33/39 Role and achievements of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in assisting the Government and people of Cambodia in the promotion and protection of human rights - Report of the Secretary-General

GE.16-14852(E)



Human Rights Council Thirty-third session

Agenda item 10

Technical assistance and capacity-building

Role and achievements of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in assisting the Government and people of Cambodia in the promotion and protection of human rights*

Report of the Secretary-General

Summary

The present report details the activities of the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016.

In a political climate that had become particularly tense by the end of the period

under review, the Office of the High Commissioner continued its programme of

technical cooperation in areas vital for the protection of human rights, including

guarding the space for the activities of civil society, strengthening the rule of law, and

promoting economic and social rights.

* The present report was submitted after the deadline in order to reflect the most recent developments.

I. Introduction

1. The present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Council

resolution 30/23, describes the activities of the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Cambodia from 1 July 2015 to 30 June

2016. It follows on the previous report submitted to the Council (A/HRC/30/30).

2. Originally mandated by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1993/6,

the work of OHCHR in Cambodia is guided by Human Rights Council 30/23, a biennial

Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Government of Cambodia,1 and the global

mandate of the High Commissioner, as set out by the General Assembly in its resolution

48/141. OHCHR looks forward to concluding its discussions with the Government on the

renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding, in accordance with the Convention on the

Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.

3. The legal and institutional framework in Cambodia underwent some notable changes

during the period under review. New laws coming into force contain provisions that could

potentially restrict the freedoms of expression, association and assembly, particularly the

Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations, the long-awaited Trade Union

Law and the Telecommunications Law. At the end of the period under review, other bills

with potentially profound implications for human rights were in various stages of drafting,

including on access to information, whistle-blower protection, cybercrime and State secrets,

only some of which are open to public consultation.

4. The period under review began at a time of rising political tensions, in the wake of

the breakdown of the “culture of dialogue” agreed to in 2014 between the ruling

Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

Dialogue had been a central feature of the negotiated settlement of a year-long political

stalemate following the contested National Assembly elections in 2013 (see A/HRC/30/30,

para. 3).

5. Some of the issues publicly raised by the CNRP in 2014 and 2015 provoked strong

reactions from the Government, particularly its accusations that the CPP-ruled Government

had knowingly ceded Cambodian territory to Viet Nam. Border issues and relations with

Viet Nam are historically sensitive and tend to resonate deeply with the public. The current

and previous Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in Cambodia have

expressed their concern about the use of anti-Vietnamese language by the opposition.

6. A number of judicial actions taken against the opposition and civil society

organizations reflect structural deficiencies in the law enforcement and judicial institutions

that have long been highlighted by human rights mechanisms, including the independence

of the judiciary, lack of procedural guarantees resulting in over-reliance on pretrial

detention, weak evidentiary bases for convictions, and impunity. A growing number of

“Facebook cases” are being tracked in which postings on social media are being used as

evidence of the commission of crimes.

7. Following a short pause in 2014, tensions broke out again between the ruling and

main opposition parties, coinciding also with a number of judicial actions against members

and supporters of the main opposition party from mid-2015. In July, 11 people were

convicted to between seven and 20 years of imprisonment in a so-called “insurrection trial”.

1 The previous Memorandum of Understanding covered the period from 1 January 2014 to 31

December 2015.

In other cases, parliamentary immunity was summarily lifted to allow prosecution to

proceed. One opposition Member of Parliament has been in pretrial detention since August

2015, another since April 2016. The President of the CNRP saw his status as a Member of

Parliament rescinded by the National Assembly in November, and thereafter again went

into self-imposed exile. The Vice-President of the CNRP had his role as Vice-President of

the National Assembly revoked in October; at the end of the period under review, he had

been issued with five summons for questioning, to which he has not responded. Also at the

end of the period under review, 18 opposition officials or supporters, including the two

Members of Parliament, were still being detained on charges or convictions of insurrection,

forgery or incitement to commit a felony, in connection with a demonstration that turned

violent in July 2014, and to border issues between Cambodia and Viet Nam.

8. OHCHR proceeded with a range of technical cooperation activities with the

judiciary, the governmental Cambodian Human Rights Committee, the Ministry of the

Interior, the Ministry of Rural Development and other duty-bearers, and also with civil

society organizations and community-based organizations.

9. The newly constituted National Election Committee, which is composed of equal

numbers of CNRP and CPP members and one independent member, embarked upon the

preparations for the 2017 communal and 2018 National Assembly elections, commencing

with the establishment of a new voter registry. With significant assistance from the

European Union and Japan, a new biometric voter identification system was introduced.

10. The political climate once again deteriorated in October, when two CNRP Members

of Parliament were brutally beaten outside the National Assembly. Following a call by the

Prime Minister for the individuals responsible to come forward, three members of his

bodyguard unit, who had been identified on social media, confessed and were convicted to

a year of imprisonment.

11. Another opposition official and six human rights workers from the Cambodian

Association for Human Rights and Development (ADHOC) and Silaka, both non-

governmental organizations, a United Nations staff member of OHCHR Cambodia, and the

Deputy Secretary-General of the National Election Committee and former member of

ADHOC, were summoned by the Anti-Corruption Unit for questioning about the alleged

attempt to persuade a woman, allegedly involved in an extramarital affair with the Deputy

President of the CNRP, to lie to the authorities about their relationship. The four staff

members of ADHOC, the committee official and the OHCHR official were charged with

bribery of a witness or with being complicit in bribery. While the OHCHR official, being a

staff member of the United Nations, is covered by the Convention on the Privileges and

Immunities of the United Nations and thus has not been apprehended, the other five

individuals charged were placed in pretrial detention. The pursuit of prominent human

rights activists by the Anti-Corruption Unit and the courts is reportedly continuing against

staff members of other human rights organizations.

