Rights envoy urges reforms

Photo by: Pha Lina

Surya Subedi, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, speaks to reporters from The Post on Friday in Phnom Penh.

Surya Subedi was appointed United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia in 2009 and carried out his fifth fact-finding mission to the Kingdom last week. He spoke to The Post on Friday.

You mentioned in a statement  today that certain pieces of legislation in Cambodia had narrowed the scope of peoples’ rights. Which pieces of legislation are you referring to?
One example is the ... provision of the penal code on defamation, disinformation and incitement. The powers given to the executive are rather broad. While I welcome the legislation – it’s better to have a penal code than not to have one – it’s a progressive document in so many areas, but not progressive enough in a number of areas. They include mainly the provisions relating to freedom of speech. My position has been all along to decriminalise defamation and disinformation, and the penal code doesn’t do that.

Do you feel that broad powers for the executive are a common problem in Cambodian legislation?
I would not go as far as to generalise it, but generally speaking … parliament’s ability to restrain the executive has been limited. [Parliament] should be the defender and the guarantor of peoples’ human rights. To do so, parliament has to be more assertive, more independent and hold the executive to account.

A former UN World Food Programme employee, Seng Kunnaka, was convicted of incitement last year after sharing printed articles from an antigovernment website with co-workers. Do you believe that he was wrongfully charged?
I don’t want to go into the merit of the case at this stage, but I have concerns about the procedure involved. He was arrested on a Friday and he was convicted by Sunday afternoon – so within a matter of two days [the case went] from arrest to conviction – to me, casting serious doubt about the requirements of a fair trial. A trial of that nature, conducted and completed within two days, gave me cause for concern.

Villagers from Boeung Kak lake said in a letter to you this week that the international community had not done enough to hold the government to account for forced evictions and alleged rights abuses. Have donor countries and the UN done enough to press the Cambodian government for reform?
The international community could certainly do more, but the UN Human Rights Council has already included in its [2009] resolution the need for national guidelines on evictions. These guidelines should include the procedure, the notification, compensation and the relocation.

The [2001 Land] Law itself is a good law, but the proper implementation of that law is a problem in this country – not implementing the law, not waiting for enough information, not waiting for the [parties] to go to courts to settle their disputes and using sometimes disproportionate force to evict people from their sites.

When there is a land dispute between two private individuals or between a private individual and a company, that matter should be resolved through the courts … or some other agencies established by law. The executive should not intervene in a dispute between two private individuals.

At a press conference this week, representatives from rights group Adhoc suggested that local authorities and the judiciary were biased toward rich and powerful people, particularly in land dispute cases. Is this an accurate assessment?
A very ambitious land-titling program is underway in this country [supported by German development agency GTZ and other agencies]. About 1,000 land titles are issued ... every week. If that process is allowed to take its course then many of the disputes will be resolved.

The problem here is the rich and powerful requesting the government or law enforcement agencies to intervene on their behalf and the law enforcement agencies are not waiting for the disputes to be settled through courts or other agencies established through the law.

Would you ever recommend that the UN or one of its agencies withdraw funding from Cambodia?
No, not necessarily. I would not go that far because this country needs international assistance: both financial assistance and technical assistance.

Have any of your recommendations as Special Rapporteur been implemented?
I made my position very clear from the very beginning that there should be national guidelines on land management issues. That guideline is being developed by the Minsitry of Land Management [Urban Planning and Construction] working together with other partners.

I asked the government to consult the concerned parties or associations when drafting the NGO law. Two rounds of consultations have taken place. The challenge is to make sure that the recommendations or proposals made by the NGOs are incorporated into the final version as much as possible.

One of my recommendations was to increase the budget available to the judiciary. The judiciary remains under funded in this country and I was given to understand that funding was increased for the judiciary, both in 2009 and 2010. [It was] not enough, but [there is] … clear progress.

