Annual Report Submitted to the Planet Wheeler Foundation By
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Annual Report January 2015to 31 December2015 Submitted to The Planet Wheeler Foundation By Legal Aid of Cambodia Reporter: Mr. Run Saray, Executive Director Phone: (855-23) 864201 Mobile: (855-12) 838 341 FAX: Email: [email protected] # 39, St. 516, ToulSangke, RusseyKeo, and PhnomPenh, Cambodia (P.O. Box: 1607) Page 1 of 58 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3 ABOUT LEGAL AID OF CAMBODIA (LAC) 4 VISION AND MISSION STATEMENT 5 GENERAL LEGAL AID PROGRAM 6 PROGRAM GOALS 7 PROJECTS OPERATING WITHIN THE GENERAL LEGAL AID PROGRAM 7 A) JUSTICE FOR THE POOREST PEOPLE 8 B) PROJECT OF KHMER ROUGE CIVIL PARTY 10 C) PROJECT OF BUILDING CAPACITY OF CSO PARTNER AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS 11 LAND LAW AND NATURAL RESOURCES PROGRAM 14 PROGRAM GOALS 14 PROJECTS OPERATING WITHIN THE LAND LAW PROGRAM 14 A) PROJECT TO ASSIST POOR COMMUNITIES IN PHNOM PENH TO OBTAIN BENEFICIAL RESOLUTIONS OF URBAN POOR LAND TENURE SITUATION 15 B) PROJECT OF EMPOWERMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY ADVOCATING FOR RIGHTS OF UBAN POOR (CISUP) CHILD JUSTICE PROGRAM 21 PROGRAM GOALS 21 PROJECTS OPERATING WITHIN THE CHILD JUSTICE PROGRAM 22 A) PROJECT OF PROMOTING CHILD FRIENDLY COMMUNITY THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM IN CAMBODIA 22 B) JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN 25 WOMEN’S JUSTICE PROGRAM 27 PROGRAM GOALS 27 PROJECTS OPERATING WITHIN THE WOMEN’S JUSTICE PROGRAM 28 A) PROJECT OF ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR WOMEN 28 B) PROJECT FOR ENHANCING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN (ERWC) 30 LAC LEGAL AID SERVICES 34 LIST OF LAC CURRENT DONORS FUNDING FOR YEAR 2015 37 ANNEXES Page 2 of 58 ACKNOWLEDGMENT We are writing to express our deepest thanks to The Planet Wheeler Foundation for kindly providing Legal Aid of Cambodiagrants to the amount of $850,000 for 2013; 85,000 USD for 2014 and 50,000USD for 2015. The total grant is 175,000 USD for the period of three years. The financial support received from The Planet Wheeler Foundation has enabled Legal Aid of Cambodia to continue its mission in providing quality legal aid services to the poor and has played a key role in the successesof our programs this year. In addition to the provision of legal aid, this grant has also strengthened LAC’s ability to advocate for legal and judicial reform, which has led to greater improvements in access to justice and rule of law in Cambodia. It is impossible to fully express our gratitude to The Planet Wheeler Foundation for their support and loyalty. It is our hope that our continued partnerships will lead to further successes and achievements. Sincerely, Mr. Saray, RUN Executive Director Legal Aid of Cambodia Page 3 of 58 Organizational Information Name: Legal Aid of Cambodia (‘LAC’) Address: # 39, St. 516, ToulSangke, RusseyKeo, PhnomPenh, Cambodia (P.O. Box:1607) Authorized contact person: Mr. Run Saray Position: Executive Director Work telephone: (855-23) 864201; Mobile (855-12) 838 341 Email: [email protected] About Legal Aid of Cambodia (LAC) Founded in 1995, LAC is currently the largest non-governmental legal aid organization operating in Cambodia. It employs 66 staff members, 19 of whom are lawyers, and takes on over 500cases a year. LAC is the only legal aid organization to maintain a significant and permanent presence in rural areas, where 80% of Cambodia’s poorest population resides. The Legal Aid of Cambodia project promotes its vision for a just and fair Cambodian society by ensuring the poor and vulnerable are given access to legal aid and are made aware of their rights. LAC’s work is founded on the belief that the vast majority of Cambodia’s poor who are involved in legal disputes are victims ofboth a fundamental socio-economic inequality within the Cambodian legal system, and a lack of law enforcement, that often results in systemic human right abuses. Law enforcement officials often ignore the law and arrest people without incriminating evidence or arrest warrants, while prosecutors and judges regularly violate procedural safeguards and the basic rights of both the defendant and the victim. This phenomenon is largely due to widespread corruption throughout the legal system, and a lack of an independent judiciary. Another significant problem affecting the justice system is the legal profession’s lack of presence thematically within the social justice sector and geographically within rural communities. Most lawyers in Cambodia practice law in the private sector in urban areas. Very few lawyers choose to practice in remote areas or for non-governmental organizations, which makes it difficult for indigent Cambodians to have access to legal aid and a fair justice system. LAC’s mission is to provide free, quality legal services for Cambodia’s poor in both criminal and civil cases. Currently LAC maintains offices in Phnom Penh, and inthe provinces of Battambang, Siem Reap, and Kampong Thom, and satellite offices in the provinces of Pailin, Prey Veng, SvayRieng, and ThmongKhmum. Page 4 of 58 OurVision And Mission Statement Legal Aid of Cambodia (LAC) envisions a just and fair Cambodian society, where everyone enjoys equal rights before the law. LAC’s mission is to provide quality legal aid and human rights education to the poor peopleof Cambodia. With a commitment to entrench the rule of law within the Cambodian legal systemLACensuresaccess to justice, promotes respect for the law and human rights andseeks legal and judicial reforms where appropriate. LAC Vision and Mission LAC believes that: 1. Justice comes from respect of law. 2. Delivering quality legal services contributes to the rule of law. 3. Good governance gains greater trust from relevant stakeholders. 