12. The ban on large-scale demonstrations announced in January 2014 continued to be

applied. Housing and land disputes continued to be the cause of most protests and

violations in the field of economic, social and cultural rights. Increased political tensions

led to a tightening of the democratic space, and repeated infringements on the rights to

freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and movement.

13. OHCHR followed closely the above-mentioned incidents, including cases relating to

housing, land and indigenous rights, ensuing protests, and the responses to them involving

the use of force, the disruption of peaceful assemblies and resulting cases of apprehension

and arrest by the police. OHCHR sought remedial actions from duty-bearers, monitored

trials and the treatment of those held in detention, and advocated for the establishment or

strengthening of national mechanisms and institutions for the protection of human rights.

14. In 2015, the economy grew by 7 per cent, and is projected to continue at

approximately the same rate in 2016. With GDP per capita currently at $1,138, Cambodia is

expected to cross the threshold to lower-middle income status in 2016. Progress has,

however, been uneven. The World Bank has estimated that, on the basis of the official

poverty threshold, although the poverty rate had fallen to below 18 per cent of the

population in 2012 (90 per cent of the poor being in rural areas), many Cambodians

remained highly vulnerable to minor shocks; the loss of only 30 cents per person per day

would more than double the poverty rate. According to a presentation made during World

Bank Group in-country consultations for Cambodia on 29 June 2015, overall, the poor and

near poor are estimated to account for 72 per cent of the population.

15. In 2016, the Government commenced its mid-term review of the National Strategic

Development Plan for the period 2014-2018, which provides an opportunity to align

national policies with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development2 and its 17

Sustainable Development Goals. The Government has embraced the 2030 Agenda, pledged

to add an eighteenth Goal, on mine action, and begun a consultative process of localization.

16. Certain public administration reforms relating to civil service, decentralization and

deconcentration, and public finance management, have made progress. Salaries for civil

servants are now paid by bank transfer instead of in cash, which will help to combat

corruption. Corruption in general, however, remains widespread,; according to

Transparency International, Cambodians perceive the judiciary as the most corrupt of all

State institutions; the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association made a

similar finding in a report released in September 2015.3

17. The lack of independence of the judiciary remains an obstacle to the protection of

human rights. The Government of Cambodia has been pursuing reforms in court

administration, which OHCHR is supporting, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice,

by providing members of the legal profession with concrete tools to assist judges in taking

decisions on pretrial detention, and improving case management. One significant

achievement has been the further reduction in cases awaiting appeal for an excessively

lengthy period of time.

18. OHCHR continued to build the capacity of national counterparts. It reached out to

subnational authorities on indigenous rights, prison officials on a rights-based approach to

prison management, and government and private sector actors on business and human

rights. Progress was made in the effective implementation of human rights training for law

professionals as part of compulsory general training programmes for lawyers or mandatory

refresher sessions on professional ethics for judges and prosecutors. OHCHR extended its

outreach to the general public by means of new communication tools and media. Its work in

Cambodia has been informed by the conclusions and recommendations of United Nations

treaty bodies, the special procedures, the universal periodic review on Cambodia in January

2014 (see A/HRC/26/16), and the new global commitments under the 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development.

2 General Assembly resolution 70/1.

3 Transparency International Cambodia, Corruption and Cambodia’s Governance System: The Need

for Reform, National Integrity System Assessment 2014; International Bar Association, Human

Rights Institute, “Justice versus Corruption: Challenges to the Independence of the Judiciary in

Cambodia”, September 2015.

II. Widening the democratic space

19. During the period under review, OHCHR continued its cooperation with rights-

holders and duty-bearers to protect the democratic space in Cambodia, the space for civil

society and the ability of human rights organizations to carry out their legitimate work.

20. A controversial draft law on associations and non-governmental organizations was

adopted by the National Assembly in July 2015 and enacted in August. Further to its legal

analysis of earlier drafts of the law in 2010-2011, OHCHR published a detailed analysis of

the final draft in both English and Khmer, highlighting provisions inconsistent with the

State’s international human rights obligations, such as mandatory registration,

discriminatory clauses and onerous reporting requirements, or requirements for undefined

“political neutrality” that, if unmet, could lead to criminal sanctions and de-registration.

21. While there are no reports of actual sanctions having been applied to date, OHCHR

and civil society organizations are tracking cases in which the law has been invoked by the

authorities to restrict the activities of the said organizations working on issues deemed

sensitive, in particular at the subnational level. This was the case with several community-

based organizations, which do not fall within the scope of application of the law on

associations and non-governmental organizations. In other cases, organizations, particularly

non-governmental human rights organizations, have reportedly received threats of

administrative or judicial actions under the law on associations and non-governmental

organizations, including from lower and mid-level officials. The need to spend time and

resources on such matters undermines their ability to function as usual, and in particular

impairs their ability to monitor the preparations for the local elections to be held in 2017. In

contrast to this trend, in a statement issued in June 2016, the Ministry of the Interior

reported that, as at the end of May 2016, 177 new associations and non-governmental

organizations had been created and registered under the law on associations and non-

governmental organizations since its enactment. In the statement, the Ministry emphasized

that the Government considered associations and non-governmental organizations “key and

indispensable partners”.

