Cambodian authorities should immediately quash the convictions and unconditionally release Chhim Sithar, leader of Labor Rights Supported Union (LRSU) of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld, and eight other fellow union members or former members, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said today. The union members were prosecuted solely for exercising their basic rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

On 25 May 2023, a Phnom Penh court found the trade unionists guilty of “incitement to commit a felony or disturb social security” under criminal code articles 494 and 495, and sentenced Sithar to two years in prison and the other union members to between one to one and a half years. Only Sithar was transferred to prison while the others received suspended sentences or terms of judicial supervision. These politically motivated charges arose directly from Sithar and the LRSU’s work defending workers’ rights and constitute a blatant violation of Cambodia’s obligations under international human rights law.

“The convictions of Chhim Sithar and the others is a blatant attack on unions and workers fighting for their fundamental rights,” said Montse Ferrer, Amnesty International’s Interim Deputy Regional Director for Research. “This verdict is a reminder that the Cambodian government would rather side with corporations than protect the rights of its people.”    

In April 2021, NagaWorld, a Hong Kong listed company that operates the sole legal casino in Phnom Penh, laid off 1,329 casino workers, including the union leadership, prompting workers to allege they were unfairly dismissed and leading to strike actions that continue until the present.

Cambodian authorities have commonly used the bogus charge of “incitement to commit a felony” against union members undertaking a strike action as part of broader government efforts to crack down on dissent.

“From the very start of the casino workers’ strike, the Cambodian government has sided with NagaWorld management to persecute Chhim Sithar and the union’s leaders and crush the strike,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of respecting workers’ rights to freedom of association, bargain collectively, and strike, the government has used every repressive trick in the book to intimidate their union.” 

The authorities initially charged Sithar on 3 January 2022, with the crime of “incitement to commit a felony or disturb social security.” The following day, plain clothes security officials approached Sithar in a crowd and violently arrested her by grabbing her around the neck and dragging her into a car as she attempted to join the ongoing strike action.

Sithar was held for 74 days in pre-trial detention before being released on bail in March. The authorities re-arrested Sithar on 26 November 2022 as she returned to Cambodia after participating in the World Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), hosted by the ACTU in Melbourne, for violating bail conditions on international travel. Neither she nor her lawyer had been informed about the travel restrictions, and she had travelled to Thailand in September and October without consequences.

“The Australian union movement condemns the verdict against Chhim Sithar and her fellow unionists. This is a clear case of the Cambodian government waging an anti-union campaign against Chhim Sithar and her union, the LRSU,” said ACTU President Michele O’Neil. “We stand in solidarity with Chhim Sithar and the LRSU and call on the Cambodian government to release her immediately, stop persecuting trade unionists and respect workers’ rights to freedom of association.”

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the ACTU are extremely concerned that the re-arrest of Sithar, and subsequent conviction, stems in part from her meeting with other trade unions and the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression and association. The imprisonment of a union leader also undermines workers’ rights to organize, bargain collectively and take industrial action.

‘A State obligation to protect rights of workers’

The Cambodian authorities have attacked, harassed, arbitrarily arrested and ultimately imprisoned members of the LRSU. After NagaWorld laid off the 1,329 casino workers in April 2021 and the workers engaged in a peaceful, well-publicized strike, the police physically assaulted and arrested striking workers. NagaWorld filed baseless criminal complaints against those arrested in an attempt to intimidate other union members.

Under international human rights law and standards, workers cannot be discriminated against or targeted for participating in trade union activities. This protection against anti-union discrimination includes not being dismissed for participating in union activity. The Cambodian government has an obligation under international human rights law not only to respect the rights of workers but also to protect these rights from abuse by private actors.

These obligations are enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as well as in International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 87, which protects the right to freedom of association, and ILO Convention No. 98 on the right to organize and collectively bargain. Cambodia has ratified all of these above-mentioned instruments.

The harassment of LRSU has gone beyond Sithar and her co-defendants, the organizations said. In January 2022, authorities arrested 28 additional members of the LRSU. The next month, six LRSU members were arrested as they left a Covid-19 testing site, following a government order that all those involved in the NagaWorld strike action should be tested for Covid-19.

The authorities later charged three of those workers with “obstruction of Covid-19 measures” under Covid-19 regulations introduced in 2021, which carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years. While those workers were released on bail, the charges against them are still pending. In September 2022, NagaWorld also filed criminal complaints against four LRSU members for trespassing, aggravated intentional damage, and unlawful confinement.

The authorities have also used unlawful force against members of the LRSU. On at least two occasions, police violently attacked strikers peacefully exercising their rights, punching, kicking and hitting them with walkie-talkies, injuring at least 17 women, one of whom was hospitalized.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the ACTU call upon the Cambodian authorities to immediately quash the convictions and unconditionally release Chhim Sithar and her fellow union members who have been detained solely for their defence of workers’ rights. Cambodia should bring its laws and regulations into full compliance with international human rights laws, including the provisions of ILO Conventions No. 87 and 98 that it has ratified, thereby guaranteeing the rights to freedom of association and to organize and collectively bargain across the country.

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During March, Amnesty International conducted in-person interviews with more than 35 people from sites around Angkor Wat and Run Ta Ek, the first of two planned resettlement sites. The research revealed that the evictions which authorities have repeatedly touted as “voluntary” are anything but, with residents reporting implicit threats if they did not move.  

The research also pointed to the lack of appropriate safeguards against forced evictions as per international human rights standards, including the lack of adequate notice prior to evictions, and genuine consultation with affected people on the evictions and resettlement process.  

“These are forced evictions in disguise and on a mass scale. People were pressured to volunteer and made to feel fearful of reprisals if they refused to leave or challenged the evictions,” said Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns. “The Cambodian authorities should immediately halt this harmful eviction drive that seriously risks impoverishing thousands of families.” 

These are forced evictions in disguise and on a mass scale.

Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns

Resettlement sites, under the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-Based Evictions and Displacement, must include the provision of drinking water, houses, sanitation and access to schools, among other human rights, which must be provided before the evicted families arrive at the site. Since late 2022, when families began arriving at Run Ta Ek, they have not been provided with houses, safe drinking water and appropriate toilet facilities on arrival.  