4. Through staff commitment, LAC can prove its solidarity to the poor. Mission Provide quality legal aid, Vision legal and human rights education / outreach and A just and fair advocate for the poor in Cambodian society, Cambodia in order to where everyone ensure access to justice, enjoys equal rights promote respect of law, before the law. human rights and advance legal and judicial reform. OUR STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES Strategic Objectives Page 5 of 58 Our Program Activities LAC program’s activities focus primarily on education, legal representation, and advocacy. The education program focuseson educating youth and community members in the target regions about their rights, both within and outside detention. The LAC program also continues to provide legal representation to indigent parties to ensure they do not suffer from prolonged or unlawful detention, are not mistreated whilst in detention, and receive fair and expedient access to appeals. The LAC program also advocates judicial reforms in the target regions through workshop discussions amongst legal representatives and judges in order to identify concerns about the criminal justice system. These concerns may then be used to propose meaningful judicial reforms to the government for courts in the target regions. Under LAC’s Strategic Plan 2012-2016, focus has been on four main programs: • General Legal Aid Program; • Land Law and Natural Resources Program; • Child Justice Program; and • Women Justice Program. 1. General Legal Aid Program LAC continues to play a significant role in fostering the rule of law in Cambodia, primarily through casework, but also by lobbying for law reform, advocacy on human rights, and legal training for members of the legal profession and community as a whole. LAC strongly defends the poor and most vulnerable in Cambodia and provides pro bono legal assistance. LAC commits to building the capacity of its lawyers and staff to better improve the quality of our legal work and our knowledge of law in the rapidly evolving Cambodian legal system. It is hoped that our legal representation of disempowered members of society such as the poor and vulnerable, LAC will make an important contribution to improving Cambodian society and to ensure a future peace and harmony in a country that has suffered significantly in the past. Currently, many individuals that come under purviewof the Criminallawsof Cambodia are not offered a fair trial. Often those arrested are unlawfully thrown into pre-trial detention centers. Once taken into custody, many are simply sentenced to jail by judges without a full and fair trial or determination of guilt. They suffer from unlawful pre-trial detention procedures, prolonged detentions, unlawful detention conditions, and are denied many of their rights especially relating to due process. Additionally, many before the courts lack access to legal counsel to ensure they do not suffer similar violations. Individuals that have suffered a violation of these basic civil libertiesand those without access to legal counsel at risk of similar violations are the target group of thisprogram. The Cambodian, court system, local authorities, and society stand to improve as beneficiaries of this action. Many of Cambodia’s poor and vulnerable are victims of crimes committed by the rich or powerful persons, often within the governing Cambodian People’sParty (‘CPP’). Such unrepresented individuals are then accused of crimes, which they did not commit, or are maliciously criminalized and Page 6 of 58 punished by courts that are corrupt and lack independence. As a result, the innocent are punished and real perpetrators act with complete impunity. In light of the overwhelming number of pending appeals and slow judicial process, in many cases the Cambodian court system stands to improve through representation and reforms. The only court of Appeal in Cambodia is located in Phnom Penh and appealing parties are required to be present for their hearing, making it difficult, and often impossible, for detained rural community members to appeal their imprisonment due to a lack of transportation. Those that are offered transportation from the provinces to their hearings are often denied a return trip to their detention facilities or are required to pay hundreds of dollars for the service, effectively preventing their ability to appeal an unlawful detention.