Rong Chhun and
Sar Kanika amid a COVID-19 outbreak in many Cambodian prisons. Mr. Chhun, a prominent labour rights defender, is the President of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), and a member of the Cambodian Watchdog Council (CWC)[1]. Ms. Kanika is a member of the youth group Khmer Thavrak[2]
and an ex-member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
On June 8, 2021, Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika were denied bail by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which claimed that the crime for which they have been detained affects social security and is therefore unbailable. Rong Chhun and Sar Kanika were not present at the bail hearing as prison officers requested the court to suspend the transportation of inmates to tribunals due to public health concerns. Since mid-May 2021, many Cambodian prisons have been affected by an outbreak of COVID-19. These prisons include Phnom Penh’s Correction Centre 1 (CC1) and Correction Centre 2 (CC2), where the two human rights defenders rema
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I was only 17 in the autumn of 1981 when I was arrested in Tehran for supporting and selling the publication of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), a political organisation opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
I spent almost 11 years in Ayatollah Khomeini’s prisons in Evin, Ghezel Hesar and Gohardasht until I was finally released in the spring of 1992. During my time in prison I faced torture and mock executions. I was kept in solitary confinement for five years. But my most daunting experience was witnessing the infamous 1988 massacre.
On 19 July 1988, Khomeini, supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, issued a
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OMCT Briefing
The forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk and the arrest of Raman Pratasevich, a Belarusian blogger and journalist, has brought the spotlight back on the worsening state of human rights in Belarus.
Raman’s family learnt about his detention pretty much like the rest of the world: from the news on Sunday May 23. The 26-year-old has not been allowed to contact them. If his parents are lucky, they might be able to see him in person at his trial. Usually though, when the criminal prosecution is politically motivated, not only are family meetings forbidden during the investigation phase – which can last for months – but most trials are held behind closed doors.