Envoy Calls for Prison Reform

Rhona Smith, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, who is on a three-day trip to the Kingdom, yesterday voiced her concern about overcrowding in prisons caused by an increase in temporary detentions before trials. Ms. Smith, on her third visit to Cambodia, raised her concerns with Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana at the ministry yesterday, spokesperson Chin Malin told reporters afterwards.
 

“The Justice Minister acknowledged that this is a big challenge because our prisons are small and the number of prisoners is large, and expanding prisons is the work of the Interior Ministry,” he said. “We will consider the legal mechanisms and policies to try not to let the prisoners face too much overcrowding in prison.”
 

Mr. Malin said Ms. Smith had also raised a number of other concerns about prisons and legal issues in Cambodia. He said she had proposed the idea of community service, where minor offenders could be made to perform work in their communities as punishment, rather than being sent to prison, as well as the enforcement of strict sentencing for cases of violence against women and children.

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