Post a photo to free Yorm Bopha

Yorm Bopha is serving a two-year sentence for protesting forced evictions related to a land conflict in the Boeng Kak community. 

Upload a photo calling for her release, and we’ll make a collage of all the images and send it to Yorm Bopha in prison, and to Cambodian authorities calling for her freedom.

See here: http://www.ifex.org/cambodia/2013/06/17/photos4bopha/

Fact Sheet Here: http://www.ifex.org/cambodia/2013/06/17/yorm_bopha_factsheet/

Cambodian Teachers Most Likely to Seek Bribes

When asked who had requested money from them or their family in the last 12 months:

44% of Cambodians surveyed claimed that a Teacher had done so.

                                                        

37% said the same of Commune or Sangkat Officials.   

                          

33% had been extorted by traffic police during that time.   

Local police had stood over 21% of Cambodians.

And government bureaucrats put their hands out to 8% of those surveyed.                                               

Just 25% said that no one had requested a bribe.

The report noted that the figures are probably much worse as many Cambodians don't see the giving of small gifts to get something done as corruption. Still more are likely to have denied any acts of corruption due to fear and embarrassment.

source: http://www.pactcambodia.org/Publications/Anti_Corruption/Perceiving_and_Fighting_Corruption_in_Cambodia.pdf                              

Three Garment Workers Shot at Puma Factory: No Justice

Note: Earlier today [Tues, 21], former Bavet Governor Chhouk Bandith - accused of shooting three female factory workers during a factory strike last year - failed to appear to his trial in Svay Rieng province.

Pay to Say You Didn't Pay

An ex-pat teacher was recently married to a local Phnom Penh girl.

At each step of the licensing process grubby government and municipal officials had their hands out to ensure the application went in a smooth and timely manner.

At last the application was complete but for the signatures of the soon-to-be married couple on a final document. That document was acknowledgement that no bribes were paid during the process.

So they signed. Then they were asked for a bribe to file this last piece of the marriage jigsaw. 

And if they hadn't paid a bribe to acknowledge that they hadn't been bribed they wouldn't have received their license. 

Cambodian Kids Behind Bars (4): Lina's Story-Caged All Day

Lina is a Cambodian woman doing a 16-year prison stretch for a crime she claims she did not commit. She had a young daughter, Maly, who spent time in jail with her.

She shares her small cell with as many as 25 prisoners and their children at a time.

She continues:


The prison guards are supposed to open our cell doors at 8am and we are supposed to be allowed outside for 2 hours.

I know that we are supposed to be allowed outside the cell from 8-10am and again from 3-4pm.

 What really happens is that if you do not have enough money to pay the guard, you will not be allowed outside.

It costs 2000 riel (US 50 cents) a day to go outside the cell. I am very poor and I cannot afford to pay the guards, so I am locked up and denied my time outside the cell on a regular basis.

There are many days, even weeks when I have never even left my cell…



http://www.licadho-cambodia.org/reports/files/116LICADHOReportPrisonMotherChild07.pdf

A Depraved Cambodian Doctor: Reprised

Leang was doused in petrol and set alight by his corrupt yet influential boss.

Seriously ill, his wife Ting, set about trying to find treatment. Trudging from hospital to hospital, in incredible pain, he was offered nothing more than an intravenous drip and balm for his wounds.

Desperate, they made their way to Phnom Penh and the wards of one of the capital’s larger hospitals. Here, they hoped, Leang would find the treatment he needed. And, because the hospital that Leang was slumped in was a state one, that treatment should be free.

So tells Joel Brinkley in his new book ‘Cambodia’s Curse’ The story continues:

“Several hours later a doctor came in and told us the burn was very serious and he needed to clean the wounds. But we would have to pay him $100. He told this to my grandmother. She is old, and had just lost a leg to a landmine. Through the evening, the price increased to $150. I was crying. I told the doctor I didn’t have $150.

The doctor said, “Well I guess we don’t need to clean the wounds’ “He took off his gloves and walked away.”

With no chance of coercing any money from the victims the monster-doctor never returned.

Leang died the next day. His ex-boss still has both his freedom and influence.

·         Cambodia’s Curse by Joel Brinkley, Public Affairs, New York, 2011

The Great Cambodian Giveaway: Visualizing Land Concessions over Time (Reprised)

Cambodian Classroom Conversations: Men Take Less

Aged between eleven and fifteen this class is a bright bunch. Most of them are attending state secondary schools.

I asked them if they had mostly men or women teachers.

