Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the guards of the state rubber plantation of Krek, in Pohnea Krek distict, Kompong Cham province and the police of the same province arrested eight villagers in June and about 20 more in July for allegedly stealing scrap rubber left uncollected on the ground at the plantation. They were charged with theft or robbery. Among the eight villagers arrested in June were four women two of whom had small children. One woman, Soeurn Phou, 25, had to take her two children, aged one and four, into prison with her. The other woman, unnamed, aged 27, a widow, had to leave her children behind with her mother.
Chou Chhun, 57, Soeurn Phou’s father, went to see officials of the court of Kompong Cham province to request them to drop the charge and release his daughter. He said a court official whose name he did not know demanded USD 500 from him in exchange for her release. Peang Noeurn, 65, also went to seek the release of his son, aged 18, who had also been arrested. He said a court official whose name he did not know told him to pay USD 500 for his son’s freedom so that he would not have to come to the court again.
Other fellow villagers have learned that some of those accused had had their charges dropped and had been released when their families had paid between USD 400 and 500 to court officials.
The AHRC has also learned that those accused are from among the 400 to 500 families living in an area which has neither land to cultivate nor any fixed occupation to make a living. The dire poverty and looming starvation have forced the most desperate among them to go and gather scrap rubber from the ground of a state plantation located in the same area. This scrap rubber is from latex that has fallen from the shorn bark of rubber trees onto the ground because the quantity of latex was not worth collecting or was not properly collected. Gatherers have to wash those muddy rubber bits and pieces several times before they can sell to traders at around 1,500 riels per kilo (USD 0.38). A person can gather up to 5 kilograms of such rubber a day but, at times when apprehended, he or she has to pay a bribe of 2,000-3,000 riels (USD 0.50 – 0.75) to the guards.
Some villagers have said that those poor families had received no assistance from the government and NGOs, and have appealed to them to provide them land for cultivation and create steady jobs for them.
Considering the plight of those villagers, the AHRC has found that those accused should not have been arrested in the first place. The authorities should have met their right to life by providing them land and creating jobs for them to make a living. Furthermore, they were gathering rubber that had been left on the ground uncollected by the plantation company. Their arrest and the charge of robbery against some of them is too drastic a measure against those who were so desperate that they had to trespass the plantation to gather scrap rubber to sell in order to scrape a living. Under Cambodian law theft is a misdemeanour and carries a sentence of between six months and five years in prison. Robbery is theft committed in groups or with the use of force or violence. It is a felony and unbailable offence, and carries a sentence of between 3 and 10 years in prison. The charge of robbery against some of those accused is incredibly unjust. All these charges should be dropped and all the accused released.
The AHRC appeals to both the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Council of the Magistracy of Cambodia to conduct an immediate investigation into the alleged extortion of bribes from those accused by officials of the court of Kompong Cham province. Such behaviour on the part of court officials is reprehensible and swift action should be taken against them.
The AHRC requests the Cambodian government and international aid agencies to urgently heed those poverty-stricken villagers’ appeal for land for cultivation and steady jobs so that they will not have to go and gather such scrap rubber to stave off starvation anymore.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities listed below calling for the immediate withdrawal of all charges against persons in this case. To ensure their right to life, the villagers should be provided land for cultivation and steady jobs.
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To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ______________,
CAMBODIA: Authorities must investigate into alleged extortion of poverty-stricken villagers
It has come to my attention that the guards of the state rubber plantation of Krek, in Pohnea Krek distict, Kompong Cham province and the police of the same province arrested eight villagers in June and about 20 more in July for allegedly stealing scrap rubber left uncollected on the ground at the plantation. They were charged with theft or robbery. Among the eight villagers arrested in June were four women two of whom had small children. One woman, Soeurn Phou, 25, had to take her two children, aged one and four, into prison with her. The other woman, unnamed, aged 27, a widow, had to leave her children behind with her mother.
Chou Chhun, 57, Soeurn Phou’s father, went to see officials of the court of Kompong Cham province to request them to drop the charge and release his daughter. He said a court official whose name he did not know demanded USD 500 from him in exchange for her release. Peang Noeurn, 65, also went to seek the release of his son, aged 18, who had also been arrested. He said a court official whose name he did not know told him to pay USD 500 for his son’s freedom so that he would not have to come to the court again. Other fellow villagers have learned that some of those accused had had their charges dropped and had been released when their families had paid between USD 400 and 500 to court officials.
