CCHR Press Release: CC​HR Publishes Map of Acid Attack Cases in Cambodia, 2009 to 2012

https://www.box.com/s/2f53e4bf43704959a953


https://www.box.com/s/54837be5d15dd1af5506

Acid attacks on women

20 June 2012
NASREEN BALOCH
Turbat, Kech
Dawn.com (Pakistan)

ACID, cheap and easily available, is the quickest weapon to destroy a woman’s life. This comes handy in Cambodia, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other nearby countries.

Globally, at least 1,500 people in 20 countries are attacked in this way every year: 80 per cent of whom are women and somewhere between 40 per cent and 70 per cent of them under 18 years of age.

In South Asia people use acid to attack their victims as a form of revenge for refusal to sexual advances, proposals of marriage and demands for dowry.

In November 2008 extremists subjected schoolgirls in Afghanistan to acid attacks for attending school.

In Cambodia, it was reported that these attacks were mostly carried out by wives against their husbands’ lovers.

CCHR Release the report about the situation of Impunity that surrounds Acid Crimes in Cambodia

https://www.box.com/s/7d850cb810996a749601


https://www.box.com/s/1a5bdaa614019f8209ce


https://www.box.com/s/32cd31b5c92ffd7475ca


https://www.box.com/s/c0ae344ac6cf366bfdee

CCHR Press Release - CCHR to host a public forum on Ending Acid Violence and Discrimina​tion on Acid Survivors

Dear all,

CCHR is going to organize a public forum on "Ending Acid Violence and Discrimination on Acid Survivors" on May 19, 2012 in Kampong Cham Province aiming at raising awareness to students and the residents in Kampong Cham province on the acid violence situation and its impacts on the acid survivors. The legal aspect around acid violence especially the newly adopted Law on Management of Concentrate Acid will be also introduced.

Please kindly find attached Press Release (in Khmer) for more details.

Best regards,

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The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) is a non-aligned, independent, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia. For more information, please visit www.cchrcambodia.org.

CCHR Media Comment: Latest Acid Attack Horrific Reminder That New Law Must Be Accompanie​d By Effective Implementa​tion

http://www.box.com/s/l348lvq2ezjn8l08gcjz


http://www.box.com/s/rvroc568g7k4n7rd3km5

Acid attack claims man’s life

Sim Yi was treated at Kosamak Hospital just hours before he succumbed to his wounds. (Heng Chivoan)

Monday, 12 March 2012
Mom Kunthear and Cassandra Yeap
The Phnom Penh Post

The victim of an acid attack on Friday morning in Kampong Cham province’s Pumron village died hours later that same day, making the incident the first acid-related death since the passage of the Kingdom’s new Acid Law.

Medical and legal manager for the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity Horng Lairapo said yesterday that Sim Yi, 42, died from his injuries at 6pm on Friday at Preah Kosamak Hospital in Phnom Penh after being transferred there from the provincial hospital that afternoon.

“His body has been brought to his house in Kampong Cham province by his older brother,” he said.

About 50 per cent of Sim Yi’s body had been badly burned, he added.

Cruel attack on woman first under new acid law

Rith Savan recovers in a hospital bed yesterday after being the victim of an acid attack the previous night. (Photo Supplied/Phnom Penh Post)

Thursday, 02 February 2012
Mom Kunthear with additional reporting by Mary Kozlovski
The Phnom Penh Post

A 23-year-old garment factory worker on Tuesday night became the first victim of an acid attack since a law was passed last year to better control access to acid and punish those who use it to attack others.

Rith Savan had been doused with acid by another woman about 8pm in her room in the Tuol Sangke commune,​​ in the capital’s Russei Keo district, police said.

Tuol Sangke commune police chief Huy Hean said the victim was rushed to Calmette hospital for treatment.

“Almost every part of her body was burned by acid: her face, chest, stomach and legs,” he said.