22. OHCHR continued to support the implementation of the universal periodic review

recommendation accepted by Cambodia on ensuring full respect, in law and in practice, for

the freedoms of peaceful assembly and of association, consistent with international law, on

disseminating widely the Law on Peaceful Demonstrations and its implementing guide, and

on building local capacity to comply with the law. OHCHR conducted seven training

workshops for journalists, monitors from human rights non-governmental and community-

based organizations in Kratie, Kampong Cham, Svay Rieng, Koh Kong, Preah Vihear and

Battambang provinces, attended by 256, including 41 women. OHCHR delivered similar

briefing sessions: in March 2016, one in Phnom Penh, for 27 participants, including five

women, from provincial members of the umbrella organization the NGO Forum; and in

June, one in Sihanoukville, for 35 human rights defenders and activists, including five

women. Trainees reported afterwards that clarity with regard to the responsibilities of

organizers and authorities when organizing peaceful protests had helped them to gain

confidence in engaging with the authorities in a positive and constructive manner.

23. In January 2016, OHCHR and the National Election Committee co-organized a

consultation with civil society organizations on election reform. The event brought together

218 participants from State institutions, provincial and communal election committees and

key civil society organizations working on election-related issues. It provided a forum for

the gathering of comments and recommendations on the draft regulations and procedures

on voter registration, to help the Committee to prepare the new voter lists for the upcoming

elections. Civil society representatives raised the importance of ensuring the right to

participate and to vote for persons with disabilities, migrant workers abroad and other

categories of persons who might face exclusion, such as persons left without residency

documents following eviction and resettlement. The need to ensure a transparent process

and to establish effective and impartial complaint procedures was emphasized.

24. On numerous occasions, OHCHR worked closely with civil society organizations to

address specific incidents. It followed up on more than 50 cases relating to human rights

defenders, community activists and journalists on issues ranging from arbitrary arrest and

detention, harassment and threats against them, to violations of fundamental freedoms.

OHCHR documented the cases, followed up with relevant authorities, visited the persons

affected in detention, and, when necessary, helped them to find lawyers and monitored their

trials.

25. In addition, OHCHR organized three specialized training sessions on the

methodology of human rights monitoring and fact-finding for civil society organizations,

with a focus on local or grass-roots activists, including 49 monks from Battambang

province, 34 member of trade unions and farmer associations in Prey Veng and Svay Rieng

provinces, and 35 human rights defenders from Kampot, Koh Kong and Preah Sihanouk

provinces, including 10 women. Participants acknowledged the relevance of the training in

their daily work, in particular the importance of verifying information, analysing facts and

systematically documenting them.

26. The controversial draft trade unions law was adopted by the National Assembly in

April 2016 amidst concerns of trade unions and other civil society stakeholders about

requirements that they deemed to be excessive and that they allege could have the greatest

effect on independent unions. OHCHR thoroughly analysed the draft, identifying the

provisions inconsistent with international standards on freedom of association, particularly

on the establishment, functioning and dissolution of trade unions. OHCHR welcomed the

provision setting at 10 the minimum number of workers needed to establish a trade union,

which is lower than that contained in earlier drafts.

27. While recognizing that the draft had been thoroughly reviewed by select

stakeholders, OHCHR was among various commentators that called for full and meaningful

public consultations, allowing anyone with a view to voice it, including civil society

organizations. A public consultation was eventually held, but was limited to a half-day

session at the National Assembly, resulting in one amendment. The Assembly subsequently

voted strictly along party lines, with CPP lawmakers voting in favour and CNRP

lawmakers voting against it. At a protest being held outside the National Assembly during

the vote, security guards assaulted a trade unionist and directed others away.

28. OHCHR, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO) and a number of civil society organizations continued to engage in a broad-

based consultative process with the Ministry of Information on the preparation of a draft

law on access to information. OHCHR contributed to several workshops organized under a

project in support of the Ministry of Information and UNESCO by a Swedish aid agency. In

a meeting held in February 2016 by the technical working group established to prepare the

draft law, the Minister for Information announced his aim of having the draft finalized by

the end of 2016.

III. Promoting the rule of law

29. Through its rule of law programme, OHCHR supported the legal and judicial reform

process, working with a range of actors, including the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme

Council of Magistracy, judges and prosecutors at all levels, and lawyers, among others. The

degree of cooperation with them remained strong. OHCHR technical assistance contributed

to improving the capacity of judicial actors and other law enforcement officers to comply

with international human rights law. The structural concerns highlighted by human rights

mechanisms, however, remained valid.

30. The Ministry of Justice continued its efforts to implement the three organic

“fundamental laws” on the judiciary adopted in 2014. In accordance with the law on the

organization and functioning of the courts, an administrative unit was established in each

court, officially separating administrative from adjudicative duties. OHCHR and the

Ministry jointly organized a national conference on court administration and case

management in December, which addressed the current status of implementation of the law

and served as a forum for discussion on key reform issues among judges, prosecutors and

court administrators. The issues raised by the participants included the general lack of

understanding of the existing disciplinary proceedings.

31. OHCHR and the Supreme Council of Magistracy organized regional workshops in

March, May and June 2016 to disseminate the Code of Ethics for Judges and Prosecutors

(2007). The three workshops convened 264 judges and prosecutors from the Supreme

Court, the Appeal Court and all provincial and municipal courts of first instance. With the

last workshop to be held in August 2016, all judges and prosecutors country-wide will have

been exposed to the Code of Ethics.