The accused in this case are from among the 400 to 500 families living in an area which has neither land to cultivate nor any fixed occupation to make a living. The dire poverty and looming starvation have forced the most desperate among them to go and gather scrap rubber from the ground of a state plantation located in the same area. Gatherers have to wash those muddy rubber bits and pieces several times before they can sell to traders at around 1,500 riels per kilo (USD 0.38). A person can gather up to five kilograms of such rubber a day but, at times when apprehended, he or she has to pay a bribe of 2,000-3,000 riels (USD 0.50 – 0.75) to the guards.
Some villagers have said that those poor families had received no assistance from the government and NGOs, and have appealed to them to provide them land for cultivation and create steady jobs for them.
Considering the plight of those villagers, I maintain that those accused should not have been arrested in the first place. The authorities should have met their right to life by providing them land and creating jobs for them to make a living. Furthermore, they were gathering rubber that had been left on the ground uncollected by the plantation company. Their arrest and the charge of robbery against some of them is too drastic a measure against those who were so desperate that they had to trespass the plantation to gather scrap rubber to sell in order to scrape a living. Under Cambodian law theft is a misdemeanour and carries a sentence of between six months and five years in prison. Robbery is theft committed in groups or with the use of force or violence. It is a felony and unbailable offence, and carries a sentence of between 3 and 10 years in prison. The charge of robbery against some of those accused is incredibly unjust. All these charges should be dropped and all the accused released.
I therefore appeal to both the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Council of the Magistracy of Cambodia to conduct an immediate investigation into the alleged extortion of bribes from those accused by officials of the court of Kompong Cham province. Such behaviour on the part of court officials is reprehensible and swift action should be taken against them.
I further request the Cambodian government and international aid agencies to urgently heed those poverty-stricken villagers’ appeal for land for cultivation and steady jobs so that they will not have to go and gather such scrap rubber to stave off starvation anymore.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Samdech Hun Sen
Prime Minister
Office of the Council of Ministers
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax: + 855 23 426 054
2. H.E.Mr. Sar Kheng
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of Interior
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Email: moi@interior.gov.kh
3. Mr. Ang Vong Vathna
Minster of Justice
No 240, Sothearos Blvd.
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax: + 855 23 364119
Email: moj@cambodia.gov.kh
4. His Excellency Dith Monty
President of the Supreme Court
Member of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy
Supreme Court
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
5. Her Excellency Ly Vuoch Leng
President of the Appeal Court
Member of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy
Appeal Court
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
6. His Excellency Ouk Vithun
Prosecutor General of the Supreme Court
Member of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
7. His Excellency Henro Raken
Prosecutor General of the Appeal Court
Member of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy
Appeal Court
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
8. H.E.Mr.Chan Sarun
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
#200 Norodom Blvd, Sangkat Tonle Basak,
Khan Chamkarmorn
Phnom Penh 12301
CAMBODIA
Tel: + 855 23 211 351, 23 211 352
Fax: + 855 23 217 320
E-mail: maff@everyday.com.kh
9. Mr. Douglas Gardner
UNDP Resident Representative in Cambodia
53, Pasteur Street
Boeung Keng Kang
P.O. Box 877
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Fax: + 855 23 216 257
E-mail: douglas.gardner@undp.org
10. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Cambodia
N° 10, Street 302
Sangkat Boeng Keng Kang I
Khan Chamcar Mon
Phnom Penh
CAMBODIA
Tel: +855 23 987 671 / 987 672, 993 590 / 993 591 or +855 23 216 342
Fax: +855 23 212 579, 213 587
Email: cohchr@online.com.kh
11. Prof. Yash Ghai
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for human rights in Cambodia
Attn: Ms. Afarin Shahidzadeh
Room 3-080
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 91 79214
Fax: +41 22 91 79018 (ATTENTION: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE CAMBODIA)
12. Mr. Arjun Sengupta
Independent Expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: INDEPENDENT EXPERT ON THE QUESTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND EXTREME POVERTY)
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
