LIBRARY

30 March 2023

The Supreme Court this morning upheld the verdict of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which convicted 12 members of the former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and a former Interior Ministry official on charges of incitement and plotting, and sentenced each to 5 years in prison with 16 months suspended. No reasoning was provided by the Supreme Court in its judgment.

The 13 individuals were convicted on 17 March 2022 by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in a mass trial, alongside eight other former CNRP leaders and members who did not file an appeal. The Phnom Penh Appeal Court upheld the convictions of the 13 defendants in December. The 13 individuals are Chhon Bunchhat, Long Phary, Khut Chroeb, Ngin Khean, Yim Sareth, Khoem Pheana, Thai Sokunthea, Keo Thai, Nhaem Van, Chum Chan, Sok Chantha, Peat Mab, and Sun Thun.

All 13 men were detained throughout their trial in the lower courts, with several of them detained for up to three years while awaiting today’s final verdict. They remain in Tbong Khmum’s Correctional Centre 3 prison serving the unsuspended portions of their sentences, 3 years and 8 months. The sentences will see them imprisoned throughout Cambodia’s July 2023 National Election.

24 March 2023

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court this afternoon convicted Seam Pluk, co-founder of the Cambodia National Heart Party (CNHP), and twelve others on charges of forgery and use of forged documents under Articles 626, 627 and 628 of the Criminal Code. In addition to Pluk, who has been in detention since April 2022, three additional co-defendants were arrested hours before the verdict for unknown reasons.

The court sentenced Pluk to two years and six months in prison and imposed a fine of 5 million riel (USD $1,250), while the other 12 defendants received two-year sentences with the same fine. Warrants for their arrest were issued. The court provided no reasoning in its judgment.

24 March 2023

The Supreme Court rejected the appeal of seven women unionists this morning, all of whom are representatives of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU) and include its President Chhim Sithar. As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision, Sithar will remain in prison throughout an ongoing incitement trial, which commenced at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on 21 February 2023. The other six women – Chhim Sokhorn, Hay Sopheap, Kleang Soben, Ry Sovandy, Sun Srey Pich, and Touch Sereymeas – will remain under judicial supervision. The Supreme Court’s decision was made on the grounds that no written power of attorney was submitted as part of the appeal.

The seven women are currently on trial (alongside two other defendants) for charges of incitement as a result of their peaceful strike action. They had appealed the December 2022 decision of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s Investigating Judge, who had ordered that Chhim Sithar remain in provisional detention. The Investigating Judge had also placed the other six unionists under judicial supervision.

LRSU members have been on strike since December 2021 following mass layoffs at the NagaWorld casino, which included the LRSU’s entire leadership and a significant number of its members. The seven unionists were first arrested on charges of incitement in late December 2021 and early January 2022, and spent two months in pre-trial detention. They were released in March 2022, but Sithar was again arrested and imprisoned on 26 November 2022 at Phnom Penh International Airport while returning from a labour rights conference in Australia. Sithar was re-arrested for allegedly violating judicial supervision conditions, despite the fact that neither she nor her lawyers were ever informed of any conditions. Sithar remains in Correctional Center 2 prison in Phnom Penh.

11 March 2023

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.

8 March 2023

About 3,000 people gathered across at least 10 provinces and Phnom Penh to celebrate International Women’s Day 2023. Between 5 March and 8 March, land and indigenous community members, labour rights activists, children, youth, local authorities and NGOs joined events to give speeches, march, dance and share solidarity meals.

Participants called for equality and respect for women’s rights, as well as solutions for problems they face, such as land disputes, gender-based violence, limited access to social protection, and harmful microfinance debt.

In some communities, local authorities participated and listened to concerns, but there were also attempts at restricting several gatherings. Local authorities warned community members in Kampot province on 7 March against proceeding with their event planned for the following day, threatening that it would be forcefully dispersed. Police also monitored an event and demanded participant lists in Koh Kong province on 6 March. Both events were able to proceed.

3 March 2023

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court this morning convicted Kem Sokha, the former President of the dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), of treason and conspiracy with a foreign power under Articles 439 and 443 of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison, and immediately transferred to house arrest after being escorted from the courtroom by five police and security officers. His conviction comes less than five months prior to Cambodia’s 2023 National Election.

The court also ordered the permanent removal of Kem Sokha’s political rights to stand for or vote in an election as an additional penalty under Article 450 of the Criminal Code. The judgment stated that the level of damages is pending assessment, which is likely in relation to a civil action that may be filed in accordance with Article 22 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

27 February 2023

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court this morning confirmed its conviction of former opposition commune chief Kim Tola on the charge of incitement, sentencing her to 18 months in prison.

Tola, who was elected in Kampong Speu province, was one of seven former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) officials tried and convicted of incitement in July and August 2022 in a case related to Facebook posts from 2018 through 2021. Tola was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Tola was arrested on 30 October 2022 at Phnom Penh International Airport while leaving to meet her husband in Germany. Tola’s lawyer objected to the August 2022 conviction on the basis that Tola was never properly summonsed, and the Municipal Court reheard the case against her on 6 February 2022. Without providing any reasoning, the court again found Tola guilty of incitement despite the lack of evidence during the retrial that Tola had liked, commented on, or shared the Facebook posts of other parties that were the subject of the case.

13 February 2023

We, the undersigned media and civil society organizations, are deeply disturbed by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s order to revoke the license of Voice of Democracy (VOD), one of the last remaining independent media outlets in Cambodia. We also condemn the recent sexual harassment and intimidation of a female VOD journalist.