Do you agree with NGO representatives who feel that there is no need for an NGO law in Cambodia?
My position is that there are enough laws already which govern the activities of NGOs, but Cambodia is a sovereign country and the National Assembly is a sovereign assembly. They have the right to legislate in the areas where they feel new laws are needed.

The challenge is that the new law should be a law which will enable NGOs to deliver their services better to the people of Cambodia, rather than restrict their activities.

You have said that laws must be made by a sovereign parliament, but in accordance with international obligations. What is the balance between the two?
As an international lawyer, I would say that there is no absolute sovereignty in existence anymore, anywhere. The sovereignty we are talking about is a limited sovereignty. There are international values imposed on states by international treaties. Once you join the [UN], you are bound by the values of the organisation, so that itself is limiting the freedom of action of states. No [UN member] state these days can have a dictatorial system of government which ignores the charter of the UN. according to ppp

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Pagoda ban for activist monk

Photo by: Sovan Philong

The venerable monk and activist Loun Savath speaks to Boeung Kak lake residents in March.

Buddish Supreme Patriarch Non Nget has banned pagodas in the capital from hosting Loun Savath, the activist monk who frequently joins land dispute protests and advocates on behalf of displaced villagers.

Loun Savath hails from Siem Reap province’s Chi Kraeng district and has been active in supporting villagers in a long-running land dispute there that has seen multiple community representatives arrested. He later relocated to Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district, and has joined protests in the capital by residents of the Boeung Kak lakeside and of the Prey Lang forest area.
In a letter dated April 26 and received by Loun Savath last week, Non Nget said pagodas in Phnom Penh are no longer permitted to house the 31-year-old monk because his actions have “caused villagers to think badly about Buddhism”.
“What he did is not related to the monks’ point of view and has broken the Buddha’s rules,” Non Nget wrote.
Loun Savath fled Phnom Penh in March for fear of arrest in relation to his activism before resurfacing at a rally held in the capital by the Prey Lang villagers two weeks ago. There, he was forced to flee the scene with the assistance of rights groups when it appeared that local authorities were planning his arrest.

Loun Savath said yesterday that he was undeterred by Non Nget’s directive and would continue with his activism.

“The Buddha says that monks must help people who have problems and educate people to do good deeds,” he said. “When villagers have a problem, I cannot ignore them.”
Loun Savath’s land activism has made him unique among Cambodian monks, and he has received little backing for his efforts from religious officials here. Following protests against the Boeung Kak evictions in April, Phon Davy, director of the municipal cults and religions department, said Loun Savath had in fact drawn the ire of Tep Vong, Cambodia’s highest-ranking monk.
“[Loun Savath] has violated the rules to such an extent that the Great Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia, Tep Vong, issued a warning letter to ban all monks from joining protests,” Phon Davy said at the time.

Loun Savath has so far taken little heed, however.
“What the authorities have done to me is a serious violation of human rights and Buddhist law,” he said yesterday.
“I have done nothing wrong, so why are they evicting me from my pagoda?”
Ouch Leng, head of the land programme at local rights group Adhoc, said Non Nget’s directive was unjustified.
“The authorities should be encouraging him, because what he does is not for himself, but to find justice for people who are victims of land disputes,” Ouch Leng said. according to ppp

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Unions lobby Subedi

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Rong Chhun (left), president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, and Ath Thorn (right), president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, speak to reporters yesterday.

Surya Subedi, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, agreed to take concerns raised over the government’s draft union law during a one-hour meeting with union leaders Ath Thorn and Rong Chhun to a meeting of the UN in Geneva in June, the pair told reporters yesterday.

Outside the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Phnom Penh, Ath Thorn, president of Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, said he had raised concerns with Subedi that the law would give excessive arbitrary state control over trade unions.

“This law restricts the creation [of unions] and when they are already created it makes it easy to destroy them,” he said.

“And when they are destroyed, the leaders of [the unions] face imprisonment.”

Particular attention was drawn, Ath Thorn said, to article 85 of the law, which he said allows the imprisonment of those who obstructs the operation of a business.