"50/50," they said.

"And who are the better teachers, men or women," I asked.

"Men," they cried in unison.

"Why?"

"Because the women take more money from us.* They take a lot, teacher. The men not so much."

* It's common although an illegal practice for students to have to pay cash to their teachers just to get the daily lesson paper.

See http://cambodianbeginnings.blogspot.com/2012/11/and-then-there-were-5-cambodian-lessons.html

Cambodian Corruption Continues

With a miserable score of 22/100, Cambodia again ranked as one of the world's most corrupt countries.

In fact just 17 countries were considered more corrupt that Cambodia and only three of those were Asian nations: North Korea, Laos and Burma.

Witless Cambodian government spokesman, Phay Siphan, did what he always does when faced with bad news- he dismissed the ranking outright.

"We are still good" compared to other countries," said the dim spokesman who clearly has a reading comprehension problem. Or a problem admitting the truth.
*Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied in first place for having the least perceived corruption with scores of 90/100.

And then there were 5: Cambodian Lessons- Worth the Paper they are Written On?

Cambodian Students don't get the full picture
even if they pay for it.

 ~ We were ready to stump up some riel for Sarey's extra classes.*

~ We knew that her high school teachers would often be late to class, or not turn up at all.

~We knew that many of her teachers would be ill-prepared and lacking the knowledge required to teach.

~We were prepared for the amount of monotonous rote learning Cambodian kids are still subjected to.

~And we knew that there would be long periods of idleness in her classes.

But what we were not prepared for was the fact that just to get the printed information for each lesson, Sarey often has to pay 500 riel. That's a scandalous price for a few words on a piece of paper and nothing but a corrupt money making opportunity for teachers. And looking at a bought English lesson, which was riddled with mistakes, it's not worth the paper it's written on.

Of course if you refuse to pay the lesson, or you cannot afford it, then there is an alternative; stare out the window all day, whilst becoming evermore bored and resentful.

I'm told, sadly, that the selling of lessons is on the increase in Cambodia. 

 *It's common practice for Khmer teachers to charge their students for after-hour classes.Such classes are where the teachers do some real teaching. Should they not be able to afford to go to these classes students may never get good scores;the teacher reserves the top marks for his or her paying students.

** What Happens When Two Young Cambodians Enter the House?
See background here:
http://cambodianbeginnings.blogspot.com/p/and-then-there-were-four.html

Hun Sen Quotes (5)

"I don't care whatever you are...political party, NGO, military, police, or military police general, when you are wrong, you receive the same punishment."

Free Mam Sonando

Independent radio station owner and rights activist Mam Sonando is one of just a few Cambodians to speak out against the Hun Sen government.

Yesterday, for his bravery the 71-year-old Sonando was sentenced to a term of 20 years imprisonment on the spurious charges of attempting to overthrow the government and inciting villagers to riot. The court found that Sonando tried to create a state-within-a-state in the poor rural area of Pro Ma, Kratie. The idea that this could be contemplated is nothing more than a sick joke.

"During the rainy season, the jungle trails leading to the village become a series of quagmires, barely navigable by motorcycle and on foot. The village is little more than farmhouses, people and chickens.

"The soldiers came and told us they were here to rescue us from the secessionists," one villager says, speaking in her home built on stilts. "They took our farmland, and now they won't allow us to go back to tend to our crops."

Much more likely however, is that Hun Sen is afraid of Sonando's popularity among Cambodia's rural poor.

"Critics of Hun Sen say that Mam Sonando, who runs the activist group Association of Democrats, came into the government's cross hairs for trying to help farmers in the village of Pro Ma in Kratie province organize to protect their land. The land was granted to a Russian-owned agribusiness, and some villagers refused to leave."

~http://www.npr.org

Road Safety not the Real Concern of Cambodian Traffic Cops

Horn blaring a Phnom Penh-to-Ho Chi Minh bus burst through a red light at a major intersection yesterday. Cyclos, tuk-tuks, cyclists and cars were forced into evasive action.

The police at the scene didn't bat an eyelid; the sight of a big passenger-laden bus careering through one of the busiest streets didn't matter to them at all.

Rather, they were concentrating on their regular activity of fleecing a few dollars from a poor motorcyclist. And not even a potential tragedy was going to dissuade them from doing that.

Police Take 50% Cut for Return of Stolen Motobike

A young Cambodian man had his motorbike stolen recently. The motorcycle is valued at $1,000. The police recovered the bike and informed the owner that it had been found. 

