guards on Saturday the 3rd January blocked a roughly equal number of protesters from Phnom Penh's Borei Keila community from marching to the National Assembly to deliver a petition protesting their evictions three years ago. "They blocked the way out and threatened to forcibly crack down on our group," said Chhay Kimhorn, a representative of the community, which saw 300 families evicted from their homes on January 3, 2012, to make way for a residential development. The firm behind the project, Phanimex Development, agreed to build 10 adjacent apartment blocks for the families, but has only built eight of them. "We live under a big pile of trash, and some of our children cannot go to school because they live as scavengers and old people do not have work," Mr. Kimhorn said. Municipal spokesman Long Dimanche said the march was prevented from going ahead because its organizers had failed to secure authorization from City Hall. "We did not allow them to march because it would have caused a traffic jam," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 100
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Right to housing, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 9, 2014
- Event Description
Activists and monks who were marching to Phnom Penh from across the country to mark Human Rights Day on Wednesday the 10th December met with roadblocks and armed police on the city's outskirts Tuesday morning, negotiating their way through the blockages only to find the pagodas where they intended to spend the night were locked. A group of about 70 marchers making their way along National Road 2 came up against a roadblock manned by some 30 police in Meanchey district at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, where they were prevented from passing for about an hour. But contacted Tuesday, acting district police chief Chuem Sitha denied that his officers had set up barricades. "No, we didn't set up barriers; it was time for the monks to have lunch," he said. Mr. Sitha said authorities demanded that representatives of the marchers sign agreements promising that they would not block traffic once inside the city center. "We did not stop them, we just checked them for weapons...and ensured there would be no traffic jams," he said. Once the roadblocks were removed, the group-which started their journey in Takeo province's Kiri Vong district-tramped down the highway and past the Phnom Penh headquarters of the opposition CNRP, where they were met by party president Sam Rainsy and lawmaker Mu Sochua, who accompanied them to Wat Tan on Norodom Boulevard. Prak Bora, second deputy chief monk at the pagoda, welcomed the weary band at about 2 p.m., and criticized reports that authorities had ordered pagodas along the way to lock out marchers. "I'm not happy that local authorities pressure pagodas to ban marchers from staying," he said. "A pagoda is a place for everyone." But a second group of marchers that had traveled from Ratanakkiri province-which was also temporarily stopped outside the city by police, according to rights group Adhoc-apparently received a less warm welcome. The group, which included members of the seven different ethnic minority communities from the country's northeast, was refused entry to Keang Kleang pagoda in Chroy Changva district, where they had intended to stay the night, according to rights group Licadho. The activists moved on to nearby Wat Chas, where they were offered shelter, Licadho said. Another group of about 100 marchers, which had traveled into the city via National Road 4, arrived at Stung Meanchey pagoda in Meanchey district to find the gates locked. Thai Bunthoeun, acting chief monk at the pagoda, said his decision to stop marchers from entering was in accordance with a joint statement released by the country's Mohanikaya and Thammayut Buddhist sects on Friday prohibiting monks from taking part in marches. "Another reason is that we are afraid that they will not leave if we allow them to stay," he said. After being rejected from Wat Stung Meanchey, the group was welcomed at Wat Samakki Raingsey, where chief monk Sieng Sovannara said the group was "staying happily" last night. Speaking at Wat Tan, Ms. Sochua, the opposition lawmaker, said she was hopeful authorities would allow Wednesday's celebrations to go ahead despite Tuesday's obstacles. "It's been sad to see the way[the monks] have been treated along the way...but I'm optimistic they will be allowed to finish without any blockades. I think authorities know better than to stop them," she said. "They will just intimidate with the security guards and all that, but I think it will be justice that will prevail."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 11, 2014
- Event Description
Seang Sovannara, the chief monk at Wat Samakki Raingsey, has not left the grounds of his pagoda for the best part of a week. Since activist monk Soeung Hai was arrested and defrocked for protesting peacefully outside City Hall on Tuesday the 11th November, Wat Samakki Raingsey, a popular residence for dissident monks and a magnet for marginal�_ized communities, has been under surveillance. "When I wake up in the morning, usually about 4 a.m., the police and military police are already moving into position to stand guard at the entrance to the pagoda," Seang Sovannara said from inside his dark dormitory on Friday. "They are here to watch our movements, to monitor who comes and goes, and to stop people from joining protests in the city," he said. In addition to Mr. Hai, who was sentenced on Wednesday to a year in prison for obstructing public officials, two more monks-Thach Sang, 19, and Khit Vannak, 20-have also been arrested and defrocked in the past week. Mr. Sang and Mr. Vannak were apprehended while carrying Cambodian and Buddhist flags from Wat Stung Meanchey to Wat Samakki Raingsey, where a displaced community from Preah Vihear province was waiting to receive the flags and march into Phnom Penh to bring attention to their battle to keep their land. The courts charged the two flag carriers with joining a "criminal association," a crime that carries a maximum jail term of five years. The pair is in Prey Sar prison awaiting their trial. "These arrests are a worry," Seang Sovannara said, "because I have heard that the authorities are very interested in arresting me and my deputy,[Thach Ha] Sam Ang." "They know that if they arrest us, the leaders, then our monks will not be organized." Photos of Mr. Hai wailing and wearing civilian clothes were circulated on social media following his arrest and defrocking, a process that is supposed to be undertaken with the oversight of senior members of the Buddhist clergy. But Buntenh, head of the In�_dependent Monk Network for Social Justice, said Friday that the defrocking of the three monks had not been done in accordance with Buddhist doctrine. "If a monk does wrong, there is a process that we must go through," he said. "It has been the same for many, many generations." But Buntenh said that, according to Buddhist doctrine, if a monk is thought to have broken the law, the authorities should inform the ecclesiastic hierarchy, who would then summon the monk in question and have him explain himself. "If the Ministry of Cult and Re�_ligion decides that the monk has committed wrong according to the law, then they will allow the monk to be defrocked," he said. "But po�_lice do not have the authority to arrest and defrock a monk before this process." At Wat Samakki Raingsey, Seang Sovannara said that monks living in or affiliated with his pagoda were often given the cold shoulder by the ecclesiastic hierarchy. The abbot said that he had no confidence that there was anyone he could reach out to in the event of a violation of doctrine. "[Great] Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong has never helped us before," he said, referring to the chief of the country's Mohanikaya Buddhism sect, who is also a former CPP parliamentarian. "The Ministry of Cults and Religion does not care about Kampuchea Krom monks." "The only ones we can call when there is a violation are NGOs and journalists." Khim Sorn, chief of the Moha�_nikaya sect's secretariat, said that monks affiliated with Wat Samakki Raingsey acted "independently" of the monkhood's doctrine and were therefore not afforded the same privileges as their peers at more obedient pagodas. He said that the pagoda's split from the clergy goes back to 2010, when the pagoda's founder, Yoeung Sin, passed away. "When the former chief monk was still alive, I used to meditate in this pagoda and lead the monks there to respect the Buddhist doctrine," Khim Sorn said. When Yoeung Sin died, he said, the monks at the pagoda refused to let the clergy appoint a new chief monk, instead choosing among themselves. "Since that time, Wat Samakki Raingsey has operated separately from Cambodian monk authorities because they do not allow us to regulate them," Khim Sorn said. "They want to operate independently so they don't need the au�_thorities to help them." Khim Sorn said that Buddhist doctrine dictates that a monk can only be defrocked with the blessing of the chief of his pagoda, which he said took place in all three cases this week. "In this case, the monk chief at Stung Meanchey pagoda joined other monk authorities to defrock them," he said. However, Thai Buntheoun, the chief monk at Wat Stung Mean�_chey, said that was not the case. "I did not join the defrocking of those monks," he said, referring further questions to the Ministry of Cults and Religion. Seng Somony, spokesman for the ministry, said that protocol had been followed. "Before authorities sent them to court, they had permission from monk authorities to defrock them," he said. "They broke government rules, therefore they cannot remain in the monkhood." Back at Wat Samakki Raingsey, Seang Sovannara said he was fearful that his turn to be arrested and defrocked was not far away. "The high-ranking monks have never called me in person to ask me anything about activists at the pagoda," he said. "But recently I have been getting phone calls where people threaten me: "If you don't make it stop, you will be arrested.'" He said that with police watching his pagoda closely, monks were afraid they could be arrested if they ventured outside the pagoda grounds alone on in small groups. "We will not stop our social work," he said. "When we leave, we just need to go in large groups. They dare not stop us if we are many." And if things do get too hot outside the pagoda, he will instruct his monks to remain inside, where he believes they will be out of the law's reach. "Police and military police can not come inside the pagoda; if they do, we will dismiss them," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Freedom of Religion and Belief, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 12, 2014
- Event Description
A court in Cambodia on Wednesday 12th November ordered three female land activists and a Buddhist monk to serve one year in prison each for "aggravating a rebellion" after they protested the jailing of seven fellow campaigners a day earlier, according to a rights worker. The three women and monk Soeung Hai were arrested Tuesday outside the court in Phnom Penh after staging a protest calling for the release of seven activists from the capital's Boeung Kak community, who were sentenced to one year each for obstructing traffic during a demonstration. Am Sam Ath, of local rights group Licadho, said court judge Phi Chhay handed all four defendants the maximum sentence of a year in prison and a two million riel (U.S. $490) fine under article 504 of Cambodia's penal code, which is vaguely defined as instigating or perpetrating a rebellion. Soeung Hai, who was defrocked by authorities ahead of the court proceedings, and the three activists were escorted to Prey Sar Prison following the judge's verdict, he said. The activists are among residents of Boeung Kak community who have battled authorities for years over the eviction of thousands of families to make way for a development project backed by Lao Meng Khin, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodia People's Party (CPP). Am Sam Ath condemned Wednesday's sentence as "shameful" and politically motivated, and called for their immediate release. "There is no evidence to suggest that the four broke any laws," he told RFA's Khmer Service. Lim Sam Oeun, whose wife was among those convicted Wednesday, said he had "lost faith in the country's justice system." "The courts in Cambodia are not independent-it's true what the people say," he added. Monks associated with Soeung Hai told RFA that authorities had broken the laws of Buddhism by defrocking him, adding that only members of the clergy have the right to remove a monk from the order. The Phnom Penh municipal government had issued a statement ahead of the trial which said that Soeung Hai was "a fake monk," without providing further explanation. City authorities also arrested and defrocked two additional monks Wednesday after accusing them of planning a land protest, sources told RFA, adding that they are being detained by police pending trial. A report by the Phnom Penh Post quoted a monk from their pagoda in Phnom Penh's Meanchey district as saying the two had planned to support land dispute victims from Preah Vihear as they marched a petition to Hun Sen's home. Also on Wednesday, a group of 30 nongovernment organizations issued a joint statement slamming the jail terms handed to the seven female Boeung Kak activists-including a 75-year-old-woman-by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court a day earlier. "We ... condemn the arrest, detention, and conviction of the seven Boeung Kak Lake community representatives following protests outside Phnom Penh City Hall," said the statement signed by NGOs including Licadho, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) and the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC). Authorities arrested the activists on Monday after they placed a bed in the middle of a busy road in Phnom Penh to highlight flooding problems in Boeung Kak they said were caused by the development project. Less than 24 hours later, the court handed the seven women the maximum penalty under Cambodia's Traffic Law of one year in jail each for obstructing traffic, as well as two million riel fines. The statement hit out at authorities for the speedy conviction of the seven, adding that they had been tried "without any investigation" and "less than five hours after ...[they] were interviewed and charged by the prosecutor." "This once again demonstrates how the judicial system continues to be abused in order to intimidate activists with a complete lack of accountability," Naly Pilorge, director of Licadho, said in the statement. Land disputes are a bitter problem for Cambodia, where rural villagers and urban dwellers alike have been mired in conflicts that the U.N.'s special rapporteur for human rights to the country has warned could threaten social stability. The country's land issues date from the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime, which forced large-scale evacuations and relocations, followed by a period of mass confusion over land rights and the formation of squatter communities when the refugees returned in the 1990s after a decade of civil war. Several dozen families from Boeung Kak are still waiting for land titles owed to them after Hun Sen in 2011 reclaimed part of the concession awarded to Lao Meng Khin's Shukaku company in 2007.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 11, 2014
