Law and judiciary
Village stoning breeds fears
Ever since some 500 people laid siege to the home of traditional healer pov Sovann, dragged him out and brutally stoned him to death over the course of eight hours on Sunday, two opposing sets of fears have gripped members of his community in Takeo ...
Vong Sokheng and Stuart White
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/village-stoning-breeds-fears
Government agrees to review of railway evictees
The government has agreed to review its resettlement agreement with families relocated from railways as part of an Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded rehabilitation project, but has refused a recommendation to set up a debt-relief scheme for the evictees, according to an action plan released by ...
Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-agrees-to-review-of-railway-evictees-57745/
Trafficker gets 10 years
The manager of Giant Ocean International, a now-defunct recruitment firm notorious for abuse scandals, was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in jail for trafficking hundreds of Cambodian fishermen to work in slave-like conditions overseas. Taiwanese national Lin Yu-shin, who ran the firm, was arrested in May ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea and Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/trafficker-gets-10-years
FTU bows out of May Day rallies
Chea Mony, president of the opposition-aligned Free Trade Union (FTU), said Tuesday that his union, one of the largest in the country, will not be joining other labor groups planning to rally on International Workers’ Day because he has been sick and traveling in the ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ftu-bows-out-of-may-day-rallies-57734/
Villagers protest after sand dumped on land
About 30 villagers in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district staged a protest Tuesday morning against tycoon Sok Kong, whom they accuse of piping dredged sand into their farmland and fishing ponds. Fourteen families occupying 21 hectares of land in Prek Pra commune have been locked in a ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-protest-after-sand-dumped-on-land-57736/
NGOs say input and transparency are key
In the wake of a speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen denouncing civil society’s criticism of the way that three judiciary laws sailed through the Council of Ministers without outside input or transparency, NGOs released an open letter yesterday calling for the Kingdom’s renewed commitment ...
Amelia Woodside
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngos-say-input-and-transparency-are-key
GMAC calls for halt to ongoing protest in Bavet’s Special Economic Zone
Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) appealed to Labor Minister Ith Samheng, and relevant institutions to immediately stop ongoing protests at Tai Seng and Manhattan Special Economic Zone in Svay Rieng’s Bavet town. Workers led by Mr. Pav Sina, President of Collective Unions of Movement of ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=NzcxYmUyMDJlMTl
M’kiri villagers petition over illegal logging
Nearly 200 people from 25 different communities converged on the Mondolkiri Provincial Hall Monday to file complaints and petitions calling for an end to illegal logging and environmental degradation. The action comes two days after armed commune police blocked 16 rights workers and journalists from visiting ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/mkiri-villagers-petition-over-illegal-logging-57612/
Cobra house family again accuses security guards of arson
A family locked in a longstanding land dispute with a powerful real estate tycoon claims company guards late on Sunday night once again attempted to burn down their Tuol Kok home. The alleged attempted arson is the latest in a slew of bizarre attacks on the ...
Eang Mengleng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cobra-house-family-again-accuses-security-guards-of-arson-57606/
CNRP lawmaker files suit against official
Opposition lawmaker-elect Lim Kim-Ya filed charges with Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday morning against a government official he claims led an attack on a peaceful crowd at Freedom Park last Monday. Ket Khy, a Cambodia National Rescue Party lawyer, told the Post that Kim-Ya was seeking financial compensation ...