One man said he had six children and 14 grandchildren who he used to live close to, but the land allocation system had placed them all far away from each other. Another resident who had lived by her neighbors for decades said, “our villages are no longer together – the families are mixed up now.”  

Farmer and carpenter Karuna* told Amnesty International the move cut his family off from tourist revenue, crops and created a long commute for him to continue working in Siem Reap town, where the ancient temples of Angkor Wat are located. Siem Reap is 38 kilometers (about 23.61 mi) from the Run Ta Ek resettlement site.  

“On my first day here I started crying,” he said.  

A mother with an infant told Amnesty International that she sleeps under a tarpaulin sheet the government gave her while her husband builds their house at Run Ta Ek. “Our baby can’t sleep, it’s too hot” she said. “There are no trees.” 

No choice

The Angkor Wat temples, which date from the 9th to the 15th century, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most popular tourist destination in Cambodia, receiving an estimated two million visitors a year before the pandemic. 

With lockdowns ending, tourist numbers climbing back to pre-pandemic levels, and a growing population living around the temples, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech on 3 October 2022 that the protection of Angkor Wat’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage site meant that thousands of families living there had to leave.  

Hun Sen told families that had yet to move that they would not receive compensation, saying “if the time comes, even one cent is not given”. He said that to avoid Angkor being removed from the World Heritage list, “clearly, the families must go.” In media reports, UNESCO has said it did not call for population displacements. 

If residents “voluntarily” go, they receive a cash payment of roughly $300 USD, a plot of land, sheets of corrugated iron, two months’ food supplies, a mosquito net, a tarpaulin sheet, and an ID Poor card giving access to government benefits. The “ID Poor” program, supported by the governments of Australia and Germany, provides cash payments to support those most at need. 

Amnesty International interviewed several residents who quoted the Prime Minister’s public comments and said they had no choice but to leave. “If we don’t go, we don’t know what will happen,” one said. They also said that officials from the APSARA Authority, a government-backed group created to manage the Angkor Wat site, returned multiple times to ask why they had not volunteered yet. 

“Three times they returned and each time I said ‘no, I won’t go’. But now I am going. I am scared,” one resident said. 

Veiled threats

According to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a forced eviction is “the permanent or temporary removal against the will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection.”  

None of the people Amnesty International interviewed were engaged in a process of genuine consultation with regards to the eviction and resettlement, or provided with any information that allowed them to access appropriate forms of legal or other protections.  

Last year, when officials began measuring plots at homes at Angkor Wat, they were tight-lipped about the reasons, and residents became hopeful of getting land titles before the same officials returned weeks later and asked the residents to “volunteer to leave”. More than an estimated one hundred thousand people live within the Angkor Wat heritage site; many have been there for several generations. 

The mass eviction effort ramped up in the second half of 2022, when land officials went from house to house taking measurements and reviewing identity documents without telling residents why. Residents described their shock and fear when authorities returned weeks later asking them to volunteer to go to Run Ta Ek. 

APSARA authorities used subtle tactics to persuade them to leave “voluntarily,” such as not providing families with information about what would happen if they didn’t go or suggesting that they would get nothing if they waited.  

In the most direct threats, APSARA told families they could stay if they wanted but that their homes would be flooded.  

A woman in her eighties cried after saying she “volunteered” to leave her hometown. “I choose to go with fear,” another resident said. 

Trucks of soldiers transporting the materials also were a frequent sight during the research period, and while this was promoted as helping the families, many residents said that they had to pay for the soldiers’ meals or cook them food. 

Amnesty International calls on the Cambodian government and its partners in the management of Angkor Wat to ensure that the preservation of heritage does not come at the expense of the protection and promotion of human rights. 

“Angkor Wat is a national treasure and a living heritage site for Cambodian people. Its preservation, and the preservation of Cambodia’s rich cultural history, should go hand in hand with the protection of human rights, rather than be the reason for gross violations,” Amnesty’s Ming Yu Hah said.  

*Names have been changed to protect interviewees from possible retribution  

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“This is a blatant attempt to slam the door on what’s left of independent media in the country, and a clear warning to other critical voices months before national elections. The Prime Minister should immediately withdraw this heavy-handed and disproportionate order.

“Arbitrarily shutting down an outspoken media organization will have an immediate chilling effect on anyone who still dares to ask questions about the actions of the Cambodian government. It also comes against a backdrop of ongoing repression against anyone remotely critical of the Prime Minister and his family.

“VOD’s reporters have developed a reputation for thorough investigative reporting on crucial human rights issues. The order to close puts the Cambodian public’s access to information at risk now that the government has removed another obstacle along its road to wipe out dissent in the country.”

Background:

Cambodia’s Voice of Democracy is a local news outlet run by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, publishing on a wide range of issues including politics, human rights and the environment.

Hun Sen ordered the shutdown of VOD on Sunday night after taking issue with a news report about his son. The orders came after a February 9 VOD report that Hun Sen’s eldest son, Hun Manet, approved financial aid to Türkiye after its devastating earthquake this month. Hun Manet denies approving the aid.

Instead, Hun Sen, who has declared Hun Manet as his eventual successor, stated he signed off on the US$100,000 foreign ministry aid package.  

Despite VOD sending the Prime Minister a letter in which it said it was “regretful for confusions” regarding the article, Hun Sen said he could “not accept the term ‘regretful’ and the request for forgiveness instead of an apology”.

“In the name of the government, which has to protect its dignity, I decide to end the case by ordering the information ministry to cancel the license for VOD from now on and that it stop broadcasting by 10am,” Hun Sen wrote on his Facebook page.

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“For all its well-documented flaws, the Khmer Rouge tribunal has shown that those responsible for crimes under international law can and will be held responsible. Today’s ruling should serve as another reminder that accountability for the most serious crimes has no expiration date. 

“The tribunal has served as an important platform for public discussion of the Khmer Rouge’s murderous reign, and as a place where victims’ voices can be heard, recorded and publicized. But as today’s ruling is set to be the court’s last, the work of supporting victims and survivors is not finished.   

