CAT/C/KHM/CO/2
including with respect to hygiene and food supply. To this end, the Committee
recommends that the State party apply alternative measures to imprisonment
and ensure sufficient budgetary allocations to develop and renovate the
infrastructure of prisons and other detention facilities. Furthermore, the State
party should clearly frame and regulate the function and role of the “prisoner
self-management committees” and ensure that cases of abuse and ill-treatment
by such bodies are investigated and perpetrators punished. In addition, the
GDP officials ignoring or condoning such acts should be held accountable, with
the alleged suspects being subjected to suspension or reassignment during the
process of investigation. The Committee also requests updated information on
the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Kong La, Heng Touch and Mao
Sok as well as information on investigations, prosecutions and convictions
arising from these cases.
The State party should also review current policies and procedures for the
custody and treatment of detainees, including in police stations, ensure
separation of female detainees from males and that female detainees be
guarded by officers of the same gender, monitor and document incidents of
sexual violence in detention, and provide the Committee with data thereon,
disaggregated by relevant indicators. The Committee also recommends that the
State party consider compiling a reliable and accurate profile of the prison
population, including details as to the length of the sentence, the commitment of
offence and the age of the offender, to help inform criminal justice policy
decisions.
Social Affairs Centres
20.
The Committee notes the information and clarification provided by the delegation in
respect of the Social Affairs Centres, including that the State party has agreed with
UNICEF and the OHCHR Cambodia Country Office to conduct an assessment of the
existing policies, procedures and practices in the referral, placement, management,
rehabilitation and reintegration of children, women and vulnerable persons in Social Affairs
Centres and Youth Rehabilitation Centres across the country. However, the Committee
expresses its serious concern at continuing reports of round-ups by law enforcement
officials in the streets and the subsequent holding of people, including sex workers, victims
of trafficking, people who use drugs, homeless people, beggars, street children and
mentally ill persons, in the Social Affairs Centres, against their will and without any legal
basis and judicial warrant. In addition, the Committee notes with particular concern
allegations of a consistent pattern of arbitrary detention and abuse in Prey Speu between
late 2006 and 2008, including torture, rape, beatings, reported incidences of suicide, and
even reported killings committed by social affairs guards against detainees, The Committee
is further concerned at the lack of information as to any initiative on the part of the State
party to undertake a thorough investigation into such allegations. (arts. 2, 11 and 16)
The Committee urges the State party to put a complete end to any form of
arbitrary and unlawful detention of persons, especially in Social Affairs
Centres, including Prey Speu. The State party should ensure that all relevant
governmental departments respect the right not to be arbitrarily detained on
the basis of social status in the view of the Government and without any legal
basis and judicial warrant. The State party should also ensure that
officials/guards and others involved in arbitrary detention and abuse are
immediately investigated and prosecuted for such acts and that redress is
provided to victims.
The State party should, as a matter of urgency, conduct an independent
investigation into the allegations of serious human rights violations, including
torture, in Prey Speu between late 2006 and 2008. Furthermore, the Committee
8