ACID LAW – Debate Part 2

November 19, 2011
By Mu Sochua
Originally Posted at: http://sochua.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/acid-law-debate-part-2/

I continue to stay in touch with Tat Marina. Her pain of not finding justice still haunts her as well as the memories of the moment she was held down by the accomplices of the perpetrators.

She hopes to return to Cambodia to raise awareness and advocate for the rights of victims of acid attack victims.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F8c96mCPMzk

ACID LAW - Debate in Parliament 2 December 2011 - Part 1

Part 1

Opinion by SRP MP Mu Sochua

Finding Face - Crying for Justice

Tat Marina (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Justice will not end just because a draft law is debated and adopted.

Impunity- as a culture in Cambodia runs deep and takes every single hope for justice.

Koun Sophal, the perpetrator who has maimed Tat Marina for life ten years ago, was sentenced to 1 year in jail with 5 years suspended sentence. This act of brutal torture has never been condemned because the perpetrator is part of the ruling party. She is hiding her face but she still lives in total freedom.

Tat Marina, like other victims of acid attack live every single day finding justice.

These are the 8 points proposed by Tat Marina to amend the draft.

None of these which points I brought up when I took the floor , was added to the draft.

Recommendations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bupCRxVJwM

1. In general, perpetrators should pay a greater price for their crimes. It seems that 5-10 years for crimes resulting in permanent disability is ridiculously low given the level of suffering and impairment and the fact that acid survivors live with permanent disfigurement for the rest of their lives long after potential sentences have been served. Given these factors, we feel prison sentences should be significantly longer.

2. Prior to sentencing, the perpetrator should be required to meet with the victim of the attack. This provides a safe, court-sanctioned forum for the survivor to address their attacker.

After the meeting, the survivor should have the right to make recommendations to the judge regarding the length of sentence to be handed down by the court. This recommendation should be carefully considered by the court (and would obviously fall within the sentencing guidelines allowed by law).

3. In addition to prison sentences, a mandatory parole system should be implemented for perpetrators of acid violence whereby perpetrators must serve as volunteer staff at CASC for a term of at least 5 years after being released from prison. This system would force perpetrators to fully confront the gravity of their crime even after they have spent time in prison and simultaneously ensure that they are supporting services that provide for acid violence survivors into the future.

4. It is crucial that perpetrators are financially responsible for providing permanently disabled survivors with a monthly survivors stipend if a survivor can't work for a living due to disability. This monthly stipend would exist through the parole period and would function on a sliding scale. If a perpetrator is deemed by the court as financially incapable of paying (and thus destitute) the government would become responsible for paying the monthly stipend - thus providing an additional incentive for the government to reduce and eventually eliminate acid violence in Cambodia.

5. We deem it critical to shift the stigma of acid violence from survivors to perpetrators. To shift public perception surrounding acid violence, perpetrators should be required (as part of their sentencing) to speak publicly (once released) on the topic of acid violence. These presentations would be held at public and private schools at the K-12 level both in rural and urban areas throughout Cambodia and at Universities. These talks would serve as both parole commitments for the perpetrators and as tools to shift public perception of acid violence in an attempt to shift blame and accountability where it rightly belongs - to the perpetrators of the attacks.

6. As CCHR recommends, it is important that both instigators and actual perpetrators are held responsible.

7. All trials and cases shall take place in a timely manner (within 3 months of the attack) in a courtroom open to both the public and the press.

8. I believe there should be an exceptional exclusion on the statute of limitations for acid violence in Cambodia, given the heinous nature of the crime.

Cambodian lawmakers approve law on acid attacks

PHNOM PENH, November 4, 2011 (AFP) - Cambodia's lower house of parliament on Friday approved a long-awaited law aimed at curbing acid attacks by imposing sentences ranging from two years to life in prison.

The legislation, expected to be approved by the senate and the king later this year, also regulates the licensing and sale of the caustic liquid, which is currently widely and cheaply available in the country.

"The law will prevent acid offences," Teng Savong, secretary of state at the interior ministry and director of the acid law committee, told AFP.