“Impunity for human rights violations remains a serious problem in Cambodia today, and if authorities seek to uphold international law and human rights then they must ensure that their national court system is independent, impartial and able to make justice a feature of Cambodian society rather than an exception.” 

Background: 

The Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia in 1975 and governed until 1979. Experts estimate that some two million people died during their rule from starvation, sickness and murder. 

Khieu Samphan, aged 91, was the regime’s head of state. He was convicted in first instance in 2018 alongside Nuon Chea, the former second in command of the Khmer Rouge, of crimes against humanity, war crimes committed in security centers and worksites as well as the genocide of ethnic Vietnamese people. 

At the time, both were already serving life sentences after they were first convicted of crimes against humanity related to the forced population movements organized by the Khmer Rouge in a separate ECCC trial in 2014 and confirmed on appeal in 2016. Nuon Chea died in 2019. 

The ECCC, known informally as the Khmer Rouge tribunal, has completed only one other case. In 2010 Kaing Guek Eav, known as Comrade Duch, who operated the Khmer Rouge’s Tuol Sleng torture chambers in Phnom Penh, was convicted of crimes against humanity and war crimes. 

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Illegal logging of protected forests is undermining the human rights and erasing the traditions of Indigenous peoples in Cambodia, new research by Amnesty International has revealed.

In a new report, ‘Our Traditions Are Being Destroyed’: Illegal Logging, Repression, and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Violations in Cambodia’s Protected Forests, Kuy people tell how deforestation and government restrictions on access have harmed their spiritual practices, land rights, livelihoods, and ability to protect the forest.

Cambodia has experienced one of the highest rates of deforestation worldwide in recent decades, losing approximately 64% of its tree cover since 2011 alone. New data analyzed by Amnesty International and remote sensing agency Space4Good revealed extensive recent deforestation in the two protected areas. 

Rampant illegal logging in Cambodia is posing an existential threat to the country’s remaining primary forests

Richard Pearshouse, Amnesty International’s Head of Crisis and Environment

An analysis using currently available remote sensing data sources estimates at least 6,271 hectares (an area in size equivalent to 8,784 soccer pitches) were deforested across both protected areas in 2021. Further deforestation is also likely to be revealed as more datasets offering additional insights become available.

“Rampant illegal logging in Cambodia is posing an existential threat to the country’s remaining primary forests, and the Indigenous peoples who depend on them for their livelihoods, their culture and their spiritual practices,” said Richard Pearshouse, Amnesty International’s Head of Crisis and Environment.

“Time and time again, government officials who are supposed to be protecting these precious forests are instead profiting from their destruction by allowing the illegal logging trade to flourish.

“The Cambodian authorities must stop illegal logging by immediately clamping down on this rampant corruption. The rights of the Kuy people must be protected in all conservation efforts.”

The report is based on interviews with 20 community activists involved in the protection of Prey Lang and Prey Preah Roka, both of which are home to significant Kuy populations and which also contain protected Wildlife Sanctuaries.

Under both domestic and international human rights law, the Cambodian authorities have legal obligations to protect Indigenous peoples’ human rights, including their cultural rights.

©Amnesty International

Cultural and spiritual connection

Cambodia is home to approximately 24 different Indigenous peoples, and the Kuy people are one of the largest of these groups. 

Indigenous peoples in Cambodia often maintain a close connection with the traditional forested lands on which their livelihoods and cultural practices depend. Illegal logging, therefore, not only threatens biodiversity and climate, but also significantly undermines Indigenous peoples’ cultures and human rights.

All of the Kuy people interviewed by Amnesty International expressed concern that their cultural survival was threatened by extensive deforestation of both forests.

Huot* said: “The forests around us are a part of the health of our community – our connection to the spirits, and the forest they live in, is what maintains our wellbeing as a community, and our sense of friendship and solidarity to one another. When the forest is lost, and we no longer maintain our connections to the spirits, we lose that sense of wellbeing.”

Thyda* described the detrimental impact of deforestation for the next generation: “I feel like there is almost nothing left of our culture. The younger generation will never get to know all the important places for us in the forests…There are ancient villages that were once inside the forest, and we still pay our respects to spirits of our ancestors. Now, these places have been destroyed because of logging.”

Economic impact of deforestation

Kuy people around Prey Lang and Prey Preah Roka depend largely on the sustainable use of the forests for their livelihoods, including through resin tapping, a practice that does not ultimately harm trees and can continue for decades.  

The resin is sold and used domestically for low-grade lighting, and commercially for boat caulks, paints and varnishes. However, illegal loggers have increasingly targeted resin trees for use in timber production.

Many people from outside… come and steal our trees when we are not in the forest

Thyda*

Two species of resin trees found in Prey Preah Roka are particularly sought after by loggers because of their suitability for furniture production and are commonly used in making tables, doors, chairs, beds and ceiling beams. 

Thyda* told Amnesty International that an estimated 70% of resin trees have been lost in Prey Preah Roka in recent years, and added: “Many people from outside… come and steal our trees when we are not in the forest – especially during the rice season when we are planting saplings or harvesting rice. This is when they get stolen the most, because people know we are busy in our fields which are far from Prey Preah Roka. Sometimes in one day, 30 or 40 resin trees will be cut.” 

Interviewees in Prey Lang also told how loggers would sometimes offer to buy resin trees from community members, who said they felt they had little choice but to accept whatever price was on offer, as the tree would be felled regardless.

Bribery and corruption

Across both forests, Kuy people consistently described how police officers and Ministry of Environment officials demanded and accepted bribes in return for ignoring illegal logging.

One interviewee familiar with the situation in Prey Lang said: “The big problem is that the authorities, especially the Ministry of Environment, are only interested in collecting money. I have tried many times and gone directly to the ministry’s provincial office and told them about logging and given them photos and other evidence. They go to investigate it – but they only investigate it to collect [bribes] from the loggers.”

Cambodia’s approach to conservation is characterized by official corruption and a complete disregard for Indigenous peoples’ rights

Richard Pearshouse

All interviewees told Amnesty International they had witnessed police from local posts blatantly accepting money from loggers as they transported their hauls from the parks, and that police had several checkpoints set up solely to extract money from loggers.

