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Graham Cleghorn….victim
of injustice in |
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The Cambodian Women's Crisis
Center (CWCC), Cambodian Defender Project (CDP), Legal Aid of Cambodia (LAC),
Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), CAMBOW Committee, Convention
on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Committee (CEDAW), and NGO
Coalition to Address Sexual Exploitation of Children in Cambodia (COSECAM)
with 144 members wish to call to the attention to a grave matter which has
developed due to the hearing by the Appeals Court in the case of Bart
Lauwaert and Clint Rex Betteridge, who was convicted and sentenced by the
provincial court of Siem Reap to twenty years incarceration for the offense
of sexual abuse of minor children and young women in Cambodia. Bart Lauwaert filed an appeal
hearing which was opened at the Court of Appeal on 1st June 2006. Council of
Judgment will render a final decision on 9th June 2006. We are seriously
concerned about: 1. False Testimony: the reports
[1] [1] of statements provided by one alleged victim, Hoeung Kieng, said the
CWCC 'detained me at their center for six months and mentally tortured me by
not letting us out of the compound.' "This statement was published in
Mainichi Daily News, June 1, 2006 and www.inquisition21.com . Note that the
name of Hoeung Kieng does not appear in any of the documents reflecting the
initial charges/offenses against Bart Lauwaert and his co-defendant, Clint
Rex Betteridge. Yet, this young woman has now come forward to accuse CWCC of
kidnapping and detaining her, mentally torturing her and refusing to let her
leave the shelter. CWCC would like to inform the press and the public that
Hoeung Kiang has never even been a client of CWCC; thus, her claims of false
imprisonment and mental torture are a blatant lie on her part. 2. Lack of Participation of
Relevant Institutions: the Appeal Hearing was held with the absence of all
lawyers of the girl victims. Police who is working on the case were not
invited to join the Appeal Hearing. Much more wondering is the fact that the
lawyers were not informed whether they would be removed from the case.
Moreover, the lawyer of Cambodian Defender Project who is continually
requested to represent this case was not invited to join in the hearing. The lawyers of CWCC, CDP and LAC
strongly state that their reputations have been wrongly damaged regarding
allegations that the lawyers promised victims money in exchange for testimony
against the defendant. The facts based on the complaint submission with
police, victims and their guardians demanded punishment and compensation from
the defendant in their original complaints, prior to the time CWCC and
lawyers had any involvement with these victims. In addition, parents and
relatives of the victims wrongly believe that lawyers received 100,000USD
compensation money ordered by The State and Justice Ministry
have a duty to ensure that children are free from sexual exploitation and
abuse. The police of Siem Reap province made their best efforts to arrest
perpetrators and refer victims to NGOs for social and legal services. CWCC,
CDP and LAC have provided these social and legal services; thus, these NGOs
were seriously attacked by ring pedophile/syndicates for their best efforts
to protect/empower women and children rights. Therefore, we are the undersigned
non-governmental organizations and women and children rights committees provide
our full support for their best works and continue to join with the Royal
Government of Cambodia to eradicate the abuse/violation of women's and
children's rights and call for the Court of Appeal for the following
immediate action: 1. To undertake an urgent
investigation of Hoeung Kieng and her statement as recorded in the press. 2. To take all testimony and evidence
including statement made from the police who were involved in the case,
statement of lawyers, statement of representatives of provincial court of
Siem Reap, statement made by victims, and collected evidence from the raid. 3. To take into consideration the
reasons led girl victims and their families changed their testimonies. 4. The Court of Appeals next hearing
on this matter shall include adequate notice to and the presence of legal
representatives from CWCC, CDP, LAC and other relevant NGOs. 5. Due to the large amount of
erroneous information spread among the public in the case, we urge the Court
of Appeals and the Prosecutor to fully investigate all statements made by the
parties or representatives of parties, the alleged involvement of a foreigner
and nationals who attempted to tamper with witnesses' testimony, and any
other irregularities, to seek the truth in this matter. We suggest that the Royal Government
of Cambodia strengthen its safety provision to girl victims and their
families and institutions providing women's and children's right protection.
More importantly, we suggest that the Royal Government of Cambodia to crack
down any acts of obstruction of justice. Finally, CWCC, CDP, LAC, CHRAC,
CEDAW Committee, CAMBOW Committee, and COSECAM are hopeful that the Court of
Appeals will take into consideration these recommendations/suggestions in
order to ensure justice in this case. Cambodian
Human Rights Action Committee. CEDAW
Committee. Mr. Sok
Sam Oeurn, Executive Director of
CDP
012 90 11 99 Mr. Ouk
Van Deth, Executive Director of
LAC
012 85 96 91
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