Om Mean, secretary of state of at the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training defended the draft law yesterday, saying continuing debate within the government was intended to ensure the law struck the right balance between the interests of unions, employees and employers.

Rong Chhun and Ath Thorn said they also raised concerns at yesterday’s meeting over workers from 13 factories who had been refused permission to return to work after participating in garment strike in September last year that involved tens of thousands of employees. Surya Subedi could not be reached for comment. according to ppp

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Villagers pen letter to UN

Residents facing eviction from the Boeung Kak lakeside have accused the international community of failing to hold the Cambodian government to account for rights abuses and have requested the intervention of a United Nations envoy.

In a letter sent yesterday to Surya Subedi, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, the villagers said donor countries have taken “no steps to punish this [Cambodian] Government”.

“On behalf of the victims who are affected by forced eviction and housing rights violation, I would like to request your attention to raise this serious concern to the government or the UN,” said the letter, which was signed by community representatives Tep Vanny and Ly Mom.

Subedi, who is on an official visit to the Kingdom this week, said yesterday that he would continue to raise the plight of Boeung Kak residents in his meetings with government officials. “I am doing all I can to help them,” he said. “Boeung Kak and a number of other sites have been quite high on my agenda … [with] senior members of the government.”

The violence used against Boeung Kak residents at a demonstration on April 21 was “regrettable”, he added.

“I hope the [municipal] governor will go as far as possible to make sure that in the future no violence is used against peaceful demonstrators.”

Ly Mom said residents want Subedi to ask Prime Minister Hun Sen to have city officials halt the eviction and “speed up” a resolution to the dispute.

On Friday, residents rejected a proposal for on-site relocation in 7x7.5-metre flats in six-story buildings that was introduced by City Hall and Shukaku Inc, a company run by ruling party senator Lao Meng Khin that is developing the 133-hectare site with Chinese developer Erdos Hung Jun Investment Co. Villagers submitted a request to City Hall in April for 4x16-metre houses for residents with “small” plots of land and
two or more such houses for residents with “large” plots.

Residents agreed yesterday to delay resubmission of their proposal to City Hall until next Monday because of disagreements between villagers about the suggested allocation of land, Tep Vanny said. Koet Chhe, deputy chief of administration at Phnom Penh Municipal Hall, declined to comment. according to ppp

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Rights envoy to spend five days in Kingdom

Surya Subedi, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, will arrive in Phnom Penh on Monday for a visit aimed at examining the Kingdom’s parliamentary system.

“I will meet with a range of interlocutors to continue my study on the work of the National Assembly and Senate with a view to exploring how their role in the promotion and protection of human rights could be strengthened,” Subedi said in a UN statement yesterday.

Subedi plans to meet with government officials, donors and NGO representatives during his five-day visit, in which he will also focus on “current human rights issues, including freedoms of expression and association, the draft Law on NGOs, human rights and land disputes”, the UN statement said.

At the conclusion of his previous visit in February, the Nepalese law professor raised concerns about Cambodia’s weak judicial system and the frequent speech-related prosecutions of activists and government critics. He also said the government’s widely-criticised draft NGO law was unnecessary.

Subedi’s predecessor, the Kenyan lawyer Yash Ghai, had a famously stormy relationship with Cambodian officials and was candid in his criticisms of the government. Subedi has thus far attempted to maintain cordial relations while still critiquing the country’s human rights shortcomings.

During a visit last year, Subedi said he was “disappointed” that he could not meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was sick, a remark the premier later branded disrespectful.