- Event Description
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday 11th November sentenced Tep Vanny and six fellow activists to a year in prison, just moments after convicting the group of obstructing traffic for having placed a bed in the middle of Monivong Boulevard on Monday to protest the flooding of their Boeng Kak neighborhood. "The court sentenced them to a year in prison and fined them 2 million riel[about $500] each after charging them under Article 78[of the Traffic Law] for obstructing public traffic," said Am Sam Ath, a technical supervisor for rights group Licadho, who was present in the courtroom. The seven women were arrested Monday in front of City Hall after district security guards had moved their bed off the road. The stunt was meant to draw attention to the persistent flooding of their homes, which they blame on the filling-in of Boeng Kak lake for a development project backed by CPP Senator Lao Meng Khin. The protesters said their homes had been inundated with filthy water since Thursday and were demanding that the city clear the surrounding drains immediately. "The people were asking for a solution, but the authorities did not find one for them and arrested them instead," Mr. Sam Ath said. Of the seven women sentenced Tuesday, five already had standing convictions from 2012 for protesting against evictions taking place in Boeng Kak to make way for Mr. Meng Khin's project. In that case, the municipal court charged the "Boeng Kak 13" with obstructing public officials and illegally occupying land. The court convicted and sentenced them to two-and-a-half years in prison on the same day. The Appeal Court released them a month later after reducing their sentences to time served, but upheld the convictions.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 26, 2013
- Event Description
Well-known human rights worker Chan Soveth is in the firing line again, a court official in Pursat province confirmed on Friday. Mr. Soveth, who last year was accused by the government of helping a member of a so-called anti-government movement in Kratie province evade arrest, is now being investigated for his alleged role in the so-called "incitement" of villagers involved in a land dispute, and for spreading so-called "disinformation." Pursat provincial court Pro�_secutor Tan Seihak Dechak said the allegations have been leveled by a commune chief against Mr. Soveth, who is chief of monitoring for prominent local human rights group Adhoc, and "his ac�_complices," who are not de�_fined by name in the complaint. Mr. Seihak Dechak also said that earlier reports naming Adhoc's Pursat provincial coordinator Phuong Sothea as the suspect in the case were incorrect. "The commune chief filed against Chan Soveth and his accomplices. It is not the name Phuong Sothea," the prosecutor said. "We will continue to investigate more details about this, and we will summon both parties for questioning." Mr. Soveth, who had the char�_ges of "aiding a perpetrator" in the Kratie province case dropped against him by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in February, said on Friday that he had not yet received formal notice that he is being investigated again. "I don't incite people against the government. I just explain about[peoples'] rights and the law," he said. "If I just help people as a human rights workers, is it wrong? If so, then all NGOs that help protect peoples' rights are wrong too," he said. Prom Ngon, commune chief of Thma Da commune in Veal Veng district, and complainant against Mr. Soveth, could not be reached for comment. The complaint is believed to stem from a land dispute between families in Tham Da commune and a company owned by well-known businessman Try Pheap. Adhoc staff held workshops with the villagers to inform them of their rights under the land law. About 20 of the families subsequently traveled to Phnom Penh to submit a petition to Mr. Hun Sen's Cabinet seeking help in their dispute with Mr. Pheap. Um Savin, a representative of MDS Import Export company, which is owned by Mr. Pheap, said his company was not involved in any way with the lawsuit filed by Mr. Ngon, the commune chief, against Mr. Soveth and "his accomplices." "Our company is not involved in this case," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 27, 2013
- Event Description
On 27 March 2013, land rights activist - Yorm Bopha, had her plea for bail rejected by the Cambodian Supreme Court. Ms Bopha championed the right to housing for residents forcibly evicted from the capital Phnom Penh's former Boeung Kak Lake neighborhood, had cited health and family reasons to be out of jail pending her appeal on a conviction but presiding judge Khim Ponn The said there was no basis for her application. Local rights groups Licadho, Sahmakum Teang Tnaut, Equitable Cambodia, and the Community Legal Education Centre in a joint statement called on the judiciary to set a date for Yorm Bopha's appeal against the conviction and for "an end to political interference in this case, and more generally the court system." has now spent 204 days in jail since her initial detention in early September 2012.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to housing, Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Mar 6, 2013
- Event Description
On 6 March 2013, 5 foreign Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) Activists were detained in Cambodia after showing solidarity with workers who were on strike at a clothing factory.The workers were on strike because 41 workers had been illegally dismissed for unionizing. While striking the workers have faced police brutality and seven have been beaten by company affiliated thugs using a stick with nails in it. Police detained them when they were unable to produce their passports. They were detained for over six hours. The CCC, which has been vocal on wages in Cambodia and issues involving the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), has been part of wage and freedom-of-association talks with labour-rights groups and unions in Phnom Penh.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Labour rights, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 15, 2012
- Event Description
On 15 July 2013, Mam Sonando, director of Beehive Radio, a independent radio station in Cambodia , was arrested and later formally charged with "insurrection" and "inciting people to take up weapons against state". The charges carried a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. In mid-2012, Beehive Radio reported on an International Court of Justice complaint against Prime Minister Hun Sen blaming him for the 2010 Phnom Penh stampede, in which 347 people were killed. On 26 June 2012, Hun Sen called for Sonando's arrest while Sonando was out of the country, accusing him of heading a separatist plot in Krati_ Province to break it away from the rest of the nation. On 1 October 2012, Mam Sonando was found guilty by a Phnom Penh court. He was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment and fined 10 million riel (US$2,500). An appeals court overturned Sonando's conviction on anti-state charges on 14 March 2013, finding that there had been no evidence to convict him. However, the Appeals Court still finds him guilty of instigating villagers to destroy state land, giving him a five-year suspended sentence. On 15 March 2013, Mam Sonando was released from prison.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to information, Right to political participation
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2012
- Event Description
On 4 September, 2012, Ms. Yorm Bopha, a pivotal figure in the protests against forced evictions of residents from the Boeung Kak Lake community in Phnom Penh, was detained for allegedly assaulting a person who was suspected of stealing. In a separate case, Ms. Tim Sakmony, a leader in protests against forced evictions from Borei Keila, another area of Phnom Penh was arrested one day late, on 5 September 2012. The arrest came after the owner of Borei Keila developer Phanimex filed a complaint alleging that Ms. Sakmony made a "false declaration" in a request for the Phanimex Company to compensate her disabled son for having failed to provide him with an apartment after his eviction from Borei Keila in January 2012. Phaminex was originally granted land in Borei Keila conditional upon the construction of ten apartment buildings to rehouse residents, but has only built eight buildings. Ms. Sakmony was held in pre-trial detention at Prey Sar prison, pending judicial investigation for making a "false declaration to a public body for the purpose of obtaining an allowance, a payment or any unlawful advantage" under Article 633 of the Penal Code. On 26 March 2013, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced Tim Sakmony to six months in prison but cut the sentence in half on probation reprieve. On 27 December 2012 the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced Yorm Bopja to three years' imprisonment for "intentional violence with aggravating circumstances. The On 27 March 2013, the Cambodian Supreme Court denied Bopha's request for bail pending her appeal. In June 2013, a Court of Appeals upheld Bopha's conviction but reduced her sentence to two years. On 22 November 2013, the Supreme Court released Bopha on bail, ordering that her case be further investigated and re-tried. The families from the Boeung Kak Lake (BKL) community have been battling forced evictions since 2007, when the Government leased their land to a company, Shukaku Inc, for development. In May 2012, after 15 members of the BKL community were violently and arbitrarily arrested, Ms. Yorm Bopha was at the forefront of the campaign for their release. She maintained a high profile presence at every demonstration, became a media spokesperson for the campaign, and did not shy away from publicly criticizing government officials. This new- found prominence brought with it the attention of the authorities - she was verbally threatened, harassed and intimidated.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to housing, Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 30, 2012
- Event Description
On 30 and 31 October 2012, members of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)'s Land Reform Project Team were harassed and intimidated by police and military officials during a mission to collect information about the resolution of a land conflict. The CCHR is an independent non-governmental organisation working to promote democracy and respect for human rights in Cambodia. The team had come to Thlao village, in Banteay Mean Chey province, on 29 October 2012 in order to gather information on the resolution of a local land conflict which revolved around a private company, Cheat Aphiwat Co. Ltd., reportedly obtaining an illegal land concession. The Land Reform Project Team, consisting of project coordinator Mr. Vann Sopath, Mr Steven Kremer, Mr Nget Savy and Ms Nou Chansokunthea, interviewed villagers and surveyed the area. It is believed that a villager with close ties to local officials and the company reported the team's presence to the authorities. On the second day of the mission, 30 October 2012, local police and military officers and a student volunteer from a government land-measuring programme approached the team and subjected them to a lengthy and detailed questioning regarding their activities. Later on, the officials continued to make their presence felt by circling the team on motorbikes and keeping a close watch on their activities. Villagers were also interrogated, and in other ways discouraged from giving interviews to the CCHR staff. A community representative was questioned by a military commander, and a local woman tried to discourage villagers from talking to the team by first claiming that it was unnecessary, as the land was already being demarcated by the aforementioned student group. She proceeded to warn them that they were risking losing their land titles, or jeopardising those that had yet to be given out, by cooperating with the CCHR staff. It is reported that the team's work was not compromised by these attempts as most of the work had already been done on the first day, and some villagers cooperated with them even after these events. Nonetheless, the CCHR has identified a growing trend in the disruption of peaceful and legitimate activities carried out by the organisation.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 11, 2012
- Event Description
On 11 October 2012, Ratanakkiri Provincial Court summoned three well-known rights workers and a journalist to appear for questioning next week over years-old incitement charges in connection with a long-standing land dispute. In a summons signed by deputy provincial prosecutor Chea Sopheak, the court ordered Radio Free Asia journalist Sok Ratha, Adhoc activists Pen Bonnar and Chhay Thy and Cambodian Center for Human Rights President Ou Virak to appear on 11 October. This is the second time in a year that Bonnar, Thy and Ratha have been questioned by the court. The two Adhoc employees left the province in 2009 after threats that they would be charged with incitement to terrorism, though both returned the following year. All four maintain that they were only investigating the case of 60 ethnic Tampuon families from Ratanakkiri province embroiled in a dispute with the DM Group for years. Villagers say the well-connected rubber company encroached on 260 hectares of land and have sought to fight the company in court. However, those complaints have been repeatedly ignored even as complaints against rights groups and villagers involved in the case have gone through. Sopheak defended the timing of the summons, saying that, though the complaint dates to 2009, he has only just been able to follow up on it. "This time we're free, so we take it up," he explained. Speaking to the Post yesterday, Virak and Bonnar both denied the allegations. "I cannot accept this accusation, because it is so serious," said Bonnar. "I did not incite people to commit a crime." Virak insisted that he had only met with villagers to look into their allegations. However, he was not surprised to hear of the summons. "It's not strange to me. It's a political issue, and rich people always influence the court system." He noted, the timing of the questioning - which comes in the wake of the Mam Sonando case and a similar summons issued for senior Adhoc investigator Chan Soveth - could raise eyebrows. "Maybe they want to put pressure on the NGOs, all of the activists."
