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States: Ensure Participation and Protection for Activists in Business and Human Rights Treaty Discussions
Geneva) - A forthcoming UN process to develop binding norms in the field of business and human rights should provide protection and space to contribute for human rights activists, a broad coalition of civil society groups say in a major new report. The report, submitted to the first session of the ‘Intergovernmental Working Group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights’, makes concrete recommendations to the Chair of the Working Group and States to put human rights defenders at the centre of the process of elaboration, and the substantive content, of a treaty on business and human rights.
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On Stony Ground: A Look into Social Land Concessions
June 24, 2015 - In March 2003, the Cambodian government unveiled a potentially progressive policy with the aim of transferring land to landless and poor Cambodians – Social Land Concessions (SLCs). However, some of the first SLCs were implemented with a total disregard for the legal framework and failed miserably. LICADHO recently investigated the Land Allocation for Social and Economic Development (LASED) project which was meant to prove that SLCs could contribute to reducing rural poverty by transferring land to landless Cambodians for residential and farming purposes.
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CCHR LANGO 5 the Draft Analysis
On 5 June 2015, the Council of Ministers discussed and adopted the fifth draft of the Law on Association and Non-Governmental Organizations (“LANGO”). The fifth draft has not been publicly circulated and was leaked to civil society organizations (“CSOs”) after the adoption of the text.
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Mothers Behind Bars: The Impact of Detention on Women and their Children
May 26, 2015 - In recent years considerable resources have been spent on developing guidelines on the implementation of non-custodial sentencing alternatives in Cambodia, yet such alternatives are rarely considered, even for obvious priority groups such as pregnant women and mothers with young children. Similarly, judges are required to consider the personal circumstances of a suspect before ordering pre-trial detention, including whether they are pregnant or have young children. However, in practice, Cambodia’s criminal justice system is focused almost entirely on incarceration for pre-trial detainees.
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Cambodia Impact Report: The World Citizens Panel
The "World Citizens Panel" (WCP) was established by Oxfam Novib to measure the impact of its programmes among people living in poverty and injustice. The approach combines quantitative research (impact surveys) with qualitative research (stories of change) and gives participants a voice in evaluation, and the opportunity to learn how programmes can be improved and to contribute to public debate on the effectiveness of development cooperation.
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Challenges for Independent Media 2014 Final edition
2014 was a notable year for journalism in Cambodia, with no shortage of news to cover, starting with the labor and political protests in the first months of the year and culminating in the historic negotiations in July that ended a year-long political gridlock. But in the midst of these historic events, Cambodian journalists increasingly found themselves in the news, as reporters faced injury and even death for covering the news. 2014 proved the deadliest year for Cambodian journalists since the political turmoil of 1997, with two Cambodian journalists confirmed murdered in relation to their work and a third, foreign journalist found dead under suspicious circumstances.
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The situation of Human Rights Defenders in Cambodia in 2014
Despite protecting human rights defenders (“HRDs”) falling under the protection of legally binding international instruments, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”), many HRDs in the Kingdom of Cambodia (“Cambodia”) remain at high risk of a plethora of threats including arbitrary arrest and detention, physical violence and murder, and threats and intimidation and harassment. The reluctance of the Royal Government of Cambodia (the “RGC”) in protecting HRDs, but moreover its active role in restricting their rights represents a breach of the state’s obligations to respect, protect and fulfill human rights and dangerously restricts the environment in which HRDs operate.
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"Work Faster or Get Out" Labor Rights Abuses in Cambodia’s Garment Industry
Workers in Cambodia’s garment factories—frequently producing name-brand clothing sold mainly in the United States, the European Union, and Canada—often experience discriminatory and exploitative labor conditions. The combination of short-term contracts that make it easier to fire and control workers, poor government labor inspection and enforcement, and aggressive tactics against independent unions make it difficult for workers, the vast majority of whom are young women, to assert their rights.
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Additional Submission to the Human Rights Committee in Advance of its Second Review of Cambodia
According to article 31 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia (“the Constitution”), as well as the July 2007 decision of the Constitutional Council (Decision No. 092/003/2007), international treaties are part of the national law and courts should take treaty norms into account when interpreting laws and deciding cases. However, CCHR has observed that while the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Kingdom of Cambodia 2007 and the Constitution appear to incorporate the intentions of the Covenant, on a practical level the judicial system does not take into consideration the provisions of any international conventions, and in many cases has not adhered to the provisions of the Covenant.
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Report Documents Cambodian Government’s ongoing Failure to Implement ICCPR
March 3, 2015 - The Cambodian government has failed to comply with its fundamental civil and political rights obligations, FIDH and its member organizations, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), said in a joint shadow report submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC).
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Threatened Lands, Threatened Lives
Human Rights Situation of the Indigenous Peoples in Cambodia This report on the human rights situation of indigenous peoples of Cambodia was prepared mainly from the contributions of indigenous peoples human rights defenders (IPHRDs) and NGOs in the country. This is an update to the AIPP publication Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Report in Asia – Cambodia, Thailand and Nepal: Towards Social Justice and Sustainable Peace published in 2006.
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Rights at a Price: Life Inside Cambodia’s Prisons
Ahead of the appeal hearing this week for 10 land activists and one monk, all wrongfully convicted and imprisoned following unfair trials, LICADHO is publishing a new report about the current state of Cambodian prisons and the human rights implications for those held in them. The report “Rights at a Price: Life inside Cambodia’s Prisons” details the ongoing, systematic abuse, discrimination, exploitation and corruption within Cambodia’s prison system and notes that despite steps towards reform, many challenges remain, including prison overcrowding, poor infrastructure, lack of appeal transportation, weak implementation of the law and lack of knowledge amongst prison officials.
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