space Press Releases, News Stories

HUMAN RIGHTS ACTION COMMITTEE CALLS ON THE GOVERNMENT TO TAKE ACTION ON ALLEGATIONS OF SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN SIHANOUKVILLE, CAMBODIA

HUMAN RIGHTS ACTION COMMITTEE, Press Release

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, 25 December 1998 --The Human Rights Action Committee, a coalition of 13 national Cambodian NGOs, asks the Royal Cambodian Government to clarify allegations and take action on serious human rights violations, such as unlawful arrest and detention, procedural legal errors and possible maltreatment of detainees that occurred when at least 10 people were arrested in conjunction with demonstrations that took place on December 19 and 20 in Sihanoukville. They are currently detained in the provincial prison of Sihanoukville. The 10 people were arrested by police and military police after the demonstrations and riots that took place in Sihanoukville related to the dumping of some 3,000 tons waste material shipped from Taiwan, which is believed to be toxic. The waste had been dumped to a site approximately 15 kilometers outside of Sihanoukville.

The demonstrations started peacefully on December 19, but some of the protestors turned violent on December 20 and looted and damaged property belonging to officials believed to be responsible for allowing the toxic waste to enter Cambodia. During both days, several hundred people participated in the demonstrations. On Sunday, December 20, four people were arrested by the military police. Three others were arrested the same day by local police and taken to the provincial police commissariat. One of them is a 15-year-old minor. On Monday, December 21, three people, including two human rights workers of Sihanoukville office of the local human rights group LICADHO, were also arrested by the local police. These ten people are still detained. The LICADHO staff was originally accused of participating in, leading and encouraging an illegal demonstration, though this accusation has been dropped. All ten are currently charged with robbery and wrongful damage to property.

The Action Committee is very concerned about the following:

- Complaints have reached members of the Action Committee that at least two of the detainees may have been subjected to severe physical mistreatment during questioning by the police. A medical doctor who has examined them confirmed that on the basis on the basis of the injuries, it was most likely that they had been subjected to physical maltreatment. This treatment is in violation of Article 32 of the Constitution of Cambodia, Article 12 of the Criminal Law of Cambodia, the Convention against Torture, Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Furthermore, the mistreatment of the detainees is not in accordance with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;

- Not all detainees were given prompt access to lawyers. The Action Committee is worried about the reluctance of the authorities to allow legal assistance for the arrested demonstrators and human rights workers;

- Four of the demonstrators were arrested by the Military Police, which is in violation of Article 36 sub 11 of the Law on Criminal Procedures, since they had not committed any military offence;

- Two of the detainees are human rights workers, who - according to information received by the Action Committee - were only monitoring the demonstrations and receiving complaints, and have not been involved in any illegal activities;

- When the human rights workers were arrested on Monday, December 21, no arrest warrants were shown. According to Article 18 of the Criminal Law, warrants have to be produced, unless the arrests are of people caught in the act of committing a crime. Since the arrests took place the day after the demonstrations, when one person was in a coffee shop and the other in his office, this was not the case.

Therefore, the Action Committee on Human Rights strongly requests the Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia to take the following steps:

1) To immediately release and drop the charges against the human rights workers, who were not conducting any illegal activities but carrying out their normal duties;

2) To consider immediately releasing on bail those detainees who comply with the conditions stipulated in Article 14 of the Criminal Law, i.e. the ones who are not likely to escape because they have jobs, families and homes in Sihanoukville;

3) To treat the prisoners in accordance with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Detainees and to refrain from any form of mistreatment of the detainees;

4) To allow the families of the detained persons to have access to the prison;

5) To assure that the lawyers of the detainees have complete access to their clients, to the files and all evidence;

6) To comply with Article 14 of the Criminal Law with regard to the possible pre-trail detention of the detainees, in particular with Article 14 sub 4 regarding pre-trail detention of the minor, which should not exceed one month;

7) To take the necessary action in accordance with the law against police personnel accused of mistreatment of detainees.

[end]

--

Bill Herod, Coordinator, Cambodia Information Project, NGO Forum on Cambodia, #35, Street 178, Phnom Penh. Mobile: (855)11-811-490, E-mail: bill@camnet.com.kh

More News