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 5, 2011
- Event Description
On 4 July 2011, NOG Sahmakum Teang Tnuat (STT) published a report called "Rehabilitation of Cambodia's Railways: Comparison of Field Data", which reported on lower rates of compensation being paid to home owners affected by the Rehabilitation of the Railway Project. In addition, the report allegedly stated that a higher number of households would be affected than officially reported. STT is working on awareness-raising about urban issues and provides technical assistance to people living in poverty regarding housing and infrastructure On 5 July 2011, an official authority of the Political Affairs Department of the Ministry of the Interior reportedly called a senior STT staff member requesting a meeting, which was held on 14 July 2011. During the meeting, STT and another NGO, Bridges across Borders Cambodia (BABC) which works to overcome poverty, injustice and inequity, were accused of blocking national development. STT was allegedly requested to submit new regulations and organisational structures by the end of 2011. In addition, they were told that another ministry had requested that STT be closed. On 23 and 29 July 2011, a television program, shown several times on the national television stations TVK, Bayon and Apsara, described the two NGOs as composed of foreigners and acting against public order. On 4 August 2011, STT received a phone call asking it to collect a letter from the Ministry of the Interior. The letter dated 2 August 2011, stated that STT was suspended for five months due to a failure to modify its leadership structure and revise its statute. Allegedly no legal basis was given as to why the suspension was imposed and no further explanation was provided in the letter in relation to the legal content of the suspension. On 28 July 2011, STT had submitted these revised regulations and organisational structures. On 11 August 2011, a number of civil society organisations reportedly rallied together in protest against STT's suspension with 40 national and international NGOs writing a joint statement demanding an immediate reversal of the decision. On 13 August 2011, a statement was released from the Ministry of the Interior citing further reasons for the suspension. It is reported that one reason was that STT had changed its leadership three times without informing the relevant Ministry. Another reason was reportedly that STT opened a branch office in Kampot without authorisation from the local authority; STT denies this allegation. Finally, the Ministry of the Interior raises the possibility of criminal prosecution under article 495 of the Penal Code and accuses STT of inciting people to oppose the Government's development projects in order to suspend or cease the railway restoration project in the province of Kampot and in the city of Phnom Penh. On 18 August 2011, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation reportedly invited BABC and NGO Forum on Cambodia (NGOF), an umbrella group of local and international NGOs which promotes information sharing, debate and advocacy on issues affecting development, to a meeting in which they were given a letter. This letter made reference to the concerns raised by those NGOs to the President of the Asian Development Bank regarding the resettlement impact of the Rehabilitation of the Railway Project. In its letter, the Ministry accused the NGOs of inciting the public against the Royal Government of Cambodia and strongly warned them about a possible termination of their memorandums of understanding if they repeated similar denunciations. On 23 August 2011, about 130 national and international NGOs published a statement condemning STT's suspension. Human rights training sessions provided Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) and the Natural Resource Protection Group (NRPG) to communities affected by the deforestation of Prey Lang forest have been disrupted. Their training sessions seek to inform people affected by the project about their legal rights established by the Constitution and international instruments. On 6 September 2011, CCHR was informed that monks in the community Dang Kambith of Kampong Thom province, were summoned by the District Governor. He reportedly prohibited the monks to provide access to CCHR and NRPG to conduct a human rights training sessions. On 7 September 2011, commune and district authorities as well as heavily armed police disrupted a human rights training session in the Mean Rith commune of Kampong Thom province. The reason for the disruption was allegedly the failing by NGOs to provide adequate notice concerning the convening of the training event. However, it is alleged that the organizers previously informed provincial authorities about it. Some participants were not allowed to travel to participate in the event and that the attendants were photographed and they had to present their identification cards. After two hours of disruption and threats of arrest, the event was allowed to take place. The allegations against CCHR and NRPG relate to two previous human rights training events which took place in the community of Dang Kambith on August. The training events, which were temporary disrupted by armed police, were attended by individuals affected by the deforestation of Prey Lang forest. The suspension of STT and the warning and acts of intimidation against BABC, the NGO Forum, the CCHR and the NRPG occur reportedly at a time when the third draft of the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations is with the Council of Ministers for consideration. It is reported that certain provisions as contained in the draft NGO Law may hamper and restrict the legitimate work of NGOs in the promotion of human rights On 1 January 2012, the suspension of STT expired.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 16, 2011
- Event Description
On 16 September 2011, five homes and businesses (affecting 8 families) were demolished in Village 22, Boeung Kak Lake, in Phnom Penh city Reports received indicate that these families were among 96 families excluded from sub-decree 183 issued on 11 August 2011, by your Excellency's Government, granting land title to more than 700 families living on a 12.44 hectare stretch of land in the Boeung Kak Lake area. Reports indicate that more than 90 additional families in the region are now facing imminent threat of forced evictions, having been excluded from sub-decree 183. Allegedly, no notice was given to the affected residents prior to the demolition. Compensation was offered to some families contacted by the authorities, while other families were not offered compensation at all. Reportedly, threats of eviction and harassment and intimidation are being used against the excluded families to accept compensation. We are also informed that some residents whose homes were affected were not able to retrieve their belongings before their houses were destroyed and lost all their property. The demolitions were overseen by 100 armed riot police, municipal authorities and security guards. Allegedly, one Boeung Kak Lake resident and activist, Mr. Suong Sophoan was beaten by the police with batons and a brick, while several villagers protested against the demolitions. According to information received, Mr. Suong Sophoan was left unconscious and sustained head injuries requiring 5 stitches and a broken finger.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to property, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 26, 2012
- Event Description
On 26 April 2012, Mr Chut Wutty was shot dead in Koh Kong province. Chut Wutty is the founder and director of Natural Resource Protection Group. Natural Resource Protection Group (NRPG) is a civil society organisation that works to protect environmental rights and monitors illegal logging. Chut Wutty advocated tirelessly against the ongoing destruction of Cambodia's natural resources. The incident reportedly occurred at 12.30pm in Koh Kong's Veal Bei commune, Mondul Sima district. It is reported that the military police and soldiers detained Chut Wutty and two reporters from The Cambodia Daily and confiscated their cameras. Chut Wutty had been taking photos of suspected illegal logging activity near the border between Pursat and Koh Kong and in the Central Cardamom Protect Forest area. It is also reported that a military officer, Mr In Rattana, was also killed, although there are conflicting reports about this incident. Mr Chuon Phiran, a prominent environmentalist and a nephew of the human rights defender, stated that Chut Wutty received a fatal shot and died in his car. Chut Wutty has been subjected to threats in the past as a result of his work in the area of human rights and environmental protection. In 2001, he was threatened by a military commander who said he would kill him for his role in the Conservation International team, which was monitoring illegal logging in the Cardamom mountain. Chut Wutty had to flee his hotel and rent a boat in the middle of the night to ensure his safety. In 2011, he was again threatened with arrests and criminal charges as a result of his work in raising awareness on the destruction of Prey Lang forest in the Northeast of the country. In August and September 2011, civilian and military police armed with AK-47s disrupted two trainings that he was conducting with the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights in Kampong Thom province for community members affected by the forest destruction.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Death
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2012
- Event Description
On 9 February 2012, a summons was issued against Soum Chankea, land rights and human rights defender and Banteay Meachey Provincial Coordinator for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association by the Sub-Prosecutor in Sisophon, Banteay Meanchay Province. The summoning is reportedly related to ADHOC's intervention in a case of a waitress reporting sexual harassment and sexual molestation allegedly by Oum Socheath and another individual, Mr Thong Piseth. The victim filed a complaint with the Provincial Police Commission relating to two sexual assaults that took place on 3 and 8 November 2011, however no further action has been undertaken by police. The victim lodged a complaint with ADHOC which provided her with legal advice, and Soum Chankea helped her file a complaint with the police, urging them and the Prosecutor's office to take action and open an investigation into the case. According to information received, a letter of intervention was sent to the Prosecutor in Sisophon by Mr Hun San, brother of Cambodia's Prime Minister Mr Hun Sen, asking him not to investigate the allegation against Oum Socheath. Oum Socheath had previously threatened the victim and told her they were protected by high-ranking people. On 20 February 2012, Soum Chankea was due to appear for questioning at the Prosecutor's office at Sisophon Provincial Court, which could bring a formal charge of Slanderous Denunciation under Article 311 of the Penal Code against him. On that date, the matter was postponed and the questioning has been rescheduled for 22 March 2012. The charge is punishable by a term of between one month and one year imprisonment and a fine of between 100,000 (__� 19) to 2 million Riels (__� 374). On 8 May 2012, Ms Sokumtheary Yin issued a warrant to drop the criminal complaint against Mr Soum Chankea.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2012
- Event Description