Amnesty International has also previously documented how Cambodian authorities have denied environmental activists access to the rainforests, and how their ongoing ban on community patrols is allowing illegal logging to continue unchecked.

“Cambodia’s approach to conservation is characterized by official corruption and a complete disregard for Indigenous peoples’ rights. If the Cambodian authorities don’t change course soon, the country’s protected forests will be illegally logged into oblivion,” said Richard Pearshouse. 

“It is essential that Indigenous-led community groups are enabled and empowered to engage in forest patrols and other protection activities. Indigenous peoples are widely recognized as the most effective protectors of their traditional lands, and Cambodia’s ongoing ban on community groups’ access is a blatant violation of their human rights.”

Methodology

Amnesty International conducted interviews with 20 community members engaged in forest protection activities in Prey Lang and Prey Preah Roka between June and October 2021. The majority of those interviewed identified as Indigenous Kuy, and all interviewees came from communities based in or around the forests. 

The report also draws on information from open sources, including relevant national law and international human rights standards, reports from civil society organization, articles published in domestic and international news media, and academic journals.

Space4Good is a geospatial social enterprise providing earth observation monitoring, reporting and verification solutions for social and environmental impact leaders around the world.

Note: *Names have been changed.

The post Cambodia: Illegal logging harming Indigenous peoples’ rights and cultures – new research appeared first on Amnesty International.

“Hun Sen’s rogue diplomacy may do more harm than good by breaking ranks with ASEAN’s response to the Myanmar crisis and sending mixed messages to Myanmar’s coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing, who has been blocked from recent high-level ASEAN meetings in a rare rebuke.” 

“If Hun Sen truly wants to help, he should cancel this trip and lead ASEAN to strong action to address the country’s dire human rights situation rather than indulge in empty gestures that will likely result in little more than a self-congratulatory photo op.” 

“As the incoming chair of ASEAN, Cambodia should help revive the five-point consensus adopted in April last year that called for an immediate end to violence and work to expand it further to protect human rights and ensure accountability for abuses.”  

If Hun Sen truly wants to help, he should cancel this trip and lead ASEAN to strong action to address the country’s dire human rights situation rather than indulge in empty gestures that will likely result in little more than a self-congratulatory photo op.

Emerlynne Gil, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for Research

“The nightmare has continued for the 55 million people of Myanmar. Last month security forces were accused of killing and burning more than 30 civilians, including two staff members of the humanitarian aid organization, Save the Children, in eastern Karenni State.”  

“The international community cannot rely on ASEAN alone when it has repeatedly demonstrated that it is unable to take meaningful action to prevent such atrocities from recurring. The UN Security Council must urgently refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court and impose targeted sanctions and a global arms embargo.” 

Background 

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is set to visit Myanmar on 7-8 January, the first head of government to make an official visit to the country since the military seized power in a coup on 1 February 2021.  

The trip comes as Cambodia takes over as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which rotates each year to one of the bloc’s 10 members. Cambodia was last chair in 2012. 

ASEAN’s five-point consensus, adopted in April 2021, calls for an immediate end to violence, dialogue among all parties, aid access, the appointment of a special envoy from the bloc, and a visit by an ASEAN delegation. However, it fails to mention the need to protect human rights or call for accountability for violations. There has been little progress on the consensus, which was limited in scope even then.  

Since seizing power, Myanmar’s military has killed more than 1,400 people and arrested or detained more than 10,000, many of them peaceful protesters. It has also unfairly tried many of Myanmar’s top civilian leaders who were ousted in the coup and sentenced them to lengthy prison sentences. Former de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to four years in December in one of many bogus cases against her. 

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“Chan Thoeun and the PLCN have been standing up against powerful illegal logging interests for years. They have defended the Prey Lang forest while the Cambodian authorities have turned a blind eye to the rampant destruction of this vital ecosystem, which is an essential part of the culture of Indigenous Kuy communities.”

“While Chan Thouen will not face a prison term, this remains an unjust conviction. He never should have been charged or tried in the first place. This conviction fits the pattern of previous attempts to silence and intimidate environmental activists in Prey Lang and across Cambodia, where bogus charges and suspended sentences are frequently used to suppress peaceful activism.”

“Time and time again, the Cambodian courts fail to deliver genuine justice in cases involving human rights defenders and environmental activists. Meanwhile, the Cambodian government continues to trample on Indigenous Peoples’ rights and allows logging companies to pursue their illegal activities with impunity.”

“Cambodia cannot be a responsible climate actor while marginalizing, harassing and convicting Indigenous and environmental activists in unfair trials. Amnesty International calls on the Cambodian authorities to overturn this verdict and to allow independent environmental groups to undertake unrestricted monitoring of illegal deforestation.”

Background

Today, Cambodian environmental activist Chan Thoeun, an activist with the Prey Lang Community Network (PLCN) was convicted of “intentional violence with aggravating circumstances” under Articles 217 and 218 of the Criminal Code and given a two-year suspended sentence. He was initially tried in absentia for “attempted murder” by the Kampong Thom Provincial Court of First Instance on 16 September, and the charges against him changed today during the verdict announcement.

The alleged incident occurred in July 2020 in Kampong Thom’s Sandan district after Chan Thoeun had taken photos of trucks illegally transporting timber from the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. According to Chan Thoeun’s lawyer, after the confrontation, the alleged victim filed a complaint with district military police accusing Chan Thoeun of attempted murder.

Chan Thoeun has vehemently denied the allegations against him. PLCN have stated that the complainant is a timber trader who was engaged in illegal logging at the time of the confrontation with Chan Thoeun.

Prey Lang is mainland Southeast Asia’s largest lowland evergreen forest, covering approximately 500,000 hectares across four provinces. In 2016, much of the forest was designated as a wildlife sanctuary. More than 250,000 people live in and around Prey Lang, most of whom identify as Indigenous Kuy. Prey Lang is a crucial part of the Kuy people’s livelihood, culture and spirituality.

Widespread illegal logging and the repression of environmental activism are among the grave threats to Cambodia’s Prey Lang rainforest. In February 2020, the Cambodian authorities banned environmental defenders from entering the Prey Lang wildlife sanctuary and PLCN have been barred from conducting their forest patrols ever since.

