Civil Rights Defenders and several other human rights organisations demand ambassadors in Cambodia to send high level observers to attend the appeal hearing for 13 female land and housing rights activists on June 27. In a letter sent to 22 ambassadors and the Chair of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, the organisations also call for the case to be dismissed and the activists to be immediately and unconditionally released,
The activists are part of the ‘Boeung Kak Lake 15’, which refers to 15 land and housing rights activists who have been actively protesting the forced evictions of the Boeung Kak Lake community in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 13 women were arrested on May 22, 2012 during a peaceful protest on the site of demolished homes at the former lake. On May 24, just 48 hours after their arrests, all 13 were subjected to an approximately three-hour long mass trial.