Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PHNOMPENH1405
2006-08-07 08:46:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Phnom Penh
Cable title:  

CAMBODIAN COURTS FOCUS DISPROPORTIONATELY ON THE

Tags:  PHUM PREL KJUS CB 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2232
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #1405 2190846
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 070846Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7112
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM PRIORITY
UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 001405 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL KJUS CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIAN COURTS FOCUS DISPROPORTIONATELY ON THE
POOR


UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 001405

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL KJUS CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIAN COURTS FOCUS DISPROPORTIONATELY ON THE
POOR



1. (SBU) Summary. Under the spotlight of NGOs, the media,
and the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP),the Kompong Cham Provincial
Court on August 2 handed down light sentences to three women
accused of stealing waste rubber from the private plantation
near their village. The women claimed that they were
accustomed to paying fees to plantation guards for
trespassing and collecting small amounts (1-2 kilos) of waste
rubber for resale, and did not realize they had committed a
crime; the opposition SRP hopes to capitalize on increasing
frustration among Cambodia's poor in upcoming elections. End
Summary.

Poor Women on Trial for Stealing Rubber Residue
-------------- --


2. (U) Police charged three Cambodian women with stealing
waste rubber from a local rubber tree plantation over a
two-month period (May and June 2006). Although more than 12
people were initially apprehended, only three faced trial due
to their lack of financial resources to pay off police and
judicial officials, claimed senior SRP official Mu Sochua.
NGOs such as ADHOC, LICADHO, CCHR, Democracy National
Development (DND),and the Cambodian Independence Agency
Corruption Committee (CIACC) came to the aid of the three
women, citing an inappropriate use of the justice system
against poor villagers. Mu Sochua said that a strong NGO
presence and media attention is necessary to compel Cambodian
courts to rule impartially; thus, NGOs monitor such cases and
organize groups of observers and the press to witness trials
as a check on judicial excesses. Provincial Court Judge
Plang Chhlam handed down six-month suspended jail sentences
to each of the three women. Though pleased that the women
would not have to spend time in prison, Sochua commented that
the judge should have dismissed all the charges.


3. (U) All of the women, ages ranging from 20-25, claimed
in their defense that they did not know that they were
committing a crime. Each woman ventured onto the plantation
property after hours to collect small amounts of excess
rubber residue that ordinarily would be discarded. If a
guard caught them, he would be paid some money to let them
go. On a typical day, they could earn one dollar by
collecting 2 kilos (roughly two cups) of rubber. None of
them claimed to know that they could be jailed for their
actions because they had been collecting rubber for over a
year. Their lawyer, hired by SRP special counsel, argued
that they should be released because of their lack of
education, extreme poverty, and the non-serious nature of the
crime.


4. (SBU) Comment. The SRP and human rights NGOs note that
there are a disproportionate number of poor people caught in
similar circumstances who are unable to pay bribes to avoid
going to jail over petty crimes; meanwhile, Cambodia's prison
population continues to grow. The opposition SRP plans to
continue to highlight corruption, land grabbing and the
plight of Cambodia's rural poor in the run up to elections in
2007 and 2008 to gather political support from Cambodia's
poor, rural population -- a segment of the electorate that
traditionally identified itself in previous elections with
the ruling CPP. End comment.


MUSSOMELI