Topic: General Human Rights
Press Release: International Human Rights Day 2011: "We all need rights, Decent living wages & justice!"
Pages: Published on December 9, 2011; More than 52,000 Cambodians - including community groups, trade unionists, land activists, students, farmers, fishermen, musicians,entertainment workers, tuktuk drivers, motorcycle drivers and NGO workers - will gather in their communities on December 10 to celebrate International Human Rights Day (IHRD) this year.
These celebrations are tied together with the common theme "We All Need Rights, Decent Living Wages & Justice!" and a common symbol ‐ the blue Kramar to represent the important role of human rights defenders in Cambodia.
Published on August 21, 2011; We, representatives of the undersigned members of civil society and private sector groups, support national development that is equitable, inclusive, and sustainable. We believe national development should contribute not only to the growth of commerce and industry but also to the welfare of the wider population. Civil society actors, both local and foreign, play a vital role in this development through monitoring, community development, poverty alleviation, humanitarianism, research, and advocacy. In promoting equitable development and good governance, we also have a right and a responsibility to speak out when development projects have harmful effects.
We condemn the suspension of STT in the strongest possible terms. The suspension of STT is completely arbitrary and a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of expression and association, and an assault on human rights defenders. We demand its immediate reversal. We regard this act to silence STT as an act of oppression against us all. The use of a vague administrative technicality to suspend an organization is an alarmingly clear sign of how the Cambodian government intends to use the Law on Associations and Non Governmental Organizations (LANGO) to curb the activities of all associations and NGOs that advocate for the rights of marginalized groups within Cambodian society.
Published on August 18, 2011; CCHR, CLEC and LICADHO condemn today's mass detention of peaceful activists in Phnom Penh, in which police detained over 100 villagers for distributing environmental fliers.
The activists, who mostly hail from Cambodia's Prey Lang forest, gathered in 14 provinces and Phnom Penh to raise awareness over deforestation and economic land concessions that have been granted inside the forest. The Prey Lang network maintains that the preservation of Prey Lang is critical to the preservation of wildlife habitat and flora that is sacred to indigenous communities. They also claim that deforestation would contribute to climate change and ultimately affect their livelihoods.
Approximately 300 Prey Lang members gathered in front of the Royal Palace to conduct a religious ceremony early on Thursday morning. The network members then dispersed in small groups throughout the city to distribute fliers advocating for the preservation of the forest. Police and local officials immediately descended on each of the locations, confiscated the leaflets and detained participants in local commune offices for questioning and "re-education."
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Published on June 9, 2011; I gave up school for a job as domestic worker when I was very young. I earned just 100,000 Riels (approximately USD 25) per month, which was already advanced by my mother. In addition to housework, I was also assigned to sell fried crickets at night at various beer gardens and bars. Just three months after I came to work for the family, the male house owner raped me while I was in the house alone. I was subsequently raped on further occasions, and intimidated into not disclosing the information. The owner also gave me contraceptive injections.
- A 13-year-old girl from a remote province fell into bonded labour as a domestic worker for a family.
LICADHO and World Vision Cambodia will mark World Day Against Child Labour on June 10 and June 12 by organizing two community events to raise public awareness and actions on the worst forms of child labour.
Published on December 20, 2010; Cambodia took a step backwards on freedom of expression issues in 2010, and is poised to continue the trend in 2011, according to a new report from LICADHO.
The report, "Freedom of Expression in Cambodia: The Illusion of Democracy" documents nearly 50 cases in which the government violated individuals' expressive freedoms during 2010. The incidents, taken together, illustrate a disturbing trend: Authorities are growing increasingly bold in their campaign to silence those who speak out against the political and economic elite. As a result, Cambodians are being excluded from participating in their own democracy.
Published on December 15, 2010; Venerable Loun Sovath has many hats: he is a monk, a human rights defender and a representative for the disenfranchised Chikreng community in Siem Reap province.
Sovath has acted at great risk to his personal safety, struggling to find justice for the victims of the Chi Kreng land grab.
Venerable Sovath was threatened very often, like many other human rights defenders, dispite his robes. In fact, he may face an even greater threat, given his willingness to speak out, appear in the media, and openly document abuse perpetrated by the authorities.
Published on December 10, 2010; More than 20,000 Cambodians celebrated the 62nd International Human Rights day on Dec 10th, 2010.
In 65 events across the country, civil society groups including trade unionists, students, farmers, fishermen, musicians, youths, entertainment workers, tuk tuk drivers, motorcycle drivers and NGO workers celebrated IHRD within their communities.
Throughout Cambodia, the celebrations were held under the common theme of 'We all want justice and sustainable livelihoods!' and a common symbol representing the role of human rights defenders in Cambodia, the blue Kramar.
IHRD is celebrated every year on December 10, marking the day that the UNDHR was signed in 1948. Since then, the Declaration has been and continues to be a source of inspiration for national and international efforts to promote and protect human rights.
Published on December 10, 2010; More than 20,000 Cambodians from communities and other civil society groups around the country, including trade unionists, students, farmers, fishermen, musicians, youths, entertainment workers, tuk tuk drivers, motorcycle drivers and NGO workers, will celebrate International Human Rights Day (IHRD) in their communities this year.
These celebrations are tied together with the common theme "We All Need Justice and Sustainable Livelihood!" and a common symbol ‐ the blue Kramar to represent the important role of human rights defenders in Cambodia.
Initiatives from civil society groups will mark the achievements made in human rights in Cambodia, but also focus on critical issues still facing the country's citizens - including exploitation of land and natural resources; restrictions to the freedoms of expression, association and assembly; and violations of labor rights.