32. The Ministry of Justice took important steps to increase the salaries of judges and

prosecutors in an effort to combat corruption. Towards that end, it invited the Anti-

Corruption Unit to monitor the entrance exams to the Royal Academy of Judicial

Professions. OHCHR was invited by the Unit to provide technical assistance in drafting

whistleblower and witness protection legislation. Consultations are being held with the

Ministry of Justice on the undertaking of a joint study on judicial integrity, to be conducted

in 2016 and 2017, subject to funding. The aim of the study would be to go beyond

perception surveys by informing on the rules, procedures and practices that affect judicial

integrity, measuring the incidence of corruption in the judicial sector, and making

recommendations to strengthen integrity.

33. OHCHR supported the roll-out of an expanded criminal case database in six courts

of first instance in 2015, although funding constraints prevented its installation in additional

courts in 2016. The database was designed to address blockages in the flow of

communication regarding court proceedings, which affects, inter alia, the enforcement of

court decisions. OHCHR provided a technical expert to design the database and to train

dedicated staff from the Ministry of Justice and the courts to enter data and to maintain the

database. While the database alone cannot solve all problems related to access to

information on court cases, it has proven to be a significant improvement over the previous

paper-based method of recording court case developments. It has strengthened the ability of

beneficiary courts to store and search case documents, to generate case reports and regular

statistics, and to provide such information to the parties in court cases.

34. Another important initiative undertaken by the Ministry of Justice was the

establishment of a working group to revise the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal

Procedure. OHCHR compiled and submitted the recommendations for amendments to the

two laws made at several round tables and conferences organized by OHCHR in previous

years.

35. OHCHR continued to serve as the donor partner facilitator of the technical working

group on legal and judicial reform, one of the 19 sectoral working groups by means of

which the Government and donor partners coordinate international assistance. OHCHR

worked with the Ministry of Justice, which serves as the governmental chair of the working

group, in conducting the annual revision of the joint monitoring indicators on the judicial

sector, with the aim of ensuring that progress is adequately measured and that donor

initiatives are in line with key government priorities.

36. The office followed up on the results of the joint OHCHR- Ministry of Justice

survey on the use of the pretrial detention form adopted by the Ministry with OHCHR

assistance in 2014, which for the first time called upon judges to lay out their legal

reasoning when deciding on pretrial detention. To encourage its use, two regional training

sessions for judges, prosecutors and court clerks were held in July 2015, the impact of

which will be assessed in a follow-up survey in July-August 2016. In January 2016,

together with the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia, OHCHR dedicated to this

issue one of the “Legal Dialogues” series, which convenes lawyers working at the

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and lawyers working in the domestic

system. The dialogue encouraged domestic lawyers to call upon judges to use the form

when considering requests for provisional release, reflecting the practices of the

Extraordinary Chambers and other international best practices.

37. The lack of a legal aid policy, coupled with an increasing but still insufficient budget

for legal aid, continued to lead to cases of arbitrary detention. OHCHR provided grants to

the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia and to the non-governmental legal aid

organization International Bridges to Justice throughout 2015 to improve access to legal aid

by individuals whose procedural rights in appeal had been allegedly infringed. Of the 222

priority cases followed by the organization, 46 people were released, including 11 who had

been held in excessive detention; 85 are currently serving their sentences, with all case

documents having been obtained; 15 presented opposition motions; 14 requested final

verdicts; final verdicts were obtained for 50 cases; and no information was found on 27

cases. Legal aid provided by the Bar Association allowed for progress to be made on 53

more cases in Phnom Penh, while legal documentation was obtained to support the

detention of all prisoners concerned. The progress made through the implementation of

these grants led to a considerable reduction in the backlog of appeal cases that had been

pending for more than four years. A new one-year grant was approved for International

Bridges to Justice from June 2016 to continue to tackle the backlog in six prisons, focusing

on cases pending appeal for more than three years, and other priority appeal categories,

such as prisoners with disabilities, juveniles, women with children, or lesbian, gay, bisexual

or transgender (LGBT) prisoners. Further work is required with the judiciary and the prison

system to streamline the process of sharing final verdicts between courts and prisons and

thus to ensure that prisoners are lawfully detained and released on time.

38. OHCHR continued to encourage regular local meetings among the police and court

and prison officials. Between February and May 2016, it supported six such meetings in

Kampong Speu, Pursat, Siem Reap, Takeo, Pailin and Battambang provinces. The meetings

were an opportunity for discussions on areas where cooperation should be strengthened, the

daily challenges that they face, and solutions to improve the effective and efficient delivery

of justice.

39. OHCHR conducted training and follow-up for provincial prosecutors, police and

gendarmerie officers on the prevention, investigation and prosecution of acts of torture and

ill-treatment. Training on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or

Degrading Treatment or Punishment was conducted in late 2015 in Prey Veng province.

Further provincial training and follow-up sessions at the district level are planned for 2016.

40. OHCHR continued to promote the legacy of the Extraordinary Chambers in the

Courts of Cambodia, using their best practices and experience to strengthen national

judicial capacities and, ultimately, the rule of law. In this regard, in March and April 2016,

OHCHR, jointly with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian

Law, delivered the first compulsory human rights course for trainee lawyers, aimed at

ensuring that they possess the necessary knowledge to defend the rights of their clients to a

fair trial.

