Demand the release of Yorm Bopha

Demand the release of Yorm Bopha

Amnesty International |Nov. 2013

Yorm Bopha is a housing rights activist from the Boeung Kak Lake community in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She has been imprisoned since 4 September 2012 on false charges as a result of her peaceful activism.

Along with her husband, Bopha is alleged to have ordered a violent attack against two men in August 2012, despite there being no evidence the couple were involved.

Both alleged victims gave unclear, inconsistent and contradictory testimony in court. Bopha’s brothers were named as the alleged assailants, despite not living in Phnom Penh for several years.

An appeal hearing for Bopha will be held at Cambodia’s Supreme Court on 22 November 2013.

Sign our petition calling on the Cambodian authorities to release Yorm Bopha immediately and unconditionally.

Aside from a royal pardon, this is the last chance for Bopha to be released before the end of her prison sentence. It presents an important opportunity to put pressure on the Cambodian authorities to free Bopha and to show solidarity with her, her family, community and supporters.

Before her arrest, Bopha defended the Boeung Kak Lake community’s right to housing after thousands of people were forced from their homes. In 2012 she played a leading role in the campaign for the release of 13 female community activists from the area. She is now a prisoner of conscience.

Without your help, Yorm Bopha will not be released until September 2014.

Bopha is held in a cell with nine other women at the Prison Judiciaire military police detention facility, Phnom Penh. The prison food is so poor that she cannot eat it, so her family and community members provide food during weekly visits.

Bopha’s family is struggling financially. Her husband’s poor health means he cannot work and they can no longer afford to send their son to school. She has also been ordered to pay compensation to the alleged victims.

Sign the petition now

Petition text

To: Cambodian authorities

Yorm Bopha is a passionate campaigner for the rights of her community in Phnom Penh. She is also a prisoner of conscience.

Yorm Bopha has been imprisoned since 4 September 2012, accused of planning an assault on two men.

The trial was unfair and no evidence was provided linking her with the crime and while in prison, Yorm Bopha is separated from her 10-year-old son and her husband who is in poor health.

Amnesty International believes that the real reason for her imprisonment is her peaceful housing rights activism on behalf of the Boeung Kak Lake community. In 2007 residents were forced to leave their homes when the government leased the land to a company for development. The company filled the lake with sand, flooding and destroying homes.

I call for Yorm Bopha to be immediately and unconditionally released.

Yours Sincerely,