Reuters
PHNOM PENH: Sothon was 10 years old when he first saw the inside of a Cambodian prison.
A street-kid in the booming tourist town of Siem Reap, he had stolen a small roll of electric wire that he hoped to sell for enough money to buy a few bowls of rice.
It cost him a month behind bars.
"I missed my parents. They did not allow me to meet my mother," Sothon, now 11, told a news conference on Wednesday to highlight the plight of the hundreds of children locked up, often for spurious reasons, in the war-scarred southeast Asian nation.
"I had no blanket, no pillow and not enough food to eat," he told reporters from behind a screen to protect his identity.
"Every morning, they forced me to carry water."
Human rights groups and Unicef, the United Nations children's agency, say there are 497 documented cases of children under 18 in provincial jails in Cambodia.
Many of them were abused, said Kek Galabru, director of human rights group Licadho, and as many as 40 per cent had never been tried for their alleged crimes.
Those that had appeared in court were often forced to make false confessions and seldom gained a fair hearing in a notoriously corrupt and arbitrary judicial system. Sentencing of children was also "extremely harsh", Unicef said.
One boy, Heng, was jailed in 2005 as a 12-year-old for raping a 9-year-old girl, although Licadho said the allegations were baseless. Heng's case is now under appeal.
"Children should not be in prison," said Unicef legal consultant Sandy Feinzig. "It is a very serious issue."
The situation, which is compounded by massive prison overcrowding in what is one of Asia's poorest countries, is likely to get worse, she added, due to high poverty and unemployment rates in the 13 million population, half of which is under 18.
Donor countries, which give Phnom Penh around $600 million in aid each year, should push for better legal representation for minors and adequate food and medical facilities for those in detention, she said.
"We have to have more lawyers and we need better facilities. We need better-trained judges and prosecutors to keep children who've committed misdemeanours out of prison."
Government spokesman Khieu Sopheak denied the accusations.
A street-kid in the booming tourist town of Siem Reap, he had stolen a small roll of electric wire that he hoped to sell for enough money to buy a few bowls of rice.
It cost him a month behind bars.
"I missed my parents. They did not allow me to meet my mother," Sothon, now 11, told a news conference on Wednesday to highlight the plight of the hundreds of children locked up, often for spurious reasons, in the war-scarred southeast Asian nation.
"I had no blanket, no pillow and not enough food to eat," he told reporters from behind a screen to protect his identity.
"Every morning, they forced me to carry water."
Human rights groups and Unicef, the United Nations children's agency, say there are 497 documented cases of children under 18 in provincial jails in Cambodia.
Many of them were abused, said Kek Galabru, director of human rights group Licadho, and as many as 40 per cent had never been tried for their alleged crimes.
Those that had appeared in court were often forced to make false confessions and seldom gained a fair hearing in a notoriously corrupt and arbitrary judicial system. Sentencing of children was also "extremely harsh", Unicef said.
One boy, Heng, was jailed in 2005 as a 12-year-old for raping a 9-year-old girl, although Licadho said the allegations were baseless. Heng's case is now under appeal.
"Children should not be in prison," said Unicef legal consultant Sandy Feinzig. "It is a very serious issue."
The situation, which is compounded by massive prison overcrowding in what is one of Asia's poorest countries, is likely to get worse, she added, due to high poverty and unemployment rates in the 13 million population, half of which is under 18.
Donor countries, which give Phnom Penh around $600 million in aid each year, should push for better legal representation for minors and adequate food and medical facilities for those in detention, she said.
"We have to have more lawyers and we need better facilities. We need better-trained judges and prosecutors to keep children who've committed misdemeanours out of prison."
Government spokesman Khieu Sopheak denied the accusations.
9 comments:
When is the last time Ah Khieu Sopheak agreed or take responsibility? None. This mother fucker and his CPP gangs will deny even when they go to Hell just like Sadam Hunssien.
HIS JOB IS TO KEEP HIS BOSE OUT OF TROUBLE, HE HAS TO DINY ALL WRONG DOING.
AH HUN XEN'S GORVRNMENT (2ND ANKAR) THAT IS DOING NOTHING EXCEPT AH VIETNAME SAY SO!
Hey, there is nothing wrong with
setting examples for other kids
not to be corrupted while they are
young. If they are hungry, just
hit one of the many NGOs that we
have everywhere, and not resort
to stealing, scamming, or cheating.
And last but not least, we don't
appreciate any Ethiopian Racists
who try to tell us what to do and
turning Cambodia into a slum like
their societies abroad, so shut the
fuck up. That is not the vision
we have for Cambodia, alright?
We are tired of your stupid loud
mouth.
Child abuser! child abuser! child abuser! Criminal system in Cambodia must change!!!!!!
Ohhhh, the poorrr bayyyybeeeee is
cryyyying. Go suck on a Ethiopian
monkey's piece, will you? That
should make you see things clearer.
Child abuser! child abuser! child abuser! Everyone must see and know, there is a child abuser! here and right there in Cambodia by youn's slave.
No way, child abuser is Long Beach,
CA where almost every child grow
up as gansters and drug adicts and
end up getting lock up for good
part of their life. That is Child
abuse, not this.
I am so surprised for the heartless of Vietnames/Hun Sen government. I am sure he is hired to saying anything opposing. He uses no head and he uses no heart. I am surprise that he can say all these things and not bothering him with his conscience. I suggest anyone here to please ignore him and not respond to anying he says. Let taking issues that are serious and important. Let spread the words not to respond him everyone. Let him speak to himself.
Afraid of the truth, aren't you?
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