Acid attack laws passed in Cambodia

Fri, 4 Nov 2011
Robert Carmichael, Phnom Penh

The Cambodian parliament has passed a long-awaited law that hands down severe penalties for people guilty of acid attacks, including life-long jail sentences.

Lesser offences under the law carry terms of between two and 30 years in jail.

The Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity says at least 21 people have been burned with acid this year.

The charity's project coordinator, Ziad Samman, welcomed the news, but said the law must be properly implemented if it is to be effective.

Draft Law on Acid Management submitted to the National Assembly for Debate

http://www.box.net/shared/t5498kt2u3ploz8t7tqq

Acid Attack Law Falls Short, Groups Say

Nov Rey, 50, an acid attack victim, looks on as she waits to sing during a performance by traditional Cambodian musicians, file photo. (Photo: AP)

Monday, 31 October 2011
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“The law must have strong punishment for acid attackers to reduce acid attacks in Cambodia.”

Rights groups and other officials say the government has not gone far enough in drafting a law on acid attacks, by failing to include provisions for the treatment of victims or to ascribe punishments to those who hire attackers.

Acid attacks are a common form of retribution in Cambodia, often ordered by powerful men or women and carried out by hired assailants.

Rights groups say about half of the draft’s 27 articles need to be improved before the law is passed. The National Assembly expects to pass the law next week.

Scars that never heal

Acid attack victim Tat Marina, who has undergone numerous facial reconstructive surgeries, in an undated photo. (Photo by: Skye Fitzgerald)

Acid victim calls for tougher sentences

Thursday, 13 October 2011
David Boyle and May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

The permanently disfigured victim of one of Cambodia’s most notorious acid attacks yesterday called for revisions to the acid draft law to force perpet-rators to meet their victims and serve far longer jail terms.

In 1999, former karaoke singer Tat Marina lost both her ears, half her hearing and her sense of smell after bodyguards knocked her unconscious and pinned her to the ground while a woman poured five litres of nitric acid over her, melting her entire face.

The wife of the man Tat Marina, then 16, believed to be her unmarried boyfriend was eventually charged with the crime, but she has evaded police to this day. Her boyfriend was Svay Sithi, now head of the Council of Minister’s Quick and Press Reaction Unit. He has reportedly since divorced Khoun Sophal.

Tat Marina outlined eight recommendations for the law in a letter to a legislator that she wrote with Skye Fitzgerald, the director of Finding Face, a documentary about her.

Cabinet Approves Draft Law To Counter Acid Attacks

Nov Rey, 50, an acid attack victim, looks on as she waits to sing during a performance by traditional Cambodian musicians (AP file photo)

Thursday, 01 September 2011
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

"Motives of such attacks center around love triangles, money disputes or drunken aggression."

The Council of Ministers on Thursday approved a draft law to regulate acid, which is used in a number of disfiguring assaults for both men and women each year.

The attacks make use of hydrochloric or sulfuric acid and can be devastating for those who survive them, causing deep, permanent scars to the head, face and body. They can also be lethal.

While many of the cases that make headlines involve women, Chhum Chenda Sophea, a project manager for the Cambodian Acid Survivor Charity, said about half of the 350 victims she works with are men.

Finding Face [to be screened in Los Angeles and San Francisco

Mon., Jul. 4, 2011
By Robert Koehler
Variety (USA)

Powered By A Spin Film presentation. Produced by Skye Fitzgerald, Patti Duncan. Directed by Skye Fitzgerald, Patti Duncan. Written by Duncan.

With: Tat Marina, Sequndo Tat, Srey Pou, Mu Sochua, Jason Barber, Mary Jo Baryza, Christy Kiernan, Daniel Driscoll, Chour Sreya. (English, Cambodian dialogue)

The troubling case of the grossly disfiguring acid attack on Cambodian karaoke star Tat Marina receives emotional and artful treatment in filmmaking team Skye Fitzgerald and Patti Duncan's "Finding Face." Inexplicably overlooked by major doc-leaning festivals, pic deserves considerable exposure for the impact of its story and an acute sense of injustice that goes beyond the usual document of human-rights violations. Pic has been floundering in minor fests, but wider broadcast on tube seems likely.