41. Another initiative was the dissemination in English and Khmer of the second edition

of the Annotated Code of Criminal Procedure, originally published in 2014. The new

edition, released in 2015, provides considerable new practical guidance to readers from not

only the final judgments but also intermediary decisions by the Extraordinary Chambers in

the Courts of Cambodia at various stages of court proceedings. Proposals on further

dissemination of and follow-up to the Annotated Code were discussed among key

stakeholders in the regular Extraordinary Chambers Legacy Update Meeting organized by

OHCHR in December 2015.

42. In September 2015, the Trial Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts

of Cambodia began hearing case 002/02, in which the former Head of State of Democratic

Kampuchea, Khieu Samphan, and the former Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of

Kampuchea, Nuon Chea, stand accused of genocide. In February 2016, the Supreme Court

Chamber commenced appeal hearings on case 002/01, in which the two men were found

guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to a term of life imprisonment. In

December 2015, two former Khmer Rouge officials, Meas Muth and Yim Tith, were

charged with genocide and crimes against humanity.

IV. Supporting prison reform

43. OHCHR is in a partnership with the Directorate General of Prisons under the

Ministry of the Interior and the Police Academy of Cambodia to support improvement in

the legal and policy framework and the management of prisons and correctional centres

throughout the country. During the period under review, the Ministry, the Directorate and

the Academy all underwent restructuring and leadership changes, which also resulted in

changes in the leadership of local prisons.

44. During the period under review, OHCHR had only limited access to prisoners given

that the authorization for its annual prison visit in 2016 no longer allows OHCHR monitors

to hold confidential interviews with prisoners. The ability to speak directly with persons

deprived of liberty, free from fear of any potential consequences, is crucial to the quality

and effectiveness of external independent monitoring. OHCHR had long been authorized to

hold confidential interviews, including after the adoption in 2011 of the Law on Prisons and

its reference to the national preventive mechanism in Cambodia. Regrettably, the

authorization for the said interviews was revoked in a context when the national preventive

mechanism does not yet qualify, in law or in practice, as an independent monitoring entity.

45. OHCHR continued to collaborate with the core trainers from the Directorate General

of Prisons and the Police Academy of Cambodia to improve prison staff training. During

the period under review, some 200 new prison staff recruits and in-service untrained staff

received basic training at the Police Academy, which helped to reduce the backlog of

approximately 600 untrained in-service staff. The Academy plans in 2016 to deliver a 3-

month basic training programme in prison management to 100 new recruits and untrained

prison staff, to train two trainers in each prison, and to provide ongoing education to

medium- and high-ranking prison officials (around 50 officials).

46. In support of the above-mentioned efforts, OHCHR co-organized joint study tours

for prison trainees to three prisons, in August and December 2015 and in June 2016. The

visits provided 200 new recruits and as yet untrained prison staff, and 20 trainers and

officials from the Directorate General and the Police Academy, with an opportunity to

apply theoretical knowledge of prison standards to the real prison environment, and to

improve future training programmes. A comprehensive, consolidated review of the

curriculum to ensure its conformity with human rights has yet to be conducted, although

individual trainers have been working on their own modules, with inputs from OHCHR.

47. In June 2016, OHCHR delivered lectures on torture prevention and on a human

rights approach to prison management for 50 new recruits and untrained prison staff, based

in part on an international handbook on the subject, previously made available in Khmer by

OHCHR, and the recently adopted United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the

Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules).

48. The Academy offered a new bachelor’s degree in prison management, available as

of early 2016, relying in part on the material, skills and experience developed from

OHCHR training. The Office also supported the programme with equipment.

49. OHCHR continued to promote the rights of prisoners to safe drinking water and

sanitation and to the highest attainable standard of health by means of advocacy, the

provision of hygiene products and water supply for prisoners, and flood prevention

materials for two prisons. In cooperation with the provincial health department and national

and provincial prison authorities, it financed the securing of two additional hospital rooms

in a remote province, allowing sick prisoners to be treated without being chained or

handcuffed and without affecting other patients. It will support securing rooms for three

more prisons by the end of 2016. When it cannot help directly, OHCHR refers requests to

non-governmental organizations and other partners, such as the International Committee of

the Red Cross (ICRC), as it did, for instance, to provide crutches and prosthetics to

prisoners with disabilities.

50. Jointly with ICRC, OHCHR advocated for the finalization of secondary legislation

relating to minimum standards of prison construction and renovation. Although the

legislation was envisaged in the Law on Prisons (2011), it remains to be developed and

adopted as the legal basis for all prisons and subnational authorities involved in the

construction, renovation and relocation of prisons.

51. As at mid-March 2016, 33 per cent of prisoners were convicted but being held

without a final verdict, either because the cases were pending appeal, the court had not

drafted or shared the verdict with the prison, or the documentation had been lost in the

system. To help to improve the capacity of prisons to better record and track time limits in

all processes affecting prisoners, OHCHR commissioned an expert to improve the prisoner

case-management database. Work began in 2015 with a review of the features and

shortcomings of the existing database, and continued in 2016 on the design of an improved

database, which will be followed by training for prison statistics and registry officers.

52. OHCHR continued to monitor prisons and to engage with the authorities responsible

for remedial action in cases of human rights violations, including ill-treatment or excessive

detention and corruption. In close cooperation with prison registry officers, OHCHR

reviewed the lists of prisoners whose convictions were pending appeal or who, for any

other reason, were not in possession of their final judgments. OHCHR directly secured the

release of more than a dozen prisoners beyond their prison term, and, indirectly through its

non-governmental legal aid partner (see para. 37 above), allowed for the release of 46

additional prisoners. It continued to analyse prison population statistics, disaggregated by

gender and age, to support policy discussions.

