*EPF307 04/02/2003
Excerpt: Report Says Political Killings Common in Cambodia
(Dept. of State's Report on Human Rights Practices in Cambodia) (4630)

The bloody Khmer Rouge regime ended in 1979, but human rights abuses in Cambodia continue. According to the State Department's 2002 Human Rights Report on Cambodia, the military forces and police were responsible for both political and nonpolitical killings there in the past year.

The report notes that prior to a 2002 election, 22 political activists, including candidates and family members, were killed in 20 separate incidents under suspicious circumstances.

"Members of the security forces committed many documented human rights abuses," says the report. "There were credible reports that members of the security forces tortured, beat, and otherwise abused persons in custody, often to extract confessions."

Women and child suffer as well. "Bonded and forced child labor continued to be a problem in the informal sector of the economy, especially in the commercial sex industry," the report states. The trafficking in women and children, mostly for prostitution, was also a serious problem, says the document.

The government also largely restricts civil liberties, including freedom of the press and freedom of assembly.

The complete Department of State report on Cambodia can be found online at:

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18238pf.htm

Following are excerpts from the Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2002 for Cambodia:

(begin excerpt)

Cambodia

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

March 31, 2003

Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy. Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) is Prime Minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh of the National United Front for a Neutral, Peaceful, Cooperative, and Independent Cambodia (FUNCINPEC) is President of the National Assembly, and Chea Sim of the CPP is President of the Senate. King Norodom Sihanouk is the constitutional monarch and Head of State. Most power lies within the executive branch and, although its influence continues to grow within the coalition structure, the National Assembly does not provide a significant check to executive power. The Khmer Rouge no longer is a political or military threat. The judiciary was not independent; it frequently was subject to legislative and executive influence, and suffered from corruption.

The National Police, an agency of the Ministry of Interior, has primary responsibility for internal security, but the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), including the military police, also have domestic security responsibilities. Security forces nominally are under the control of civilian authorities, but in practice answer to persons within the CPP. The responsiveness of local police and military commanders to civilian authorities varies by location. Members of the security forces committed many documented human rights abuses.

The country has a market economy in which approximately 80 percent of the population of 12.5 million persons engage in subsistence farming, with rice as the principal crop. Economic deprivation and poor health characterized life for most citizens. Annual per capita gross domestic product (GDP) was $257. Average life expectancy is approximately 50 years. Foreign aid was an important component of national income. The economy grew at an estimated real rate of 6.3 percent during the year. The country has a thriving garment export industry, but has difficulty attracting foreign investment and mobilizing domestic savings to support economic development.

The government's human rights record remained poor; although there were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained. The military forces and police were responsible for both political and nonpolitical killings. There were politically motivated killings by nonsecurity force persons as well. Police participated in or failed to stop lethal mob violence by citizens against criminal suspects. The Government rarely investigated or prosecuted suspects in such killings, and impunity remained a problem. There were credible reports that members of the security forces tortured, beat, and otherwise abused persons in custody, often to extract confessions. Prison conditions remained harsh, and the Government continued to use arbitrary arrest and prolonged pretrial detention. National and local government officials often lacked the political will and financial resources to act effectively against members of the security forces suspected of human rights abuses. Through September 20, landmines killed 102 persons and injured 521 persons. Democratic institutions, especially the judiciary, remained weak. The judiciary was subject to influence and interference by the executive branch and was marred by inefficiency and corruption. Politically related crimes rarely were prosecuted. Citizens often appeared without defense counsel and thereby effectively were denied the right to a fair trial. During the year, the Supreme Council of Magistracy disciplined judicial officials for misconduct but did not impose harsh penalties. In August 2001, a law was passed that established a special tribunal to bring Khmer Rouge leaders to justice for genocide and war crimes committed from 1975 through 1979. The Government largely controlled and influenced the content of the electronic broadcast media, especially television. The authorities sometimes attempted to interfere with freedom of assembly. Levels of campaign related violence and intimidation during the February local elections were similar to those in the 1998 national election. The Government inconsistently took action against some perpetrators of campaign violence. Societal discrimination against women remained a problem. Domestic violence against women and abuse of children were common. Discrimination against persons with disabilities was a problem. The ethnic Vietnamese minority continued to face widespread discrimination. There were frequent land disputes, and the Government and courts did not consistently resolve them in a just manner. Although the number of trade unions grew and became more active, antiunion activity also continued. The Government continued to express support for freedom of association, but in practice it did not enforce freedom of association provisions of the Labor Law. Other provisions of the Labor Law also were not enforced effectively. Bonded and forced child labor continued to be a problem in the informal sector of the economy, especially in the commercial sex industry. Domestic and cross-border trafficking in women and children, including for the purpose of prostitution, was a serious problem.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Allegations of politically motivated killings continued before and after the February 8 commune level elections. The U.N. High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR) reported that prior to the election, 22 political activists (5 in 2000, 12 in 2001, and 5 this year), including candidates and family members, were killed in 20 separate incidents under suspicious circumstances. Human rights monitoring groups agreed that at least seven of these cases were motivated politically. All of those killed, with the exception of one CPP candidate, were members of the FUNCINPEC Party or the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). Of these 20 cases prior to the election, the Government made arrests in 14 cases and convictions in 11 cases. UNHCHR reported that following the election, nine additional FUNCINPEC and SRP political activists were killed under suspicious circumstances in eight separate cases. Arrests were made in four of these cases and the accused remained in pretrial detention at year's end. UNHCHR reported that there were serious shortcomings in the police investigations. . . .

