UN Monitors in Cambodia to Inspect Prisons for Use of Torture
Interior Minister Sar Kheng has ordered all prison, detention and rehabilitation center chiefs to accommodate and give full access to delegates from the U.N.’s Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT), whose five-day mission to assess the use of torture, cruelty and other inhumane treatment in Cambodia began Monday. … Mr. Kheng said his order was in response to a request for unlimited and unannounced access to such centers by Malcolm Evans, chairperson of the SPT, which is tasked with assessing if parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture are conforming to it. … In June, the Asian Human Rights Commission said torture in Cambodia’s prison system was “systematic” and cited figures from rights group Adhoc, which recorded at least 141 cases of torture in police custody since 2010. Kuy Bunsorn, director-general of the General Department of Prisons, said he met Monday with the delegates, who are following up on a 2009 visit to see whether prisoners’ situations have improved. …
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/un-monitors-in-cambodia-to-inspect-prisons-for-use-of-torture-48963/
