Tag

Boeung Kak Lake

Article

UN Reviews Human Rights Situation in Cambodia

Cambodia’s human rights record comes under review at the UN Human Rights Council today as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. LICADHO contributed to two joint submissions with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Forum-Asia which catalogue state repression of human rights defenders, media and civil society, as well as the human cost of rampant land grabbing.

Article

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence: Tep Vanny

To mark the international campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence (25 November – 10 December) LICADHO is highlighting women land campaigners and human rights defenders (HRDs) who face state violence in Cambodia. At least a half a million Cambodians have lost their land and homes in forced evictions over the last two decades and women have been at the forefront of peaceful protests demanding justice and fair compensation. Their activism has often been met with violent attacks by security forces as well as judicial harassment and arbitrary detention. Over the 16 days, we will publish short profiles of women who – despite many hardships – continue to speak out in solidarity with others to demand justice. We start with Tep Vanny (38), who has been at the forefront of Boeung Kak Lake community’s fight against forced evictions in Phnom Penh as well as being a fervent defender of human rights.

Photo Album

Communities Celebrate World Habitat Day 2018

Communities around the country celebrated World Habitat Day between 28 September and 5 October 2018. This year's theme was “municipal solid waste management” and many organised garbage clean ups as well as discussions on housing and land rights. More than 2,000 people participated in at least 30 communities. Authorities shut down some events, claiming they were illegal, and others were cancelled or held indoors due to threats and intimidation.

Article

Authorities Stop Communities Collecting Garbage and Discussing Land Rights

At least two communities have been prevented from celebrating the United Nations’ World Habitat Day by Cambodian authorities and others have cancelled events out of fear of reprisals. More than 2,000 people in at least 30 communities nationwide have planned events to raise awareness of this year’s theme – “municipal solid waste management” – as well as the annual theme: the right to housing. Activities are taking place between 28 September and 5 October 2018, many of them in communities affected by land grabbing and forced evictions or threatened by new developments. According to the UN, World Habitat Day (WHD) is an opportunity to “reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter”.

Flash Info

Boeung Kak Lake Activists Get Suspended Sentences This morning Boeung Kak Lake activist Tep Vanny and five other members of the community were found guilty of making a “death threat” against a former community member. They were each given six-month suspended sentences. Another charge of “public insult” was dropped by Phnom Penh Municipal Court. The case was revived in late 2016, despite the plaintiff, Ly Mom, having dropped her March 2012 complaint in October 2016. The trial of Tep Vanny, Nget Khun, Cheang Leap, Kong Chantha, Tol Sreypov and Heng Mom began in July 2017 but was suspended by the judge when prosecution witnesses failed to appear in court. Today, the hearing resumed in the presence of four defendants – Tep Vanny, Nget Khun, Kong Chantha and Cheang Leap – with two defendants and five witnesses absent from the proceedings. About 20 members of Phnom Penh communities and civil society groups gathered outside the court this morning in a show of solidarity. The group was charged with making a “death threat” under Article 233 of the Criminal Code, and sentenced to six months in prison, which has been suspended. The charge of “public insult” under Article 307 was dropped at the request of the prosecutor. Tep Vanny was released from prison on Monday after receiving two pardons – one for a 30-month sentence she was serving in Correctional Center 2 and for another six-month conviction. Her release coincided with the release of political analyst Kim Sok who had finished his sentence last Friday and former Radio Free Asia journalists Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin who were released on bail on Tuesday. Related Material: Flash Info: Religious Ceremony at Boeung Kak to Call for Tep Vanny Release

Flash Info: Supreme Court Upholds Tep Vanny Conviction Previous Flash Info >

Statement

Civil society groups call for the release of Tep Vanny

Land activist and human rights defender Tep Vanny has been unjustly detained for two years as of tomorrow, for defending the rights of the Boeung Kak Lake community and her fellow Cambodians. We, the undersigned communities and civil society organisations, condemn her ongoing imprisonment and call on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Tep Vanny, drop all dormant criminal charges and overturn any convictions against her, so that she may return to her family and community. Tep Vanny has fought tirelessly to protect the rights of members of her community following their forced eviction from their homes on Boeung Kak Lake, Phnom Penh, but also those of fellow human rights defenders campaigning for separate causes. As long as she is behind bars, Tep Vanny is prevented from carrying out her peaceful and valuable work.

