May 2, 2008 - Cambodia's media is often described as one of the freest in the region, but in reality journalists describe an environment in which the pursuit of truth is undermined by political bias, fear and corruption.

Most of Cambodia's media outlets are aligned to a political party and most favor the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). Bribes are so commonplace they are not even considered corruption. Formal censorship exists and self-censorship is widespread through Cambodia's media.

A new survey shows that many Cambodian journalists have been attacked - physically or legally - and most feel vulnerable. Threats and fear have a direct influence on their work, and their reporting has a direct influence on the public's perception of their country, especially around election periods.
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Cambodia's news media is often described as one of the freest in the region, with no official censorship and a "flourishing press".

But if we look beyond just the quantity of newspapers and magazines, and listen to journalists and editors describe their working environment, we find a media closely controlled by politics, money and fear.

Almost all Cambodia's media is aligned to a political party, with the vast majority favoring the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). The situation varies depending on the media - television is totally owned or controlled by the government or CPP, radio has a few opposition-aligned stations and some important independent voices, while most newspapers act as mouthpieces for one party or another, with the exception of the foreign-language press.
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The Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), a coalition of 21 NGO members, the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (CMFREL) and the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC) are very concerned over the ongoing politically motivated arrests by using court system as a political tool for intimidation, amid the forthcoming national elections to be held on 27 July 2008.

On 18 March 2008 at around 9 am, Mr. Tuot Sarorn, Tuol Pong Ro Commune Chief, Baray district, Kampong Thom province was arrested by a group of police officers led by Baray District Police Inspector without an arrest warrant although police officials affirmed that the arrest was based on a warrant issued by the Kampong Thom provincial court.

On 19 March 2008, Mr. Tout Sarorn was sent to Kampong Thom provincial police commissariat and to the court. Additionally, three other members of Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) Mr. Thorn Rithy (Deputy Chief of SRP Kampong Thom provincial office), Mr. Men Vannak and Mr. Hour Sarak, are also searched for arrest.
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March 25, 2008 - Pring Pov, the Kep policeman who has been unlawfully detained for more than one month by the Ministry of Interior, was sent by police to Monivong Hospital yesterday. The Cambodia Human Rights and Development Organization (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (LICADHO) are deeply concerned for his health and once more call for his immediate release.

Pring Pov, a district police officer in Kep municipality, was arrested without court warrant on February 18, 2008, and has subsequently been detained in a cell by the Order Police at a Ministry of Interior compound in Phnom Penh. He has been beaten and kept in handcuffs for at least some of that time, according to credible information received by ADHOC and LICADHO.
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There are over 640 women currently detained in prisons all over Cambodia and on a day that is meant to celebrate women everywhere and promote the rights of women, LICADHO, partner NGOs, comedians and musicians spent the day remembering these vulnerable members of society.

On Saturday March 8 LICADHO and partner NGOs celebrated International Women's Day by distributing food, drinks, clothes and materials to female prisoners, children living in prison and female prison guards across 20 prisons in Cambodia. These donations are greatly needed in a prison system which must subsist on a budget of 1,500 riel (USD$0.38) per prisoner per day to cover the costs of food, water, electricity, clothing and medical care.
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Commissioned artwork used in LICADHO's latest Cambodian prisons condition illustrates the everyday life of incarcerated mother with their child.
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March 11, 2008 - The Cambodian League for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (LICADHO) is gravely concerned by the unlawful detention and alleged torture of a man in the custody of the Ministry of Interior.

Mr Priep Pov, a Damnak Chang’aeur district policeman from Kep Municipality, was arrested without court warrant in Kep on February 18. Transferred to Phnom Penh on the same day, he has since been detained for three weeks at a compound used by the Ministry of Interior's Order Police and the Intervention Police units. He has been beaten and kept shackled with handcuffs by foot and hand for at least some of that time, and is in poor health, according to credible information received by LICADHO.
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As of February 2008, there are 562 women living in 18 out of Cambodia's 26 prisons. Of these women, 4 were pregnant and 43 women brought their children to live with them in prison or had given birth to children while in prison, for a total of 50 children living with their mothers in prison.

Life in Cambodian prisons is a harsh reality for any individual. Limited access to food and clean water, overcrowding of prison cells, routine denial of quality medical services and violence towards prisoners from prison officials and other inmates is a part of everyday life. Life in prison becomes even more difficult when you are pregnant, or if you bring your children to live with you in prison.
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February 6, 2008 - My name is Lina and I live in prison with my daughter, Maly in a prison cell with twenty-five other women. I had no other choice but to bring my daughter with me into prison. Maly was very young at the time. My husband had died and I didn’t have any family living near that could take care of Maly.

Lina is one of over 640 female prisoners living in prison and one of the 43 women who currently live with their children in prison - her daughter is one of those 50 children. Their story is told in the LICADHO report, entitled Prison Conditions in Cambodia 2007: The Story of a Mother and Child, which is being released to mark International Women's Day, March 8 2008.
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The human rights situation in Cambodia had the capacity to improve and yet continued to deteriorate in 2007.