On August 9, 2012, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued a citation summoning Mr. Soveth to appear before an investigating judge on August 24, 2012. Mr. Soveth was charged with "providing assistance to the perpetrator" of a "crime" under Article 544 of the Cambodian Criminal Code, and faces an imprisonment sentence of one to three years and a fine of two million to six million Riels. Exact details behind this charge have not yet been disclosed by the government, but they appear to be connected to a long-standing land dispute in Kratie province. On May 16, 2012, the government sent in hundreds of armed security personnel, supported by helicopters, to evict villagers who were living in an area in Kratie province marked for development by a Russian company. During the eviction, Ms. Heng Chantha, a 14-year-old girl, was shot dead. Government officials later justified the operation by claiming the villagers, some of whom are members of the Independent Democrats Association, were part of a secession movement. ADHOC released a statement on May 17 and condemned the killing of the young girl[1]. It is believed that the charges against Mr. Soveth are linked to his sheltering of a land activist involved in this issue. The court citation was signed on August 9, 2012, just eight days after Prime Minister Hun Sen made accusatory references in a nationally televised speech to an unnamed "human rights worker" for his role in providing assistance to villagers in relation to this land dispute. The Observatory recalls that ADHOC has been repeatedly harassed by the government in recent years. In July 2012, armed police officers raided a training session on land rights organised jointly by ADHOC and the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) in Rattanakiri province[2]. Moreover, Mr. Soum Chankea, ADHOC's Provincial Coordinator in Banteay Meanchey province, faced spurious charges of defamation, which the court eventually dropped in June 2012. Furthermore, in January 2011, Mr. Sam Chankea, ADHOC's coordinator in Kampong Chhnang province, was convicted of defamation, in connection to a critical statement he made about land-grabbing by a Cambodian company during an interview with Radio Free Asia in December 2009[3]. On July 2012, independent radio station owner Mr. Mam Sonando was arrested and is currently in pre-trial detention in Phnom Penh, facing charges of 'secession' in relation to the same land dispute in Kratie[4]. The government has yet to present any credible evidence substantiating its claims that a secessionist movement exists in Kratie. The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about these acts of judicial harassment of Mr. Chan Soveth, since they seem to merely aim at hindering his human rights activities, in a context of continued governmental harassment against human rights defenders, including against other ADHOC members. The Observatory therefore calls upon the Cambodian authorities to stop any judicial actions against Mr. Chan Soveth aimed at curbing his legitimate human rights work and to put an end to all acts of harassment against him as well as against all human rights defenders in Cambodia.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 22, 2012
- Event Description
On 22 May 2012, a group of 80 residents of the demolished Village 1 in Boeung Kak, Phnom Penh, and their supporters gathered peacefully in support of 18 evicted families who were trying to mark the boundaries of their demolished homes. During the gathering, one family attempted to put up wooden poles at the location of their destroyed home. Some 200 Phnom Penh police and anti-riot police present at the site confiscated the wooden poles and prevented the family from demarcating the boundary of their submerged house. Subsequently, at around 11.30am, police surrounded a group of 13 female community activists who were also residents of Boeung Kak as they started singing land rights songs, manhandled them into police trucks and arrested them. The women were taken to Phnom Penh Municipal Police Station. The names of the women arrested are: 1.\tMs. Nget Khun 2.\tMs. Tep Vanny 3.\tMs. Kong Chantha 4.\tMs. Song Srey Leap 5.\tMs. Tho Davy 6.\tMs. Chan Navy 7.\tMs. Ngoun Kimlang 8.\tMs. Bov Sophea 9.\tMs. Cheng Leap 10.\tMs. Soung Samai 11.\tMs. Phan Chunreth 12.\tMs. Heng Mom 13.\tMs. Toul Srey Pov A video clip of the women's arrest can be accessed through the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkUDHMENOSI&feature=player_embedded On 24 May 2012, around 5am, the 13 women were woken up and taken to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Their lawyers had not been informed in advance of this transfer. Shortly before lunch, all 13 women were charged under articles 34 and 259 of the Land Law and article 504 of the Penal Code. Their trial began immediately after lunch, around 2 pm. The defence lawyers asked for a delay to allow the preparation of their defense, but this was rejected. The lawyers' request to review the case file and evidence was also denied and they were not permitted to call witnesses, although several stood ready to testify just outside the courthouse. Two of these witnesses, Mr. Sao Sareoun and Ms. Ly Chanary, were arrested outside of the court, charged with the same offenses, and placed in pre-trial detention. Other witnesses, media and the public were not admitted to the courtroom to observe the trial. By 5.30pm, presiding Judge Pou Phov Soeun convicted all 13 women and sentenced them each to 2.5 years in prison. Six of them had parts of their sentences suspended. On 10 June 2012, five Boeung Kak women, Ms. Tep Vanny, Ms. Kong Chantha, Ms. Toul Srey Pov, Ms. Song Srey Leap and Ms. Heng Mom started a hunger strike in Prey Sar prison after hearing their children and relatives sing and cry outside the prison walls. The 13 women are in five different prison cells in Prey Sar prison that hold between 40 to 60 other detainees. The families of the prisoners are visiting them once or twice a week at a cost of USD 2.5 for each 10-15 minute visit. On 15 June 2012, Mr. Sao Sarouen and Ms. Ly Chanary were released and placed under judicial supervision pending their trial. The same day, the Court of Appeal announced that the appeal hearing for the 13 convicted women will take place on 27 June 2012 at 7:30 am. Upon receiving this news, the five women ended their five day hunger strike. On 27 June 212, a panel of three judges of the Appeals Court upheld the two charges against the women, declaring they were still guilty of occupying state land and obstructing public officials in aggravating circumstances, but reduced their sentences from two and a half years to one month and three days - the length of time they have already served in Prey Sar prison. On 27 June 2012 at 7.45am, the appeal hearing for the 13 convicted women took place at the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh. All 13 women testified one by one. However, only one out of four defense witnesses was allowed to testify. Around 12.30pm, the Presiding Judge rendered the final verdict, suspending the remaining prison sentences of all 13 Boeung Kak Lake women. The suspension of the 2.5 years inprisonment frees the 13 women from prison but affirms the earlier verdict by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court that they are guilty of occupying state land and obstructing public officials in aggravating circumstances. During the appeal hearing none of the trial irregularities were addressed and no evidence was presented in support of the charges. Around 6.30am, at least 150 police, military police and riot police personnel had blocked all the main roads around the Appeal Court, impeding 500 Boeung Kak Lake families, nearby communities, partners, media and supporters to go near the Appeal Court. The police stated they had received orders "from the top" not to allow anyone past the road blocks. In mid morning, at least 4 community villagers and 7 community children demonstrating outside the Appeal Court, were beaten by police and had to receive medical treatments. A 27 year old woman, a sister of one of the 13 women, was kicked by an intervention police officer in the stomach. Doctors confirmed that she was pregnant and has lost her unborn child due to heavy bleeding. At around 7.30pm all 13 women were released, spending a total of 1 month and 3 days in prison. Boeung Kak Lake was a lake in the northern part of Phnom Penh. In 2007 the Municipality of Phnom Penh granted a 99-year-lease to developer Shukaku Inc., owned by ruling Cambodian People's Party senator Lao Meng Khin. Since then it has been the site of an enormous land grab and forced eviction of over 3,000 families. Between 2009 and 2011, the lake was filled with sand for construction. A government decree issued in August 2011 granted a remaining 799 families 12.44 hectares of land in the area. The community has been calling for a full demarcation of those 12.44 hectares since the decree was issued but their requests have gone unanswered
- Impact of Event
- 15
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- May 24, 2012
- Event Description
On 24 May 2012, outside the Municipal Court of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, unidentified men in plain clothes, manhandled and forced Venerable Loun Sovath into a white Land Cruiser with the assistance of Cambodian police, and drove away. The event was caught on camera. The video clearly shows Venerable Loun Sovath resisting the grip of his 5?strong abductors pushing him into the vehicle, whilst men from inside the vehicle were pulling him in. The struggle lasted a couple of minutes. Venerable Loun Sovath, who became renowned for blessing communities involved in land disputes, has been a source of constant support for dispossessed communities in Cambodia. He has continued undeterred despite pressure from the country's Buddhist hierarchy to stop his advocacy activities, violence against his relatives, as well as being banned in 2011 from entering and/ or living in all Siem Reap and Phnom Penh pagodas. He fled Phnom Penh in 2011 for fear that his activism would get him arrested. Upon his return in May 2012, he was threatened with arrest, which forced him to flee the scene of a rally in Prey Lang. On 24 May 2012, Venerable Loun Sovath had joined a gathering in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court calling for the release of 13 female community activists from Phnom Penh's Boeung Kak lake area. Boeung Kak lake has been the site of an enormous land grab and forced eviction of over 3000 families. The dispute over land rights in the area has been raging for several years. The women were being questioned inside the court after having been arrest two days earlier during a peaceful protest on the site of some of their community members' now demolished homes. Residents of the area gathered on 22 May 2012 in support of 18 families trying to mark the boundaries of their homes in accordance with a government decree issued in August 2011 granting remaining residents 12.44 hectares of land in the area. The community has been calling for a full demarcation of those 12.44 hectares since the decree was issued. Their requests have gone unanswered. During the protest on 24 May, Venerable Loun Sovath was taking photos of people who had gathered outside the courthouse before he was forced into a car around 10am. He was taken away and held incommunicado at Botum Pagoda in Phnom Penh. He was released around 8pm and immediately informed the public/ media that he had not been defrocked. He soon revealed, however, that he had been shown documents by senior members of the monastic leadership showing that he has been criminally charged by the government. He was also told to endorse a document promising to stop his advocacy activities. Venerable Loun Sovath has since stated that the document he allegedly agreed to, saying that he must not associate with any more protests, was thumb?printed under duress. While being held in Wat Botum, he had been told if he refused to endorse the document, he would be defrocked on the spot. Venerable Loun Sovath also disclosed more details about the criminal charges against him. The documents he was shown at Wat Botum reveal that in February 2012 Judge Duch Kinsan had ordered an investigation into Venerable Loun Sovath's 2011 activities. Venerable Loun Sovath was accused of incitement to commit a felony. These charges were notified, and as of 29 May 2012, approved by the Ministry of Justice: Venerable Loun Sovath is now charged with incitement to felony under Article 495 of the Penal Code of Cambodia. The crime carries a potential sentence of up to two years in prison. According to Buddhist Committee rules, the Committee may only "advise" its disciples of "misconduct"; it is the decision of the supreme patriarch, in this case Venerable Nun Nget, to decide to defrock the disciple. Police or court officials proceed with an arrest once the defrocking order has been given.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of Religion and Belief, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 17, 2011
- Event Description
September 17, 2011 - Yesterday witnessed the most violent forced eviction of Boeung Kak lake residents to date. Early in the afternoon, a hundred "anti-riot" intervention police officers and Daun Penh district security guards positioned themselves nearby homes of lake residents. Two excavators, protected by the armed group, proceeded in destroying homes of families arbitrarily disqualified from the 12.44 hectares of land given to the remaining lake families. Later in the afternoon, as the excavators were on the move to destroy more houses, lake activist Suong Sophorn was savagely assaulted by a mob of intervention police officers who left him for dead after kicking and beating him with bricks and batons.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to property, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 7, 2011
- Event Description
