Latest Press Releases

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. (permalink)

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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. (permalink)

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View full statement in Khmer / មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF)

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. (permalink)

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View full statement in Khmer / មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF)

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. (permalink)

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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.  (permalink)

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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. (permalink)

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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). (permalink)

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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. (permalink)

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View full statement in Khmer / មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF)

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. (permalink)

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View full statement in Khmer / មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF)

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. (permalink)

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View full statement in Khmer / មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF)

January 8, 2008 - The 7NG company and Phnom Penh authorities are deliberately creating an extremely volatile situation through their renewed provocative actions toward the Dey Krahorm community, LICADHO said today.

"This campaign of provocation and harassment of the community must be stopped before it further spins out of control," said LICADHO director Naly Pilorge. "The company and the authorities seem to be playing a very dangerous game of trying to incite disorder by the community at any cost, in order to be able to blame them for whatever occurs."

For the past three nights, 7NG workers and police have persistently attempted to place roadblocks on the two main public streets leading to Dey Krahorm, provoking repeatedly confrontations with community residents which culminated last night 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. (permalink)

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View full statement in Khmer / មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF)

December 18, 2007 - The Cambodian Civil Society Organization Coalition wishes to express its deep concern about the recent direct attack by the Head of the Royal Government of Cambodia on Professor Yash Ghai, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Human Rights in Cambodia, during his fourth visit to Cambodia, which just took place.

The Cambodian Civil Society Organization Coalition has noted that his fourth 10-day visit in Cambodia gave him more opportunity to meet and discuss with representatives of civil society organizations, political parties and members of the legal profession regarding the human rights situation in Cambodia. Mr. Yash Ghai was not only denied the opportunity to meet with some senior government officials during his visit, but the possibility of future meetings were also strongly rejected and his mandate as UN Special Representative for Cambodia attacked. (permalink)

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View full statement in Khmer / មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF)

December 17, 2007 - We, representatives of civil society, strongly condemn the excessive use of violence by the authorities against a group of Khmer Kampuchea Krom monks who gathered peacefully in front of the Vietnamese Embassy on the morning of 17 December 2007.

A group of 48 Khmer Kampuchea Krom monks, ethnic Khmer originally from southern Vietnam, had convened peacefully in front of the Vietnamese Embassy to submit a petition calling for the release of Kampuchea Krom Buddhist monk Tim Sakhorn and five other monks imprisoned in Vietnam, the resolution of land issues, and respect for minority rights. The Ministry of Interior responded swiftly by deploying a large contingent of police and anti-riot forces who arrived armed with shields, electric batons and guns. (permalink)

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View full statement in Khmer / មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF)

December 4, 2007 - LICADHO is deeply concerned by the ongoing provocative actions of the 7NG company toward the people of Dey Krahorm, whom it is trying to evict.

The most recent incident occurred last night when 7NG employees attempted to bring a large mechanical excavator into Dey Krahorm, which provoked an angry reaction from community residents who feared the earth-moving machine would be used to knock down their houses.

About 8pm, a large truck carrying the mechanical excavator stopped on the road outside the south entrance to Dey Krahorm. Local residents gathered along the roadside and asked the 7NG employees not to enter their community land with the excavator at night-time. Ignoring their requests, the truck driver began reversing the vehicle onto the Dey Krahorm land, clearly intending to unload the excavator there. As a crowd of people gathered round, another 7NG employee in the cab of the excavator began moving the machine's mechanical arm in the direction of the crowd - an extremely dangerous act which could have led to injuries. (permalink)

View full statement in English (PDF)
View full statement in Khmer / មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF)

November 29, 2007 - The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) deplores the violent dispersal by provincial and district police of a garment workers' strike on November 29, 2007 in Prek Khsev village, Rokar Khpous commune, Saang district, Kandal province.

This morning, around 9am, armed district and provincial police were sent to disperse the strike. Claiming the workers were causing traffic jams, the authorities forcefully cracked down on workers using tear gas. During the operation, at least one female worker, 20-year-old, was injured after being hit on her leg by a tear gas canister. The police also arrested and detained 4 workers who were later on during the day sent to the Kandal Provincial Police Commissioner. (permalink)

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View full statement in Khmer / មើលសេចក្តីថែ្លងការណ៍ជាភាសាខ្មែរ (PDF)