Original report from Phnom Penh
10 December 2009
Some 5,000 human rights activists and supporters marched through Phnom Penh on Wednesday, as Cambodia marked International Human Rights Day.
The group marched from Wat Phnom in the north of the city, to the central Wat Botum Vadei. City and police officials allowed the march, the largest such gathering since national political campaigning in July 2008. No incidents were reported.
“We still have concerns about serious rights violence related to the slow pace of judiciary reform and continued impunity,” Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, told the marchers.
Land grabs, forced evictions and threats to human rights advocates and government critics remained problems, he said, while freedom of expression was under threat.
Human trafficking remains a concern, he said, as well as the theft of ethnic minority land in Ratanakkiri province by “powerful men conspiring with companies.”
The march came the same week that 1,700 families were evicted from land in Kampong Thom province, in a three-year land dispute with a Vietnamese rubber plantation. Seven people were jailed after villagers torched three bulldozers and a company generator in protest of an eviction order.
Rights advocates also pointed to recent attacks on the opposition and other government critics, citing criminal cases and the suspension of parliamentary immunity for three Sam Rainsy Party lawmakers, including the opposition leader himself.
Of concern, too, was the sentencing of Hang Chakra, an opposition newspaper editor, to a year in jail after he published articles alleging corruption in the powerful Council of Ministers.
“You can be sure that you are not alone here today,” the European Commission Charge d’Affaire, Rafael Dochao Moreno, told participants Thursday. “You have all Europeans with you.”
The EU has 20 human rights projects in Cambodia, he said, but added, “We are not here to solve your problems. We are here to facilitate dialogues between the government and civil society.”
The EU announced Wednesday a donation of $1.3 million for human rights projects in Cambodia.
The group marched from Wat Phnom in the north of the city, to the central Wat Botum Vadei. City and police officials allowed the march, the largest such gathering since national political campaigning in July 2008. No incidents were reported.
“We still have concerns about serious rights violence related to the slow pace of judiciary reform and continued impunity,” Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, told the marchers.
Land grabs, forced evictions and threats to human rights advocates and government critics remained problems, he said, while freedom of expression was under threat.
Human trafficking remains a concern, he said, as well as the theft of ethnic minority land in Ratanakkiri province by “powerful men conspiring with companies.”
The march came the same week that 1,700 families were evicted from land in Kampong Thom province, in a three-year land dispute with a Vietnamese rubber plantation. Seven people were jailed after villagers torched three bulldozers and a company generator in protest of an eviction order.
Rights advocates also pointed to recent attacks on the opposition and other government critics, citing criminal cases and the suspension of parliamentary immunity for three Sam Rainsy Party lawmakers, including the opposition leader himself.
Of concern, too, was the sentencing of Hang Chakra, an opposition newspaper editor, to a year in jail after he published articles alleging corruption in the powerful Council of Ministers.
“You can be sure that you are not alone here today,” the European Commission Charge d’Affaire, Rafael Dochao Moreno, told participants Thursday. “You have all Europeans with you.”
The EU has 20 human rights projects in Cambodia, he said, but added, “We are not here to solve your problems. We are here to facilitate dialogues between the government and civil society.”
The EU announced Wednesday a donation of $1.3 million for human rights projects in Cambodia.
7 comments:
All Khmers,
Help yourselves first, and then the whole world will come to help you.
8.00am
You are right. People have a choice whether they accept current living conditions or not.
If you enjoy the current situation, then no one can help you.
There're very few of khmer people to know about these, but for big amount of khmer haven't known.
they have been living in hard condition don't care with everything beside their stomachs. Come on all who have known these, try all the best in every actions to provide information or news for khmer who are living in cambodia now to know.
that's meant we help ourself befor let other to help us.
yuvachun khmer
Udormeanchey officials said that, only in this year 2009 6 Khmer people were shoot to dead by Thai soldier. All Khmer NGOs and Oppositions parties were keep silent, why? the body of two Khmer people will funeral today at thiers village in Udormeanchey. And why American still support Thai soldier that is the killer?????
MArch for right, not for rice ! people need rights to produce rice. no right to land, no rice in farm.
MArch for right, not for rice ! people need rights to produce rice. no right to land, no rice in farm.
The royal government must complete the anti-corruption law by a law on transparency and control of funding of political parties and Cambodian NGOs working in Cambodia to prevent organized crime, mafia and foreign countries to take control these political parties and NGOs and which forced its to betray the national interests of Kampuchea.
The mixture without control between money and politics is often very bad for national interests.
Lon Nol was sold in 1970 Cambodia to Americans. Then it is the misfortune of all the Khmer people
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