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World Bank back to Cambodia?
Concerns have been growing that the World Bank may resume lending to Cambodia despite the lack of resolution for families evicted due to a Bank-financed project. The Inspection Panel, the World Bank’s accountability mechanism, found in 2010 that the Bank breached its operational policies in Cambodia, and contributed to “grave harm” to affected families (see Update 75). In August 2011 the Bank suspended all new lending to Cambodia until a resolution was found for families forcibly evicted in 2007 from the Boeung Kak area (see Bulletin Nov 2014).
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Cambodia is cracking down on internet, mobile phone usage
THERE have been conflicting views and opinions about the Cambodian government’s recent implementation of new cyber security measures, which puts internet and cell-phone users and sales under stricter control. The directive from police and the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications will see a crackdown on all retailers of SIM cards and internet service providers who don’t register customers through identification documents before selling them their products. If they fail, they will face arrest. Telecom firms also have to register their existing subscribers with ID documents within three months, or their mobile phone numbers and internet packages will be terminated. The mandatory registration of SIM cards and internet service has been in existence since 2012, but has never been enforced.
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Groups Concerned Over Increasing Violations of Constitution
PHNOM PENH— Rights and democracy groups say Cambodians are not being protected by the constitution, which has been routinely violated by all three branches of government. Most recently, a series of laws was passed that gives much control over the judiciary to the executive branch’s Ministry of Justice, in a court system that was already widely seen as biased and corrupt. Meanwhile, the rights of assembly and free speech are routinely ignored, as police and other forces crack down on demonstrations, activists are jailed, and critics of the government are silenced. Am Sam Ath, lead investigator for the rights group Licadho, said the constitution also provides for the right to land ownership for Cambodian citizens, but that is not happening, either. “We’ve seen that some citizens suffered from evictions, and others are arrested or imprisoned,” he said.
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Groups Urge Gov’t Not to Return Montagnards
Eleven international organizations on Thursday condemned Cambodia’s plan to repatriate scores of Montagnards who claim to be fleeing oppression in Vietnam, while the government on Friday reiterated its position that the Montagnards were not legitimate refugees.
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Convicted Rapist Fletcher Accuses NGO Head of Framing Him
A British man convicted of raping a teenager in Phnom Penh in 2009 had his case thrown out of the Court of Appeal on Friday, then accused a prominent NGO head of conspiring to frame him.
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Tripartite Talks on Minimum Wage Convene
Union leaders, factory owners and government officials on the Labor Advisory Committee met on Friday for the first day of discussions on a new minimum wage for the garment sector in 2016.
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Jailed CNRP Senator Sok Hour's bid for outside doctor is denied
The wife of Sam Rainsy Party Senator Hong Sok Hour says “extra fees” exacted by prison guards have forced her to limit her visits to her husband, while authorities yesterday rejected the imprisoned lawmaker’s second request to receive medical treatment from an outside doctor. Kun Lum Ang said she tried to visit her husband at Prey Sar prison at least twice a week to bring food and medicine, with her husband suffering from high blood pressure and stomach problems.
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Kampot Villagers Say Politician Not Involved in Land Dispute
Two villagers released on bail by the Kampot Provincial Court on Wednesday on charges of illegally clearing part of a social land concession for retired soldiers said Thursday they would not stop clearing the plot.
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Kem Sokha Says There’s No Racism in Cambodia
Two days after Prime Minister Hun Sen told the U.N.’s new special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia to focus her efforts on tackling racial discrimination, deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha on Thursday used a Cham Muslim religious ceremony to argue that there is no racism in the country.
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Cambodia Welcomes Same-Sex Marriage, Gov’t Spokesman Says
PHNOM PENH (Khmer Times) – Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan expressed support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Cambodia yesterday, responding to Nepal’s new constitution – which has been described as the first in Asia to enshrine protection for the rights of LGBT people. He said Cambodia has already gone further. “Cambodian society does not discriminate against LGBT people. It is only individuals who do so,” he said. “No Cambodian laws discriminate against them, and nothing is banning them from loving each other or getting married,” he said. The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) yesterday lauded Nepal’s constitutional protection of LGBT rights, but described Cambodia as a less welcoming country for LGBT people than Mr. Siphan did.