Following Subedi’s visit in February, however, Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan called the trip “very fruitful”. Phay Siphan said yesterday that Subedi’s visit was part of “the partnership between the government and the UN to improve human rights issues”. according to ppp, May 27, 2011

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Monks Fight to Get Cambodian Forests on the Carbon Market

For years, the guardians of Sorng Rukavorn forest have drifted through the muted greens and grays of the underbrush in their saffron robes. In the far north of Cambodia, the monks live in what should be peaceful isolation, but all too often they have had to fend off incursions on this land. Using their authority as holy figures, they've turned away illegal loggers — among them, they say, armed police and soldiers — as well as local officials who have tried to wrestle control of the public land to parcel it out for their own profit. Now the monks are looking for backup. They plan to institutionalize their communal ownership of the forest and shared profit from its 44,479-acre bounty by demarcating it an international ecological asset. Sorng Rukavorn is one of 13 community forests spreading over 168,032 acres in Oddar Meanchey province that is being registered as a bank of carbon credits. Under this nascent international tool of climate change mitigation referred to as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), governments and companies in industrialized nations can pay developing countries to cut carbon emissions on their behalf by not cutting trees. Deforestation accounts for roughly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, according to the UN. Trees and plants absorb the gas — produced by a number of natural and manmade processes, from the combustion of fossil fuels by factories, cars and volcanic eruptions, to the flatulence of livestock — and are therefore essential to balancing its levels in the atmosphere. (Read more about how REDD works.) Though the science of climate change is mostly new to the monks of Sorng Rukavorn, the importance of preserving nature is fundamental. Forests have always figured prominently in the imagination of Buddhists. "It was under a tree that Buddha was born, meditated, achieved enlightenment and passed away," says Tha Soun, a 42-year-old monk who has modeled his lifestyle after his deity, spending much of his time in ritualized performances under Rukavorn's canopy. Tha recalls times several years ago when Sorng Rukavorn would receive regular visits from police and soldiers who were engaged in illegal-logging rackets. "We have had success in protecting this land because we are monks," says Tha, adding that lay Cambodians are much more vulnerable to harsh retaliation for confronting authorities. "If they wouldn't stop, I would jut take their chainsaws and weapons."

Most of Cambodia's forests have not been quite so blessed. Cambodia's forest cover has declined 22% over the past two decades, according to the UN. The destruction would have been much worse if the government hadn't cancelled most logging concessions at the turn of the century. At one point during the 1990s, nearly 40% of Cambodia's total land mass was signed over to loggers, according to the London-based NGO Global Witness, which the government banned from working in Cambodia after it published a detailed report in 2007 linking high-ranking politicians as well as members of the military and business community with illegal logging. The government has vehemently denied that report's findings, but its commitment to maintain protected areas continues to be called into question. The English language newspaper the Cambodia Daily recently reported that from February 1 to April 1, Prime Minister Hun Sen approved 17 concessions granting agro-businesses rights to exploit some 1,100 square kilometers in 10 protected areas across the country.
For the residents of Somraong district in Oddar Meanchey, the illicit auction of public resources has left them ever-shrinking space to take their livestock to graze and harvest forest products, including fruit, honey and traditional medicine. As that has happened around the country, the value of a forest like Sorng Rukavorn, which is accessible to all, has become clearer, says Choun Chun, a resident who volunteers for a village committee that oversees the forest in cooperation with the monks. "If we cut down the trees, there will be nothing for the next generation and we will have ruined ourselves."
Much devastation has been visited upon the area already. Oddar Meanchey became a stronghold of the Khmer Rouge after a Vietnamese invasion ousted the fanatical revolutionaries in 1979. Khmer Rouge leaders and their depleted militia held out here against the new regime until the late 90s, funding their campaign by selling timber to dealers in neighboring Thailand. The area has since opened up to the outside world but remains depressed, with poor infrastructure and few economic opportunities. Pact, the NGO that has facilitated the carbon credit application process for the province's community forests, says the revenues will fund development initiatives, including the building of roads, schools and hospitals, and support local employment.
(See pictures of the rise and fall of the Khmer Rouge.)
Leslie Durschinger, managing director of Terra Global Capital, the San Francisco-based company that is marketing Oddar Meanchey's carbon assets, anticipates the forests could garner as much as $50 million over the course of 30 years (a typical duration for a REDD contract). First, however, Oddar Meanchey's carbon assets must be jointly validated by the Verified Carbon Standard and the Climate Community and Biodiversity Standard, both third-party carbon auditors, as well as attract a buyer. For now, the revenue remains theoretical: clean technologies, renewable energy and technology transfers earn credit as offsets in legislated carbon markets but REDD has yet to gain official currency.
The European Union Emission Trading System — which, with tens of billions of dollars in annual trade, is the largest mandatory carbon market — has placed a moratorium on considering REDD credits until 2020. The fledgling California Compliance Market, one of a handful of American state bodies to regulate carbon emissions in the absence of federal laws on the matter, is the only public compliance body in the world that has committed to accepting REDD credits. The UN's proposed international REDD system was outlined in Cancun last December during an annual climate change summit, but disagreements about how it should be funded prevented the mechanism from being implemented. Member states will meet again in December, in Durban, South Africa, to try to push through a binding REDD program. Critics of REDD argue that forest fires and illegal loggers make avoided deforestation credits an easy bank to rob. "We've had so many credibility questions with the carbon market [in general] ... so something like REDD needs time to get off the ground before it should be included" in carbon compliance markets says Sanjeev Kumar, a climate and energy policy specialist based in Brussels for E3G, a sustainable development non-profit group. There are also significant and legitimate concerns about the allocation of REDD revenues in a country like Cambodia, which Transparency International routinely ranks among the most corrupt governments in the world. Cambodia, like many countries, requires that revenues earned from state land be funneled through the government.
For now, Oddar Meanchey's carbon credits will be offered on a voluntary market driven by governments and companies hoping to establish themselves as ecologically conscious or anticipating future compliance requirements. Vann Sophanna, a high-ranking official in the government's Forestry Administration, says state-sanctioned REDD contracts for the forests will empower residents to confront loggers by putting the full weight of the state's authority on their side. "Villagers can have those who try to destroy the forest — even if they are police, soldiers or forestry administration officials — arrested," he says. "We will enforce the law." But it's precisely the role of the government that leaves residents in doubt. "The money might go to the people, or it might go to corrupt officials," said 58-year-old Kuy Thourn, a village leader. "We will find out." According to time.com

