Cambodia Curtails Freedom of Expression at ASEAN Civil Society Conference

30 March 2012

Cambodia Curtails Freedom of Expression at ASEAN Civil Society Conference

Four workshops organized by civil society organizations were forced late last night to move their workshops to La Palaranda hotel, away from the main venue of the ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC)/ASEAN Peoples Forum (APF), the Lucky Star Hotel (on Street 336, Phnom Penh). Three of the workshops dealt with land rights, eviction and environment issues and the fourth focused on Burma's current political and human rights situation and the challenges this poses to the country's chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014.

The workshops were Expansion of Mono-Culture Plantations in ASEAN: Impacts to forest, farmlands and people livelihood, and Promote and Protect Rights to Land Territory, Natural Resources and Development of Indigenous People/Ethnic Minorities, and Regional Workshop on Land Rights and Eviction and Promoting Regional Cooperation to Ensure a People-Centered ASEAN in 2014 in Burma/Myanmar.

Not only are we facing eviction from our land, we are now also being evicted from this civil society process, said Seng Sokheng, member of the National Working Group of the Community Peace Building Network. We came here to join the ACSC/APF because we believed it was a space for us to explain our issues and share them with fellow civil society from the region. Cambodia has tarnished its image by evicting us like this.

Indigenous people in the region are constantly marginalized. Rather than providing us an opportunity to raise our concerns on the non-recognition of our collective rights, we are being further marginalized. This is completely unacceptable,said Richard Gadit, Human Rights Advocacy Officer of the Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact.

We planned to hold our workshop at this ACSC/APF to talk about the challenges of creating an open space for independent civil society, using the example of Cambodia to learn lessons to use in Burma in 2014.The lesson we have learned is that ASEAN countries don't respect freedom of expression,said Khin Ohmar, Coordinator of Burma Partnership. If this is happening here in Cambodia, imagine what will happen in Burma where the right to freedom of expression is already violated on a daily basis.

For more information:

Seng Sokheng, Community Peace Building Network: +855 92324668 (Khmer)

Richard Gadit, Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact: +855 89789249/+66 897001749 (English/Tagalog)

Khin Ohmar, Burma Partnership: +855 95908483 / +66 818840772(English/Burma)

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Housing Rights Task Force (HRTF)

HRTF:#2A, St.271, Sangkat Beoung

Tompun, Khan Chamcar Morn

Phnom Penh.

Evictions Hotline: (855) 068 470 480

Tel/Fax: (855) 023 996 531

Email: sd@hrtfcambodia.org

Website: www.hrtfcambodia.org

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HRTF is the coalition of local and international organizations that working

to Prevent Force Eviction and Promote Housing Rights in Cambodia.

Cambodia: Functioning Judiciary Required For Rights To Become A Reality

Monday, 5 October 2009
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission

Cambodia: Functioning Judiciary Required For Rights To Become A Reality

Thank you Mr. President,

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) welcomes the initial report of the Special Rapporteur on Cambodia, in particular the highlighted areas of priority for future work, namely: the freedom of expression, the independence of the judiciary, land and housing rights, impunity and prison reform.

The ALRC wishes to take this opportunity to underline the need for an end to long-standing delays by the government in implementing provisions of the 1993 Constitution of Cambodia, in particular concerning the functioning and independence of the judiciary.

The Constitution specifically stipulates that a number of laws need to be enacted, including a law on the statute of judges and prosecutors and a law on the organization of the judiciary. However, after 16 years, these laws are still missing. As a result, Cambodians are not entitled to be tried by an independent, competent and impartial tribunal, in practice. They are being tried by judges whose status has not been defined by law and by courts whose establishment has no legal basis under the Constitution.

The government has preferred to continue to apply an outdated law on the nomination of judges and the activities of courts, enacted during the country’s communist past, which is unconstitutional, does not live up to international standards and does not ensure the independence of the judiciary. This leads to corruption, favouritism for certain judges and infringements by the Ministry of Justice and the Executive on the workings of the judiciary.

In light of this, the ALRC firstly wishes to know whether the Special Rapporteur has taken up this issue with the Cambodian authorities and whether they have responded and shown any credible intent to take action to ensure the separation of powers and an independent judiciary? Has the government provided any time-frame for the enactment of the above laws, which are essential for there to be any hope of independence of the judiciary.

Finally, you have stated sensing a disconnect between national law concerning land rights and widespread land grabbing ongoing in the country. We firmly believe that without a functioning, independent judiciary there will always be a disconnect between the law and the enjoyment of rights in practice, notably concerning the mentioned issues of priority, and support your efforts in this regard, as well as the continuation of your mandate.

Donors air next year’s aid agenda

Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Sebastian Strangio and Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

LAND rights, judicial reform and the global economic crisis are to be among the key challenges for Cambodia in 2010, according to foreign donors, who have expressed cautious optimism about the government’s progress in key areas.

Speaking at the Government-Development Partner Coordination Committee (GDCC) meeting held in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, senior officials and diplomats discussed the country’s progress on the series of Joint Monitoring Indicators (JMIs) that are linked to annual donations of foreign aid.

“This meeting of the GDCC is taking place at a particularly critical juncture, as we are seeing more clearly the impacts from the global economic downturn and the slowdown in Cambodia’s economic growth,” World Bank Country Manager Qimiao Fan said in a statement released following the meeting.

German Ambassador Frank Markus Mann hailed “very positive results” in the land sector but said a spate of recent land disputes represented an “urgent” challenge to poverty reduction and equitable economic development.

Similarly, Australian Ambassador Margaret Adamson praised recent actions on judicial reform, including the government’s plan to send the long-awaited anticorruption law to the National Assembly “in the coming weeks”, but expressed concerns about the recent crackdown on government critics.

The meeting came ahead of December’s annual Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum, at which foreign nations are set to announce their aid donations for 2010, but critics have long questioned the utility of such meetings.

In a February report, international group Global Witness argued that despite promises of reform dating back to 2001, the government has failed to deliver, noting the continued lack of an anticorruption law.

Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann said donors, who pledged nearly US$1 billion in aid in 2009, had the power to pressure the government on key issues, but that past experience was not encouraging.

“If they continue to do what they’ve done in past years, there will be no improvements,” he said.

Chith Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum, who attended the meeting, said it was positive that the issues were being raised but that the government’s commitment would be tested in between the government-donor forums.

“There need to be further discussions between NGOs and development partners,” he said. “NGOs welcome” further discussions and dialogue.