Latest update: 04/03/2010

- Cambodia - children - drugs - UNICEF

The scandal of Cambodia's rehabilitation centres

A report by Human Rights Watch denounces the harsh methods used by Cambodian authorities against young drug addicts in rehabilitation centres which resemble prisons. FRANCE 24 correspondent Cyril Payen went to investigate and sent us this exclusive report.

FOCUS

By Cyril PAYEN

At night, in the streets of Phnom Penh, you don't need to look far to find the down-and-out of Cambodian society. The country counts some 500,000 drug addicts.

The methods used by the government to ‘rehabilitate’ these drug users are at the centre of a report by Human Rights Watch published on Jan. 25, 2010. The NGO denounces the use of torture, rape and a whole array of physical abuses in some of these rehabilitation centres.

We went to meet these drug addicts and their stories are damning. All of this community of excluded people lives in fear of being sent back to a centre where they are treated like animals.

Instead of being weaned off their drug addictions, these street children picked up by the police suffer physical and sometimes sexual abuse, and are forced to work long hours without any pay.

As for the Cambodian authorities, they deny these accusations outright and point out that numerous international organisations finance the centres directly or indirectly, in a country where half the government’s budget depends on international aid.

One of the centres denounced by Human Rights Watch, situated on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, takes in children aged from four to eleven. All are street children addicted to sniffing glue and who arrive here after being arrested by the police. Ironically, this centre which is so well known to human rights organisations is financed by UNICEF, the UN agency for the protection of children.

Despite the publication of the HRW report and the accusations against UNICEF, the latter has reportedly not carried out any investigation, and no notable change has been observed in how the Cambodian rehabilitation centres are run.

23/05/2012 - CANADA

Students in Quebec march against tuition fee hike

Student protests in the Canadian province of Quebec are now into their fourth month. Hundreds were arrested at marches to mark 100 days since the protests began. Students are demonstrating against an 80% rise in tuition fees in Quebec, the Canadian province that has until now enjoyed the country's lowest rates for higher education.

23/05/2012 - EGYPT

Egyptians head to the polls

Egyptians go to the polls in the country's first truly contested presidential election on Wednesday. With an array of candidates to choose from, voters will decide who's the best man to lead them through the last phase of the country's troubled democratic transition that began with Egypt's revolution in January last year. Cairo correspondents Kathryn Stapley and Sonia Dridi talked to some of the activists whose protests in Tahrir Square changed the course of Egypt's history.

22/05/2012 - EGYPT

A troubling time for Egypt's Coptic Christians

Egyptians go to the polls tomorrow to vote for a new president for the first time since Hosni Mubarak was ousted during the revolution last year. Two of the front-runners in the presidential race with a realistic chance of winning are devout Islamists, which is troubling for Egypt's Coptic Christians. They are Egypt's largest religious minority and many of them don't think any of the candidates are capable of protecting them from the religious violence that has been steadily increasing.

22/05/2012 - WEST BANK

'The Battle of the Empty Stomachs'

Palestinians nicknamed it "the battle of the empty stomachs". For weeks, 1,600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails refused food and drink in what became the longest ever mass hunger strike. Israel finally capitulated and a deal was reached, allowing those in isolation back onto the general wards, and visas for those family members wishing to visit from Gaza. In exchange, prisoners agreed not to carry out "security activities" such as recruiting for terrorist missions.

21/05/2012 - SERBIA

Serbia's new president - nationalist or not?

Serbia has elected a new president - and it's not the one that most people were expecting. Tomislav Nikolic has unseated Boris Tadic, the man in power since 2004. Observers are worried about the new head of state, who used to be part of the ultra-nationalist Radical Party. He once said he would prefer to be allied with Russia than join the EU, but he has since toned down the rhetoric, saying he will take Serbia to Europe after all.

Comments (1)

true

by Anonyme - 15/03/2010 - 00:50

Yes is is true.
I have a friends, street people, who had this experience.
They don't want me to know too much.
Thank you for publishing this story.

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