VZCZCXRO0563
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0133/01 0540014
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 230014Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1703
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000133 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, G/TIP, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KTIP KJUS SOCI CB
SUBJECT: THREE CAMBODIANS CONVICTED FOR LABOR TRAFFICKING; 
PRIMARY OFFENDER GETS 20 YEARS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has 
convicted three Cambodians on human trafficking and assault 
charges stemming from the purchase and forced labor of an 
11-year old girl in their custody.  The primary offender in 
was sentenced to 20 years in prison for receiving and 
systematically abusing the child while forcing her to labor 
as a domestic servant.  The case had an extremely high 
profile, as one of the first prosecutions for labor 
trafficking in Cambodia, and due to the degree of abuse 
documented and the age of the child.  The verdict showcases 
the improving capacity of the court to evaluate the 
circumstances of a complex case and use the 2008 TIP Law to 
obtain significant punishment.  Moreover, the widespread 
publicity coupled with the sophisticated protection 
mechanisms employed in this case could serve equally as a 
deterrent to employers and as a training case for police and 
other interventionists througout the country.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------- 
"A Very Cruel Case" 
------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On February 19, Phnom Penh Judge Chan Madina 
convicted three Cambodian perpetrators for trafficking and 
physically abusing an 11-year-old girl.  The judge sentenced 
Meas Nary, a high-school teacher considered to be the primary 
offender, to 20 years in prison for receiving and forcing the 
girl to labor as a domestic servant.  The girl testified in a 
January hearing that Meas whipped her with wire hangers, 
pinched her with pliers, and applied numerous other 
punishments over the course of a year inside the home. 
Before issuing her verdict, the judge said "the acts of Meas 
Nary were inhuman and very cruel" and that investigators 
documented "over 15 points of torture" on the head and body 
of the child. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Meas denied the charges upon her arrest in October 
2009, but could not disclaim away the scars on the child's 
body.  She eventually admitted to beating the girl, but told 
the court in January, "I beat her because I wanted to educate 
her on how to be a good daughter...I love her as my own 
daughter." 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Meas' husband, Va Savoeun, received a 10-year 
prison sentence for his role in the case.  The girl testified 
in the January hearing that Va had never beaten her directly, 
but knew it was happening and did nothing to stop it.  A 
third defendant, Thoeung Reth, received 5 years in prison for 
selling the child to the Phnom Penh couple in 2008 for $400 
USD.  The judge also collectively ordered the three 
defendants to pay the girl 20 million riel (approximately 
$4,800 USD) in compensation. 
 
--------------------- 
" Secret Torture" 
--------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection 
Police raided the home of Meas Nary and Va Savoeun in October 
2009, acting on a tip from neighbors that they had seen an 
unfamiliar and visibly mistreated child outside and around 
the couple's home.  Police subsequently arrested Thoeung Reth 
after the couple disclosed purchasing the child from her. 
Thoeung Reth told police the child's mother gave the child to 
Thoeung to raise, promising to pay $15 USD per month to help 
with expenses.  But the mother thereafter disappeared. 
Thoeung reportedly raised the girl from approximately age 2 
until age 10, when she claimed she "gave" the girl to Meas 
and Va.  Thoeung told the court she expected the girl would 
receive an education because Meas was a high-school teacher 
and Va was a retired official from the Ministry of Education. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Instead of attending school, Meas Nary forced the 
child to labor around the home, requiring her to scrub 
floors, care for the garden, cut grass, clean the kitchen, 
and more.  The girl testified that Meas often beat her 
because the cleaning jobs had not been adequately completed. 
As punishment "my godmother beat me using pliers, clothes 
hangers, a broom, and whips, every time she got angry. 
Sometimes she tied me upside down to a ladder and beat me," 
then forced her to bathe in bleach following beatings. 
Police said the child's body revealed "constant violence" and 
was covered "from her head down in frightening scars and 
wounds from her mistreatment." 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The International Labor Organization commented that 
the case was a rare example of authorities rescuing a 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000133  002 OF 002 
 
 
domestic servant from an abusive situation at the hands of an 
employer.  An ILO program officer noted that in most cases, 
it is hard for authorities to discover this "secret 
torture" because the victims do not leave the houses. 
 
---------------------- 
"Everyone is Watching" 
---------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The case received high-profile attention from the 
moment the three were arrested in October 2009.  Donors and 
NGOs tracked the progress of the case through the courts, and 
the media followed the case closely.  Human rights and 
counter-trafficking organizations alike praised the court's 
ruling, saying the case put an spotlight on the issue of 
internal trafficking within Cambodia.  A monitor with the 
Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association said "this 
was a severe case that everyone is watching" and that the 
sentences "fit the Cambodian government's attention to combat 
human trafficking." 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Authorities initially pursued TIP charges only 
against Thoeung Reth for selling the child and planned to 
charge the couple with physical abuse.  But the public 
hearing on January 26 revealed the change in the court's 
attitude, when charges under Article 15 of the 2008 TIP Law 
became public knowledge.  The court's focus also had clearly 
shifted to the purchase and treatment of the child while in 
custody of the Phnom Penh couple, particularly the actions of 
Meas Nary.  Thus, while the media has widely reported that 
the couple was convicted of "torturing" the child, in fact 
they have been convicted of human trafficking, a charge 
supported by the circumstances of forced servitude in the 
case. 
 
---------------- 
Closing the Door 
---------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The NGO HAGAR International has cared for the 
child since her rescue, and reported that authorities quickly 
turned the girl over to them for medical treatment and 
recovery services.  HAGAR's psycho-social services manager, 
who accompanied the child to court, said she found the three 
judges to be sensitive to the child, and that HAGAR staff 
were allowed to comfort and support the child during her 
testimony.  The child, who has been attending school and 
living first at a HAGAR facility, then with a volunteer 
family with HAGAR support, can now "start the process of 
rehabilitation," according to a HAGAR official.  "The judge 
believed her, which was very important for her." 
 
¶11.  (SBU) COMMENT:  This case is one of the first rescues of 
a domestic servant from a home in Cambodia, and one of the 
first prosecutions for severe labor trafficking.  The court 
showed an improving capacity to evaluate the circumstances of 
a complex case and use the 2008 TIP Law to obtain significant 
punishment of Cambodian offenders.  The child has also been 
well-protected throughout the process; her identity has not 
been disclosed by either authorities or organizations 
involved in the case, and the media has protected her 
somewhat from over-exposure, generally showing pictures only 
of the back of her head.  The case, which garnered wide 
attention at many levels of society, could serve as a 
deterrent to other employers, and as a training case for 
police and other interventionists.  END COMMENT. 
RODLEY