53. OHCHR continues to pursue the publication of two educational posters on the rights

of prisoners and on the visitation process, which were shared with relevant government

agencies, namely, the Ministry of the Interior, the Cambodian Human Rights Committee

and the Anti-Corruption Unit.

V. Protecting economic and social rights

54. Through its economic and social rights programme, OHCHR continued to protect

and promote the rights to adequate housing and to an adequate standard of living, to help

prevent forced evictions and to promote security of tenure and a better understanding of the

role of business in respecting human rights, including with regard to indigenous

communities.

55. The Government’s land titling programmes have advanced steadily. According to

government figures, as at the end of January 2016, approximately 4 million land titles had

been delivered under the ongoing processes of systematic land registration (more than 2.9

million titles), sporadic land registration (more than 600,000 land titles) and by means of

the Directive No. 001 campaign (nearly 620,000 land titles). The systematic land titling

programme is generally considered successful in that it has facilitated the awarding of

millions of land titles at a low cost to the beneficiaries. Given that it explicitly excludes

contested land, however, it has left out families and communities who most need tenure

security. The Government has estimated that, as at mid-2016, land titles had been provided

for approximately 60 per cent of the country’s estimated 7 million parcels of land.

56. OHCHR also registered the adverse impact of the land titling process on indigenous

and other communities who claim to have lost land as a result of land disputes or the

inconsistent implementation of government policies. OHCHR received a number of

petitions from individuals and groups who sought its intervention and legal advice on their

disputes and concerns. It conducted field visits to ascertain facts, engaged with the relevant

authorities, including at the subnational level, facilitated dialogue among the parties in

dispute, monitored the work of dispute resolution mechanisms, and provided legal and

procedural advice to communities and the civil society organizations supporting them.

During the period under review, OHCHR monitored 75 ongoing and unresolved land

disputes among affected communities, authorities and businesses in both rural and urban

areas, and seven new cases. Of those disputes, 29 were related to economic land

concessions and other land concessions granted by the Government, while 46 were related

to other land transactions. Eleven cases were considered closed by May 2016.

57. In February 2016, the Government announced that the work of the interministerial

commission to inspect, demarcate and assess economic land concessions, which was

created in August 2014 with a mandate to examine land concessions and to revoke

contracts of companies failing to comply with their contractual obligations, was completed

and that the commission would therefore be dissolved. A total of 113 economic land

concessions administered by the Ministry of the Environment were reviewed and 23 were

revoked, while four companies voluntarily handed back their concession to the State.

Another 118 concessions administered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and

Fisheries were reviewed, 15 of which were revoked. Despite the progress made by the

commission, access to information and a lack of transparency and accountability in the

review process and the management of concessions posed significant problems. No details

were shared on the criteria adopted for the review, and no information was shared on the

remedies offered to the communities affected by the concessions. Some companies were

reportedly formally informed neither about the downsizing of their concession nor about

the use that would be made of the land revoked. In April 2016, the Government issued a

subdecree establishing that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries would be

solely responsible for economic land concessions, while the Ministry of Environment

would manage and administer environmentally protected areas.

58. OHCHR continued to provide support for a non-governmental open-data source that

shares a range of relevant information online, including on land concessions by province

and by company, and briefings on relevant thematic issues, such as the rights of indigenous

peoples.4

59. From October 2015 to February 2016, OHCHR carried out preliminary research on

six social land concessions. According to a subdecree on social land concessions issued in

2003, a social land concession is “a legal mechanism to transfer private state land for social

purposes to the poor who lack land for residential and/or family farming purposes”. Few

official sources of information, including on the process and outcomes of the mechanism,

are actually available. To assist the Government in improving its implementation of the

concessions, addressing shortcomings, and disseminating and replicating positive

experiences, research focused on the processes and outcomes in land distribution through

social land concessions in rural areas in five provinces. It entailed interviews with more

than 640 households, local authorities and other stakeholders. The research data are being

analysed for discussion with the Government; the final results are expected to be published

by the end of 2016.

60. OHCHR continued to expand its focus on business and human rights, working

directly with national and subnational authorities, civil society organizations, community

representatives and business actors to increase their understanding of the Guiding Principles

on Business and Human Rights and their application in Cambodia. In partnership with non-

governmental organizations, selected business people, and professional institutions, such as

the Lawyers Training Centre of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia, OHCHR

organized and delivered a number of seminars, training sessions and consultations that were

attended by more than 400 representatives of targeted professional groups (such as lawyers

and members of the media), government agencies, private businesses and civil society

organizations (including youth groups). In addition, OHCHR aired six live interactive radio

talk shows on related themes, with a variety of guest speakers, including from grass-roots

associations, national and international non-governmental organizations, government,

United Nations agencies, businesses, and individual experts.

61. In Mondulkiri province, in October 2015, OHCHR initiated a pilot project to support

negotiations between indigenous communities affected by an economic land concession

and the company to which it had been granted. A tripartite committee comprising

representatives of the local authorities, the company and the indigenous villagers was set up

at the initiative of local stakeholders. OHCHR was invited to support the process. With the

negotiation skills of the indigenous representatives strengthened by OHCHR-organized

training, as at June 2016, compensation agreements were being finalized concerning one

sacred site, and clear and time-bound commitments had been made by the company to

review all pending land claims. Two multi-stakeholder meetings for indigenous

representatives, local authorities, land concession representatives, non-governmental

organizations, the United Nations and development agencies were organized to review the

progress made.