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Cambodia police 'beat striking garment workers'

PHNOM PENH — Rights groups in Cambodia accused police of using disproportionate violence on Sunday, alleging they beat protesters at a rally by 2,000 garment workers in the capital. Around 100 officers, armed with anti-riot shields, electric batons and guns, moved in to disperse the mainly female crowd that had formed a roadblock near Phnom Penh's airport, according to a joint statement by three rights groups. It said the police fired warning shots into the air, deliberately drove motorbikes into the crowd, arrested two female workers and left another eight women in need of hospital treatment for their injuries. But Phnom Penh police chief Touch Naruth said just one person was arrested, who is still in custody, and that he had seen just "one or two" of the crowd wounded, while nine of the security force were injured. "The use of violence by police was totally disproportional to the workers? actions," said Am Sam Ath, monitoring supervisor at the LICADHO, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights. "The government should be supporting unions on the issue of expressive rights, rather than systemically cracking down on every form of rights activism," he said. The statement was also issued by ADHOC, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, and CLEC, the Community Legal Education Center. The workers? dispute stems from the loss of jobs following a fire at a factory on March 30. The owner offered severance pay of $20 per year worked, which workers felt was insufficient, the statement said. Sunday's action was intended to temporarily block the road to draw the attention of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was scheduled to return from abroad via the airport, to the workers' situation. "Ordinary Cambodians have no leverage, no voice and no legal recourse in situations like this. They are simply brushed aside," said Moeun Tola, Head of CLEC's labour programme. "People are increasingly resorting to acts of desperation. Police violence is not the way to resolve the problem." Naruth insisted police were "trying to help" the people, but said the crowd did not understand and started to throw rocks. "They cannot block the street on which all VIP people are travelling," he said. Cambodia has come under fire from activists and observers in recent months for stifling free speech and cracking down on opponents after it introduced laws that increase the risk of arrest for voicing dissent. In a crackdown last month on a Phnom Penh rally against mass evictions, 11 protesters were detained and others were beaten by baton-wielding police, according to rights groups. According to AFP,  May 08, 2011