The closure of VOD and the harassment of a female VOD journalist undermine the government’s own claims regarding respect for the free press in Cambodia and appear to reflect a failure to uphold the 1995 Law on the Press. The decision to revoke VOD’s media license ahead of the July 2023 national elections represents a fresh wave of intimidation tactics against the country’s dwindling independent media that mirrors the 2017 closure of the Cambodia Daily and the 2018 sale of the Phnom Penh Post.

13 February 2023

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.

19 January 2023

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.

3 January 2023

On 9 January 2023, officers from the Phnom Penh Police Commissariat informed LICADHO’s operations director during an interview that refusing to remove the music video titled “Workers’ Blood” from social media and the organisation’s website would result in further legal action by authorities.

To avoid further legal action, LICADHO removed the music video from Facebook last night and from the website today. A censored page remains in its place.

22 December 2022

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court this morning convicted 36 former leaders, members and supporters of the forcibly dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) of plotting under Article 453 of the Criminal Code. The former opposition activists each received sentences ranging from five to seven years in prison, with only three activists receiving suspended sentences. Political rights of 11 activists were also suspended for a period of five years.

The political activists were convicted on the basis of their Facebook posts and recorded private phone calls regarding an attempt by Mu Sochua and other former CNRP leaders to return to Cambodia in January 2021 to stand trial in a separate mass trial. Sochua was denied boarding because the Cambodian government cancelled her passport and refused to issue her a visa for her country of birth.

10 December 2022

More than 7,000 people across at least 15 provinces and Phnom Penh gathered to celebrate International Human Rights Day between 4 December and 10 December 2022. Land community members gathered to discuss unresolved land conflicts in their communities; forestry communities discussed the importance and ongoing challenges of protecting natural resources; and unionists highlighted the repression of labour rights and imprisonment of union leader Chhim Sithar. NGO members gathered in Phnom Penh and across the country to participate in events led by communities, and to discuss the human rights situation.

7 December 2022

Two people died while being arbitrarily detained at the state-run Prey Speu Social Affairs Centre in August 2022, with evidence pointing to more than 10 deaths among the centre’s detainees during July and August 2022.

LICADHO has documented abuses at Prey Speu since it opened in 2004 and has publicly called for its closure since 2008. Today, we renew that call. Close Prey Speu, and put an end to the horrors faced by the people detained there.

27 November 2022

Throughout the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, which runs from 25 November to 10 December, LICADHO will be sharing six videos in this album featuring labour rights activists who are standing up for just working conditions and fighting to end gender-based violence at work. Each with different backgrounds, together they represent factory workers, sex workers, entertainment workers, casino workers, teachers, tuk tuk drivers, domestic workers and more.

26 November 2022

Union leader Chhim Sithar was detained by immigration police at the Phnom Penh International Airport today after returning to Cambodia following a 12-day trip to Australia. She was detained at immigration at around 10:30 am and has been sent to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Sithar’s lawyer, who was present at the airport, has not been allowed to accompany the union leader during questioning and has been unable to contact her for several hours.

Sithar, the president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU), was charged with incitement under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code in January 2022 after the union began a strike action. She was violently arrested while trying to join fellow strikers and spent over two months in pre-trial detention alongside other union leaders and members before being released on bail in March this year. Upon her release, neither Sithar nor her lawyers were informed of any judicial supervision or probation conditions, such as travel restrictions.

25 November 2022

LICADHO is marking the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence by celebrating all women who are standing up for labour rights and fighting to end gender-based violence at work. In “Women United for Labour Rights in Cambodia”, LICADHO shares the stories and recommendations of six activists fighting as leaders and members of trade unions, associations and federations.

Together, they represent factory workers, sex workers, entertainment workers, casino workers, teachers, tuk tuk drivers, domestic workers and more. They are all calling out the violence and sexual harassment that their members face at the workplace.

10 October 2022

Members of communities affected by land conflicts gathered across Cambodia in the weeks leading up to and following World Habitat Day to call on the government to ensure the right to adequate housing, and to call for a solution to their long-running land disputes.

7 October 2022

Son Chhay, vice president of the opposition Candlelight Party, was convicted of defamation in two cases by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court this afternoon following his public criticism of Cambodia’s June 2022 Commune Elections. He was ordered to pay 3 billion riel (about US$750,000) in compensation to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and two fines totalling 17 million riel (about US$4,250).

The CPP and the NEC filed separate criminal complaints against Chhay in June 2022, alleging that he damaged their reputations after he commented on the fairness of the election results in a media interview. Chhay had claimed that the NEC was controlled by one political party, and that there were irregularities before and during the elections, including intimidation and vote-buying and stealing.

Chhay was charged with defamation under Article 305 of the Criminal Code in August 2022 on the basis of both complaints. Following separate trial hearings, the municipal court announced its judgements related to both complaints this afternoon. Chhay was fined 8 million riel (about US$2,000) and 9 million riel (about US$2,250) in relation to the CPP’s and NEC’s complaints respectively. The judge further announced additional penalties under Article 310 of the Criminal Code, including that the judgements must be posted publicly at Chhay’s residence, his local commune office, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and all polling stations in Phnom Penh for two months, as well as publicised through the media for eight days at Chhay’s expense.

29 September 2022

The Covid-19 Law, officially titled the Law on Preventive Measures Against the Spread of Covid-19 and Other Severe and Dangerous Contagious Diseases, was hurriedly passed on 11 March 2021 without consultation with civil society and other stakeholders, and took immediate effect. The law, reinforced by two hastily drafted sub-decrees on health and administrative measures, grants the government extraordinarily broad powers and discretion to significantly interfere with fundamental social, political and economic rights. There are inadequate provisions for independent oversight of authorities’ measures, and a lack of meaningful limits on the duration and scope of oppressive restrictions. Over half the text of the Covid-19 Law is devoted to penalties, including prison sentences of up to 20 years for vaguely phrased violations.