October 8, 2008 - Tomorrow, in a mark of solidarity amongst all the communities that are faced with eviction, land alienation and ongoing harassment, community representatives from 11 provinces will publicly present their land complaints, after having formally delivered the complaints to the authorities in Phnom Penh.

In June 2008, communities from 5 of the provinces that had filed complaints against land concessions and alleged land grabbings were subjected to harassment by local authorities, including restrictions on their movement and ability to hold meetings, and police threats preventing the delivery of complaints to authorities in Phnom Penh. There have also been reports of physical violence and other threats and intimidation targeting community representatives who organized the filing of complaints.
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Read LICADHO's latest report: Attacks & Threats Against Human Rights Defenders in Cambodia 2007
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September 23, 2008 marked the 1,700th day that Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun have spent in prison for a crime they did not commit.

Despite overwhelming evidence of their innocence, the two men continue to serve 20-year prison sentences for the murder of trade union leader Chea Vichea. They remain in Phnom Penh's PJ prison, where they have been since their arrests on January 28, 2004.
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September 25, 2008 - LICADHO calls for Cambodian authorities to take concrete steps to redress he persecution of human rights defenders, including by bringing the killers of trade unionist Hy Vuthy to justice and ensuring that Khmer Kampuchea Krom activist monk Tim Sakhorn is able to return to Cambodia from Vietnam.

“Cambodia is a dangerous place for human rights defenders and this will not change until some real action is taken to prevent and punish attacks against them,” said LICADHO president Kek Galabru. “The authorities cannot continue to commit or ignore serious abuses against people who try to defend or promote human rights.”

A LICADHO briefing paper issued today, entitled Attacks and Threats Against Human Rights Defenders in Cambodia 2007, records more than 50 incidents of intimidation or violence against rights defenders last year. They include the February murder of Hy Vuthy and the arbitrary deportation of monk Tim Sakhorn to Vietnam in June.
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Cambodia is a dangerous place for human rights defenders. During 2007, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) recorded more cases than ever before of threats and attacks against activists attempting to peacefully defend the rights of others.

Throughout 2007, the patterns of threats and attacks against human rights defenders observed in previous years have continued and intensified. Representatives of communities engaged in disputes over land and housing were targeted with threats, unwarranted criminal charges, and in some cases imprisonment. Trade union leaders were assaulted, arrested and prosecuted for their legitimate union activity; one such leader was murdered. Human rights NGO workers continued to be threatened and obstructed in carrying out their work, whilst private citizens legitimately assisting asylum seekers were harassed and imprisoned.
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September 23, 2008 - Today marks the 1,700th day that Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun have spent in prison for a crime they did not commit.

Despite overwhelming evidence of their innocence, the two men continue to serve 20-year prison sentences for the murder of trade union leader Chea Vichea. They remain in Phnom Penh’s PJ prison, where they have been since their arrests on January 28, 2004.

“After more than four years and seven months in prison, it is long overdue that the gross injustice done to Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun be ended and that they be released,” said LICADHO director Naly Pilorge.
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LICADHO's Six Month Activity Report 2008 covers LICADHO's project activities for the period 1 January 2008 to 30 June 2008. The activity report includes a summary of high profile cases and key human rights issues for the period; project statistics and photos; case studies; details of LICADHO's website usage and a list of all LICADHO and joint publications produced and distributed during the reporting period.


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July 17, 2008 - The Association for Development and Human Rights in Cambodia (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (LICADHO) jointly condemn the police crackdown on an attempted peaceful gathering over the Preah Vihear temple dispute by factory workers and school teachers today.

The gathering was initially planned to be held in front of the old National Assembly but, when military police, national and municipal police blocked many participants from reaching the site, the organizers decided to relocate to the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia's (FTUWKC) office.

There, more than 50 intervention police surrounded the office, trapping some 100 workers and teachers inside to prevent them from marching on the street. Police violently pushed people back inside the office at least twice, as well as destroyed banners and confiscated Cambodian flags.
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On October 26, 2007, four Cambodian men aged between 20 to 37 years were trafficked from Takeo province to work on a deep-sea fishing boat off the coast of Thailand. Chronic unemployment and poverty drove the men to seek work abroad and into an environment they knew little about. Whilst it was the mens' choice to search for work overseas, they were unaware that they were being trafficked into forced labor in Thailand. Their arduous journey took them from a small village in Cambodia to a remote forest in Thailand and then to the coast of East Malaysia, however through the cooperation of several NGOs in the region the men were able to be returned to their homes in Cambodia. Their ordeal has now launched efforts by several NGOs to establish networks across Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia to break trafficking rings and to help repatriate victims.
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July 31, 2008 - LICADHO is deeply concerned that authorities are seeking to arrest a Cambodian election observer because of an unsubstantiated and politically-motivated allegation of physical assault.

LICADHO believes that Chea Som Borun, an observer with the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC), is being targeted because he is the son of a Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) activist.

Police accuse Borun of assaulting a relative of a CPP-affiliated village chief on the night before the elections in his home village of Ta Kou, in Chrey Loas commune, Ponhea Leu district of Kandal. However, multiple witnesses interviewed by LICADHO say that the reverse is true - it was in fact the alleged victim who, while drunk, hit Borun.
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July 17, 2008 - A coalition of a wide range of civil society organizations, namely the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC, 21 NGO members), the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL, 10 NGO members), and the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC, 7 NGO members), have great concern over the general political situation and the practice of democracy in the Kingdom of Cambodia, especially during the electoral campaign period of the 4th term of the National Assembly Elections, which will take place on July 27, 2008.