There were numerous allegations of beatings of prisoners in police custody, including one case in Prey Veng Province in July 2001 in which a prisoner died. The Government has not arrested or prosecuted anyone in connection with the killing of three persons by soldiers in Kratie Province in May 2000. Human rights organizations continued to investigate these killings.

On June 6, the UNHCHR issued a report that documented 65 cases of mob assaults and killings from mid-1999 through May of this year. Mob attacks rose to an average of two per month through May, compared to one per month for the second half of 2001. The UNHCHR reported that for the first time police showed a willingness to intervene in such cases. In March a crowd dragged two men away from police custody and beat them to death. At year's end, no one had been held accountable. Also in March, police intervened to save the life of a Phnom Penh student who was beaten severely by a crowd that had been told he was a thief. On May 6, police intervention saved two men from a mob attack who had been accused of stealing a motorbike. On September 16, a Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted seven persons, including five in absentia, for the December 2001 beating to death of two teenagers wrongly accused of theft. The five who were sentenced in absentia have appealed the verdict but still had not been arrested by year's end. Government prosecutions of those responsible for mob violence were rare. . . .

Former Khmer Rouge officials Ta Mok and Kang Kek Iev ("Duch"), who were accused of mass killings and other crimes between 1975 and 1979, remained in jail. Government efforts to bring senior Khmer Rouge officials to justice continued. In August 2001, a law was passed to establish a special tribunal to prosecute Khmer Rouge leaders who committed human rights abuses between 1975 and 1979 (see Section 1.e.). . . .

The Constitution prohibits torture and physical abuse of prisoners; however, torture, beatings, and other forms of physical mistreatment of persons held in police or military custody continued to be a serious problem throughout the country. There were credible reports that both military police and police officials used physical and psychological torture and severely beat criminal detainees, particularly during interrogation. Police and security force perpetrators of torture and abuse frequently were protected from prosecution or disciplinary action by local government authorities, despite some central government efforts to curtail or eliminate violations of prisoners' rights and to address problems of accountability.

During the year, the Ministry of Interior was slow to investigate allegations by the UNHCHR of torture and severe abuse of individuals in detention in various parts of the country. During the year, three police officers were charged with voluntary manslaughter for the July 2001 beating to death of a prisoner in Prey Veng Province. In August a Kamong Cham provincial court acquitted five prison guards who were charged for alleged mistreatment of prisoners following a 1999 attempted escape. However, the judge, in an apparent acknowledgement of the guards' wrongdoing, recommended that the Ministry of Interior impose an administrative sanction against the guards. Also in August, a local NGO reported that of 2,324 inmates surveyed, 11.7 percent claimed they were tortured in police custody while another 1.2 percent claimed they were tortured in prison. . . .