Throughout 2021, Cambodian authorities have unleashed a relentless assault on environmental activists, while the government claims to be a responsible actor on climate and promotes the country as a suitable market for carbon credits ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26.

In early February 2021, Ministry of Environment officers arrested and arbitrarily detained five environmental defenders while they were investigating illegal logging in Prey Lang. They were only released three days later, after signing a document committing them to refrain from entering Prey Lang without permission from the Ministry of Environment.

Several grassroots environmental groups, including PLCN, have been threatened based on accusations they are operating illegally because they are not registered under Cambodia’s widely-criticized Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations.

In June 2021, four environmental activists affiliated with Mother Nature Cambodia, a prominent campaign group that has won several major environmental victories, were charged variously with “plotting” and “insulting the King” (lèse majesté) after investigating river pollution in the Tonle Sap River in Phnom Penh. In May 2021, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted and sentenced five Mother Nature Cambodia activists to between 18 and 20 months in prison for seeking to protest government plans to fill and privatize a major lake in the capital.

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“These outrageous charges are a blatant attempt to silence and intimidate not only Mother Nature Cambodia, but an entire generation of Cambodian youth who have dared to stand up for human rights and environmental justice. These charges should be dropped immediately and Sun Ratha, Ly Chandaravuth and Yim Leanghy should be released immediately and unconditionally.

“The severity of these charges marks a serious escalation in the Cambodian authorities’ repressive tactics against environmental defenders and critical voices. It is unconscionable that such serious charges have been laid against these activists in retaliation for their peaceful efforts to defend Cambodia’s natural resources.

“It is alarming that the authorities appear to be engaging in unlawful surveillance of environmental activists in order to concoct evidence of far-fetched conspiracies. Time and time again the Cambodian government has characterized critics of the government as rebels and conspirators, and painted peaceful activism as a crime.

“These charges are just the latest chapter in the authorities’ relentless assault on youth activists and environmental defenders. Mother Nature Cambodia activists continue to face the wrath of the government because they have consistently shone a light on the widespread corruption which so often facilitates and enables environmental destruction in Cambodia.

“Instead of targeting brave young environmentalists, the authorities should prosecute the government officials, military officers and well-connected business actors who are often complicit in the destruction of Cambodia’s forests, mangroves and coastlines.”

Background:

Sun Ratha and Ly Chandaravuth, along with another environmental activist named Seth Chhivlimeng, were arrested at approximately 10.45am on Wednesday, 16 June while investigating river pollution in the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh. On the same morning, Yim Leanghy was arrested after being asked to go to his local police station in Kandal province. Seth Chhivlimeng was later released after being detained for 24 hours.

On Monday 21 June, Phnom Penh Municipal Court Investigating Judge Im Vannak confirmed that Sun Ratha and Yim Leanghy were charged with both “plotting” and “insulting the King”, under articles 453 and 437 (bis) of the Cambodian Criminal Code, which carry maximum prison sentences of 10 years and 5 years, respectively, while Ly Chandaravuth was charged with “plotting” only. Yim Leanghy and Ly Chandaravuth were sent to pre-trial detention in CC1 prison and Sun Ratha was sent to CC2 prison. Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson was charged with both “plotting” and “insulting the King” in absentia.

Following the arrests, local media quoted a government spokesperson who justified the arrests on the basis that Mother Nature Cambodia “got foreign money to commit rebellious actions to incite [people] to topple the government”.

According to Cambodian human rights group LICADHO, Yim Leanghy is a 32-year-old student who obtained a scholarship to study for a master’s degree at the Royal University of Phnom Penh’s Institute of Foreign Languages. Sun Ratha is a 26-year-old accountant who graduated from the University of Cambodia, where she was also studying on a scholarship. Ly Chandaravuth is a 22-year-old student in his 4th year of studying law at the Royal University of Law and Economics. Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, a Spanish national and co-founder of Mother Nature Cambodia, was deported from Cambodia in 2015 and has been refused re-entry since then.

Amnesty International has received credible information that the evidence being used against the activists includes recordings of private Zoom meetings held by Mother Nature Cambodia activists.

Surveillance of private communications is unlawful unless it is grounded in a national law which complies with international human rights law governing the right to privacy. Cambodia’s 2015 Law on Telecommunications permits the Cambodian government to undertake unfettered surveillance of digital communications in the absence of adequate safeguards and oversight, in violation of the right to privacy as guaranteed by international human rights law. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Cambodia has ratified, guards against arbitrary and unlawful intrusion of privacy (Article 17). International human rights standards also require that any interference by the state on the right to privacy should be lawful, necessary, proportional, and legitimate.

Mother Nature Cambodia is a prominent campaign group which has won several major environmental victories. Using a combination of community mobilization, direct action and public awareness raising, in 2015 they successfully convinced the Cambodian authorities to drop plans to build a major hydroelectric dam in Cambodia’s Areng Valley, which had gravely threatened local Indigenous communities. In 2016, their work to expose widespread environmental destruction and human rights abuses linked to the mining and export of sand from coastal areas of Cambodia led to yet another major victory – a total export ban on coastal sand announced by the Cambodian government.

Mother Nature Cambodia activists have faced a litany of repression in recent months and years, with many activists arbitrarily charged and imprisoned. The group has been accused of “causing chaos in society” and characterized as “illegal” by Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior because it is not registered under Cambodia’s notorious NGO Law.

On 5 May, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted four activists from Mother Nature Cambodia of “incitement” under Article 495 of the Criminal Code and sentenced them to between 18 and 20 months’ imprisonment. Three of the convicted activists – Long Kunthea (22), Phuong Keorasmey (19), and Thun Ratha (29) – had been held in pre-trial detention since their arbitrary arrest in September 2020 and remain imprisoned. Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson was convicted in the same case and sentenced in absentia under the same charges to 20 months in prison.

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• Cambodia’s investigation has been negligent and failed to establish Wanchalearm Satsaksit’s fate and whereabouts

• Thailand, ASEAN urged to undertake independent investigations of their own

The Cambodian authorities have failed in their legal obligation to properly investigate the enforced disappearance of Thai dissident Wanchalearm Satsaksit, said Amnesty International today, one year after he was last seen in Phnom Penh.

