Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/cambodia.txt

Text File | 1996-01-04 | 26KB | 519 lines

TITLE:  CAMBODIA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                            CAMBODIA


Cambodia completed its first full year under democratic rule
after 20 years of undemocratic regimes and civil war.  The
transition to democracy followed the signing of the 1991 Paris
Peace Accords by Cambodia's rival factions and a peace process
overseen by the U.N. Transitional Authority in Cambodia
(UNTAC).  This process culminated in the May 1993 multiparty
election sponsored by the United Nations.  The U.N. certified
the election as free and fair, although polling in areas
controlled by the Khmer Rouge was not possible.  The royalist
party FUNCINPEC entered into a coalition with the other parties
that participated in the election, including the Cambodian
People's Party (CPP), which had ruled the country since 1979
following the ouster of the Khmer Rouge (KR) regime by the
Vietnamese.  In September 1993 a new Constitution was
promulgated, establishing a constitutional monarchy with King
Sihanouk as Head of State.  The leader of FUNCINPEC, Prince
Norodom Ranariddh, and CPP leader Hun Sen became First and
Second Prime Ministers respectively.

The Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) are composed of former
members of the armies of the factions that implemented the
Paris accords.  The RCAF continued to face a mostly low-level
armed insurgency by the Khmer Rouge, who signed the Paris
Accords but refused to implement them by demobilizing, opening
their illegal zones, or participating in the elections.
Although the KR have only a small number of troops, the
effectiveness of the RCAF in combating the KR was marred by
corruption, lack of materiel, overstaffing at senior levels,
poor leadership, and the Government's inability to pay troops a
living wage.  The RCAF drafted and began implementation of a
reform plan in September.  The Government announced plans to
integrate the police forces, which are composed mostly of CPP
staff, by appointing personnel from other parties.  The
Interior Ministry began to carry out this plan in the latter
part of the year.

Although the economy depends largely on subsistence rice
farming, Cambodia has a market economy.  It was a radical
Communist agrarian state under the Khmer Rouge, and had a
centrally planned economy for most of the time of
Vietnamese-backed rule, known as the State of Cambodia (SOC)
period.  Cambodia is primarily agrarian and very poor, with a
per capita gross domestic product of approximately $200.

The human rights climate was better than in past years, with a
relatively open political atmosphere, a vigorous press, and an
active human rights community.  Cambodia continued, however, to
suffer from many problems, including the ongoing threat of the
KR insurgency.  In July there was a failed coup attempt.  There
continued to be sporadic reports of political intimidation and
of murders that appeared to be politically motivated.  Emerging
democratic institutions, particularly the judiciary, were
weak.  The ethnic Vietnamese minority faced widespread
discrimination, sporadic attacks leading to numerous
casualties, and uncertain legal status.  There were credible
reports that individual members of government security forces
committed serious human rights abuses, including instances of
extrajudicial killing.  In many cases the Government lacked the
resources or the political will to act aggressively against
individuals who were responsible for such abuses.  Women and
people with disabilities, in principle protected under the
Constitution, in fact faced discrimination.

In areas they control, the Khmer Rouge denied citizens most
basic human rights.  There were confirmed reports that the KR
summarily executed large numbers of civilians, including
Cambodians, Thais, Western tourists, and Vietnamese fishermen.
The dead and wounded also included women and children.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.  Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There was no evidence of orchestrated violence by the
Government.  However, there were credible reports that
individual members of government security forces, including
members of the RCAF, committed extrajudicial killings.  In
December, an RCAF Colonel was arrested in connection with the
killing of a journalist.  (See detail below.)  There were
several other murders committed by as yet unidentified
assailants that appeared to be politically motivated.  The
authorities made few arrests in connection with these crimes,
due to a combination of ineffectiveness of law enforcement and
in some cases an intentional lack of prosecutorial vigor.

There were numerous allegations of civilians killed by RCAF
troops in various parts of Cambodia, particularly in areas in
the Northwest where fighting with the Khmer Rouge was
heaviest.  One KR soldier was reportedly beheaded after
interrogation (see Section 1.g.).  In the province of Kratie, a
civilian court convicted three provincial soldiers of voluntary
manslaughter after they killed three villagers in April.  Two
of the soldiers were sentenced to 13 years; one was sentenced
to ten years.