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UN Rights Envoy Calls For Stronger Rule of Law
Rhona Smith, the U.N.’s new special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, said at a press conference Thursday that she agreed with her predecessors’ calls for strengthened rule of law in the country, but added she had been impressed during her maiden visit by the government’s willingness to participate in reforms.
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Court Charges Two Monks With Attempted Rape of 19-Year-Old
The Kompong Thom Provincial Court on Wednesday charged two defrocked monks with the attempted rape of a teenager after they lured her inside the sleeping quarters of their pagoda on Monday, police officials said Thursday.
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Unions to Submit Competing Figures for Wage Discussion
A group of four independent trade unions banded together Thursday to come up with their own minimum wage proposal for coming negotiations with garment factory owners after rejecting the result of a vote the day before.
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UDG plaintiffs called
Koh Kong’s provincial prosecutor has invited four community representatives to provide statements regarding violence allegedly committed in January during an ongoing land dispute with Chinese company Union Development Group. The invitation was received this week by residents of Prek Smach village in Kiri Sakor district, who filed a lawsuit against UDG in March for what they claim were criminal cases of “intentional violence”. Plaintiffs Sim Kimsan, Nhan Phannang, Soth Ty and Sem Noeun have been called to offer their versions of events on September 30 in a meeting with prosecutor Iv Tray.
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Unions’ house divided
A secret ballot yesterday failed to resolve garment union splits over what to demand at upcoming minimum wage talks, with at least one independent union rejecting the majority vote of $158 and vowing to put forward $178. The division came a day after Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour warned that unions would forfeit their chance of submitting a proposal if they failed to offer up a single figure for Friday’s tripartite talks with manufacturers and the government to raise the minimum wage. In its fourth meeting, the 15-union working group – including independent and government-aligned unions – again failed to reach a consensus.
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Cambodia Welcomes Same-Sex Marriage, Gov’t Spokesman Says
PHNOM PENH (Khmer Times) – Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan expressed support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Cambodia yesterday, responding to Nepal’s new constitution – which has been described as the first in Asia to enshrine protection for the rights of LGBT people. He said Cambodia has already gone further. “Cambodian society does not discriminate against LGBT people. It is only individuals who do so,” he said. “No Cambodian laws discriminate against them, and nothing is banning them from loving each other or getting married,” he said. The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) yesterday lauded Nepal’s constitutional protection of LGBT rights, but described Cambodia as a less welcoming country for LGBT people than Mr. Siphan did. “Although domestic law in Cambodia does not criminalize homosexuality, LGBT Cambodians face discrimination and abuse due to their SOGI [Sexual Orientation and Gender Identify], both at the hands of the state and within society in general,” CCHR said in a press release. “This impacts the way in which LGBT Cambodians are seen by society and contributes to fueling discrimination and marginalization.”
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Villagers Granted Bail in Land Concession Dispute
Two villagers jailed earlier this month over a land dispute in Kampot province that authorities blame on League for Democracy Party president Khem Veasna were released on bail Wednesday, hours after Mr. Veasna told the media at a press conference that he had lost contact with them.
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New UN Envoy Wraps Up First Mission to Cambodia With Call For Judicial Reform
The new United Nations envoy to Cambodia concluded her first official visit to the country Thursday by calling on Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government to ensure the independence of the judiciary amid a host of land and labor disputes she said are encroaching on the rights of the public. Rhona Smith, a British human rights scholar who assumed the duties of U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia in March, praised the recommendations of her predecessor Surya P. Subedi and four other previous envoys, and said improving the country’s judicial system was key to building a vibrant democracy. “Further strengthening the rule of law, developing and ensuring the independence of those bodies with specific roles in the protection of human rights, particularly the judiciary, is essential for building the stable democratic nation that Cambodians aspire to live in,” she said in a statement issued at the end of her nine-day mission. “Care must be taken to properly address situations which have created widespread discontent, including land and labor disputes.”
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Rights group asks for land data sharing
Rights group Licadho has called on the government to make available statistics on the full extent of economic land concessions (ELCs) in response to data collected by the organisation over five years. According to a statement issued by Licadho yesterday, government ministries have failed to provide comprehensive figures on ELCs, noting that various ministries have issued only incomplete lists of companies involved and concessions granted.
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Freed Child Laborers to Return Home; Couple Will Face Court
Twenty-two child street sellers rescued in a police operation in Phnom Penh will be returned to their families as soon as their parents sign an agreement promising to never again sell their sons and daughters as laborers, an official said Wednesday.
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