Chhay Channyda and Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-lawmaker-files-suit-against-official
UN Rep asked to focus on public assembly ban
The U.N.’s deputy high commissioner for human rights, Flavia Pansieri—who is on a weeklong mission in Cambodia —has been asked to address an arbitrarily enforced ban on public assemblies, which has been in place since January. In a letter dated Monday, Muth Chantha, secretary-general of the ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/un-rep-asked-to-focus-on-public-assembly-ban-57654/
Former Boeng Kak activists protest at City Hall
About 50 residents evicted from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak neighborhood in 2008 and 2009 to make way for a senator’s real estate project once again protested in front of City Hall Monday to demand better compensation. They are among some 3,000 families who were forced ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/former-boeng-kak-activists-protest-at-city-hall-57647/
Hun Sen hits back at judicial reform criticism
Prime Minister Hun Sen used a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh Monday to denounce criticism from civil society groups who say that his government is rushing judicial reforms into law without appropriate public consultation. Speaking at the ceremony for about 1,800 students from the Asia Euro ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-hits-back-at-judicial-reform-criticism-57613/
Hun Sen: Cambodia has no law to require the government to send draft law to NGOs
Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday that the cabinet is not obliged by any law to seek suggestions from the civil society. The premier made comments at a graduation ceremony of Asia European University in response to non-government organizations which condemned the approval on April ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=YmM2YjYxMzIxNmU
Government urges land concession firms to respect law
Environment Minister Say Sam Al met with private firms with land concessions last week to gauge their compliance with government rules and regulations, and adherence to their own contracts. Amid mounting local and international pressure, Prime Minister Hun Sen in mid-2012 ordered a freeze on ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-urges-land-concession-firms-to-respect-law-57474/
Bavet City garment strikes gain momentum
Trade unions may have failed to get a stay-at-home strike for higher wages off the ground after the Khmer New Year earlier this month. But a strike for bonus pay is picking up steam in Svay Rieng Province, where some 20,000 garment workers protested at ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/bavet-city-garment-strikes-gain-momentum-57447/
General in land dispute with another General
A two-star army general was arrested Friday on charges of defamation because he lost a court case over a dispute with a land broker and a formerly high-ranking police official, his lawyer said. Major General Chea Dara’s lawyer, Put Theavy, said yesterday that the dispute ...
Eang Mengleng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/general-in-land-dispute-with-another-general-57522/
Minor fraud prompts hard prison sentence
A former civil servant was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison by Kampong Cham Provincial Court for stealing the pensions of 10 retired teachers – a total of $500 – in March 2012. Mang Yusreng, former chief of the Social Affairs Office in Srei ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/minor-fraud-prompts-hard-prison-sentence
Despite dolphin-saving plan, dam threat remains
A little more than two years after signing off on a scheme aimed at improving protection of the critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin, experts said last week they were concerned that Mekong dams would see wholesale destruction of the population. During a two-day workshop that closed on ...
The Cambodia Daily
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/despite-dolphin-saving-plan-dam-threat-remains-57509/
Eighteen fired bus drivers protest in front of firm’s office
Eighteen sacked drivers for the Phnom Penh Sorya Transportation company protested in front of the company’s offices Friday morning calling for their reinstatement and a raise. The drivers say they were fired in mid- and late-April for leading strikes—in which they walked off with the keys ...
Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/eighteen-fired-bus-drivers-protest-in-front-of-firms-office-57423/
Union leader appeals court orders restricting his activities
Ath Thorn, the president of the country’s largest independent labor union, said Friday that he has appealed court orders restricting his unionizing activity and is seeking support from international labor organizations as he faces charges of incitement. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has ordered Mr. Thorn, ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/union-leader-appeals-court-orders-restricting-his-activities-57425/
Major General arrested on defamation charges
A two-star general in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces was arrested Friday on charges of defamation, police and prison officials said Friday. On Friday, police officers from the Interior Ministry’s penal department arrested Major General Chea Dara, who works at the Ministry of Defense, following a ...
Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/major-general-arrested-on-defamation-charges-57434/
Acid attack wife charged, imprisoned
A 26-year-old woman who allegedly disfigured her husband’s face and body in an acid attack Tuesday has been charged and sent to pre-trial detention in Banteay Meanchey province, police said Thursday. Tor Rachany is accused of pouring half a liter of strong acid over her husband, ...
Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/acid-attack-wife-charged-imprisoned-57370/
Concerns ahead of trial for 23
One the eve of the trial of 23 people arrested during a garment strike in January, their supporters yesterday expressed concern that politics, rather than the facts, may determine the verdict. Nearly four months after their arrests at protests on January 2 and 3 – the ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/concerns-ahead-trial-23