សិទ្ធិមនុស្ស និងសិទ្ធិដីធ្លី

Phnom Penh, 11 February 2014 – The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) condemns the Court’s decision today to continue to detain 21 demonstrators arrested during peaceful demonstrations in early January, 2014. ADHOC provided lawyers to 15 of the 23 people arrested at Yakjin Factory on 02 January 2014 and at the Canadia Industrial Zone on 03 January 2014.

ADHOC urges the Courts to drop all charges against the 23 demonstrators, and to compensate them for the time they have been illegally detained. Citizens of Cambodia have a constitutionally protected right to demonstrate, a right which has been denied through the use of deadly force to crackdown on demonstrators and the ongoing ban on assemblies. Four people have been killed; one young man is missing and scores more have been injured since the start of January. As yet nobody has been held to account for the violence, highlighting the culture of impunity which plagues Cambodia. The use of live ammunition on demonstrators is in breach of international standards of proportionality and has been widely condemned by rights groups and observers.

Phnom Penh, 20 December 2013 – The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) urges Cambodia’s two main political parties to resume dialogue and embrace an attitude of compromise for the sake of peace and stability in the country. Cambodia has been in a state of political deadlock since the 28 July 2013 elections to the National Assembly. ADHOC welcomes the commitment to peace so far expressed by both parties, as demonstrated not only in words but in the relative lack of political violence in the election and post-election period as compared to previous elections in the country.

ADHOC proposes both sides agree to a mid-term election that can provide a meaningful, lasting, democratic and most importantly peaceful solution to the current stalemate. Few countries have endured the level of political violence as Cambodia and both parties have a duty to ensure they act responsibly so that the country is not again scarred by conflict. ADHOC believes there is significant common ground between the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP). This common ground, as outlined below, can and should form the basis for an agreement to hold a mid-term election within a time-frame that is satisfactory to both parties and their supporters.

Since the July election the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) has repeatedly taken to the streets to protest what it perceives as widespread fraud and electoral irregularities. It is now threatening to block major highways. The CNRP has called for major reforms to the National Election Committee (NEC), which it claims is heavily bias toward the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). CNRP leader Mr. Sam Rainsy and his party argue that they won at least 63 seats in the election, and would have won more had the election been free and fair. The CNRP has put forward three solutions to Cambodia’s deadlock. The first of these is an electoral investigation; the second option is fresh elections and the third and final option is that Prime Minister Hun Sen resigns.

Mam Sonando’s trial ended today at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. The verdict is due on 1 October 2012. Mam Sonando will remain in pre-trial detention until then.

On 11 September 2012, ADHOC’s office in Rattanakiri province received reliable information from Mr. Joun Phin Dara according to which a reporter working with the local newspaper Virakchun Khmer, Mr. Hang Serei Oddom, had disappeared.
ADHOC staff immediately started investigating and sought intervention with Mr. Em Vunn, head of Banlung police, to find out about the reporter’s whereabouts. At 12pm, the authorities located Hang Serei Oddom’s car at Savay Channty garden, Touy village, Ja Ong commune, Orchum district, about 3 kilometers away from town. Hang Serei Oddom was found dead in the trunk.