Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - CHRC reps check into Samphan’s prison life

CHRC reps check into Samphan’s prison life

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan is currently imprisoned in Kandal provincial prison. CHRC

CHRC reps check into Samphan’s prison life

Former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan is currently imprisoned in Kandal provincial prison, where he is serving out a life sentence for crimes against humanity.

According to officials from the Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC) who visited Samphan in prison to observe his conditions, the former Democratic Kampuchea (DK) head of state who worked closely with Pol Pot during the reign of terror is still in good health, eating full meals and able to push his wheelchair on his own.

Samphan was found guilty by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), commonly known as the Khmer Rouge tribunal, for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide against Cambodia’s ethnic Vietnamese population.

The CHRC said that after carrying out an inspection of the human rights situation in Kandal prison, its team met with Samphan to hear about his situation as a prisoner.

“According to the working group, Khieu Samphan’s health condition is normal, for his age. He can eat, he can move, with his personal caregiver, doctors and prison officers paying attention to him,” said CHRC deputy director Chin Malin on March 26.

The CHRC said the team had been sent by its president Keo Remy to inspect the situation, led by its deputy director-general Chou Heng.

The post noted that the CHRC team inspects the human rights situation in prisons throughout Cambodia on a regular basis as it is one of its main missions to protect and improve human rights for the incarcerated. The team also brought along eight different essential medicines for use by ailing inmates on this visit.

In September 2022, the ECCC’s Supreme Court Chamber upheld the ruling sentencing Samphan to life imprisonment without any possibility of parole. The decision was final and his case concluded the active prosecutorial mission of the hybrid tribunal.

MOST VIEWED

  • Joy as Koh Ker Temple registered by UNESCO

    Cambodia's Koh Ker Temple archaeological site has been officially added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17. The ancient temple, also known as Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, is located in

  • Famed US collector family return artefacts to Cambodia

    In the latest repatriation of ancient artefacts from the US, a total of 33 pieces of Khmer cultural heritage will soon return home, according to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. In a September 12 press statement, it said the US Attorney’s Office for the

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • Ream base allegations must end, urges official

    A senior government official urges an end to the allegations and suspicions surrounding the development of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, now that Prime Minister Hun Manet has addressed the issue on the floor of the 78th UN General Assembly (UNGA 78). Jean-Francois Tain, a geopolitical

  • CP denied registration documents by ministry

    The Ministry of Interior will not reissue registration documents to the Candlelight Party (CP). Following a September 21 meeting between ministry secretary of state Bun Honn and CP representatives, the ministry cited the fact that there is no relevant law which would authorise it to do

  • Manet touches down in Beijing for high-level meetings

    Prime Minister Hun Manet arrived in Beijing on September 14 for his first official visit to China, where he is slated to attend the 20th China-ASEAN Expo and meet other leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Upon his arrival, Manet laid a wreath at the Monument