A chief monk who granted permission for two NGOs to hold a legal education workshop at the Kiribotaram pagoda, in Dang Kambit commune, Kampong Thom province, has retracted his invitation after warnings from the commune chief. This development comes the day after Kampong Thom provincial authorities reportedly threatened to prevent the NGOs holding workshops providing legal education to villagers whose livelihoods are threatened by economic land concessions in the Prey Lang forest. Authorities reportedly told the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights and the Natural Resource Protection Group that their workshops could provoke unrest against private investors. Venerable Yin Net, chief monk of the Kiribotaram pag-oda, explained that he had initially allowed the workshops to be conducted at his pagoda, in Sandan district, but the commune chief had subsequently banned them. "It is not from me, it is the commune chief," Yin Net said. Cambodian Centre for Human Rights project co-ord-inator Chhim Savuth said Kampong Thom province's Sandan district governor had imposed the ban. "I think they might be doing something bad in that area, so they don't want the villagers to understand about the law," Chhim Savuth said. Despite the threats, the workshops would go ahead at the Meanrith commune today and the Dang Kambit comm-une tomorrow, he said. "They accused us of urging villagers to go against the government on providing economic land concessions to private companies, but we just teach villagers to understand the law," he said. Rights groups yesterday decried what they called more allegations and threats against CCHR and NRGP, saying they were the latest developments in an ongoing crackdown on civil society groups in Cambodia. "These allegations and threats against CCHR and NRPG are without any basis and are the latest evidence of a deeply disturbing trend in Cambodia whereby the government is clearly seeking to silence the voices of civil society and the general public," CCHR president Ou Virak said in a press release. "In this instance, we see provincial officials wrongly citing the law as a means to prevent the legitimate efforts of ordinary people to inform themselves of their rights in Cambodian and international law. "This is a daunting prec-edent and, with the NGO law on the horizon, the ominous spectre looms whereby officials are given free rein, and an appearance of legitimacy, to make such arbitrary moves in an effort to silence those they purport to represent." Sandan district governor Sim Vanna could not be reached for comment yesterday. Kampong Thom province deputy governor Ouch Sam On declined to comment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 10, 2011
- Event Description
In the morning of 10 August 2011, Mr. Chut Wutty, the Director of Natural Resource Protection Group, and communities from three provinces were surrounded by a number of police officers (over 10) armed with AK 47 trying to stop a training session. An intense argument broke out between Mr. Chut Vutty and the police officers, with the police using disrespectful and dirty words and unacceptable behaviors. The Cambodian Center for Human Rights in collaboration with Natural Resource Protection Group on 9 August 2011 conducted a training session on Human Rights in Sre Veal village, Dorng Kambet commune, Sandann district, Kompong Thom province. This training was to provide the communities whose daily lives contingent upon the resources from Prey Lang with the knowledge of various laws, particularly administrative laws and human rights directly related to their lives and issues pertaining to natural resource protection. There were roughly seventy villagers from three provinces-Kompong Thom, Preah Vihear and Steng Treng-attending the training on 9 August 2011. At the start of the training, the commune chief and a number of police officers came in with an attempt to stop the training. After about an hour of arguments between the commune chief and the organizers: Mr Chim Savuth and Mr Chut Wutty, the training proceeded despite the prohibition from the commune chief. However, training was under strict observation from the local authority: a member of the commune council and a police officer. The session on law and human rights ended at around 2:30 p.m and the session on natural resource protection conducted by Mr. Chut Wutty began. As time running short, Mr Chut Wutty was not able to finish so he had to stay overnight in the village for another session in the morning of 10 August 2011.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 3, 2011
- Event Description
(CCHR/IFEX) - In the early hours of the morning of 26 July 2011 a shot was fired into the home of community activist Kun Eng in Banteay Srey district, Siem Reap province, by an unidentified gunman. The bullet missed Kun Eng, his wife and his eight-month-old daughter who were in the house at the time, and lodged into a wooden post inside their home. Mr. Eng and his family have since fled their home fearing for their safety. Kun Eng is a community-based land rights activist who has advocated for the rights of villagers in his community. During a recent public forum held by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), which was attended by local authorities and Forestry Administration officials, Kun Eng voiced his opinion that a Forestry Administration reforestation scheme had adversely affected 105 families in Tbeng commune in 2007. He has previously publically raised the issue of local villagers seeking to sell land to third parties for personal profit to the detriment of other villagers in the area. In 2007, the Forestry Administration turned the area into state land reserved for reforestation. Tbeng commune chief Pin Chhoy noted, in an article that appeared in "The Cambodia Daily" on 30 July 2011, that there has subsequently been an increase in villagers moving onto the land. The status of the land is still in question despite efforts by the local community to resolve the issue by lobbying the Prime Minister, the National Assembly, Senate and the Council of Ministers. Kun Eng has filed a report with the commune police about the shooting incident.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 6, 2011
- Event Description
Buddish Supreme Patriarch Non Nget has banned pagodas in the capital from hosting Loun Savath, the activist monk who frequently joins land dispute protests and advocates on behalf of displaced villagers. Loun Savath hails from Siem Reap province's Chi Kraeng district and has been active in supporting villagers in a long-running land dispute there that has seen multiple community representatives arrested. He later relocated to Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh's Daun Penh district, and has joined protests in the capital by residents of the Boeung Kak lakeside and of the Prey Lang forest area. In a letter dated April 26 and received by Loun Savath last week, Non Nget said pagodas in Phnom Penh are no longer permitted to house the 31-year-old monk because his actions have "caused villagers to think badly about Buddhism". "What he did is not related to the monks' point of view and has broken the Buddha's rules," Non Nget wrote. Loun Savath fled Phnom Penh in March for fear of arrest in relation to his activism before resurfacing at a rally held in the capital by the Prey Lang villagers two weeks ago. There, he was forced to flee the scene with the assistance of rights groups when it appeared that local authorities were planning his arrest. Loun Savath said yesterday that he was undeterred by Non Nget's directive and would continue with his activism. "The Buddha says that monks must help people who have problems and educate people to do good deeds," he said. "When villagers have a problem, I cannot ignore them." Loun Savath's land activism has made him unique among Cambodian monks, and he has received little backing for his efforts from religious officials here. Following protests against the Boeung Kak evictions in April, Phon Davy, director of the municipal cults and religions department, said Loun Savath had in fact drawn the ire of Tep Vong, Cambodia's highest-ranking monk. "[Loun Savath] has violated the rules to such an extent that the Great Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia, Tep Vong, issued a warning letter to ban all monks from joining protests," Phon Davy said at the time. Loun Savath has so far taken little heed, however. "What the authorities have done to me is a serious violation of human rights and Buddhist law," he said yesterday. "I have done nothing wrong, so why are they evicting me from my pagoda?" Ouch Leng, head of the land programme at local rights group Adhoc, said Non Nget's directive was unjustified. "The authorities should be encouraging him, because what he does is not for himself, but to find justice for people who are victims of land disputes," Ouch Leng said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 26, 2009
- Event Description
Sam Chankea is a human rights defender working for the human rights NGO ADHOC. He is active in land rights issues in the Kampong Chhnang province.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Rights Concerned
- Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 14, 2011
- Event Description
A photographer from The Phnom Penh Post was manhandled and briefly detained by district police at the Boeung Kak lakeside in Phnom Penh this morning, as he attempted to photograph the demolition of homes for a controversial housing project. Sovan Philong, an award-winning Post photographer, said he arrived at the lakeside as police and construction workers began dismantling the dwellings of around 20 families. As he was taking pictures of the stand-off between residents and police, Sovan Philong said he was blocked by a group of uniformed riot police officers and had his camera equipment seized. "Four or five of them ran to block me - they tried to get the camera from me," he said. Sovan Philong said that even after showing the police his press identification - issued by the Ministry of Information - the police treated him "like a robber", grabbing him by the scruff of the next and pinning his arms behind his back. "They didn't care. They just wanted one thing: to get the camera," he added. Police also confiscated camera equipment being used by Sovan Philong's brother, Hong Menea, 20, an apprentice photographer. During the confiscation, Sovan Philong sustained a minor injury to his head. After the intervention of residents and NGO representatives and other reporters who were at the scene, the police handed back the two cameras, but deleted their images of the crackdown. In a statement yesterday, the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia condemned the police actions, calling on the authorities "to ensure that members of the press are not obstructed while doing their jobs, and that they are not unjustly accused, harassed or arrested for going about their professional duties". The homes at Boeung Kak lake were being demolished to make way for the development of a 133-hectare housing and commercial project by local developer Shukaku Inc, a firm owned by Cambodian People's Party Senator Lao Meng Khin, and China's Inner Mongolia Erdos Hung Jun Investment Co.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Rights Concerned
- Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jan 14, 2011
- Event Description
Opposition Sam Rainsy Party activist Tuot Saron has been ordered to give up his post as chief of Pongro commune in Kampong Thom province's Baray district, after being freed from jail on royal amnesty last month. Baray District Governor Hak Mov Seng said yesterday that he will refuse to let Tuot Saron resume his duties unless the Ministry of Interior issues an official letter reinstating him. He said he has demanded that Tuot Saron return his rubber stamp, a means of ratifying official documents. "Tuot Saron cannot hold a rubber stamp any more. I will not allow him to do anything at all and if he stamps documents, we will refuse them," Hak Mov Seng said. During the run up to national elections in 2008, Tuot Saron was imprisoned for abducting and illegally holding an SRP election candidate against his will. Rights group Amnesty International declared him a prisoner of conscience and he received a pardon from King Norodom Sihamoni in December. Hak Mov Seng said that under Article 16 of the law on commune management, council members must give up their posts in case of imprisonment for either a crime or misdemeanor, making Tuot Saron ineligible to be commune chief. However, Pongro commune Deputy Chief Dam Mon refused the order from Hak Mov Seng, saying it is illegal unless ordered by the Ministry of Interior. Tuot Saron said on Wednesday that he has the right to serve his people as commune chief, and that the Ministry of Interior did not restrict any of his rights following his release from prison. "I am no longer a prisoner. The government and the Ministry of Interior have not issued any letter removing me from my post. The word of pardon means that everything must be restored," he said. Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, confirmed that unless banned by the ministry, Tuot Saron should be allowed to remain. If the district governor wishes to remove Tout Saron, he must contact the ministry, Sok Sam Oeun added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to work
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Dec 13, 2010
- Event Description