In November a Thai worker on a USAID construction project was
killed when soldiers fired upon the convoy in which he was
traveling.  The police questioned several persons in connection
with the case, but it is unclear whether any arrests had been
made by year's end.

On April 19, Ang Kouy, the third-ranking FUNCINPEC party
official in Kampot province, and his nephew, were killed at
close-range by unknown assailants.  According to well-informed
observers, Ang had been threatened by district officials and
believed his life was in danger.  No suspects were arrested in
the case.  Human rights organizations asserted that there was
strong evidence that local officials killed Ang Kouy.

On September 7 Nuon Chan, editor of the Voice of Khmer Youth
newspaper, was shot to death in Phnom Penh.  His newspaper had
been highly critical of government authorities of all parties
and his killing may have been politically motivated.  In
September the police arrested two suspects in connection with
the murder.  The investigating judge issued a statement that
there was no evidence against the two persons and that a
confession from one of them had been coerced.  However, the
case was returned to the investigating judge for further
investigation.  No trial had taken place at year's end.

According to human rights groups, a guard at Kampot provincial
prison shot and killed two prisoners who had surrendered after
an escape attempt in May.  The guard was not prosecuted.  Human
rights groups alleged there were several other instances which
resulted in the deaths of prisoners in which prison officials
used excessive force.

In December, journalist Chan Dara was fatally shot in the city
of Kompong Cham.  RCAF Colonel Sath Souen, who was with Chan
Dara at the time, was arrested for the killing.  There was
widespread speculation that Dara was killed in retaliation for
publishing allegations about corruption involving Kompong
Cham's rubber industry.  Sath Souen had not been tried by
year's end.

Human rights groups presented credible evidence that the
military killed at least 35 persons during the second half of
1993 at an illegal detention facility known as Cheu Kmau in a
remote part of Battambang province.  Human rights observers
believe one more detainee was killed at Cheu Kmau in January
1994.

Attacks on ethnic Vietnamese continued throughout the year,
resulting in numerous deaths and injuries.  In April unknown
assailants using grenades and AK-47's attacked a Vietnamese
village in Kandal province leaving 14 civilians dead and over
20 wounded.

The Khmer Rouge continued to execute summarily civilians in
areas under its control.  (See Section 1g.)  In July KR forces
killed nine people in a train ambush.  In October Khmer Rouge
radio announced that the KR had made a policy decision to
engage in the systematic execution of Government officials in
the countryside.  Since then several officials have been killed
by the KR, and others have been taken hostage or had their
houses burned.  The KR have kidnaped and killed other villagers
as well.  The Khmer Rouge have also broadcast threats to kidnap
foreigners, particularly Americans, French, and Australians,
and have implied that foreigners captured would be killed.  In
November the Government found the remains of three Westerners
taken hostage and subsequently executed by the Khmer Rouge
during the July train attack.  Also in November, Khmer Rouge
guerrillas were responsible for the massacre of 51 Cambodian
villagers and, in a separate attack for which the KR is widely
considered responsible, at least 21 Thai loggers, in border
areas inside Cambodia.

     b.  Disappearance

There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
However, people frequently disappeared temporarily, including
some who were abducted by the KR for short periods.  There was
no reliable mechanism for determining when or whether these
people reappeared.  Several such cases remained unsolved, like
that of the three Vietnamese abducted with the Westerners in
the July train attack.

The disappearances of 17 political party activists before the
May 1993 election, which UNTAC attributed to authorities of the
former State of Cambodia, remained unsolved.  Human rights
groups suspect these missing activists were killed by members
of the SOC security forces.  There were no new disappearance
cases of this nature in 1994, although people, including
individuals abducted by the Khmer Rouge, were often temporarily
unaccounted for in Cambodia.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

The Government does not systematically use torture, but there
were credible reports that security officials physically abused
criminal detainees, particularly during interrogations.  There
were credible allegations that in 1993 and possibly in early
1994 members of the security forces tortured prisoners in the
secret detention center, Cheu Kmau (see Section l.d.).
According to press reports, Battambang provincial officials
acknowledged in September that some prisoners were tortured in
the facility.