The Ministry of Interior's Prisons Department is responsible for both pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners held inside prisons. During the year, prison conditions remained harsh, and government efforts to improve them and to implement new regulations were hampered by lack of funds and weak enforcement. Human rights organizations cited a number of serious problems, including overcrowding, health problems, food and water shortages, malnutrition, and poor security. A local NGO, which monitors 20 of the country's 25 prisons, noted that the population of those prisons decreased by 10 percent during the year. However, an August report by the same NGO noted that at one prison in Kampong Cham prisoners were allotted 0.93 square meters of space. In most prisons, there was no separation of adult prisoners and juveniles, or of persons convicted of serious crimes and persons detained for minor offenses. There was inadequate separation of male and female prisoners. In some prisons, after escape attempts, use of shackles and the practice of holding prisoners in small, dark cells continued. Government ration allowances for purchasing prisoners' food routinely were misappropriated and remained inadequate, which exacerbated malnutrition. Regulations permitted families to provide prisoners with food and other necessities, and prisoners depended on such outside assistance; however, families often were compelled to bribe prison officials in order to be allowed to provide assistance. . . .

The Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the Government generally did not respect these prohibitions. A Penal Code drafted by the U.N. Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) in 1992 remained in effect, as does the 1993 Criminal Procedure Law. The Criminal Procedure Law provides protection for criminal suspects; however, in practice the Government sometimes ignored its provisions.

A number of the defendants were arrested without warrants and were held longer than the 6 month maximum period of detention permitted by the law. Starting in September 2001, the Government initiated a crackdown on the CFF and arrested over 100 suspects, including dozens without arrest warrants. The Government held some suspects incommunicado and denied them appropriate access to lawyers. Subsequently, many were tried and convicted on the basis of flimsy evidence such as the appearance of their name on a CFF membership list.

Although lengthy detention without charge is illegal, suspects often were held by authorities for long periods before being charged or brought to trial or released. According to the UNHCHR, such prolonged detention largely was a result of a growing prison population and the limited capacity of the court system. Accused persons legally are entitled to a lawyer; however, in practice they often had limited access to legal representation. Prisoners routinely were held for several days before gaining access to a lawyer or family members, although the legal limit is 48 hours. Although there is a bail system, many prisoners, particularly those without legal representation, often had no opportunity to seek release on bail. During the year, one NGO reported that there were 140 complaints of pre-trial detention that lasted longer than the prescribed 6 months. . . .

The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, the Government did not respect this provision in practice. The courts were subject to influence and interference by the executive, and there was widespread corruption among judges, virtually none of whom received a living wage. . . .

Court delays or corrupt practices often allowed those accused of crimes to escape prosecution, leading to impunity for some government officials or members of their families who committed crimes. Although the courts prosecuted some members of the security forces for human rights abuses, impunity for those who committed human rights abuses remained a problem. With some exceptions, national and local government officials continued to lack the political will and financial resources to act effectively against military or security officials suspected of human rights abuses. . . .

Trials are public. Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney, to confront and question witnesses against them, and to present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf. However, trials typically were perfunctory, and extensive cross-examination usually did not take place. In 1998 the introduction of newly trained lawyers, many of whom received supplemental training by NGOs, resulted in significant improvements for those defendants provided with counsel, including a reduced pretrial detention period and improved access to bail; however, there remained a critical shortage of trained lawyers in all parts of the country. Persons without the means to secure defense counsel often effectively were denied the right to a fair trial.

Defendants are entitled by law to the presumption of innocence and to the right of appeal. However, because of pervasive corruption, defendants often were expected to bribe the judge for a favorable verdict, thereby effectively eliminating the presumption of innocence. Citizens' rights to appeal sometimes were limited by the lack of transportation and other logistical difficulties in transferring prisoners from provincial prisons to the appeals court in Phnom Penh. Many appeals thus were heard in the absence of the defendant. Lawyers also noted that in 2001 and throughout the year, police and prison officials, with apparent support from government officials, began to deny them the right to meet prisoners in private or for adequate lengths of time, in violation of the law (see Section 1.c.). In December 2001, an executive decree appointed a single individual as the country's sole notary public, and, by extension, legal arbitrator of everything from documents to land disputes. . . .

The Constitution provides for the privacy of residences and correspondence and prohibits illegal searches; however, the police routinely conducted searches and seizures without warrants. There were no reports that the Government monitored private electronic communications. The Government continued to work on improving the land titling system and to prepare implementing regulations for a July 2001 law clarifying ownership and recognizing various forms of communal property arrangements, including for indigenous minorities. . . .