After a three hour trial on 24 June, in Phnom Penh; Sous Chantha, Cambodian union leader and former employee of United Apparel Garment factory was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment for drug distribution. The sentence was reportedly set at seven months plus five days time-served and two months suspended sentence. After some discussion with legal officials, Sous was then released after the prosecution stated its decision not to appeal. The charges against Sous were reduced during the trial from the initial charge of drug trafficking to the lesser crime of drug distribution for personal use. Presumably this was because of the impossibility of providing any evidence for the charges which are widely believed to be trumped up charges disguising union busting. No real evidence was provided for the guilty verdict. Some 35 people were able to observe the trial including his family while other supporters waited outside along with undercover police. While we and other supporters of Sous welcome his release we remain deeply disappointed that Sous Chantha was not released unconditionally with the withdrawal of all criminal charges. Ath Thorn, head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation speaking after the trial stated that; "Obviously we are pleased that Chantha will be soon released, but there remains a very bitter aftertaste". He continued; " Our first concern is for Chantha to get back to work. However this verdict is a clear warning to independant trade union activity in Cambodia - it could happen to any of us. It is a clear case of union intimidation."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Nov 11, 2010
- Event Description
An opposition Sam Rainsy Party activist from Prey Veng province says he fears arrest after accidentally missing a court appearance last week in connection with charges of defamation and disinformation. Un Sam Oeun said yesterday that a summons ordering him to appear at the provincial court on November 4 did not reach him until the following day. "If police provided me with the citation as scheduled, I would have gone, but police gave it to me on November 5," he said. The defamation and disinformation charges were filed against Un Sam Oeun by Hem Hon, the chief of Phdao Korng commune, in Ba Phnom district, after he made comments to the media last year claiming that a local road project was set to affect around 10 families' homes. "He sued us for defamation and spreading disinformation. He accused me of being the protest leader," Un Sam Oeun said, adding that he now feared arrest and did not have a lawyer to defend him against the charges. He said the case was motivated by politics, and that many opposition activists had been imprisoned in similar circumstances. Hem Hon said the SRP activist had led people to protest against the construction of the road and said his comments to the media had affected the authorities' reputation. "He made exaggerations about the authorities. The road construction did not affect anyone's land; we did it according to the plan," Hem Hon said. Chea Poch, an SRP lawmaker representing Prey Veng, said the court should conduct a clear investigation before summoning any suspects, adding that Un Sam Oeun was innocent of wrongdoing. "I intervened with the court to end the accusation. I would like the court to make a clear investigation because he is an activist whether he helps people or not," he said. When contacted yesterday, Prey Veng provincial court deputy prosecutor Say Nora declined to comment on the case.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to property, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 28, 2010
- Event Description
Suong Sophorn, a Boueng Kak lake resident, is taken into custody by riot poilice after being badly beaten on Thursday during a protest near the Cambodian-Russian Friendship Hospital. Resdients were demonstrating in the hope that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would intervene on their behalf. A local activist attempting to deliver a petition to Ban Ki-moon was beaten unconscious and arrested by police and military police, as the United Nations secretary general concluded his three-day visit to the Kingdom. Suong Sophorn, 23, was dragged into a police car before being treated at Daun Penh district referral hospital following an incident in which six others were injured. They were part of a group of roughly 100 people who gathered outside the Cambodian-Russian Friendship Hospital during Ban's visit to the facility to protest against their impending eviction from the capital's Boeung Kak lakeside. "They hit me in the head with a walkie-talkie, punched me in the face several times, hit me with an electric baton and then pulled me into the car by the throat," Suong Sophorn said. He said he was released from custody after signing a pledge to stop leading protests. Rights groups estimate that more than 4,000 families will be evicted to make room for a 133-hectare development owned by a ruling party senator. Daun Penh deputy governor Sok Penhvuth denied that police had used force against the protesters. "Suong Sophorn pushed the authorities and then hit his head against the police car door," Sok Penhvuth said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to housing, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Oct 1, 2010
- Event Description
Union representative and human rights defender, Mr Phao Sak, was attacked and severely beaten on 30 September 2010. Phao Sak is a representative for the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) and was involved in negotiations at the Generation International Co., Ltd over the rights of the factory workers to be granted leave for the Pchum Ben Day, a religious festival in Cambodia. Further Information On 30 September, at 18.35, Phao Sak was leaving the Generation International factory compound in Trapeang Ampil Village, Trapeang Korng Commune, in Samrong Torng District, in Kampong Speu province, when he was attacked and severely beaten to two unidentified men. During the attack the human rights defender was beaten over the head with boards. He was unconscious for approximately 6 hours and is now being treated for head injuries in Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh. Front Line believes that the assault of Phao Sak is directly related to his legitimate activities in defence of the rights of workers in Cambodia. In light of the killings of three former Presidents of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia - Hy Vuthy in 2007 and both Chea Vichea and Ros Sovannareth in 2004 - Front Line is extremely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Phao Sak and other trade union representatives. Front Line believes that such physical threats, represent an attempt to deter workers in Cambodia from participating in free trade unions and defending labour rights.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Sep 17, 2010
- Event Description
Human rights defenders and labour activists, Mr Ath Thorn, Ms Morm Nhim and Mr Tola Moeun, are believed to be among a group of 9 persons who are due to be served with warrants from the courts following strike actions taken by thousands of Cambodian garment workers who are calling for higher wages. Further Information Ath Thorn is the President of the Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC), Morm Nhim is the President of the Cambodian National Confederation (CNC) and Tola Moeun is the head of the Labour Programme at the Community Legal and Education Training Centre - CLEC. On 15 September 2010 the Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed to requests from Government officials from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour, Vocational Training and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSalvy) to file law suits against union leaders and labour activists for inciting garment workers to strike. They also appealed to police officials to crackdown on the strikes. The strike action was planned between 13 - 18 September but a temporary cessation of the strike was declared following an invitation to the CLC and CNC to attend a negotiation meeting at the MoSalvy on 27 September. Previously, on 23 July 2010, the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Labour, Mr Oum Mean, stated publicly that Ath Thorn would face criminal proceedings if he continued to oppose the minimum wage decision. In mid-August Ath Thorn received a warning from a friend who advised him not to go out at night, that the government officials and employers were accusing him of causing trouble. On 17 August an assistant of the union leader received a suspicious phonecall during which the unidentified caller asked questions about Ath Thorn's activities and actions relating to wages for garment workers. Around the same date Tola Moeun was told by a friend with links to the employer organisations that union leaders and others publicly supporting the campaign were likely to be charged with incitement. On 28 August a member of CLC received an phonecall from an anonymous caller who said "Please tell all your supervisors to not be strong. Be careful". Front Line is extremely concerned that union leaders and labour activists, including Ath Thorn, Morm Nhim and Tola Moeun, may face criminal proceedings directly as a result of their legitimate activities in defence of the rights of workers in Cambodia. In light of the killings of three former Presidents of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) - Hy Vuthy in 2007 and both Chea Vichea and Ros Sovannareth in 2004 - Front Line is extremely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Ath Thorn, Morm Nhim and Tola Moeun, and other trade union representatives. Front Line believes that threat of criminal proceedings, as well as the physical threats, may represent an attempt to deter workers in Cambodia from participating in free trade unions and defending labour rights.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Aug 30, 2010
- Event Description
On 30 August 2010, Leang Sokchouen, staff member of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), was convicted on charges of "disinformation" after a trial marked by numerous procedural flaws. The Appeals Court, in a decision that violates international fair trial standards, upheld his sentence but changed the charge to incitement. Sokchouen was not charged with incitement at his original trial and the charge was not raised during his Appeals Court hearing on 30 June 2011. Cambodian police arrested Sokchouen on 29 May 2010 on charges of involvement in the production and distribution of anti-government leaflets in Takeo province in January. He was held incommunicado for over 33 hours, despite numerous requests by his family and lawyer to visit him. Sokchouen was given a US$500 fine, plus a two-year prison sentence. On 25 May 2012, just five days before his release, Cambodia's Supreme Court upheld the July 2011 verdict. On 30 May 2012, Mr. Sokchouen was released.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Source
Amnesty International | [Radio Free Asia](Radio Free Asia
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 30, 2019
- Event Description