Discipline is poor within the RCAF and the Cambodian police;
members of the security forces commit many crimes, including
extortion, beatings, and car theft.  At least one extortion
attempt by soldiers is known to have resulted in a killing (see
Section 1.a.).

Access to prisons by human rights groups improved, and the
Government allowed human rights groups to give human rights
training to prison guards.  Many government officials appeared
determined to improve prison conditions within the limits of
available financial resources.  However, conditions in many
prisons remained unsatisfactory.  The Government allows
independent monitoring of prisons.  The U.S.-based
nongovernmental organization (NGO) Physicians for Human Rights,
which sent a team to Cambodia to investigate prison conditions,
issued a report on June 1 calling for the closure of the
judicial police prison in Phnom Penh, citing overcrowding, food
and water shortages, and a high level of violence against
prisoners.  The Cambodian NGO Licadho provided a similar
characterization of conditions in that prison and, to a lesser
extent, in other facilities.  Human rights observers say that
prisoners were often kept in their cells 24 hours a day in
violation of international standards, and that the practices of
using shackles and holding prisoners in small, dark cells
resumed after being virtually eliminated during the UNTAC
period.  A U.N. human rights official stated that prison
officials sometimes raped and abused women prisoners.  In
response to these criticisms, the Government, with the
assistance of the Australian Government and human rights NGO's,
began to take steps to improve conditions in the judicial
police prison.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

A Penal Code drafted by UNTAC and approved by the interim
Supreme National Council remains in effect, as does a Criminal
Procedure Law dating from the State of Cambodia period.  The
Criminal Procedure Law in theory provides adequate protection
for criminal suspects, but in practice the Government
frequently ignored these protections.  The inefficiency of the
judicial system resulted in long pretrial detention periods.

Although the Government did not generally use detention without
charge as a means of political control, there were a few cases
in which persons, including a newspaper editor and a human
rights NGO worker, were detained for political reasons (see
Section 1.e.).

Human Rights groups criticized the Government for detaining for
a long period without charge nine Thai nationals arrested in
June for suspected involvement in the failed coup attempt.  In
October the Government tried the Thais, who were all given
three-year suspended sentences.  At year's end the nine had
returned to Thailand.

Human rights groups presented convincing evidence that 19
prisoners were held illegally by the security forces in the
secret detention facility in Cheu Kmau (see Section l.a.).
Although in 1993 UNTAC observers identified the site as an
illegal detention facility, government observers initially
denied reports of abuses at Cheu Kmau.  At year's end the
Government had not conducted a credible investigation.
However, according to press reports, Co-Interior Minister Sar
Kheng and a Deputy Governor of Battambang acknowledged in
September that Cheu Kmau was used as a detention center until
mid-1994.  Human rights groups believe the security forces
stopped detaining prisoners at Cheu Kmau by year's end.  Some
groups believe that military officials continued to detain
prisoners in other illegal facilities, but there is no evidence
to support this assertion.

Exile is prohibited in Cambodia's Constitution and is not
practiced.

No legal system is known to exist in Khmer Rouge zones.  KR
forces often seize hostages in order to intimidate villagers
into cooperating with their insurgency (see Section 1.g.).

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

Although mandated in the Constitution, in practice the
Government does not ensure due process and an independent
judiciary.  There is a severe shortage of lawyers, particularly
in the provinces.  The judicial system implemented during the
SOC regime generally remains in place, and the country's
judges, most of whom were appointed during the SOC period, are
not equipped to operate an independent judicial system.  There
are frequent and credible charges of corruption by judges.  The
Constitution calls for the establishment of a body to choose
judges.  In late December, the National Assembly passed
legislation establishing a body to choose judges.  The body had
not been established by year's end.

Prisoners are usually allowed visits by their family and their
attorneys, if they have them.  However, the Government does not
provide attorneys to the indigent, although human rights groups
sometimes provide defenders.