RESPECT FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES

The Constitution provides for freedom of expression, press, and publication, and the Government generally respected these rights in practice; however, there continued to be some problems. The Constitution implicitly limits free speech by requiring that it does not affect adversely public security. The Constitution also declares that the King is "inviolable." The Press Law provides journalists with a number of rights, including a prohibition on prepublication censorship and protection from imprisonment for expressing opinions. However, the Press Law also includes a vaguely worded prohibition on publishing articles that affect national security and political stability. There were no reports that print journalists practiced self-censorship. There were a large number of news items critical of the Government, which included frequent, highly personal criticism of the Prime Minister, the President of the National Assembly, and other senior officials. . . .

Although limited in circulation, newspapers were a primary source of news and expression of political opinion. All major political parties had reasonable and regular access to the print media. In general newspapers were aligned politically. The law permits newspapers to receive financial support from political parties, and some newspapers did receive such support from FUNCINPEC and the SRP. There were an estimated 16 Khmer language newspapers published regularly, approximately the same number as in 2001. Of these, 11 were considered to be progovernment, 4 were considered to support the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), 1 was considered to support the FUNCINPEC Party, and 1 was considered to be antimonarchy. In addition, there was one French-language daily, one English-language daily, and two other English newspapers published regularly. Many of the Khmer-language newspapers frequently published articles translated from the English language newspapers.

The Constitution provides for freedom of peaceful assembly, but the Government did not fully respect this right in practice. The Government requires that a permit be obtained in advance of a march or demonstration. The Government often did not issue a requested permit or took no action on a permit application; however, these actions had no practical effect because demonstrations proceeded anyway.

Throughout the year, there were complaints from various organizations that local authorities demanded that they apply for permission to hold meetings and other events, despite the fact that there was no legal basis for such requirements. For example, in June 2001, the Government forbade a private conference on border issues planned by a student group in conjunction with an organization of expatriate Cambodians at a Phnom Penh hotel. The Government never explained the legal basis for its action, but conference organizers canceled the event after the hotel refused to allow the conference on its premises. . . .

RESPECT FOR POLITICAL RIGHTS

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully. The coalition Government formed in late 1998 between the CPP and the FUNCINPEC, the two parties that won the largest number of votes and National Assembly seats in the 1998 election, established relative political stability. The coalition agreement provided for approximately equal power sharing between the parties, with Hun Sen of the CPP as Prime Minister and Prince Norodom Ranariddh of FUNCINPEC as President of the National Assembly. However, in practice the CPP has been the dominant partner. The coalition agreement also provided for the creation of a Senate, which was formed in March 1999 with Chea Sim of the CPP as President. The Senate's function is to review and to provide advice on the laws passed by the National Assembly; the National Assembly retains final authority over whether to modify legislation based on the Senate's recommendations. In practice the Senate's role largely was perfunctory, while the National Assembly was a more credible forum for national debate.

Although growing in influence, the legislature remained weak in comparison to the executive branch. The coalition Government appointed the 24 provincial and municipal governors and their deputies, as well as district officials, all of whom were divided between the CPP and FUNCINPEC parties. Suffrage is universal and voluntary for all citizens over the age of 18. Most citizens participated in national elections in 1993 and 1998.

In February the first ever national commune level elections were held. Over 83 percent of eligible voters registered to vote. More than 76,000 candidates from 8 parties competed and more than 1 candidate was registered in 1,608 of the country's 1,621 communes. The election results broke the CPP's 23 year monopoly control of local governance. The CPP won 7,703 council members seats nationwide, FUNCINPEC won 2,211 member seats and the SRP won 1,346 member seats. The CPP commune chiefs remained in place in 99 percent of the 1,621 communes; however, power was shared with other parties in all but 148 communes. At year's end, an interministerial body supervised by the Ministry of Interior had not developed regulations to implement the Commune Administration Law to describe the power, duties, and functions of the councils.

There were more than 200 reported cases of intimidation (vandalism, forced oath taking to the CPP, collection of voter registration cards by local authorities, and death threats), against activists and candidates running against the CPP. The NEC did not use its powers to sanction those involved in voter intimidation and vote buying. According to electoral monitoring organizations, each of the three main parties allegedly was involved in vote buying, although the CPP was cited in the majority of cases. On preelection night, there were reports of illegal gift giving in every province by all major parties, and voter coercion by local CPP officials. . . .

The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, color, language, religious beliefs, or political views. Although the Government did not engage actively in discrimination, it sometimes failed to protect these rights in practice.

