Cambodia’s human rights record remained poor last year, with impunity, detainee abuse, arbitrary arrests and forced evictions still rampant, the US State Department said in its 2009 Human Rights Report, which was released Thursday in Washington.
The annual report highlighted several points of concern, including endemic corruption, a judiciary in thrall to the executive branch, restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, and widespread child labor.
However, it also presented a case for optimism, citing improvements from last year on several of the most pressing human rights issues.
The report said that improved training and discipline led to “significantly fewer” extrajudicial killings by police and military officials than in previous years, with only 18 such murders reported in 2009, down from 40 in 2008 and 53 in 2007.
The State Department also reported a large drop in residents forced off their land by businessmen or officials, and said torture and detainee abuse are down from last year.
But the report noted “credible reports that military and civilian police officials used physical and psychological torture and on occasion severely beat criminal detainees, particularly during interrogation.”
Prison conditions are deplorable and at times even life-threatening, the report charged, with dank and tiny cells, scant food and negligible sanitation.
More than 58 prisoners supposedly died in custody over the course of the year.
The State Department also cited a controversial December drug trial of a Vietnamese herbal remedy, Bong Sen, as an example of “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” The drug users enrolled in the trial were allegedly forced to choose between participating or being sent to jail.
Freedom of speech is often compromised by harassment and intimidation of journalists, rights workers and union leaders, according to the report, which cited a recent spate of lawsuits the government has filed against its most vocal critics, including newspaper publisher Hang Chakra, lawmaker Mu Sochua and opposition leader Sam Rainsy. The government also forcibly dispersed peaceful gatherings and protests, and refused to issue permits to opposition groups seeking to assemble in public.
Land rights issues remained a problem in 2009: One NGO reported 115 disputes affecting 8,806 families, and the year saw several high-profile evictions and relocations, including the violent eviction of the Dey Krahorm community and the relocation of dozens of HIV/AIDS families to inadequate facilities at the Tuol Sambo site.
“The poor often had no legal documents to support their land claims and lacked faith in the judicial system,” the report said. “Some of those expelled successfully contested these actions in court, but the majority of the cases in the courts were still being processed.”
But the report praised the new Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the government’s efforts to implement the National Minimum Standards for the Protection of Rights of Victims of Human Trafficking as examples of concrete policy improvements on human rights.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan admitted Friday that “we do need to improve” on human rights, but pointed out it has been just 12 years since the last remnants of the Khmer Rouge were integrated into the government.
“People have to understand and live with the law and respect the law and believe in the law, and that takes time,” he said.
“We maintain stability and social order and let people of different colors, different religions, have a place and an opportunity to share their comments—that’s the improvement we see,” he added. “The report doesn’t see it that way, but the report is just a report.”
Mak Sambath, deputy chairman of the government’s Human Rights Committee, said that although he had not yet seen the 2009 report, Cambodia is making progress toward eliminating human rights abuses and “working hard to fight against torture and impunity.”
“If they accuse us, they should show us a specific person, a specific case with evidence, not just merely talking,” he added.
(Additional reporting by Phann Ana)
