Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Rights Group Blasts Prison Death

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
29 April 2008


The death of a Prey Sar prison inmate Monday has prompted calls for reform of health care in the prison system.

Yan Sokea, who was arrested in November last year over a land dispute in Preah Vihear province, died Monday in the Cambodia-Soviet Friendship Hospital, after falling ill at Prey Sar, in Phnom Penh.

Yan Sokea showed symptoms of a fever as an inmate but did not receive medical treatment, the rights group Adhoc said Tuesday.

His death should be a call for review of the health care in all of Cambodia’s prisons, the group said.

Ny Chakriya, Adhoc’s monitoring unit chief, said 24 prisoners and suspects died in 2007 due to illness.

Those who are detained in Cambodia’s prison system face a shortage of medicine and food, as the prisons do not have the budgets to properly care for them, he said. “And corruption occurs in the prison that affects the healthcare for suspects and prisoners.”

Heng Hak, director of Cambodia’s prisons, denied the accusations.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

please help in the name of humanity, even prisoners; they, too, need a decent healthcare and decent living environment as some of them serve light sentences.

Anonymous said...

Human rights should dig deep into this prison death. The Cambodian people as a law abiding citizens is already vulnable as it is against the government. I can't imagine what rights does the detainee have in this prison. There isn't a RIGHT to anything. Too disturbing to look inside prison wall. Human rights need to step in and demand justice!

Anonymous said...

Rights Group should call for better care for poor innocent people outside of prison first.

Anonymous said...

Inside or out, most of them are ALL innocent.
Their guilty until proven innocent. Or not proven at all. That's Ah Kwack's law.