Published on December 2, 2010; LICADHO President and Founder Dr Pung Chhiv Kek and Venerable Luon Sovath accepted an award on behalf of LICADHO as guests of honor at the 2010 Annual Focus for Change benefit dinner held in New York by LICADHO partner WITNESS, an international human rights organization which uses video to open the eyes of the world to human rights violations.
The 2010 benefit dinner saw WITNESS honoring LICADHO with an award for its use of video to document evidence in the ongoing struggle to end forced evictions in Cambodia. The partnership begun in 2007, when WITNESS provided LICADHO with 50 small handheld FLIP cameras for use by community activists in 18 Cambodia provinces to film and document cases of human rights abuse. Since then, LICADHO and WITNESS have worked closely together to produce advocacy videos on the plight of land-grabbing victims, creating international support to halt specific evictions.
Published on November 1, 2010; We, the undersigned representatives of Cambodian civil society, write to you to express concerns regarding the request by Prime Minister Hun Sen on 27 October 2010 to remove Christophe Peschoux from his position as Cambodia Country Representative for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and his threat to close the OHCHR Cambodia office.
Since its establishment in 1993 following the Paris Peace Agreements, the OHCHR Cambodia office and its staff have worked diligently in pursuit of its mandate to protect and promote human rights and have made significant contributions to the concept of democracy and rule of law in Cambodia. In January 2010, the mandate of OHCHR Cambodia was extended for an additional two years. This extension is a reflection of the current human rights situation in Cambodia and the need for the continued presence of OHCHR in the country, where a corrupt and politically-controlled judiciary continues to facilitate wide scale transfer of land from poor and marginalised groups to a small economic and political elite, and imprisons all those who dare to speak out against the rich and powerful.
Published on October 28, 2010; We write to welcome you and your wife to Cambodia, and to summarize what we perceive as some of the most pressing human rights issues affecting Cambodia.
Cambodia is currently facing its most serious crisis since the 1997 coup, which constitutes a backward slide in the country’s democratization. The international community, notably the UN, made significant contributions to bringing peace and the concept of democracy and rule of law to Cambodia. Sadly, the hard-won steps which have been made toward pluralistic democracy are now in danger. In particular, efforts to promote Human Rights are deteriorating.
Published on September 30, 2010; "I was told by the company that I could earn $ US 180 per month as a domestic helper in Malaysia. During the first six months my salary would be deducted to cover the expenses of the company. I thumb-printed the documents without knowing their content, and the company did not give me any copies or explain anything in detail to me. But I know that the company changed everything. In fact, the company changed my name and age in the documents, and I was told to use the name of my older sister."
This is an account of an underage girl who was sent to work as a domestic worker in Malaysia where she was mistreated with other Cambodian maids. Channa (not her real name) was brought up in Koh Kong province in a poor family. She met with a representative of a licensed recruitment agency who promised to give her a highly paid job in Malaysia. She was underage, but the company facilitated falsified documents including a passport, visa and other necessary documents so that she could be sent to work abroad.
Published on September 2, 2010; Since 2007, the human rights abuses and violence encountered by human rights defenders in Cambodia have continued unchecked. Respect for the rights of human rights defenders has continued to deteriorate with dramatic setbacks in press freedom, misuse of the justice system to silence government critics, and the imposition of harsh new restrictions on peaceful protests.
LICADHO has continued to monitor the situation closely in order to provide a report that analyzes the current challenges faced by human rights defenders in Cambodia on a daily basis. Investigations have confirmed that Cambodia remains a dangerous place for human rights defenders.
In 2008 and 2009 representatives of communities engaged in land disputes were threatened with violence, spurious legal action or imprisonment; trades union leaders were assaulted, arrested and persecuted for legitimate trade union activity; and journalists and human rights workers at NGOs were threatened, arrested and obstructed in carrying out their work. The Cambodian government continues to pursue repressive tactics, terrorizing human rights defenders and undermining their ability to defend peacefully the rights of others.
While threats and attacks against human rights defenders have continued - and in some instances increased - since 2007, a number of disturbing trends have emerged.
Published on May 9, 2010; Sometimes the most effective defense of human rights begins with the simplest of questions. "Why can't I be here?" "What law did I break?" And sometimes, just: "Why?"
The latter was a question that the Venerable Luon Sovath began asking early in life. The 32-year-old grew up in Cambodia's Siem Reap province and came of age in the midst of Cambodia's vicious civil war. He witnessed horrific violence as the Khmer Rouge attempted to regain control of the country. Growing up, there was rarely a clear answer to the question "why?" The violence was usually senseless; the injustice seemed systematic.
So at age 15, Sovath took a different path: He became a monk. His choice allowed him to escape harm during Cambodia's decades-long war, and instilled the virtues of karma, reflection, and justice. Today, he is a human rights defender working amongst the villagers who are victims of land-grabbing dedicating his free time to producing videos documenting the human rights abuses he witnesses. This is his story.
Published on February 23, 2010; Since December 24, 2009, LICADHO has been assisting a group of 24 Khmer Krom people after they were deported from Thailand as illegal immigrants. The Khmer Krom are an indigenous ethnic minority living mostly in southern Vietnam and Cambodia in the Mekong Delta area.
The group, which includes seven women and nine children, travelled to Thailand from Vietnam in 2008 in order to seek asylum after they were threatened with imprisonment if they did not stop protesting the confiscation of their land by the government of Vietnam. The farmland in question is located in Svay Torng and Tin Bieng district, Maot Chhrouk Province. The group claim that the Vietnamese authorities deleted their names from a residential list, confiscated their farmland and issued arrest warrants.