The above mentioned civil society organizations have noted that during this electoral campaign period, starting from 26 June 2008 up to now, political violence particularly against non-ruling party activists at both the national and the local level, has threatened the freedom to fully participate in the upcoming elections. The latter is an important element of our democracy, and it is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia. We have identified numerous cases of political violence occurring during the past three-weeks of this election campaign period, such as political intimidation, and the killing of journalists as well as non-ruling party activists; leading to a deterioration of the general security situation in the country which in turn is creating fear among the general public.
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In a bid to clean up the streets of Phnom Penh, the government has been removing the homeless, beggars and sex workers and dumping them in two detention centers supposedly for rehabilitation and education. The reality however is that these people are being unlawfully detained and forced to live in appalling conditions where meals consist of a small plastic bag of rice and a bucket in the middle of the room serves as a communal toilet.
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June 28, 2008 - The government should order the immediate and complete closure of two Social Affairs centers in which men, women and children have been unlawfully detained, and ensure an end to any further arbitrary arrests and detentions, LICADHO said today.

"These two centers, and any others like them, must be closed because their main purpose is to detain people completely unlawfully," said LICADHO director Naly Pilorge. “This is an institutionalized program of unlawful detention by the government which is morally and legally indefensible."

One of the centers is in Prey Speu, Chom Chao commune of Phnom Penh and the other is on the site of a former Khmer Rouge prison and execution camp on Koh Kor, an island in Saang district of Kandal province. Both centers are run by the Phnom Penh Municipal Social Affairs Department.
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Koh Kor Social Affairs Center, an institutionalized program of unlawful detention by the government. Photos taken by LICADHO on June 17 & 19, 2008.
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June 9, 2008 - The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), and the Cambodian League for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (LICADHO) condemn the arrest and detention on Sunday of Moneaksekar Khmer editorin-chief Dam Sith, which we believe was politically-motivated.

On Sunday morning, June 8, national military police officers wearing civilian clothes arrested Dam Sith at a Phnom Penh car-washing shop. After several hours at the national military police headquarters, he was sent to Phnom Penh court where he was charged with defamation and disinformation and sent to Prey Sar prison for pre-trial detention.

Dam Sith was charged following a complaint against him by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong, regarding an article published in Moneaksekar Khmer on April 18. The article reported on a speech made by Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) president Sam Rainsy, at a Khmer Rouge victims' commemoration on April 17, in which he made comments about several government ministers. Hor Namhong subsequently filed a court complaint against both Sam Rainsy and Dam Sith.
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On June 6, 2006, more than 1000 families were violently expelled from their homes in Sambok Chap village in inner city Phnom Penh. The residents were forced onto trucks and taken to be dumped in an open field at Andong, 22km from central Phnom Penh - their new 'home'. There was no shelter, electricity, running water, schools, health services or readily-available employment nearby.

Today 6 June 2008 marks the two year anniversary of the eviction, the site of their former homes in Sambok Chap - slated for commercial development by a private company - remains bare and unused, while the evictees continue to live in squalor at the Andong relocation site.
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June 5, 2008 - LICADHO appeals to the government to allow the immediate reopening of radio FM 105.25 in Kratie province, without any censorship or other restrictions on its broadcasts.

The Ministry of Information last week closed down the new radio station, which had broadcasted for only 13 days, because it sold air time to political parties.

"The abrupt closure of this radio station reflects very poorly on the government's commitment to allowing democratic debate prior to the July national elections," said Kek Galabru, LICADHO’s president. "It also highlights how freedom of expression and information is tightly controlled on Cambodia's radio and television stations, particularly in rural areas."
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In the past week the number of villagers coming to Phnom Penh to highlight land grievances shows the continuing dire situation of land-grabbing in Cambodia.

"People are still coming to Phnom Penh from all over the country, desperate for government officials to listen to their land problems and resolve them," said Kek Galabru, LICADHO's president. "This shows that land-grabbing is still rampant and that villagers are unable to get their grievances heard anywhere else."

Last week in just a short period of 48 hours, five groups of villagers from five provinces came to Phnom Penh because of unresolved land problems.
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May 29, 2008 - The number of villagers coming to Phnom Penh to highlight land grievances - with people from five provinces arriving in the capital within the past 48 hours - shows the continuing dire situation of land-grabbing in Cambodia.

"People are still coming to Phnom Penh from all over the country, desperate for government officials to listen to their land problems and resolve them," said Kek Galabru, LICADHO’s president. "This shows that land-grabbing is still rampant and that villagers are unable to get their grievances heard anywhere else."
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Sophal* was only six when he became a child brick factory worker. The rest of his family has spent over five years working in the brick factory. Together, the family of five earns less than US$25 per month. The work is hard, and the children often get sick. The job involves repetitive lifting, carting and drying of clay, and hauling brick blocks in and out of hot furnaces.

On May 7, World Vision Cambodia (WVC) and LICADHO launched a joint research report "Child Labor in Brick Factories - Causes and Consequences" at a workshop in Battambang city. The research, conducted in July 2007, aimed to identify causes and consequences of child labor in brick factories in the surrounding areas of Battambang city.

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