A/HRC/33/39
41.
Another initiative was the dissemination in English and Khmer of the second edition
of the Annotated Code of Criminal Procedure, originally published in 2014. The new
edition, released in 2015, provides considerable new practical guidance to readers from not
only the final judgments but also intermediary decisions by the Extraordinary Chambers in
the Courts of Cambodia at various stages of court proceedings. Proposals on further
dissemination of and follow-up to the Annotated Code were discussed among key
stakeholders in the regular Extraordinary Chambers Legacy Update Meeting organized by
OHCHR in December 2015.
42.
In September 2015, the Trial Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts
of Cambodia began hearing case 002/02, in which the former Head of State of Democratic
Kampuchea, Khieu Samphan, and the former Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of
Kampuchea, Nuon Chea, stand accused of genocide. In February 2016, the Supreme Court
Chamber commenced appeal hearings on case 002/01, in which the two men were found
guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to a term of life imprisonment. In
December 2015, two former Khmer Rouge officials, Meas Muth and Yim Tith, were
charged with genocide and crimes against humanity.
IV. Supporting prison reform
43.
OHCHR is in a partnership with the Directorate General of Prisons under the
Ministry of the Interior and the Police Academy of Cambodia to support improvement in
the legal and policy framework and the management of prisons and correctional centres
throughout the country. During the period under review, the Ministry, the Directorate and
the Academy all underwent restructuring and leadership changes, which also resulted in
changes in the leadership of local prisons.
44.
During the period under review, OHCHR had only limited access to prisoners given
that the authorization for its annual prison visit in 2016 no longer allows OHCHR monitors
to hold confidential interviews with prisoners. The ability to speak directly with persons
deprived of liberty, free from fear of any potential consequences, is crucial to the quality
and effectiveness of external independent monitoring. OHCHR had long been authorized to
hold confidential interviews, including after the adoption in 2011 of the Law on Prisons and
its reference to the national preventive mechanism in Cambodia. Regrettably, the
authorization for the said interviews was revoked in a context when the national preventive
mechanism does not yet qualify, in law or in practice, as an independent monitoring entity.
45.
OHCHR continued to collaborate with the core trainers from the Directorate General
of Prisons and the Police Academy of Cambodia to improve prison staff training. During
the period under review, some 200 new prison staff recruits and in-service untrained staff
received basic training at the Police Academy, which helped to reduce the backlog of
approximately 600 untrained in-service staff. The Academy plans in 2016 to deliver a 3month basic training programme in prison management to 100 new recruits and untrained
prison staff, to train two trainers in each prison, and to provide ongoing education to
medium- and high-ranking prison officials (around 50 officials).
46.
In support of the above-mentioned efforts, OHCHR co-organized joint study tours
for prison trainees to three prisons, in August and December 2015 and in June 2016. The
visits provided 200 new recruits and as yet untrained prison staff, and 20 trainers and
officials from the Directorate General and the Police Academy, with an opportunity to
apply theoretical knowledge of prison standards to the real prison environment, and to
improve future training programmes. A comprehensive, consolidated review of the
curriculum to ensure its conformity with human rights has yet to be conducted, although
individual trainers have been working on their own modules, with inputs from OHCHR.
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