Cambodian authorities Tuesday arrested Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) activist Mai Hongsreang, marking the 14th such arrest of activists associated with the banned political party. According to the Cambodian national police, Hongsreang was charged with insult and incitement for his activities on social media. Police spokesperson Lieutenant General Chhay Kimkhoeun confirmed the arrest, adding that the suspect was being questioned at the Ministry of Interior prior to his scheduled court date. The spokesperson also said the suspect had fled to Thailand but was arrested upon his return. Authorities told local news media that Hongsreang returned to organize "chaotic activities" within Cambodia. The CNRP issued a statement Wednesday demanding Hongsreang's immediate release. "The CNRP condemns the arrest of Mai Hongsreang and urge the authorities to release him and other activists immediately without any conditions" the statement said. "[We] also urge NGOs to monitor human rights abuses and continue to pressure [the] regime to halt persecutions and threats against CNRP activists" the statement continued. In an interview with RFA's Khmer Service, Hongsreang's wife Kea Sisokunthy said her husband was arrested for criticizing the government, but she maintained that he was innocent. "He dared speak the truth. He didn't commit a single crime. They are infringing on his free speech rights" she said. She confirmed that Hongsreang had fled to Thailand after he was tipped off that he would be arrested in May. The tipoff came shortly after he posted a comment on Facebook about infighting between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Interior Minister Sar Kheng. She said he had been in Thailand for several months before returning to Cambodia to visit a relative in Sihanoukville, where he was promptly arrested. Am Sam Ath, deputy director for the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), said authorities have been recently stepping up arrests against activists tied to the CNRP. "This arrest is a threat against the freedom of expression" he said, adding that NGOs are concerned over Cambodia's restrictions on internet freedom. Another CNRP activist, from Battambang province said he was concerned for his security after a local police office called him many times regarding a gathering of activists he organized. The others attending were also activists who had commented on Facebook about the possibility of Cambodia losing its Everything But Arms (EBA) status with the EU. The EU announced in February it would launch a six-month monitoring period to determine whether Cambodian exports should continue to enjoy tax-free entry into the European market under the EBA scheme, prompted by the Cambodia's Supreme Court banning the CNRP. Another CNRP activist from Battambang's Sampov Loun district said that police were spying on him and other activists daily. He said the surveillance was hindering his ability to travel. Officer Tith Samros of the district police force confirmed he had contacted the activists. "I wanted to know how many people were participating [in the gathering] and their intentions" he said. He refused to provide further details. Ying Mengly, Battambang provincial coordinator for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) said that people have the right to express their concerns over the prospect of losing EBA status. He said that police actions are a threat against the activists. "Police action has violated [their] basic human rights which are guaranteed by our constitution" he said. Police harass ADHOC in Koh Kong Province Meanwhile, police in Koh Kong province harassed ADHOC officials who were meeting with local villagers engaged in a land dispute in Sre Ambel district. ADHOC spokesman Soeung Sen Karuna said that police disturbed his team while they were in the process of interviewing the villagers. The police asked for the team's identification and monitored the interviews, compromising the freedom of what the interviewees could say. "This action was inappropriate" he said, adding that since ADHOC's establishment in 1992 they had never had any problems with authorities. In response to the claims by the ADHOC team, Sre Ambel Police Chief Ma Ty denied that his officers disturbed them. "If [the ADHOC team and the villagers] are innocent, they should have no reason to be afraid" he said. He added that authorities have a right to know what happens in the community. Chhoeung Reth, a villager who participated in the interviews said it was not the first time that police had disturbed the villagers. He said that in the past the police told them not to disclose information about land issues to rights groups. "We are afraid when uniformed police officers are looking straight at us" he said. Also on Wednesday, ADHOC released a report detailing a decline in human rights in Cambodia, particularly freedom of assembly. The report highlighted how in the past six months there were at least 71 cases where freedom of assembly was violated by authorities. The report also noted that police and local authorities required that organizers obtain permission for the gatherings. "These restrictions are a serious violation against human rights and democracy" the report said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- HRD
- NGO staff, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 19, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 19, 2019
- Event Description
Two reporters have been arrested for incitement alongside five others detained at a land protest in Preah Sihanouk province. The two reporters, Hun Sokha and Keo Rattana, the publishers of Facebook-based CPNTV and TN TV Online, respectively, were livestreaming on Friday as about 20 families tried to block a company's heavy machinery from clearing disputed land, according to Su Sophary, a representative of the families. The dispute, with the Thai Boon Roong company in Sihanoukville's Muoy commune, has been ongoing for more than 20 years, Sophary said on Monday. "They came to report news about the company clearing the land - and people went to stop the machines" she said. Military police arrived, told the reporters to stop broadcasting and arrested the pair alongside five protestors, she said. National Military Police issued a statement saying the arrest of the reporters was based on an order from Preah Sihanouk provincial prosecutor Seang Sok, who had charged the two men with incitement because they were asking inciting questions to the gathered people. The charge, incitement to obstruct a public official, carries a jail term of one day to one month. The five arrested villagers were accused of appropriating private property, and are still being questioned in court. Sokha, who is also president of the Club of Independent Journalists (CIJ), a group representing mostly very small journalism operations in rural provinces, has had other brushes with the law this year, including being sued for investigating alleged customs irregularities in Kampot province and facing legal action for reporting on a separate land dispute in Preah Sihanouk. CIJ on Saturday issued a statement calling for Information Minister Khieu Kanharith to intervene and secure the immediate release of the reporters, saying their arrests were a serious violation of press freedoms. Keo Ratha, the younger brother of Rattana, said on Monday that he had secured a lawyer to defend his sibling, arguing the journalists had committed no crime by reporting on the protest. Khmer Times national news editor May Titthara said the arrests of the two men raised concerns for other reporters in Cambodia. He appealed for their release and for an end to all persecution against reporters in order to improve press freedom in the country. "This case shows that reporters in Cambodia are faced with potential sentences while they are fulfilling their work. We ask for their release" Titthara said. Information Ministry spokesman Meas Sophorn said officials had received CIJ's request to intervene but still needed time to understand the details of the case. "We're awaiting the investigation" Sophorn said. "The ministry asks reporters to respect the code of ethics." Military police spokesman Eng Hy defended the arrests as legal, saying officers possessed evidence showing the reporters had overstepped their role as broadcasters. "We followed the law. We asked the reporters to properly follow professionalism. The military police does not want to see reporters being imprisoned" Hy said. Adhoc spokesman Soeng Senkaruna said journalists in Cambodia faced many difficulties while trying to report on the actions of government officials and wealthy businesspeople. "It is difficult for them to work. There is a kind of restriction on press freedom" Senkaruna said. In June, two reporters from the Kraing Meas website in Kompong Chhnang province were arrested after being accused of extortion by Tea Vichet, the nephew of Defense Minister Tea Banh. On Friday, two Radio Free Asia journalists will face trial over charges of supplying a foreign state with information prejudicial to national defense. Citing a decline in the media environment, Reporters Without Borders has ranked Cambodia 143th in the world for press freedom this year, the third consecutive year of decline. On Press Freedom Day in May, Prime Minister Hun Sen said reporters should contribute to revealing the real situation in society, but also added that peace came first. "Human rights need to start from the right to life. They do not start from the writing of newspaper comments" Hun Sen said. "If all are dead, who could write a newspaper?"
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Censorship, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom
- HRD
- Land rights defender, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 19, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 9, 2019
- Event Description
Authorities detained seven people on July 9 and July 10 for expressing their condolences and support for murdered political commentator Kem Ley, while people marking the third anniversary of his killing at the site of his murder in Phnom Penh were surrounded by police. These detentions mark the continuation of a heavy-handed crackdown by authorities on Cambodian's right to free expression and assembly. This morning, three activists were detained outside Caltex Bokor petrol station in Phnom Penh " the location of Kem Ley's murder on July 10, 2016 " after they joined other youth activists, union leaders and civil society members to mark the anniversary. The detainees included environmental activists Chum Hout and Chum Hour. Other activists were not allowed to lay floral wreaths at the petrol station, with dozens of armed police crowding and harassing them while they peacefully drank coffees inside the station. Boeung Kak activist Nget Khun was surrounded as soon as she arrived at the Caltex Bokor station and was physically escorted away by security forces, while students, unionists, youth activists and journalists were pushed and surrounded by at least 50 mixed security forces. Yesterday, former student activist Kong Raiya and three family members were arrested by police for allegedly inciting social chaos. While the three family members are still in police custody, Raiya was taken to Phnom Penh Municipal Court for questioning. He was previously arrested in August 2015 and convicted for "incitement to commit a felony" in relation to a Facebook post of his that called for a "colour revolution" - a term the government commonly uses to characterise peaceful movements as acts of violent revolt. On 10 July 2016, Kem Ley, a respected political commentator and activist, was shot in broad daylight as he sipped his morning coffee at Caltex Bokor. Authorities arrested a former soldier, Oeuth Ang, who was convicted on March 2017 and sentenced to life in prison following an investigation and trial that were widely criticised by international and local observers as inadequate and insufficient. Fearing for her family's safety, Ley's wife, Bou Rachana, was granted asylum in Australia along with her five sons. UPDATE: On 10 July 2019, some of the seven detained, Kung Raiya, 28, and Suong Neak Poan,were charged for "incitement to commit a felony" based on Cambodia's criminal code.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 19, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 28, 2019
- Event Description
Kampong Thom provincial police are investigating a complaint by a former CNRP official about a murder attempt by four unknown men who beat him up and stole his phone in Baray district on Friday. Major General Ouk Kosal, provincial police chief, yesterday said that police received the complaint from Sun Thun, a Cambodian Independent Teachers Association member and former provincial councillor with the CNRP. He said police went to check the scene of the alleged murder attempt in Baray commune's Thnal Cheat village, but have not found any of the four men. "In this case, the plaintiff has sued unknown persons so we have to collect information and other evidence, Maj Gen Kosal said. "We are still investigating what happened." Mr Thun yesterday said that on the day of the attack, the men pretended to be looking to buy land next to a school where he runs a rice stall. He said they persuaded him to go with them to talk to the landowner. "They drove a white car, but I don't remember the license plate. They asked me to take them to the landowner" he said. "When we reached the house of the landowner, they kept driving from one village to another and only stopped the car when they reached a quiet spot." "They then beat me up until my face was swollen before grabbing my phone and driving off" Mr Thun added. He said he has never had a conflict with any villager and believes it was a murder attempt because he is a former senior CNRP official. Mr Thun claimed that he has previously been threatened by authorities in the province. "I consider it as premeditated murder as I am a former CNRP official" he said. "I was previously threatened by the authorities after I spoke on some foreign radio programmes about concerns from the public." Ouk Chhayavy, CITA president, yesterday said the murder attempt on Mr Thun may be related to politics because he had previously faced discrimination and his activities were monitored by strangers. She urged the authorities, especially the government, to investigate the case and arrest the perpetrators to be punished according to the law.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death threat, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 19, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jun 14, 2019
- Event Description