Statement

On the First Anniversary of the Grossly Unjust Imprisonment of Land Activist and Human Rights Defender Tep Vanny, CSOs Call for Her Release

Tep Vanny, one of Cambodia’s most prominent land activists and human rights defenders, will have spent one year in prison on 15 August for defending her community and exercising her human rights. We, the undersigned, condemn her arbitrary imprisonment. We call for her convictions to be overturned, for all ongoing politically motivated and unsubstantiated charges against her to be dropped, and for her immediate release from prison.

Statement

Civil Society Calls for Justice for Tep Vanny at Appeal Court

We, the undersigned, call on the Court of Appeal to overturn the unjust conviction of Ms. Tep Vanny on charges of intentional violence with aggravating circumstances based on her peaceful activism at a 2013 protest, for which she received a draconian sentence of two years and six months’ imprisonment on 23 February 2017. The Court of Appeal will hear Ms. Tep Vanny's appeal against conviction tomorrow. On 15 August 2017, Ms. Tep Vanny will have spent one year in detention; her imprisonment is a clear attempt to silence one of Cambodia’s most fearless and outspoken defenders of human rights ahead of the national elections in July 2018.

Statement

The Dangers of Dissent: Attacks on Cambodia’s Human Rights Defenders

As Cambodia’s human rights situation continues to backslide, exposing and speaking out against state-perpetrated abuses is ever more crucial. In the last two years, however, human rights defenders and other critical or independent voices have been among the main victims of Cambodia’s fractious political situation. In this latest in a series of briefing papers, LICADHO sets out threats facing those who stand up for human rights in today’s Cambodia. Long-standing tactics used to silence human rights defenders – judicial harassment by a politicized court system; state-sponsored violence; and intolerance of peaceful protest – have been reinforced by new incapacitating laws and targeted digital surveillance. Although the examples presented in this paper are by no means exhaustive, taken together they provide a snapshot into the kinds of abuses that human rights defenders have been routinely subjected to in Cambodia over the last two years.

Statement

Cambodian and International CSOs Condemn Removal of Banners Calling for the Release of Human Rights Defenders

We, the undersigned Cambodian and international civil society organizations, condemn the removal by district and commune police authorities of banners calling for the release of six human rights defenders. Banners were removed from the offices of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) and Mother Nature in Koh Kong’s Smach Meanchey commune on 2 May 2017, as well as from three residences in Koh Kong province’s Srae Ambel district on 3 May 2017.

Statement

Tep Vanny Convicted Again as Para-Police Attack Supporters

We, the undersigned civil society groups, condemn today’s unjust conviction and sentencing of Tep Vanny and the latest outrageous violence perpetrated by para-police against her supporters outside Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Statement

Human Rights Defenders Summonsed as ‘Suspects’ after Being Beaten by Para-Police

Two human rights defenders have been summonsed as suspects in relation to violence that occurred when para-police blocked a peaceful World Habitat Day march in October 2016. During the altercation, both men – LICADHO’s Monitoring Manager Am Sam Ath, who was monitoring the event at the time, and Boeung Kak Lake community representative Chan Puthisak, who was documenting the march – were badly beaten by para-police in targeted attacks against them.

Statement

World Habitat Day Marred by Brutal Beatings of Human Rights Defenders

We, the undersigned civil society groups, are outraged by this morning’s unjustified use of violence by district para-police officers during a march to peacefully celebrate World Habitat Day, and we strongly condemn this reprehensible attack.

Statement

Civil Society Calls for Immediate Release of Boeung Kak Lake Activists

We, the undersigned civil society groups, demand the immediate release of two Boeung Kak Lake activists – Ms. Tep Vanny and Ms. Bov Sophea – who were charged and sent to provisional detention in Prey Sar’s CC2 prison on 17 August 2016, in relation to their involvement in the “Black Monday” campaign. We also call on authorities to drop the spurious incitement charges against them, and allow for peaceful assemblies, such as those in support of the Black Monday campaign, as protected under Cambodian and international law.

Photo Album

Thousands Demand Justice for Human Rights Day Celebrations