Kingdom of Cambodia
Head of state: King Norodom Sihamoni
Head of government: Hun Sen

Respect for the right to freedoms of expression, association and assembly deteriorated with a seven months' ban on public gatherings. The authorities used excessive force against peaceful protesters, resulting in deaths and injuries. Human rights defenders and political activists faced threats, harassment, prosecution and sometimes violence. Impunity for perpetrators of human rights abuses persisted, with no thorough, impartial and independent investigations into killings and beatings. Two further convictions at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for crimes against humanity during the Khmer Rouge period resulted in life sentences; a second trial against the same defendants was ongoing. Thousands of people affected by land grabbing by private companies for development and agro-industry faced forced eviction and loss of land, housing and livelihood.

Background

In July the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) ended its year-long boycott of the National Assembly following an agreement with Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) over electoral reform. The opposition, which won 55 out of 123 seats in the July 2013 national elections, had alleged electoral fraud favouring the CPP.

Two new laws – the Law on the Organization of the Courts and the Law on the Status of Judges and Prosecutors – were enacted in July, along with an amended Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Supreme Council of Magistracy. The laws gave excessive powers over judges and prosecutors to the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Council of Magistracy, contrary to international standards.

Amid widespread criticism from human rights and refugee organizations, including UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, Cambodia signed a controversial Memorandum of Understanding with Australia in September to accept an unknown number of recognized refugees relocated from the Pacific island of Nauru. Australia undertook to fund the costs of relocation and services for the refugees for one year in Cambodia and to provide additional aid worth US$40 million over a four-year period.

Excessive use of force

Security forces used excessive force to respond to peaceful assemblies, leading to deaths and injuries. On 2 January, 10 men, including four human rights defenders, were beaten with wooden sticks and metal bars and then arrested during a violent operation by soldiers in response to mostly peaceful protests by striking garment factory workers.

The following day, four men were shot dead and 21 others injured when security forces fired live ammunition during violent clashes with striking garment workers and others in the Pur Senchey district of the capital, Phnom Penh. Although some protesters threw rocks, no threat was posed to the lives of security forces or others. The use of live ammunition appeared to be an unnecessary response and was therefore in violation of international standards. Dozens of people were hospitalized, including many with bullet wounds. Teenagers were among the casualties; Khem Saphath, a 16-year-old youth, was last seen with a gunshot wound and was presumed to have died.[1]

District security guards and plain-clothed men were deployed to break up peaceful demonstrations in Phnom Penh throughout the year. They used weapons including sticks, wooden batons, metal bars, electroshock weapons and slingshots. Human rights monitors and journalists were among those specifically targeted and beaten.

In June Cambodia rejected recommendations by states participating in the review of the government's human rights record under the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review to investigate the use of excessive force against protesters and killings during demonstrations and to end impunity for such abuses. No one was held accountable for any of the deaths or injuries sustained.[2]

Freedom of assembly

On 5 January, the Ministry of Interior announced that demonstrations "must be provisionally suspended" following a three-day crackdown on protests that resulted in at least four deaths and 23 arrests. Official requests from individuals and groups for permission to hold gatherings in Phnom Penh were repeatedly rejected. In April, Phnom Penh's Freedom Park – an area designated for peaceful assembly under the Law on Peaceful Demonstrations – was barricaded with barbed wire. Those who tried to gather despite the ban were violently dispersed by security forces. Restrictions on peaceful assembly were loosened and Freedom Park reopened in August following a political agreement reached between the government and opposition party.

In addition to the 10 men arrested on 2 January, another 13 workers were arrested on 3 January during the lethal clashes in Phnom Penh's Pur Senchey district. Some of the 23 arrested were severely beaten by security forces and denied access to medical care. All were charged with intentional violence and other crimes and detained. They were convicted in May following trials regarded by local observers as unfair; their sentences were suspended and all were released.

Eight officials of the opposition CNRP were arrested and charged with leading an "insurrection" following a violent clash between some CNRP supporters and district security guards at an attempted peaceful gathering at Freedom Park in July. They were all released a week later as the political agreement was reached. However, 10 youth activists and one CNRP official, five of whom were in pre-trial detention, were subsequently summoned for trial on 25 December on charges of "insurrection"; the trial was adjourned until January 2015. Legal action was initiated in September against six trade union leaders for "incitement". Although they were not detained, the court issued supervision orders, meaning they could not take part in or organize protests.

In November, seven women housing rights defenders from the Boeung Kak community were imprisoned for a year after a summary trial for taking part in a peaceful street protest. Three other women and a Buddhist monk were also imprisoned for calling for their release outside the court.[3]

Meetings and forums elsewhere in the country were also prevented by local authorities. In March and June the Cambodian Youth Network attempted to hold training sessions in Kampong Thom province on human rights issues, including illegal logging, but the sessions were disrupted by armed police. In June a planned public forum on illegal logging in Preah Vihear province was also banned.

Land disputes

Conflicts over land continued, with disputes over land grabbing, forced evictions, Economic Land Concessions and environmental concerns. This led to increased protests and confrontations, often involving local authorities and private companies. In April, local rights group the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) estimated that the total number of people affected since 2000 by land grabbing and forced evictions in 13 provinces monitored – about half the country – had passed half a million.

Land disputes remained unresolved, leaving thousands either without adequate housing and land, and therefore unable to make a living, or at risk of forced eviction. In March, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) re-submitted complaints to the relevant authorities on behalf of around 11,000 families involved in protracted disputes, some lasting more than 10 years. The families came from 105 communities in 17 of Cambodia's 25 provinces.

Despite numerous promises from the authorities to find a solution, more than 100 out of 300 families forcibly evicted from Borei Keila in Phnom Penh in January 2012 remained homeless and living in harsh conditions.

In October a group of international law experts provided information to the ICC on behalf of 10 victims alleging that "widespread and systematic" land grabbing by the Cambodian government was a crime against humanity.

International justice

In August, Nuon Chea, 88, the former second-in-command of the Khmer Rouge regime, and Khieu Samphan, 83, the former head of state, were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC, Khmer Rouge tribunal). They were convicted of the forced movement of the population from Phnom Penh and elsewhere, and the execution of soldiers from the Khmer Republic, the regime toppled by the Khmer Rouge. Both appealed the sentences. Eleven reparation projects designed by victims with external funding were also endorsed by the ECCC.

Case 002/02 against the two men began in October focusing on alleged crimes against humanity at agricultural co-operatives and a security centre in Takeo province.


1. Cambodia: Open letter urging an immediate investigation into the disappearance of Khem Saphath (ASA 23/002/2014) www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA23/002/2014/en

2. Cambodia rejects recommendations to investigate killings of protesters: Human Rights Council adopts Universal Periodic Review outcome on Cambodia (ASA 23/005/2014) www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA23/005/2014/en

3. Women defenders and Buddhist monk sentenced (ASA 23/007/2014) www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA23/007/2014/en

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