Domestic and international NGOs reported that violence against women, including domestic violence and rape, was common. Although comprehensive statistics were not available, one local NGO reported 244 cases of domestic violence, 174 cases of rape, and 74 cases of trafficking in persons during the year. Authorities normally declined to become involved in domestic disputes, and the victims frequently were reluctant to issue formal complaints.

The law prohibits rape and assault. Spousal rape and domestic abuse are not recognized as separate crimes. A case of spousal rape could be prosecuted as "rape", "causing injury" or "indecent assault," but women's groups reported that such charges were rare.

Prostitution is prohibited constitutionally; however, there is no specific legislation against working as a prostitute. Trafficking in women for the purpose of prostitution was a serious problem (see Section 6.f.). Although the Government devoted greater attention to the problem of trafficking during the year and initiated several prosecutions, it has not enforced effectively a 1996 law against the exploitation and sale of human beings. Despite sporadic crackdowns on brothel operators in Phnom Penh, prostitution and trafficking related to it continued to flourish. A survey by a local human rights NGO reported there were approximately 50,000 prostitutes in the country and that an estimated 60 percent of women and girls either were forced to work as prostitutes or were deceived into prostitution. Sex tourism was also a problem.

The Constitution provides for children's rights, and ensures that the welfare of children is a specific goal of the Government. The Government relied on international aid to fund most social welfare programs targeted at children, resulting in only modest funds for problems that affect children.

Children were affected adversely by an inadequate education system. Education was free but not compulsory through grade nine; many children either left school to help their families in subsistence agriculture, began school at a late age, or did not attend school at all. Despite an extensive government school construction program, schools were overcrowded, lacked sufficient equipment, and often provided only a few years of education, especially in rural areas. Less than 5 percent of primary school teachers completed high school, and teachers' salaries were irregular and inadequate to support a decent standard of living, leading to demands for unofficial payments directly from parents, which the poorest families could not afford. The Government did not deny girls equal access to education; however, in practice, families with limited resources often gave priority to educating boys. In many areas, schools were remote, and transportation was a major problem. This particularly affected girls because of fears for their safety in traveling between their homes and schools.

Children frequently suffered from malnutrition and the inadequacy of the health care system. Infant mortality was reported most recently at 95 per thousand, and 12.5 percent of children did not live to the age of 5 years. Child mortality from preventable diseases was high. . . .

The illegal purchase and sale of infants and children for prostitution and adoption was a serious problem. During the year, raids on brothels rescued several underage girls who were trafficked to the country for prostitution (see Section 6.f). In 2001 and during the year, there were several documented cases in which individuals or organizations purchased infants or children from their natural parents, created fraudulent paper trails to document the children as orphans, and then earned substantial profits from fees or donations from unwitting adoptive families, including foreign families. Some of these children ended up being exploited. In some of these cases, the perpetrators encouraged women to give up their children under false pretenses, for example, by promising to care for the children temporarily but then refusing to return them. During 2001 a court charged at least seven persons in two separate cases involving orphans for adoption. The court subsequently dropped the charges against all seven individuals, following what human rights workers believed were inadequate court investigations. In one of the cases, the court's decision to drop charges was appealed. . . .

The Government has adopted laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace. In March the Government ratified the Optional Protocol to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography. In November 2001, the Government signed the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the Protocol Against Transnational Crime. . . .

The majority of trafficking occurred within the country, providing both adults and children for exploitation in the country's sex industry. The sex industry was estimated to employ 50,000 prostitutes, a sizable proportion of whom were victims of trafficking. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that at least 3,000 women and girls from southern Vietnam were trafficked to the country to work as prostitutes, with more than 15 percent being younger than 15 years of age. The ILO-IPEC reported in 1999 that more than 15 percent of female prostitutes in the country were between 9 and 15 years of age, and that 78 percent of these girls were Vietnamese and 22 percent were Cambodians. Women were trafficked from European countries such as Moldova and Romania, as well, for purposes of prostitution. A UNICEF study reported that one-third of the country's prostitutes were under 18 years of age. Some Vietnamese women and girls were trafficked through the country for exploitation in the commercial sex trade in other Asian countries. One NGO estimated that 30,000 women and girls were trafficked to neighboring countries, especially Thailand. Women and children, especially those in rural areas, were the most likely to become victims of trafficking. One study estimated that 88,000 Cambodians worked in Thailand as bonded laborers at any given time; many were exploited in the sex industry or, particularly young boys and girls, were employed as beggars. There was also trafficking of boys and girls to Vietnam for begging. . . .

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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