On May 31 children wearing pictures of relatives gathered outside the Ministry of Justice to protest against the imprisonment of their mothers. “The Civil Rights Defenders” organization reports that the 13 women human rights defenders are seen as informal leaders for the protests against expropriation and forced evictions held in the Boeung Kak Lake area in central Phnom Penh and were convicted to prison terms in an unjust trial. Another two community leaders are facing trial.
Civil Rights Defenders urges the authorities vacate the conviction and unconditionally release the human rights defenders.