In 1999, 14-year-old Marina was stalked by Cambodia's Undersecretary of State Svay Sitha, who lied to her about his true identity. When the truth emerged, Marina was kidnapped (according to sister Srey Pou) by Sitha, whose enraged wife, Khoun Sophal, arranged an acid attack on the girl. Docu tracks her recovery and surgeries in the U.S. and her brother Sequndo's efforts to seek justice, but the David-vs.-Goliath nature of the case has ensured that no arrests have occurred a decade since. Pic's level of outrage over an international wave of acid attacks is hard to overstate.

Camera (color, DV), Fitzgerald; editor, Patrick Weishampel; music, William Campbell, Dengue Fever, Marketa Irglova. Reviewed on DVD, Los Angeles, June 2, 2011. (In Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, San Francisco Documentary Festival.) Running time: 67 MIN.

Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

CCHR offers condolence​s to the family of acid attack victim In Soklyda and calls for a holistic approach to acid violence

CCHR Media Comment, Phnom Penh, 23 June 2011

Media Comment: CCHR offers condolences to the family of acid attack victim In Soklda and calls for a holistic approach to acid violence

Acid attack victim Ya Sokhnim, the aunt of a prominent beauty queen In Soklyda, died in Phnom Penh yesterday (22 June 2011) of injuries resulting from a 2008 crime masterminded by her niece’s former lover Chea Ratha. On 8 May 2008, two men on a motorcycle accosted Ya Sokhnim in the capital and poured acid over her face and upper body. She suffered severe burns as a result, losing her right eye and her breast. In 2009 the Appeal Court found that Chea Ratha, a former deputy chief of staff of the military police and In Soklyda’s lover, had ordered the attack after In Soklyda fled a forced relationship. Four of the suspects including Chea Ratha remain at large and are thought to have fled Cambodia.

Commenting on the Ya Sokhnim case John Coughlan, Senior Legal Consultant at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, a non-aligned, independent, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia, said:

“I am both shocked and saddened to hear that Ya Sokhnim has succumbed to her injuries as a result of this horrific attack. My thoughts and condolences are with her family during this extremely difficult time. This wretched case reminds us of the need for a holistic approach to acid violence which goes beyond having a robust acid law, which hopefully the forthcoming law will be. The Royal Government of Cambodia needs to ensure that enforcement is effective which includes the putting in place of bilateral extradition arrangements that hold perpetrators to account for their crimes, irrespective of whether they have absconded or not. The likes of Chea Ratha should not be able to evade the justice that the victims deserve and that sadly Ya Sokhnim has now been deprived.”

For more information please contact John Coughlan at +855 89 58 35 90 or 

johncoughlan@cchrcambodia.org

Please find this media comment attached in English. A Khmer version will follow shortly.

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The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) is a non-aligned, independent, non-governmental organization that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia. For more information, please visit www.cchrcambodia.org.

Acid victim in notorious attack dies

Ya Soknim (R) with In Soklyda (L)

Thursday, 23 June 2011
Mom Kunthear
The Phnom Penh Post

Acid attack victim Ya Sokhnim, the aunt of prominent beauty queen In Soklyda, died in Phnom Penh yesterday morning of injuries stemming from a 2008 crime masterminded by her niece’s lesbian lover.

Ya Soknim’s husband Uong Vibol, 46, said yesterday his 39-year-old wife had passed away about 9am after being admitted to the Calmette Hospital a week ago.

“I really pity and mourn my wife. She died because she was injured very seriously by acid,” he said.

On May 8 , 2008, two men on a motorcycle accosted Ya Soknim in the capital and poured acid over her face and upper body. She suffered severe burns as a result, losing her right eye and breast.

Three arrested after Cambodia acid attack: police

Wed, Jan 19, 2011
AFP

PHNOM PENH - Three people have been arrested for an attack in which two women were splashed with acid, in the country's first such incident of the year, police said Wednesday.