62. OHCHR continued to work with the Ministry of Land Management, Urban

Construction and Planning, local authorities and civil society organizations to support

efforts by indigenous peoples to apply for collective land titles, and to provide legal aid to

communities that had been subjected to land rights violations. In Cambodia, securing a

collective land title is a complex, three-step process: first, communities must be identified

by the Ministry of Rural Development as “indigenous communities”; second, communities

must be legally registered with the Ministry of the Interior as a “legal entity”; third, they

must apply to have their land registered communally with the Ministry of Land

Management. As at June 2016, 162 indigenous communities were in the process of

4 See Open Development Cambodia at https://cambodia.opendevelopmentmekong.net.

applying for a collective land title and had obtained recognition of their “indigenous”

identity from the Ministry of Rural Development, while 92 of them were registered by the

Ministry of the Interior, 42 of which had obtained interim protective measures for their

land. The ultimate objective of obtaining a collective land title had been achieved by only

11 communities. While the State has publicly pledged to issue 50 titles by the end of 2018,

the process remains so complicated and costly (approximately $70,000 for each title) that,

for many communities, embarking on the process is only possible with external technical

and financial assistance. Overall, the dispute resolution mechanisms in place, including the

courts, tend to handle indigenous and other land issues inconsistently, with limited

transparency and accountability. OHCHR contributed to advocacy to protect indigenous

peoples’ land rights and cultural and linguistic rights.

63. OHCHR collaborated fruitfully with the Ministry of Rural Development and the

Koh Kong local authorities on the first step of indigenous identity registration of eight

communities in the Areng Valley, the site of a number of high-profile land disputes in

recent years.

64. OHCHR continued to contribute to the development of the legal and policy

framework regulating the land sector and the management of natural resources. It

participated in consultations on a new environmental code led by the Ministry of the

Environment and on a bill on the management and use of agricultural land, for which it

provided advice on the harmonization of the final draft with international human rights

standards.

65. OHCHR worked to improve women’s participation in public processes and to

promote women’s rights to land, tenure security, adequate housing and related economic,

social and cultural rights. In August 2015, OHCHR conducted a regional workshop in Siem

Reap province on women and the right to adequate housing, with the participation of local

authorities and 53 representatives of non-governmental organizations and women land and

housing activists from the region. In 2016, OHCHR worked closely with the United

Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) to

deliver training on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms

of Discrimination against Women. Two training sessions were scheduled for July, with the

aim of enabling lawyers working with women’s non-governmental organizations to submit

communications and requests to conduct inquiries to the Committee on the Elimination of

Discrimination against Women.

VI. Public information

66. During the period under review, the Office continued to diversify its outreach and

communication work through the increased use of a broad range of media, as well as its

traditional printed materials, in both Khmer and English. Between July 2015 and April

2016, the office distributed a total of 36,670 publications to universities, associations,

private citizens, other United Nations agencies, government institutions, non-governmental

organizations and other organizations, and another 18,000 publications during its own

events. OHCHR continued its popular “open-door Fridays” to allow members of the

general public to obtain or peruse its publications at its premises.

67. In addition to producing information material specifically for Cambodia, the Office

continued to make available in Khmer key global publications of OHCHR, such as the

guides How to Follow Up on United Nations Human Rights Recommendations and Civil

Society Space and the United Nations Human Rights System.

68. OHCHR, in partnership with the Cambodian Center for Independent Media,

continued its regular series of monthly radio programmes in Khmer in order to promote

understanding about human rights and fundamental freedoms. The programmes are

designed for the general public, particularly in remote areas, highlighting key human rights

issues and providing information on national and international mechanisms to address

them. During the period under review, 13 radio shows were aired, with expert guest

speakers from State institutions, civil society and the private sector discussing topics as

varied as the right to adequate housing, political participation by young people, indigenous

rights, sexual and gender-based violence, and business and human rights.

69. The Office commemorated key international days, including the 16 days of activism

to end violence against women, United Nations Day (with the whole United Nations

country team), Human Rights Day, World Press Freedom Day (with UNESCO) and the

International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT, with the

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and UN-Women). OHCHR

organized or participated in events led by local and national authorities, development

partners and civil society organizations, distributed promotional and informational material,

and contributed opinion pieces to increase awareness.

70. As part of the celebrations, OHCHR organized two online quiz competitions. The

first was a quiz for the seventieth anniversary of the Organization on United Nations Day

2015, which tested participants’ knowledge on the United Nations and the specific work

carried out by United Nations agencies and entities operating in Cambodia. The top three

winners received awards, a tour of three United Nations offices in Phnom Penh, and a

presentation on the work carried out by each. The second quiz for 10 December 2015 tested

participants’ knowledge of international human rights law and human rights issues in

Cambodia. The two quiz apps were designed as learning tools, encouraging players to do

their own research. Both proved very successful, and considerably enhanced the public

profile of OHCHR and United Nations agencies, particularly among young people.

71. In June 2016, OHCHR launched a dynamic bilingual website that allows for real-

time updating. OHCHR also strengthened its use of social media channels to disseminate

information, increasing the number of posts published and garnering many more followers

on both Facebook and Twitter.

