Sen David and Alice Cuddy

Beneath a tree in Phnom Penh’s remote Prey Speu Social Affairs Centre – a de facto prison used to indefinitely incarcerate some of the capital’s most vulnerable citizens – a woman yesterday chanted loudly before bursting into tears and then laughter.

Like many others at the facility, she later said she did not know where she was, or how long she had been there.

While normally restricted from the media, unusual access to the centre was granted yesterday to coincide with a visit from Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Ke Sovannaroth.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/horrific-state-p-speu-revealed

Children freed from Prey Speu after MP visit

Thu, 9 July 2015

Sen David and Alice Cuddy

After opening its gates on Tuesday afternoon for a visit by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, the capital’s notorious Prey Speu detention centre yesterday freed a number of children, while others remained incarcerated despite relatives’ pleas for their release.

Eighty-nine people, including a number of young children, were imprisoned at Prey Speu – or Por Sen Chey Vocational Training Centre as it is now officially known – this week, having been rounded up from the city’s streets.

Officials claimed that “90 per cent” of them were “mentally ill”, while others had no home or family.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/children-freed-p-speu-after-mp-visit