Due process urgently needed for Cambodian criminal suspects

Monday, March 24, 2008
Theary Seng
Executive Director, The Center for Social Development

"A criminal proceeding in any environment - be it in a developed state or here in developing Cambodia - is a serious matter because an individual's liberty and rights are at stake. Before any rights or freedom of a person is to be limited by the State (e.g. imprisonment), extreme due care must be taken to ascertain that the curbing of these rights/liberties are justified and followed established due process.

The adherence of due process is more urgently needed here in Cambodia where the legal and penal system is embryonic and fragile, prone to abuses, without adequate balance of powers among the different parties in the criminal case and generally among the three branches of government.

Moreover, greater scrutiny of these criminal proceedings must be had in light of our dark, recent history of gross violations of human rights on a massive scale.

We, at CSD, are abhorred by the high rate of torture and coercion used to extract confessions – 1 in 4 as you accurately noted from our Annual Report. A confession given as a result of coercion and torture cannot be deemed reliable or accurate. Consequently, it means that one in four defendants run the high, unacceptable risk of being wrongly convicted – i.e., having their rights curbed and violated – as a result not of having committed a crime but of fear for life resulting from coercion and torture. This 25% rate of confession due to coercion and torture also put into question all convictions, whether they are safe. We are deeply concerned that they are not safe and that many innocent people are being put in prison or having their rights and liberties curbed in other manners without proper due process of law."

US Helps Strengthen Cambodian Legal System with Client Counseling Competition

02 Mar 08
By Seila
Sralanh Khmer Newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Anonymous

The United States has given Cambodia considerable aid because it wants to see this region's poorest country correctly uphold the law in accordance with the international definition, starting with enabling the law school students and legal community intellectuals to undergo professional training as lawyers, judges, and prosecutors, the ones who serve the law in Cambodia.

US Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph A. Mussomeli, through the US Agency for International Development [USAID] and the East West Management Institute [EWMI], yesterday morning funded a Cambodian Client Counseling Competition [CCCC] at Sunway Hotel, Phnom Penh, in order to select a national team to represent Cambodia in the International Client Counseling Competition [ICCC], which will take place in Bangalore, India from 2-6 April, 2008, in which over 20 countries are expected to participate.

Ky Tech, President of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia, made a speech at the opening ceremony to say that he was happy and delighted to greet students from five Cambodian universities who took part in the CCCC organized by USAID and EWMI with the support of the US ambassador to Cambodia. He said that this program will give the young students who attend it many useful skills. This competition, he said, will promote a better understanding at this stage when the young students are still learning, and will give them useful legal knowledge for making professional judgment as lawyers, judges, and prosecutors who are servants of the law in Cambodia.

Ky Tech further stated that the United States has always urged Cambodia to correctly uphold the law, and has always pushed this country to become a Rule of Law state as soon as possible.

The US ambassador to Cambodia, Joseph A. Mussomeli addressed yesterday morning's ceremony, saying that client counseling skills are very difficult to master and it is even more impressive that the students have mastered them in English. This competition is an excellent example of the innovative and effective way in which important skills can be taught to law students.

The US ambassador went on to say that the students competing here have learned how to counsel a client, how to analyze a case and present legal and non-legal options in a useful and professional manner.

He said, these skills will enable you, the future lawyers, judges, and prosecutors of Cambodia, to more effectively serve your clients and ultimately serve justice. Your future clients are relying on you and it will be your sworn duty to take care of them and provide them your best advice.

The ambassador quoted from a Greek scholar that written laws are like the web of a spider, and will like a spider web only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful will easily break through it. It will be your job to make sure that is not true, he said. And that is why the U.S. government through USAID supports Rule of Law programs like this one.

Miss Khun Sonita representing the winning team told reporters, we win because we have made great efforts to learn and we have actually implemented what we have learned to get through to the core for this competition. Another member of the winning team also said, we have spent a lot of time making preparations but what is important is not just winning the cup today; we still will have to compete on the international stage and we will tell the world that Cambodia, too, has an excellent judicial system.

It should be pointed out that through this client counseling competition in English yesterday morning, the winning trophy went to the Royal University of Law and Economics [RULE], and this national champion has won a trip to India to represent Cambodia in the ICCC to be attended also by teams from the United States, the UK, Australia, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and some 20 other countries.

It should also be recalled that in September 2007 the US Embassy and USAID inaugurated an auditorium for law school students to use as a moot courtroom where mock trial competitions can be held.

The mock courtroom provides a modern facility for interactive legal education, and a proper forum for teaching trial advocacy to RULE law students and others in the legal community. It also provides innovative classroom space for law clinic practical instruction, which is another component of USAID's work in legal education.

USAID provided $90,000 for the renovation of the RULE building and auditorium. The renovations included the installation of a new roof, floors, doors, ceilings, a drainage system, and handicap access ramps inside and outside the building. The electrical system was rewired and new lights, fans, and audio sound system, including mixing components, microphones, projector, and motorized screen were provided. An entirely new mock courtroom stage including judge's bench, lawyer's tables, chairs, and other furniture was also donated by USAID.

Since 2005, USAID has provided approximately $4.8 million to support the "Program on Rights and Justice," which works to improve the quality, effectiveness, and transparency of the Cambodian judicial system. USAID partners in this effort are EWMI and the American Bar Association.