An activist supporting Cambodia's banned opposition party has been detained on charges of violating forest protection laws, though his wife says the arrest was politically motivated. Nem Nath was taken in by police in Pursat province on Thursday, his wife Srey Saoroth told RFA's Khmer Service on Friday. She said the authorities unfairly targeted her husband because he supports the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), the main opposition of Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) until the Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in 2017. "He's a CNRP supporter. He is known publicly for supporting them" she said. "[He] didn't incite any villagers to commit any crimes. I want the court to release my husband because he is the bread winner. We can't live without him" she said. RFA was unsuccessful in an attempt to reach a spokesman of the provincial court in Pursat for comment. Kem Kimsrun, the Pursat provincial coordinator for the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), confirmed the arrest, saying the case was definitely politically motivated because Nem Nath was not involved in any illegal encroachment on public land. "The activist is with the CNRP and he refused to defect to the CPP. The arrest has put the family under undue hardship" he said. The coordinator said that in the past Prime Minister Hun Sen had ordered local police in Veal Veng district to monitor CNRP activities in the district after he accused them of engaging in politics despite the party's ban. "It is [no more] than political intimidation for the sake of the ruling party. But doing this won't help the government" said Kem Kimsrun. RFA reported on May 29 that two other CNRP activists in Pursat had been arrested on similar charges the day before. CNRP activist eludes authorities in Sihanoukville Another CNRP activist, Mao Bunsreang, escaped from his home in Cambodia's southwestern Sihanoukville province after a police officer tipped him off that they were planning to arrest him. The activist's wife, Kea Sisokunthea said police wanted to arrest him because he criticized the government on Facebook. "The comments he wrote were constructive, and we never thought anything like this would happen because of them. He never committed any crimes" she said. "He only offered constructive criticism." Sihanoukville Police Chief Chuon Narin denied that police had any plans to arrest the activist. He said Mao Bunsreang is only known as a former member of the CNRP, and if he hadn't commit any crimes, he would be fine. "I didn't receive any information. He must have claimed all that information by himself" he said. Cheap Sotheary, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association's (ADHOC) provincial coordinator for Sihanoukville said, "People in general are critical. It falls within freedom of expression."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 19, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Jul 5, 2019
- Event Description
(New York) " Cambodian authorities should immediately cease harassing former opposition party members in the courts, Human Rights Watch said today. The Battambang prosecutor Ky Bunnara has summoned 25 former officials of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) to appear for questioning before the Battambang provincial court over two weeks beginning on May 8, 2019. The summonses allege that the former opposition party officials violated the Supreme Court ruling that dissolved the party in November 2017. Many former opposition members have continued to exercise their right to free expression to criticize Prime Minister Hun Sen's government and the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) on social media. "The Cambodian government continues to harass numerous opposition officials in the courts and to threaten them with prison time long after the main opposition party was unjustifiably disbanded" said Brad Adams, Asia director. "The government should immediately end the political harassment campaign against the CNRP and drop this latest batch of absurd court cases." A total of 18 former local CNRP elected officials " commune chiefs, provincial council members, district council members, and municipality council members " received summonses, along with CNRP provincial and district chiefs, and members. The full list appears below. On May 2, a Phnom Penh court convicted in absentia Sam Rainsy, the former party leader and acting head of the exiled CNRP, of lese majeste (insulting the monarchy, under article 437 bis of Cambodia's Criminal Code) and of "inciting military personnel to disobedience" and "the demoralization of the army" (under articles 471 and 472). The court sentenced him to eight years in prison and a fine of 20 million riels (US$4,900). Sam Rainsy fled Cambodia in November 2015 when facing arrest in relation to other politically motivated charges. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has also issued arrest warrants for eight leading members of the CNRP in exile " Sam Rainsy, Mu Sochua, Ou Chanrith, Eng Chhai Eang, Men Sothavarin, Long Ry, Tob Van Chan, and Ho Vann. The charges against them are conspiring to commit treason and incitement to commit a felony. All eight leaders left Cambodia ahead of the July 2018 election after a widespread crackdown on the political opposition and nongovernmental groups. In January 2019, Hun Sen threatened the lives of opposition members who endorsed the withdrawal of trade preferences under the European Union's "Everything But Arms" system, which provides tariff-free access for goods to the EU market. The CNRP leader, Kem Sokha, has been arbitrarily deprived of his liberty for over 18 months. While the government released Sokha from jail in September 2018, he remains under judicial supervision in highly restrictive conditions that amount to house arrest. The authorities have provided no evidence that he has committed any recognizable offense. Under Cambodian law, the investigating judge has an obligation to determine whether to release a detained person after a maximum of 18 months, or to charge the person and bring them to trial. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly pressed the Cambodian government to immediately and unconditionally release Kem Sokha. In November 2017, the ruling party-controlled Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP and banned 118 party members from political activity for five years. The court action was in advance of national elections in which the opposition party was expected to challenge the ruling party's longtime rule. On July 29, 2018, elections were held without a major opposition party, and the CPP won all the seats in the National Assembly, effectively making Cambodia a one-party state. "Hun Sen's persecution of the opposition shows he is once again testing how far he can take his crackdown on independent and critical voices in Cambodia" Adams said. "The European Union and other governments that are reviewing trade preferences and considering targeted sanctions because of Cambodian government abuses should make clear they are serious about protecting human rights." List of Individuals Who Received Summons Former Elected CNRP Officials 1. Sin Chanpeou Rozeth, former CNRP Ou Char commune chief, summoned to appear on May 9, at 8 a.m. 2. Mok Ra, former CNRP Tuol Ta Ek commune chief, summoned to appear on May 9, at 8 a.m. 3. Khoun Chamran, former CNRP Chomkar Somraong commune chief, summoned to appear on May 9, at 8 a.m. 4. Kan Bunpheng, former CNRP Prek Preah Sdach commune chief, summoned to appear on May 9, at 8 a.m. 5. Ruen Kem, former CNRP Kdol Doun Teav commune chief, summoned to appear on May 8, at 8 a.m. 6. Phan Ret, former CNRP Kdol Doun Teav commune council member, summoned to appear on May 8, at 2 p.m. 7. Dim Saroeun, former SRP Battambang provincial council member, summoned to appear on May 9, at 2 p.m. 8. Pouk Lyhak, former SRP Battambang provincial council member, summoned to appear on May 16, at 2 p.m. 9. Sok Sopheak, former CNRP Preaek Norint commune chief, summoned to appear on May 21, at 8 a.m. 10. Sun Chomrienun, former CNRP Peam Aek commune chief, summoned to appear on May 21, at 8 a.m. 11. Sang Bunmao, former CNRP Svay Por commune council member, summoned to appear on May 8, at 2 p.m. 12. Horm Heam, former SRP Sangkae district council member, summoned to appear on May 16, at 8 a.m. 13. Yom Dong, former SRP Battambang municipality council member, summoned to appear on May 9, at 2 p.m. 14. Vi Von, former SRP Sangkae district council member, summoned to appear on May 17, at 8 a.m. 15. Ton Samorn, former CNRP Wat Kor commune chief, summoned to appear on May 9, at 8 a.m. 16. Peuk Lom, former CNRP Samrong commune chief, summoned to appear on May 21, at 9 a.m. 17. Ny Romduol, former CNRP Preaek Luong commune chief, summoned to appear on May 21, 2 p.m. 18. Phov Tang, former SRP Kamrieng district council member, summoned to appear on May 17, 2 p.m. Former CNRP Party Officials 1. Kong Bunheang, former CNRP Battambang provincial party member, summoned to appear on May 16, at 8 a.m. 2. Sem Lao, former CNRP Sampov Lun district party member, summoned to appear on May 16, at 2 p.m. 3. Sen San, former CNRP Sampov Lun district party member, summoned to appear on May 16, at 2 p.m. 4. Thong Saroeun, former CNRP Koas Krala district party chief, summoned to appear on May 16, at 8 a.m. 5. Chea Cheav, former CNRP Battambang provincial chief, summoned to appear on May 16, at 8 a.m. 6. Kruy Kimsang, former CNRP Kamrieng district party chief, summoned to appear on May 17, at 8 a.m. 7. Mang Chhun, former CNRP Koas Krala district party deputy chief, May 17, at 2 p.m.
- Impact of Event
- 25
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 19, 2019
- Country
- Cambodia
- Initial Date
- Apr 30, 2019
- Event Description
Authorities in northwestern Cambodia's Battambang province summoned 12 members of the Cambodia National Rescue Party to court this week to answer charges they were still active in the opposition group dissolved by court order almost two years ago. Seven of the activists received their summons on May 1, with the others summoned the day before, Thong Saroeun - a member of the banned party in Battambang's Koas Krala district - told RFA's Khmer Service on Wednesday. "I will not be intimidated, and I will be happy to appear before the court to answer their questions" Thong Saroeun said, adding, "I haven't committed any crimes. I am a [Cambodian] citizen, and I have a right to be involved in politics." Also speaking to RFA, CNRP activist Sim Lao said he was surprised to receive the summons to appear in court, as he had committed no crime, and vowed to continue his support for the banned opposition group. In Sept. 2017, Cambodian authorities arrested CNRP President Kem Sokha on charges of "treason" and the Supreme Court dissolved the opposition group two months later, paving the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodia People's Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in parliament in the country's July 2018 general election. The CNRP has since reorganized outside the country, with opposition leader Sam Rainsy serving as acting president, and many members remain active at the grassroots level, voicing their political views on social media and in social gatherings. Sam Rainsy, who left Cambodia in November 2015, was appointed acting head of the CNRP in January while Kem Sokha remains in pre-trial detention under house arrest, and has vowed to return to Cambodia this year to lead the party's supporters in ousting Hun Sen. "I regard Sam Rainsy as my father, and I support him" Sim Lao said, speaking to RFA. "If my father returns, I will welcome him and accompany him home." Also speaking to RFA on May 1, Ying Mengly - Battambang provincial coordinator for the Cambodian rights group Adhoc - called the summons of the local CNRP members "politically motivated" adding that Hun Sen and Cambodia's ruling party are concerned that the opposition group may now regroup at home. "Their intention is to destroy the [local] CNRP structures so that the party's members can't reorganize" he said. Death in custody Meanwhile, Am Sam Ath - a senior investigator in the Cambodian rights group Licadho - called on authorities in Kampong Cham province to investigate the death in custody of the son of a CNRP commune chief in the province's Stung Treng district. Tith Ron, 26 and the son of CNRP member Eam Tith, died on April 17 in what police described as a fall in a jail restroom, though his body bore multiple bruises, raising fears he had been killed by jail guards. "Even though the prosecutor claims this was not a case of torture, the public has no faith in him, and there must be an investigation to examine the facts of this case" he said. Kampong Cham provincial governor Kuoch Chamroeun meanwhile denied that Tith Ron had been killed in detention, claiming the young man had died in an accident while drunk. "Our authorities are looking into this, but the other prisoners said that he simply fell down and died" he said. Reported by RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Richard Finney.
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 19, 2019
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