One of the victims, a 27-year-old garment worker, remains in hospital with serious burns to her face, eyes and body, said Kong Sam Orn, a deputy police chief of Phnom Penh's Meanchey district.

The other woman, the driver of the motorcycle on which the two were riding at the time of the attack, suffered leg and arm injuries.

Police said Tuesday's attack was carried out by two brothers and came just one day after the older sibling's wife had a work-related argument with the 27-year-old victim.

Justice eludes Cambodian acid attack victims

Cambodian acid survivor Morm Nheb sitting at the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Photo courtesy: AFP

The burnt hands of Cambodian acid survivor Morm Nheb as she sews at the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Photo courtesy: AFP

Cambodian acid survivor Som Bunnarith, 39, playing keyboard at the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Photo courtesy: AFP

A Cambodian acid survivor on a bed at the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Photo courtesy: AFP

Cambodian mother of Keo Savorn (R) looking after her daughter at a hospital in Phnom Penh after being injured in an acid attack. Photo courtesy: AFP

By Kounila Keo

PHNOM PENH, Wednesday 17 November 2010 (AFP) - Morm Nheb still remembers how her burnt flesh smelt when her ex-husband doused her face with acid, scarring her for life.

"It's not a good smell," said the mother-of-two, whose life has been a struggle ever since the day her ex-husband vented his anger over their divorce.

"There's no going back after I was splashed with acid, and I am living like a dead body or a living ghost," she said.

She is one of a growing number of acid burn victims in Cambodia, where the caustic liquid is easily and cheaply available -- and attackers rarely brought to justice.

"We have difficulty in trying to get people to press charges because they are sometimes very fearful of the perpetrator," said Chhun Sophea, a programme manager at the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC).

In other cases, such as Nheb's, the attackers go on the run and are never heard from again.

Since CASC opened its doors in 2006, it has helped around 300 people like Nheb by offering free medical and legal aid, counselling and skills training.

While there are no official statistics and many cases go unreported, Sophea said acid crimes are on the rise.

From January to October this year, CASC recorded 18 attacks, in which 34 people were injured.

Sophea said that was "definitely an increase on last year", when 33 people were treated overall, including some injured in accidents.

The Cambodian government has acknowledged the problem and is now in the process of drafting a law that would regulate acid sales and impose harsher sentences on attackers.

Drafting committee deputy chairman Ouk Kimlek told AFP that convicted perpetrators could face between five years and life in prison under the new law, expected to be approved by the end of the year.

"Acid is a horrible thing," he said. "We are looking to put those attackers in jail for what they have done to the victims, so we can curtail more acid crimes."

Acid violence is a serious problem in some other Asian countries as well.

Bangladesh has seen 86 cases with 111 injuries in the first nine months of the year, according to the London-based Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF), an NGO campaigning to make acid attacks a criminal offence in the country.

In Pakistan, women's rights group the Aurat Foundation recorded 20 cases of acid throwing in the first half of 2010.

The vast majority of victims in those countries are women, but in Cambodia men are just as likely to be a target.

"A lot of people think acid crimes are related to love triangle issues," said Sophea.

But that is not always the case, she said, and the motives for such attacks range from jealousy to anger and revenge.

"It's not focused on the women here. Men have their anger against men also and women get really upset with husbands too. The anger and resentment builds up over time and they don't have any way of letting it out," she said.

Som Bunnarith, 39, a long-term resident at CASC, is one of these male victims.

He was burnt by his wife five years ago when they were arguing over his many late nights out. The attack left him blind.

"I cry. I am very sorry about my eyes," said the former salesman.

He says he has forgiven his wife. They both work at CASC now, and he does not want to see her jailed.

Nheb, on the other hand, still wants justice.

She was unable to get her factory job back after the attack, and feels ostracised.

"When people look at you, whether it's pity or just a curious look, it's the most horrific thing," she said.

"When they see acid victims, they say, 'If you take someone's husband, here is the result.' That infuriates me."