Taking to the Streets: Freedom of Peaceful Assembly in Cambodia
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TAKING TO THE STREETS FREEDOM OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY IN CAMBODIA Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations. First published in 2015 by Amnesty International Ltd Peter Benenson House 1 Easton Street London WC1X 0DW United Kingdom © Amnesty International 2015 Index: ASA 23/1506/2015 Original language: English Printed by Amnesty International, International Secretariat, United Kingdom All rights reserved. This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee for advocacy, campaigning and teaching purposes, but not for resale. The copyright holders request that all such use be registered with them for impact assessment purposes. For copying in any other circumstances, or for reuse in other publications, or for translation or adaptation, prior written permission must be obtained from the publishers, and a fee may be payable. To request permission, or for any other inquiries, please contact [email protected] Cover photo: 22 December 2013: Thousands of demonstrators, including Buddhist monks and opposition party supporters, march in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom 2013 amnesty.org CONTENTS GLOSSARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 5 1. PROTESTS ON THE RISE ........................................................................................ 11 1.1 DIVERSE VOICES AND ISSUES .......................................................................... 14 1.2 WEAK INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIAL CHANGE ...................................................... 21 2. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK ....................................................................................... 23 2.1 FREEDOM OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY - INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS ............... 23 2.2 FREEDOM OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY - NATIONAL LAW ....................................... 26 3. ARBITRARY RESTRICTIONS ON PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY ............................................ 30 3.1 THE LAW: EXCESSIVE NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS ....... 30 3.2 NEGATIVE RESPONSES TO NOTIFICATION ......................................................... 33 3.3 OBSTRUCTION AND DISPERSAL OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLIES ............................. 37 3.4 RESTRICTIONS ON MEETINGS, TRAININGS AND FORUMS ................................. 40 4. UNNECESSARY AND EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE ..................................................... 47 4.1 INTERNATIONAL LAW AND STANDARDS ON THE USE OF FORCE AND FIREARMS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ......................................................................... 49 4.2 NATIONAL LAW AND STANDARDS ON THE USE OF FORCE AND FIREARMS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ...................................................................................... 50 4.3 USE OF FORCE BY AUXILIARIES OF THE STATE ................................................. 51 4.4 TARGETING OF JOURNALISTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS ........................ 59 4.5 PUNITIVE FORCE IN CARRYING OUT ARRESTS .................................................. 62 4.6 MISUSE OF EQUIPMENT AND USE OF INAPPROPRIATE WEAPONS ..................... 65 4.7 UNJUSTIFIED USE OF LETHAL FORCE ............................................................... 67 5. IMPUNITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS ......................................................... 77 5.1 LAW AND STANDARDS ON ACCOUNTABILITY FOR UNNECESSARY OR EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE ...................................................................................................... 78 5.2 LAW AND STANDARDS ON RIGHT TO A REMEDY ............................................... 81 5.3 INADEQUATE CONSIDERATION OF COMPLAINTS ............................................... 82 5.4 LACK OF TRANSPARENT INVESTIGATION .......................................................... 86 5.5 FAILURE TO ENFORCE CONVICTION OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL ....................... 92 6. JUDICIAL HARASSMENT ........................................................................................ 95 6.1 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND STANDARDS .................................. 97 6.2 NATIONAL LAW AND STANDARDS ..................................................................... 99 6.3 ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS ........................................................ 101 6.4 FABRICATED OR TRUMPED UP CHARGES ....................................................... 103 6.5 FLAWED OR UNFAIR TRIALS .......................................................................... 108 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................. 113 GLOSSARY ACSC/APF ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum ADHOC Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association AGPA ASEAN Grassroots People’s Assembly ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations CCFC Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community CCHR Cambodian Center for Human Rights CCIM Cambodian Center for Independent Media CCPC Code of Criminal Procedure of the Kingdom of Cambodia CNRP Cambodian National Rescue Party, the main opposition party which won 55 of 123 seats in the July 2013 national elections CPN Community Peacebuilding Network CPP Cambodian People’s Party, the ruling party which won 68 of 123 seats in the July 2013 national elections CYN Cambodian Youth Network Freedom Parks Introduced under the 2009 Law on Peaceful Demonstrations as areas designated for “peaceful assembly or public expression” ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ICPED International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance IDEA Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association ILO International Labour Organization LAC Labour Advisory Committee, established under the 1997 Labour Law LEMNA Law on the Election of Members of the National Assembly LICADHO Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights LPD Law on Peaceful Demonstrations, enacted in December 2009 NGO Non-governmental organization NRPG Natural Resource Protection Group OHCHR Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Para-police State auxiliaries, also known as district or private security guards, involved in policing assemblies RCAF Royal Cambodian Armed Forces SR on assembly UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful and association assembly and of association SR on Cambodia UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Cambodia SR on summary UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions executions SRSG on HRDs UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UN United Nations UN Basic UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Principles Enforcement Officials UN Code of UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials Conduct UN Convention UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or against Torture Degrading Treatment or Punishment UN Principles on UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra- Summary Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions Executions TAKING TO THE STREETS 5 FREEDOM OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY IN CAMBODIA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY “After they beat me on the back I became like a dead fish. They held me in a standing position and then jumped and gave me a hard kick in the chest. Then they were all standing around me in order to block photographs from journalists. They made a circle, with me in the middle, and punched and beat me some more.” Yong Sok Chea, a 17-year-old garment worker arrested and beaten by gendarmes on Veng Sreng Street, Phnom Penh on 2 January 20141 At the end of 2013, a series of demonstrations erupted in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, culminating in late December in several mass protests over disputed national election results and calls for a higher increase in the minimum wage paid to garment workers.2 Supporters of the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), the main opposition party, converged with thousands of striking workers and other disaffected groups. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Phnom Penh to demand changes to Cambodia’s political, social and economic status quo. In early January 2014, with the demonstrations gaining momentum and a planned CNRP-led march expected to attract perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, the authorities and security forces used unnecessary and excessive force to end the demonstrations. On 2 January 2014, military soldiers violently clashed with striking workers at Yakjin (Cambodia) Inc. factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh; and on 3 January, four people were shot dead when security forces opened fire on demonstrators on the capital’s Veng Sreng Street where an assembly had turned violent. A fifth individual – 16-year-old Khem Saphath – was last seen lying on that street with an apparent gunshot wound to his chest and remains 1 Interview with Yong Sok Chea, 11 July 2014. 2 On 24 December 2013, the government announced that the minimum wage in Cambodia’s garment sector would be increased from US $80 to US $95 per