The organization urges the Thai authorities to launch their own independent probe into the disappearance of the Thai national, given the clear failure of the Cambodian investigation to establish Wanchalearm’s fate and whereabouts. 

This negligent investigation is at a standstill. The past year has been marked by foot-dragging, finger-pointing and the absence of any credible effort to examine what really happened to Wanchalearm.

Ming Yu Hah, Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns

“This negligent investigation is at a standstill. The past year has been marked by foot-dragging, finger-pointing and the absence of any credible effort to examine what really happened to Wanchalearm. This so-called investigation is an insult to Wanchalearm and his family and must be reinvigorated,” said Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns.

“The persistent failure of the Cambodian authorities to properly investigate Wanchalearm’s enforced disappearance is in clear violation of Cambodia’s international human rights obligations.”

Amnesty International is deeply concerned that the Cambodian authorities have, to date, failed in their obligation to conduct a prompt, thorough, impartial and independent investigation into the case and to ascertain the fate and whereabouts of Wanchalearm, in accordance with the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (CPED), to which Cambodia is a state party. 

A criminal investigation into the enforced disappearance of Wanchalearm Satsaksit has been formally underway in Cambodia since September 2020. In December 2020, Amnesty International criticized the lack of progress in the investigation and called for a range of urgent measures to bring the investigation into compliance with international human rights law and standards. Since then, none of these measures have been implemented and, alarmingly, the investigation appears to have stalled entirely.

In March 2021, the Cambodian authorities failed to report any meaningful progress in the investigation in their latest responseto a joint communication from a range of UN Special Procedures, including the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. The response also appeared to place the investigatory burden on Wanchalearm’s family, despite this obligation clearly lying with the Cambodian authorities under international human rights law.

Since Sitanun Satsaksit, Wanchalearm’s sister, gave evidence to a court in Phnom Penh in December 2020, the authorities have not reported any new investigatory actions undertaken in relation to the case. The inadequate response by the Cambodian authorities and the lack of due diligence to react to the new evidence provided by Wanchalearm’s sister reinforce fundamental concerns regarding the credibility of the investigation. 

Time for Thailand and ASEAN to launch independent investigations

In light of the clear failures of the Cambodian investigation to date, on 4 June Amnesty International will send an open letter to Thailand’s Attorney-General to highlight the failures of the Cambodian investigation and to call for the Attorney-General to immediately launch a formal investigation with the Department of Special Investigation into the enforced disappearance of Wanchalearm Satsaksit under Section 21 of Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation Act 2547.

Given the blatant inadequacies of the Cambodian investigation, it is high time for the Thai authorities to step up and undertake a thorough, impartial and independent investigation into the enforced disappearance of their own citizen abroad.

Ming Yu Hah

In order to further safeguard the independence and credibility of the investigation, Amnesty International recommends that the investigation should closely involve the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand.

“Given the blatant inadequacies of the Cambodian investigation, it is high time for the Thai authorities to step up and undertake a thorough, impartial and independent investigation into the enforced disappearance of their own citizen abroad,” said Ming Yu Hah.

“In light of the criminal charges the Thai authorities had filed against Wanchalearm, in addition to the deeply disturbing pattern of enforced disappearance of Thai exiles from neighbouring countries in recent years, a truly independent investigation free from government interference is desperately required.”

Amnesty International further reiterates its calls on the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) to take a more active role in facilitating cooperation among different ASEAN countries to afford the greatest measure of mutual assistance for victims of enforced disappearance, as well as in searching for, locating and releasing forcibly disappeared persons in Southeast Asia.

“ASEAN and AICHR’s silence in the face of cross-border enforced disappearances in the region is shameful. This is regional cooperation at its absolute worst,” said Ming Yu Hah.

“Rampant impunity, injustice and human rights violations are facilitated by the regional body’s inaction. It is beyond time for ASEAN to take a principled stand on enforced disappearances.”

Background

Wanchalearm Satsaksit, 37, is a Thai activist in exile in Cambodia. His sister, Sitanun, reported his abduction on 4 June 2020. CCTV footage published in the media following the abduction shows a blue Toyota Highlander leaving the scene where Wanchalearm Satsaksit was last seen soon afterwards. The footage also shows two men who appear to have witnessed the abduction

Thai authorities previously filed outstanding criminal charges against Wanchalearm, most recently in 2018 under the Computer Crime Act, alleging that he had posted anti-government material on a satirical Facebook page. Thai authorities reportedly requested Wanchalearm’s extradition from Cambodia at the time, though the Cambodian authorities have not publicly acknowledged receiving any such request. The Thai authorities previously filed charges against him for failing to report to a summons issued in 2014 to a wide range of activists and political figures after the military coup in May of that year.

In December 2020, six months after Wanchalearm Satsaksit’s enforced disappearance, Amnesty International raised serious concerns about the pace and thoroughness of the Cambodian investigation and called on the Cambodian authorities to identify and interview relevant witnesses who could be seen in publicly available CCTV footage. The organization also called on the Cambodian authorities to provide Wanchalearm’s family with information about the progress and results of the investigation in a manner that also ensures the effectiveness of the investigation. None of these recommendations appear to have been implemented since December 2020.

Amnesty International has previously expressed concern for the safety of Thai exiles in neighbouring countries whose extradition has been sought by the Thai authorities. Wanchalearm Satsaksit’s enforced disappearance corresponds to a deeply alarming pattern of abductions and killings since June 2016 of at least nine Thai activists in exile by unknown persons in neighbouring countries, namely Laos and Viet Nam.

In each case, the Thai authorities had sought the individuals’ arrest or extradition in relation to criminal charges filed in connection with their exercise of the right to freedom of expression, often online and in some cases while in exile.

In light of this pattern of disappearances, killings and prevalent impunity in the region, Amnesty International has repeatedly urged the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), the overarching human rights body of ASEAN, to exercise its mandate “to obtain information from ASEAN member states on the promotion and protection of human rights” in order to shed light on enforced disappearances such as that of Wanchalearm. In light of this pattern of disappearances, killings and prevalent impunity in the region, Amnesty International has repeatedly urged the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), the overarching human rights body of ASEAN, to exercise its mandate “to obtain information from ASEAN member states on the promotion and protection of human rights” in order to shed light on enforced disappearances such as that of Wanchalearm.