Good news one would think.

Free and Fair

And here are the headlines...

Opposition Supporter Says Politics Cost Her a Loan

Opposition Commune Official Arrested in Kandal

Cambodia: Joint letter regarding Boeung Kak Lake activists

H.E. Hun Sen

Your Excellency,

We, the undersigned regional and international non-governmental organizations, write to express our grave concerns regarding the arbitrary arrest and mistreatment of 13 women human rights defenders at the Boeung Kak Lake (BKL) development site in Phnom Penh on May 22, 2012. We strongly condemn their prosecution on trumped-up charges and summary trial, just 48 hours later, resulting in their conviction and sentencing to lengthy prison terms. Actions by the Phnom Penh prosecutor and Phnom Penh Municipal Court to charge and try the women in one day, while denying defense lawyers requests for  time to prepare their cases or call defense witnesses, were in clear violation of Cambodia’s Code of Criminal Procedure and international fair trial standards. The Cambodian government should immediately and unconditionally vacate these convictions and release these 13 women, plus two community representatives arrested later, who have been imprisoned solely for expressing their views and engaging in peaceful assembly.    

On May 22, about 80 residents of Boeung Kak Lake gathered peacefully and sang land rights songs in support of 18 families who sought to mark the boundaries of their now demolished homes. The community has consistently requested that the authorities complete demarcating the area included in an August 2011 decree granting residents still residing in the area 12.44 hectares of land. Over 600 families have since been granted land titles, including several of the women who were arrested, but many families are still waiting. The community’s requests for complete demarcation of the 12.44 hectares have gone unanswered.

As the hours passed, most of the gathered residents moved into the shade. A small core group remained on the sand lot where the lake used to be. At about 11:30 a.m., approximately 200 Phnom Penh police, and ‘anti riot police’, carrying shields and sticks, who had been present throughout the morning, began to surround the small group of women who were singing peacefully.  Police and district security guards then arrested 13 women, manhandled them into police trucks and vans, and detained them at Phnom Penh police headquarter. Those detained were: Nget Khun; Tep Vanny; Kong Chantha; Srong Srey Leap; Tho Davy; Chan Navy; Ngoun Kimlang; Pao Saopea; Cheng Leap; Soung Samai; Phan Chan Reth; Heng Mom and Toul Srey Pov.

On the afternoon of May 24, all 13 women were charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced under articles 34 and 259 of the Land Law and article 504 of the Penal Code. According to article 34, a new occupant of public property who has no title is considered an illegal occupant subject to penalties under article 259. Article 504 prohibits obstruction of public officials with aggravating circumstances. The court sentenced all 13 women to 30 months in prison, including 72-year-old grandmother Nget Khun.  Six had parts of their sentences suspended. 

The trial failed to meet even the most rudimentary fair trial standards, in violation of Cambodia’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Cambodia is a state party.  The defense lawyers’ request for the case files was rejected, as was their request for time to prepare a defense. They were also refused the right to call defense witnesses, though several were ready to testify just outside the court. These are all clear violations of not only international fair trial standards, but also Cambodia’s Code of Criminal Procedure.

The right to a fair trial is provided under article 14 of the ICCPR, which states that “all persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals [and] shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal.” The defendants did not have adequate time and facilities to prepare a defense, as required by article 14(3) (b) of the ICCPR. The United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers provides: “It is the duty of the competent authorities to ensure lawyers access to appropriate information, files and documents in their possession or control in sufficient time to enable lawyers to provide effective legal assistance to their clients.”  And the defendants were denied the right to call and examine witnesses on their behalf. Article 14(3) (e) of the ICCPR states that criminal defendants have the right to “examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him.”

Later on the afternoon of May 24, two additional Boueng Kak lake representatives, Mr. Sao Sareoun and Ms. Ly Chanary, were arrested and charged with the same crimes. Both remain in pre-trial detention as of this letter.

We also remain deeply concerned with the situation of the Venerable Loun Sovath, a prominent human rights defender who has steadfastly supported peaceful land and housing rights advocates. At approximately 10 a.m. on May 24 in front of the Phnom Penh courthouse, authorities in civilian dress, later backed by police, surrounded Venerable Loun Sovath, forced him into a Land Cruiser, and drove away. Ven. Loun Sovath is the recipient of the prestigious Hellman-Hammett Award, and is a finalist for this year’s Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.  He was held incommunicado at Botum Pagoda in Phnom Penh and released 10 hours later, after being forced to sign a document stating that he would no longer continue his advocacy efforts.