72. OHCHR expanded its video work, again producing original videos as well as Khmer

versions of previously existing ones. It made available in Khmer “The cost of

discrimination”, one of the videos from the OHCHR-led Free and Equal campaign in

support of LGBT rights, and another externally-sourced video on the Guiding Principles on

Business and Human Rights. OHCHR also produced four short videos – interviews

conducted with activists and senior figures in Cambodia – on the value of the work carried

out by the Office in Cambodia and how it has either personally affected the interviewee or

benefited Cambodian society. It released online a 4-minute video presenting the work of the

office since its establishment in 1993.5

73. Capitalizing on the growing access to Internet and use of smartphones nationwide,

OHCHR developed three phone apps using interactive voice response technology to

disseminate human rights information. The apps are based on three of its most popular

information materials: a cartoon book on the “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework on

business and human rights; an ”arrest rights card”’, summarizing a person’s rights in the

event of arrest in Cambodia, based on a publication developed jointly with the Ministry of

Justice and the Ministry of the Interior; and the “Peaceful Demonstration Law” leaflet,

developed with the Ministry of the Interior to spell out the relevant steps, rights and

obligations of organizers and local authorities. OHCHR translated in Bunong and Kuy

5 Available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/-H2fC2_Q3Bk.

indigenous languages an interactive voice response app on indigenous land law in

Cambodia, which already existed in the Tompuon language. The apps help to bring

knowledge on human rights to those who may not otherwise have access to it, including

those in rural areas, indigenous groups, and persons with visual impairments. Persons with

an Android smartphone may choose which information they wish to access, download it

and listen to it offline at their convenience.

VII. Supporting engagement with international human rights

mechanisms

74. OHCHR continued to raise awareness of the work of international human rights

mechanisms. It promoted the ratification of the human rights treaties not yet ratified by

Cambodia, including the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All

Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Optional Protocol to the

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

75. OHCHR provided technical support to the Cambodian Human Rights Committee

and the Disability Action Council on the reporting requirements of the United Nations

treaty bodies, and supported consultations with stakeholders, including civil society

organizations. In December, OHCHR and the Committee organized a joint meeting to

follow up on the recommendations addressed to Cambodia during its universal periodic

review, in preparation for the mid-term report due in late 2016. Good practices were shared

regarding the establishment of a national mechanism for reporting on and follow-up to the

recommendations of expert human rights mechanisms.

76. With regard to the Government’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the

Convention against Torture, in 2015, the Ministry of the Interior announced its intention to

draft new sub-legislation, in a royal decree, to replace the current sub-decree on the national

preventive mechanism and to amend its composition. In 2016, the Ministry announced its

decision to allocate prison management and torture prevention responsibilities to different

State Secretaries, and that it would reflect the changes in a law. The preparation of such a

new legal basis represents an opportunity to improve the compliance of a new national

preventive mechanism with the Optional Protocol, in particular to strengthen its

independence from the prison and other detention authorities that it is intended to monitor.

77. In September 2015 and March 2016, OHCHR supported the first and second visits

conducted by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia. The

Special Rapporteur chose to focus on marginalized groups, using discrimination as a lens to

view the prevailing situation of human rights. Women and indigenous peoples were

identified as the focus of her second mission.

VIII. Mainstreaming human rights within the United Nations

framework

78. OHCHR continued to play an active role in the United Nations country team in

Cambodia, coordinating in particular the Human Rights Theme Group, which played an

active role in discussing opportunities and challenges in integrating human rights in the

localization process of the Sustainable Development Goals. OHCHR has been active in

sharing information and briefings on human rights issues in Cambodia within the United

Nations system at the country, regional and international levels.

79. The United Nations Development Assistance Framework for 2016-2018 entered its

first year of implementation during the period under review. The new Framework fully

integrates international human rights standards, including indicators relating to the

implementation of selected human rights mechanisms recommendations. OHCHR co-leads,

together with UN-Women, the Framework pillar on “governance and human rights”.

80. As one concrete example, the Theme Group mobilised the United Nations country

team in engaging with the Government and civil society partners on the issue of the

treatment of persons in street situations (namely, persons living, working, or otherwise

dependent on the streets) in Cambodia. The first ever national conference on “Persons in

street situations in Cambodia: strategies, proposals and long-term solutions”, co-hosted by

the country team and the Ministry for Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation,

was held in December, with support from resource persons from the region and beyond, to

discuss the recurring street sweeps and the treatment of persons held involuntarily in social

affairs centres. At the conference, participants formulated a number of strategies and

proposals to provide long-term and sustainable human rights-based solutions to the affected

groups and individuals. The event was supported – financially, substantively and through

the provision of national and regional expertise – by the Office of the Resident Coordinator,

OHCHR, UNAIDS, UN-Women, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations

Children’s Fund and the inter-agency Disability Rights Initiative in Cambodia. The seven

United Nations entities took responsibility for specific panel and group discussions, joined

by, inter alia, a former member of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The creation of a multi-stakeholder technical working group was announced by the

Ministry during the conference, and OHCHR has continued to liaise closely with the United

Nations system in Cambodia in advocating for and supporting the implementation of the

recommendations made at the conference.

IX. Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Cambodia

81. OHCHR functions in Cambodia on the basis of a biennial resolution of the Human

Rights Council, the global mandate of OHCHR, the Charter of the United Nations and a

Memorandum of Understanding concluded with the Government of Cambodia, which is

subject to biennial renewal. Discussions on the renewal of the Memorandum have been

ongoing since the expiry of the previous Memorandum on 31 December 2015.