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 
 
 
¶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