We strongly urge the Cambodian government to vacate the convictions and drop these unfounded charges against these 15 Human Rights Defendersand unconditionally release them immediately. The Cambodian government should also take the necessary steps to protect the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in Cambodia, as defined by articles 19 and 21 of the ICCPR.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you.  

Yap Swee Seng, Executive Director

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

Brad Adams, Director, Asia Division

Human Rights Watch

Yvette J. Alberdingk Thijm, Executive Director
WITNESS

Catherine Baber, Deputy Director, Asia Pacific Programme
Amnesty International International Secretariat 

Souhayr Belhassen President
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

Brittis Edman, Southeast Asia Programme Director

Civil Rights Defenders

Gayathry Venkiteswaran, Executive Director

Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)

Daniel Calingaert, Vice President, Policy and External Affairs

Freedom House

Mary Lawlor, Director

Front Line Defenders 

Yes, I'll take that bribe...

If I had the opportunity to take bribes I would accept them to support my family.*
2005		2010
Strongly agree	13%		10%
Agree	22%		33%
Neither agree nor disagree	13%		26%
Disagree	18%		21%
Strongly disagree	32%		11%
Do not know	2%		0%

43% would take bribes if the opportunity presented itself.

Cambodian corruption: here to stay?




*Source:http://sithi.org/admin/upload/annex/4e7b0855ad43f.pdf

No need for a resume...

Question:

How much should one pay to obtain a simple Government job (e.g. police)?

Corruption Unit Confidence

Those Cambodians involved in low-level corruption are about to get a swift quick in the pants Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) officials say.

Recently the ACU claimed that the payment of illegal fees paid to junior government officials would be stamped-out within four months.

The ACU hopes that NGOs will help them in their efforts by providing monitoring (and a healthy budget to do so, presumably) of local activities.

Such bribes are nothing more than payments to get these officials to do what they are paid to do.

Public registrations, business licences and arranging for road repairs are some examples of bribes being required to grease the wheel and inspire the local bureaucracy to get their backsides into gear.

The initiative is all well and good, I suppose. And the less cynical than I might believe it will achieve something. And well it might.

But two points:

1. What sort of message does it send when low-level corruption activities involving a few dollars at a time are squarely targeted, whilst the filthy few- high-ranking political figures and businessmen- are allowed to continue to pillage the country's people and resources through highly corrupt activities?

2. Can anyone take the ACU seriously? Really, decades of endemic low-level corruption will be gone within four months? Such ridiculous claims destroy credibility.

Four months! Anyone would think that there are elections coming up. 

Cambodia Land Grabs Mapped Out

Two typical examples of a land grab can be seen below. 

These are just two of the many land thefts recorded on the Cambodian Human Rights Portal, www.sithi.org 

To see the full extent of a kleptocracy at work see the organisation interactive map of reported land conflict cases in recent times go to:

http://sithi.org/index.php? 

21 Families Face Forced Eviction in Meanchey
Nature of conflict	:	Dispute of ownership/control, Forced Eviction, ,
Affected land size	:	Unknown hectares
People affected	:	21 families
Start date	:	2010 March 18
Location	:	Prek Ta Nou village, Chak Angre Leu commune, Meanchey district, Phnom Penh province
Alleged secondary human rights violations	:	Unknown,
Type of land	:	Residential,
Resolution offered	:	Offer accepted (Intimidated into accepting compensation worth between US$ 500 and 1000)
Complaint sent to	:	Unknown
Last case status	:	The villagers were ordered to leave their land and threatened into accepting compensation of US$ 500 to 1,000
Last updated	:	2011 March 27

Conflict between 149 families and Ly Hong Sin Company over a 20-hectare plot of land in Preah Sihanouk
Nature of conflict	:	Dispute of ownership/control, Forced Eviction, ,
Affected land size	:	20 hectares
People affected	:	149 families
Start date	:	12 November 2010
Location	:	Unknown village, 1 commune, Stung Hav district, Preah Sihanouk province
Alleged secondary human rights violations	:	Confiscation of property and illegal destruction, Failure to provide fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial judiciary,
Type of land	:
Resolution offered	:	N/A
Complaint sent to	:	Supreme Court, Cabinet Employee
Last case status	:	Execution of the Supreme Court's verdict (78 villagers' homes destroyed), Affected families protested before Hun Sen's house to show their grievances (petition was received by cabinet official Kong Chamroeun).
Last updated	:	19 November 2010