Foreign and local NGO's are conducting major, long term
projects to train defenders and otherwise strengthen the
judiciary.  The military justice system faces similar problems.

Although the practice of holding political prisoners, common
under the SOC, has all but disappeared, there were a few cases
in which persons were detained for political reasons.
Newspaper editor Nguon Non was detained in July on national
security charges and released in August pending trial; there is
widespread speculation that he was arrested because the
Government disapproved of his coverage of the July coup attempt
(see Section 2.a.).  A human rights worker for the NGO Adhoc in
Prey Veng province was detained from November 1993 to February
1994 under an antiterrorism law; his alleged act of "terror"
was that he created instability and chaos by encouraging
villagers to reclaim their property.  Human rights groups
believe his detention was an act of retaliation on the part of
local authorities who suspected him of being the source of a
news article describing the corrupt handling of land disputes
by officials.  Human rights observers also believe that several
prisoners held in various areas on suspicion of being Khmer
Rouge members were detained for political reasons.

     f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

According to human rights observers, the police routinely make
arrests and conduct searches without warrants.  However, the
number of forced entries into homes and offices decreased,
after a high incidence during the 1993 political campaign.
Reports of surveillance continued, but decreased as the
security apparatus of the SOC continued to be dismantled.
According to newspaper reports, the Government often monitored
private citizens' telephone calls and asked telephone companies
for records of conversations.  There were no reported
incidences of forced political party membership.  Persons in
Khmer Rouge zones are subject to rigid social controls and
accorded no right to privacy.

     g.  Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian
         Law in Internal Conflicts

Fighting between government forces and the Khmer Rouge
insurgency escalated in early 1994.  A rise in the number of
incidents of excessive force and violations of humanitarian law
on both sides accompanied this fighting.  As in previous years,
many civilians were killed or wounded by indiscriminate
shelling and by land mines laid by both sides.  Villagers were
subjected to burning and looting during Khmer Rouge raids and
to harassment by RCAF officials.

Human rights NGO's reported that a Khmer Rouge soldier was
beheaded in May after undergoing interrogation by the RCAF.
According to these reports, the soldier's head was later
displayed on a wall outside the RCAF headquarters in
Battambang.  There were several other credible reports of
executions of Khmer Rouge prisoners by the RCAF.

The Khmer Rouge continued to abduct and summarily execute both
Cambodians and foreigners in areas under its control.  (See
Section 1a.)  In mid-November the Khmer Rouge massacred 51
villagers in Battambang province.  The Khmer Rouge often
attacked civilians.  A KR ambush on a train in July left 9
dead.  After the train attack hostages were taken, including
three Westerners who were subsequently killed and whose remains
were identified in November.  (See Section 1a.)  At year's end
the fate of three Vietnamese taken captive after the train
attack remained unknown.  Khmer Rouge soldiers raped the wives
of 10 RCAF soldiers in an attack on a village in Banteay
Meanchey province.

Several hundred people were abducted by the Khmer Rouge or
remained missing after being abducted in earlier years.  Most
hostages are released after several weeks, but in some cases
the captives are held for longer periods.  For example, Khmer
Rouge soldiers abducted 25 villagers in Kompong Speu province
on August 19.  After a 5-day walk they arrived at a Khmer Rouge
camp where about 35 other hostages were already being held.
They were held for approximately 7 weeks.  Some escaped, and
the rest were released after many of them became ill.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Cambodian Constitution provides for freedom of expression,
press, publication, and association.  However, the Constitution
implicitly limits free speech by requiring that the speech not
adversely affect public security and be carried out in
accordance with law.  The Constitution also declares that the
King is "inviolable."  The National Assembly has yet to
implement legislation to clarify how these articles affect
press freedom.  In practice, the Government placed some
restrictions on press freedom.  Self-censorship, reflecting the
Government's inability to ensure the safety of journalists,
remained a problem.