The post Cambodia/Thailand: One year on, still no justice for Wanchalearm appeared first on Amnesty International.

“This outrageous conviction is a blatant attempt to silence these young human rights defenders in retaliation for their peaceful work to protect Cambodia’s natural resources. This clearly violates the activists’ right to freedom of expression and constitutes an attack on all human rights defenders in Cambodia. 

Mother Nature Cambodia has long stood out as one of the most effective, popular, and creative activist groups in Cambodia.

Emerlynne Gil, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for Research

“It serves as a threat to any young person who dares to stand up for human rights and environmental justice in Cambodia. The Cambodian authorities must overturn this unjust conviction and release these brave activists immediately and unconditionally. 

“Mother Nature Cambodia has long stood out as one of the most effective, popular, and creative activist groups in Cambodia. Their unique and impactful work has won major environmental and human rights victories and helped to conserve Cambodia’s precious natural resources in the face of relentless greed, corruption and state repression. 

“These youths have done absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, they are operating at the frontline of the global struggle for environmental and climate justice. Their peaceful efforts to raise public awareness of threats to the environment should be embraced and celebrated by the Cambodian government. Instead, they and their fellow activists are relentlessly harassed and arbitrarily criminalized.”  

Background 

Three of the activists convicted – Long Kunthea (22), Phuong Keorasmey (19), and Thun Ratha (29) – have been held in pre-trial detention since their arbitrary arrest in September 2020. They were sentenced to between 18 and 20 months in prison for seeking to protest government plans to fill and privatize a major lake in the capital, Phnom Penh. All three are recognized as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International. 

The three, whom are all affiliated with environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia, were arrested soon after publicly announcing a plan to undertake a two-person march to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house to express concerns regarding plans to privatize and develop Boeung Tamok lake,Phnom Penh’s largest remaining lake. 

Long Kunthea and Phuong Keorasmey were sentenced to 18 months in prison for “incitement to commit a felony or disturb social order” under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code and fined 4 million riel each (approximately $1,000). Thun Ratha was sentenced to 20 months under the same charges and also fined 4 million riel. 

Two more activists were convicted in the same case and sentenced in absentia under the same charges, with warrants issued for their arrest. Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, a Spanish national and a co-founder of Mother Nature Cambodia, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, while Chea Kunthin, a member of activist group Khmer Thavarak, was sentenced to 18 months. Both were also fined 4 million riel each. Gonzalez-Davidson was deported from Cambodia in 2015 and has been refused re-entry since then. 

Mother Nature Cambodia is a prominent campaign group which has won several major environmental victories. Using a combination of community mobilization, direct action and public awareness raising, in 2015 they successfully convinced the Cambodian authorities to drop plans to build a major hydroelectric dam in Cambodia’s Areng Valley, which had gravely threatened local Indigenous communities. 

In 2016, their work to expose widespread environmental destruction and human rights abuses linked to the mining and export of sand from coastal areas of Cambodia led to yet another major victory – a total export ban on coastal sand announced by the Cambodian government. 

Mother Nature Cambodia activists have faced a litany of repression in recent years, with many activists arbitrarily charged and imprisoned. Several of its activists have been imprisoned on baseless criminal charges of “incitement”. The group has been accused of “causing chaos in society” and characterized as “illegal” by Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior because it is not registered under Cambodia’s notorious NGO Law. 

The post Cambodia: “Outrageous” conviction of five environmental activists must be overturned appeared first on Amnesty International.

The Cambodian government must take urgent steps to avert an emerging humanitarian and human rights crisis under the country’s COVID-19 lockdown, said Amnesty International today.

Since 19 April, a strict lockdown has been put in place in parts of the capital, Phnom Penh, and other cities including Takhmao, Preah Sihanouk and Poipet. On Monday 26 April, the lockdown was extended to 5 May. 

The government has designated areas where there is an especially severe COVID-19 outbreak as “red zones”. People in red zones have been prohibited from leaving their homes even to buy food and other basic necessities. Markets in red zones have been shuttered and mobile food vendors barred, leaving many at-risk residents to go hungry. Some households within these zones have been under lockdown since 9 April.

In Phnom Penh alone, an estimated 87,349 households comprising 293,791 people are located within red zones. In Preah Sihanouk, the red zones cover 4,886 households amounting to an estimated 23,854 individuals.

Amnesty International has received alarming reports that even humanitarian NGOs have been barred from distributing food and other essential aid within red zones despite the urgent needs of at-risk residents.  

“The Cambodian government’s outrageous mishandling of this COVID-19 lockdown is causing untold suffering and sweeping human rights violations across the country,” said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director. 

“Right now, residents of ‘red zones’ and others in Cambodia are going hungry because of fundamentally unreasonable policies. The Cambodian authorities need to urgently change course by working with NGOs and UN agencies to facilitate humanitarian access to red zones. Everyone under lockdown must be provided access to adequate food, water, health care and other essential items.” 

The Cambodian authorities need to urgently change course by working with NGOs and UN agencies to facilitate humanitarian access to red zones.

Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Regional Director

“Millions of people in Cambodia are already suffering serious economic hardship after a year of the pandemic. For many, this mismanaged lockdown has brought them to the precipice of a humanitarian crisis, too.   

“The Cambodian government can, and must, take decisive steps to mitigate this disaster. It is also imperative that the UN Resident Coordinator and UN Country Team proactively make every effort to seek approval to deliver emergency assistance to those in need, including in red zones,” said Yamini Mishra. 

Inadequate, politicised distribution of food and essentials 

Plans for a government cash distribution initiative aimed at households living in the most extreme poverty were abruptly cancelled last week. Meanwhile, efforts made by the government to provide food aid have been haphazard and inadequate, and marred by reports of discriminatory distribution affecting individuals who are perceived to be critics of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).  

The Ministry of Commerce has launched an online shop promoting the sale of a limited selection of slightly-discounted products for people in red zones. Many of the products are linked to the business interests of senior members of the CPP. This online shop is the only source of food delivery for residents in red zones, many of whom live below the poverty line and cannot afford the products.  

“COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns can play an important role in safeguarding the right to health. However, restrictions must be carefully crafted and implemented with the minimum impact on human rights and pay special attention to the needs of marginalised groups. Cambodia’s lockdown restrictions must be coupled with a major ramping up of social protection measures and humanitarian assistance. People with no access to food cannot stay home indefinitely.”  

Hungry residents threatened 

Many residents, including those with young children and older family members, have voiced desperation as their food supplies have begun to run out. With markets shuttered and mobile food vendors barred from selling essentials, many are unable to access the basic necessities they require to survive. 

Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab has reviewed 23 Facebook posts and videos emanating from areas under lockdown. The organization has verified multiple videos showing residents making desperate pleas for assistance within red zones, and others in which local residents can be seen pleading with police for help.  

Amnesty International is concerned that people under lockdown who have sought to voice their concerns publicly have faced reprisals and threats. The organization has received alarming reports that some individuals who posted their concerns and pleas for help on Facebook have been threatened and intimidated by local authorities. 

Some residents who are running out of food have engaged in spontaneous and localised protests against the measures around Phnom Penh. On 20 April Prime Minister Hun Sen warned residents in a speech that the government could deny them food aid if they continue protesting and voicing their concerns. 

“Rather than retaliating against desperate residents for voicing their concerns, the Cambodian authorities need to focus on facilitating access to essential aid and services to those in need.  

“The Cambodian government’s threats and reprisals are seriously exacerbating an already desperate situation. Simple measures, such as enabling mobile food vendors to operate in line with COVID-19 safety measures, could have a massive impact,” said Yamini Mishra. 

On 18 April, Phnom Penh City Hall created a Telegram group to coordinate emergency food requests. By 24 April, the group had reached 48,000 members where people shared thousands of messages with pleas for food and support.  The Phnom Penh authorities have sporadically disabled messaging in the group, apparently in response to the overwhelming number of pleas for help by residents.  

Individuals undertaking mandatory 14-day home quarantine as a result of being in contact with people who tested positive for COVID-19 have also spoken about the desperate circumstances they are facing. Many garment workers have been impacted by COVID-19 clusters affecting garment factories and have spoken out on Facebook. 

One out-of-work construction worker under quarantine in Phnom Penh posted a picture of himself with his infant child on Facebook on 19 April, pleading for help because his family have “no work, no money, no food… Pity the little baby with no milk.”  

Violent crackdown linked to abusive COVID-19 law  

People who break COVID-19 restrictions face severe and disproportionate penalties under Cambodia’s highly problematic new COVID-19 law. 

The Law on Measures to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 and other Serious, Dangerous and Contagious Diseases (COVID-19 Law) was promulgated on 11 March 2021. It provides for a range of excessive and disproportionate penalties for individuals who break COVID-19 restrictions, including prison sentences of up to 20 years and fines up to 20 million riels (USD $5,000). Under Article 10, for example, disobeying administrative measures is punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment if it is deemed to seriously impact public health.  

According to local human rights group LICADHO, at least 258 people were arrested by the authorities under the COVID-19 Law between 10-25 April and fined, sent to quarantine centers and/or sent to court. Out of this 258 people, LICADHO reports that 83 were charged and jailed. In one such case on 20 April, the Takeo Provincial Court sentenced four young people to one year in prison for gathering, drinking and dancing in violation of COVID-19 restrictions. 

On 23 April, Phnom Penh’s City Hall announced that COVID-19 testing was mandatory for everyone within red zones, and the Ministry of Justice announced that anyone who refused a test would face fines up to 5 million riel ($1,250) under the COVID-19 Law. The next day, photos and videos emerged showing large crowds gathered at testing sites in red zones to be tested, with authorities apparently failing to facilitate physical distancing.  

“Previous epidemics have shown that coercive approaches to enforce public health restrictions are not based in scientific evidence, are contrary to best practice and risk undermining the effectiveness of the response. 

“Instead, Cambodian authorities should implement a response that is rooted in the respect of human rights and that emphasises empowerment and community engagement, including policies that build trust and solidarity”, said Yamini Mishra.

Police have also used unnecessary and excessive force against those believed to have broken lockdown restrictions. Amnesty International has analyzed videos of police in Phnom Penh threatening and beating people with what appear to be bamboo canes. Phnom Penh governor Khuon Sreng and Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesperson San Sokseyha both acknowledged the way in which force was used and sought to justify it as necessary to safeguard public health. 

“Authorities in Cambodia clearly need a radical rethink of their COVID-19 suppression efforts. Human rights must be at the core of this revised approach, and meaningful, open cooperation with national and international partners, including humanitarian actors, should be embraced without delay”, said Yamini Mishra.

Background 

Cambodia has struggled to contain a third wave of COVID-19 having previously avoided a major outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic. A significant outbreak occurred in late February after a group of tourists reportedly bribed their way out of mandatory hotel quarantine.  

According to the United Nations, poverty is forecast to almost double in Cambodia as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting up to 17.6 per cent of the population. The country has a poorly developed social security infrastructure, leaving those whose income is disrupted, including workers in the garment sector and informal workers, in precarious economic situations. 

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ General Comment 14 states that any restrictions and limitations on the grounds of public health “must be in accordance with the law, including international human rights standards, compatible with the nature of the rights protected by the Covenant, in the interest of legitimate aims pursued, and strictly necessary for the promotion of the general welfare in a democratic society”. They should be of limited duration, subject to review, and the least restrictive alternative must be adopted where several types of limitations are available. 

The right to food is recognised as a human right in several international human rights instruments including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Cambodia is a state party. To comply with obligations related to the right to adequate food, states must immediately tackle hunger and progressively ensure that “every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement”. 

According to international standards on the use of force, law enforcement officials may only  use force that is necessary and proportionate to achieve a legitimate objective even in times of emergency. Law enforcement officials should not use force to enforce lockdown provisions when people breach them in order to meet their basic needs for survival. 

Moreover, law enforcement officials should in no circumstance resort to the use of force as a means of punishment, including for violations of lockdown regulations. Corporal punishment also violates the right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment and it is absolutely prohibited under international human rights law.   

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