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Top UN official leaves Cambodia amid rights concerns

Christophe Peschoux, head of the UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, works from his office in Phnom Penh.(Photo: The Phnom Penh Post) PHNOM PENH (AFP): Sad and relieved. That is how the director of the United Nations human rights office in Cambodia said he felt about leaving the country after effectively being forced out of his post by the government. Christophe Peschoux, who headed the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for four years, left Phnom Penh on Saturday after admitting it had become "impossible" to work in the country following numerous run-ins with the leadership. The 52-year-old Frenchman angered officials by speaking out on controversial issues, prompting Prime Minister Hun Sen to demand the UN remove him and the foreign ministry to issue a letter ordering officials to freeze him out. "Human rights are tolerated to the extent that they do not challenge the political, economic and financial interests of the ruling elite," Peschoux said. "That's where the red line runs. If you cross that line, trouble starts," he told AFP days before heading to Geneva to take on a senior UN role. Rights groups say his departure comes as the ruling Cambodian People's Party is curbing freedoms and silencing critics in a bid to consolidate power ahead of local elections in 2012 and a 2013 general election. "What is so worrisome about Christophe's departure is that he was one of the few UN agency heads who publicly stepped up to oppose (Prime Minister) Hun Sen's intensifying campaign to muzzle critical voices," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. Peschoux incurred the wrath of officials after speaking out on a range of issues last year, including land-grabbing by the rich and powerful and crackdowns on government critics. His remarks prompted the government to call for his removal and accuse him of "unacceptable interference" and "acting as a spokesman for the opposition" -- charges Peschoux vehemently denied. "I have tried to be as diplomatic as possible but sometimes you have to speak out," he said. Tensions reached boiling point in October when strongman Hun Sen -- who has vowed to rule until he is 90 -- used a high-profile visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to demand the removal of Peschoux. The UN hierarchy reiterated its support for Peschoux, but in November the Cambodian foreign ministry sent out a confidential letter, seen by AFP, urging government officials "to cease working relations" with him. The move had "a very negative impact", Peschoux said. While he stressed that his recall to Switzerland coincides with family obligations in Europe and the end of a standard four-year term, he admitted that his presence was "an obstacle to the re-establishment of a normal working relationship" with the government. "Of course I'm leaving because it has become impossible for me to continue to operate in this environment," he said, adding that he felt "sad and relieved" about moving on. Peschoux, who investigated human rights abuses in Cambodia for the UN in the 1990s and is an expert on the Khmer Rouge, remains well-respected among the diplomatic community in Phnom Penh. "There is no doubt that the issues that he has raised have created animosity towards him personally within the government," said Tom Barthel Hansen, the head of the Danish representation in the Cambodian capital. "What we should remember is that Mr Peschoux has only raised issues that most development partners are in total agreement with." Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith refused to comment on Peschoux's departure and its implications for the UN office when contacted by AFP, saying only that he wished him well. Deputy representative James Heenan will take over the role on an interim basis. Peschoux's exit comes as the very existence of the UN's human rights office in Cambodia is up for debate. The government is set to discuss an extension of a memorandum of understanding with the UN at the end of this year on whether the office will be allowed to stay open. "It's the crux of the conflict with the government because (it) would like this office to be a pure technical, cooperation office providing support to the government and not speaking out. But it's a part of our mandate that we cannot compromise," Peschoux said. Robertson urged Cambodia's donors and the international community to defend the office. "There are regretfully few other checks against Hun Sen's increasing domination and authoritarianism, which has been expanding like a dark cloud over Cambodia's politics and society," he said. As Peschoux prepared to quit Cambodia, he said the "total control" by the ruling party was one of the country's main challenges. "When there is no more limit to executive power... it becomes arbitrary and abusive. This is what is happening today. How far it will go remains to be seen. But I think this is a serious concern."
according to khmerization

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