Cambodia's independent news organizations, which were first
allowed to operate during the UNTAC period, remained active.
At year's end, there were 33 newspapers and magazines in
operation.  The Khmer Journalists' Association, established at
the end of 1993, drew up a code of ethics and served as an
informal liaison between the press and the Government.
However, throughout the year government pressure and violence
from still undetermined sources created a climate of fear among
the members of the Cambodian press and a widespread suspicion
that journalists who criticized officials were being targeted
for violence, possibly by members of the Government or security
forces.

In March two men on motorcycles threw a hand grenade into the
office of the newspaper Intervention; police made no arrests in
connection with this incident.  In June the editor of
Intervention, Tou Chhom Mongkol, was found unconscious with a
fractured skull on a Phnom Penh street and later died.  A
police report stated that the cause of death was a collision
with a bicycle taxi.  In September another newspaper editor,
Nuon Chan, whose predecessor as editor of the newspaper Voice
of Khmer Youth had resigned after receiving threats on his
life, was shot to death in what may have been a politically
motivated killing (see Section 1.a.).  In December of
journalist Chan Dara was fatally shot in Kompong Cham (see also
Section 1.a.)

Nguon Non, editor of the Morning News, was arrested in July
under a provision of the SOC Press Law which prohibits
newspapers from publishing articles detrimental to the national
security.  His newspaper had published articles that implied
involvement of high-ranking officials in the failed July coup
attempt.  After several postponements of his trial, he was
released from prison in early August.  By year's end he had not
been tried.

Human rights groups criticized the broad language of the
SOC-era Press Law.  There are currently no laws on libel.
There were several instances in which the press printed stories
that included harsh personal criticisms of Government
officials, prompting Government threats to restrict press
freedom.  Although the final form of the draft press law under
consideration in the National Assembly was not known at year's
end, Members of Parliament may be responsive to King Sihanouk's
request that the draft law's criminal penalties for libel be
replaced by civil penalties.

The Government placed pressure on the press on several
occasions.  In May police surrounded the newspaper Sakol and
seized copies of the newspaper and printing materials.  The
newspaper had printed material critical of King Sihanouk.  The
authorities closed down the newspaper briefly, then allowed it
to reopen.  High-level government officials often hinted
publicly that they would shut down newspapers that continued to
print irresponsible stories.  Although many newspapers
continued to publish critical stories in spite of these
threats, some practiced self-censorship in order to avoid
government reprisals.

The Khmer Rouge does not allow freedom of speech or press in
zones they control.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

Freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association are
provided for in the Constitution and were generally
unrestricted in 1994.  There were fewer political rallies than
in 1993, an election year.  There were no reports of disruption
of the few demonstrations that did take place, most of which
concerned land distribution.  However, human rights groups
believed that in some provinces the Government maintained a
climate of political intimidation that discouraged residents
from engaging in political activities.

Cambodia's large NGO community was generally allowed to operate
freely, particularly in Phnom Penh.  However, the lack of
legislation clarifying the rights and obligations of NGO's led
NGO's to worry that they would unintentionally run afoul of the
authorities.  The Interior Ministry registers NGO's and
requires them to submit lists of their staff, and to obtain
permission to conduct training.  There were reports that some
provincial officials enforced these requirements in a manner
which inhibited the NGO's ability to operate freely.

In Khmer Rouge controlled areas freedom of assembly and
association do not exist.  In early 1994 two participants in a
peace march in an area along the Thai-Cambodian border were
killed by Khmer Rouge gunfire.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

Buddhism is the state religion, but the Constitution provides
for freedom of religion and forbids discrimination based on
religion.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

The Government does not restrict travel outside Cambodia or
within parts of Cambodia it controls.  However, the presence of
land mines and bandits makes travel in some areas perilous.
The Khmer Rouge, who refused to comply with the Paris Accords
by opening the areas they control, continued to restrict access
to, from, and within these zones.

Tens of thousands of ethnic Vietnamese fled Cambodia in early
1993 due to racial violence directed at Vietnamese.  Many
returned overland after the elections.  However, the Cambodian
authorities stopped and forbade reentry to several thousand
boats on the Mekong river.  Immigration legislation passed in
August made no reference to nationality and therefore failed to
resolve the status of these people, many of whom were born in
Cambodia.