PHNOM PENH, March 11-(Kyodo), Visitors to prisons in Cambodia are required to pay bribes to prison guards to gain access to inmates, a Cambodian human rights organization said in a report released Tuesday.
The report by LICADHO said, "In order for families to visit a family member in prison, they are usually required to pay a bribe to the prison guards."
It said that the bribe can range from 2,000 riel (about $0.50) to hundreds of dollars depending on the particular prison guard and the perception of wealth of the family.
"Families and visitors are regularly denied access to their loved ones if they are unable to pay these bribes," the report said.
Often, even if the bribe has been paid, the visit will be heavily monitored by prison guards to make the prisoners fearful of telling their families about the true conditions in the prison, it added.
LICADHO, established in 1992, is a nongovernmental human rights organization, and its prison researchers make four visits each month to 18 out of 26 prisons throughout Cambodia.
The report, titled "Prison Conditions in Cambodia: 2007," said prison officials regularly take most, if not all, gifts of food, personal hygiene products and supplies for their own use. Families are often unaware of this practice and continue to give gifts.
Repeated attempts to reach prison officials for comment on the report were unsuccessful.
The report by LICADHO said, "In order for families to visit a family member in prison, they are usually required to pay a bribe to the prison guards."
It said that the bribe can range from 2,000 riel (about $0.50) to hundreds of dollars depending on the particular prison guard and the perception of wealth of the family.
"Families and visitors are regularly denied access to their loved ones if they are unable to pay these bribes," the report said.
Often, even if the bribe has been paid, the visit will be heavily monitored by prison guards to make the prisoners fearful of telling their families about the true conditions in the prison, it added.
LICADHO, established in 1992, is a nongovernmental human rights organization, and its prison researchers make four visits each month to 18 out of 26 prisons throughout Cambodia.
The report, titled "Prison Conditions in Cambodia: 2007," said prison officials regularly take most, if not all, gifts of food, personal hygiene products and supplies for their own use. Families are often unaware of this practice and continue to give gifts.
Repeated attempts to reach prison officials for comment on the report were unsuccessful.
9 comments:
Feel ashame when kyodo news posted it cos a Japon nih is critical about corruption nass. I don want it to say always about it. That can be a part that it does not invest srok khmer.
That is not true. You only have to pay if you want extra times. What is a moron (Licadho).
Prison guards make $15. These 'fees' are the only thing that feed their families, some of whom look in much worse shape than the people inside the walls.
True, but some people also just work for tip and gratitudes with low base salary.
And so Khmerland are run by extortionists and soon the Khmers will rent land to live from an outsiders.
Who extort anything here. The rule is you have one hour to see prisoner for free. Now if you want more times, you can work it out with the guard. I don't see anything wrong with that. It is your choice. The guard didn't force you or point the gun at you or anything.
this is not good, to say the least! any kind of bribe is bad. i hope the authority take action to stop this kind of practice!
10:11aM YOU STUPID MORON DO YOU HAVE LAW AND ORDER IN YOUR COUNTRY OR UP TO WAHT A KWAK LIKE IT OR NOT?
3:23, if you want to know whether we got law and order or not, just come over and make our day, then tell us about it.
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