Of particular concern in 2007 was the increasing repression and restriction on people’s democratic rights of freedom to expression and freedom of assembly. In addition, landgrabbing remained a significant problem, while other human rights abuses still remained highly problematic, such as problems with corruption, executive interference in the judiciary, impunity, and judicial incompetence, and lack of adequate protection for women from all forms of violence.
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Early on the morning of 22 February, 2008, more than 100 heavily-armed military police, intervention police and district police officers violently and forcibly evicted 23 households in Banla S'et village, Khmuonh commune, Russey Keo district, Phnom Penh. As a result, four villagers were injured and eight were detained, leaving behind a dismantled community with nowhere to go.

The eviction was carried out less than 24 hours after the community received notice of eviction. Military and police forces arrived shortly after 7.30am, and less than five minutes later, fired two tear gas canisters at residents while simultaneously shooting dozens of AK-47 bullets into the air, in a blatant attempt to intimidate and force the community to leave. Many bullets were also fired directly at a nearby vehicle, which subsequently exploded.
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On 19 February, 2008, two international human rights organizations and two Cambodian NGOs called upon Cambodian authorities to take effective measures to combat the practice of forced evictions which constitutes a flagrant violation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international human rights instruments that the Kingdom of Cambodia has ratified.
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January 22, 2008 - Cambodian and international human rights organizations are united in condemning two separate violent incidents, which have resulted in blood shed over land in Phnom Penh within the past 48 hours at the Reak Reay and Russey Keo communities. The Housing Rights Task Force (HRTF), NGO Forum on Cambodia, LICADHO, Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC), Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) and Bridges Across Borders deplore these violent acts and call on the Royal Government of Cambodia to impose an immediate moratorium on evictions until effective legal protections are made available for persons affected by evictions.

About 100 heavily-armed local police and military police on the morning of Friday, 22 February forcibly evicted 23 households. This eviction resulted in injury to at least four villagers, one with a serious head wound, and the arrest of eight others. As part of the eviction, the police fired two tear gas canisters at the residents and fired dozens of AK-47 bullets into the air to intimidate and threaten the community. Numerous gunshots struck a nearby dilapidated vehicle, which had been used to store gasoline, which exploded.
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February 19, 2008 - Two international human rights organizations and two Cambodian NGOs called today upon Cambodian authorities to take effective measures to combat the practice of forced evictions which constitutes a flagrant violation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international human rights instruments that the Kingdom of Cambodia has ratified.

The call was made by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders - a joint programme of International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) - along with the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO).
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February 7, 2008 - The Cambodian League for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (LICADHO) condemns the violent crackdown by authorities against workers on strike outside a Phnom Penh garment factory yesterday.

At least 10 members of the Cambodia Confederation of Apparel Worker Democratic Unions (CCAWDU) were injured in the violence. Four were struck by vehicles leaving the factory at high speed, and the remainder beaten by police or military police officers

On January 11, more than 700 CCAWDU members working at Kingsland Garment factory in Meanchey District went on strike. They demanded the reinstatement of 19 union representatives fired by the factory in June 2007, and that the factory management to keep its previous promises to respect labor rights. The factory owner, however, did not open any negotiations with the strikers.
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Today, the 28th of January, 2008, marks the fourth year of imprisonment of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeum who were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for the murder of Chea Vichea, President of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia. As of today the two men have served a total of 1,461 days in prison.
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January 28, 2007 - As of tomorrow, January 28, Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun will have spent four years in prison - a total of 1,461 days - since their initial arrests in 2004. They are serving 20-year prison sentences after they were convicted of Chea Vichea’s murder in a grossly unfair trial.

The denial of justice to the family of Chea Vichea, and the continued imprisonment of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun despite overwhelming evidence of their innocence, reflects poorly on the state of rule of law in Cambodia. The longer that this situation continues, the greater the injustice suffered by these individuals, and the greater the damage done to the reputation of Cambodia's justice system.

We appeal once more for the immediate release of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun from prison, which is essential to begin to restore some level of justice in this case.
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January 23, 2008 - LICADHO fears an imminent forced eviction of the Dey Krahorm community in Phnom Penh, and urges the Phnom Penh Municipality and the 7NG company to cancel any such plans.

According to information received from several sources, authorities were planning to use a large number of police and military police to conduct an eviction of Dey Krahorm early this morning. The plan was called off at the last minute, because information about it had leaked, but may have only been delayed until later this week or next week.

LICADHO is deeply concerned that the authorities are considering an eviction, and believes there is no legal basis for such action. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has yet to rule on a lawsuit filed by Dey Krahorm families to assert their land rights, and any eviction ordered prior to a court ruling would be arbitrary and unlawful.
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This document aims to explain the land case involving the Dey Krahorm community in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was compiled as an advocacy and legal tool to support the families who continue to live on the site and to challenge the legality of the contract which threatens to cost them their land.

The report was researched and written by LICADHO Canada. It is based largely on documents and other information provided by community representatives of Dey Krahorm, and NGO partners involved in the case. LICADHO Canada would like to thank the community representatives and NGOs for providing information, comments and advice throughout the research; specifically Community Legal Education Center [CLEC] and LICADHO.

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Since the night of Saturday January 5, 7NG company workers and police have persistently attempted to place roadblocks on the two main public streets leading to Dey Krahorm village in Phnom Penh, repeatedly provoking confrontations with community residents which culminated on the night of January 7 with the burning of a truck used in one of the roadblocks. Residents claim that it was 7NG workers themselves who set the truck alight, in order to accuse the community of doing it.
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