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ADHOC’s history
ADHOC is the first Cambodian human rights association founded on December 10, 1991 by, a former political prisoners group led by Mr Thun Saray, who had been detained in the late 1980s for peacefully advocating human rights and democracy, following the signing of the Paris Peace Agreements which signed by the four Khmer factions on 23 October 1991 on “A Comprehensive Political Settlement of Cambodia Conflict” in Paris, France. Its first office was in a Buddhist temple in Phnom Penh, supported by a small group of volunteers who believed in the importance of human rights and democracy. ADHOC was officially recognized and approved by Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk on March 10, 1992 when he was the Head of State and Chairman of the National Council of Cambodia. By Samdech Hun Sen, on March 19, 1992, when he served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the State of Cambodia. As well as officially recognized by the Ministry of Interior, Prakas no. 278, dated 28 March 2000.
Meet Mr THUN SARAY – Founder and Active President of ADHOC
Thun Saray founded the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) in 1991. ADHOC was the first human rights organisation to be established in Cambodia. Mr Saray fought tirelessly for over twenty-five years to achieve human rights for Cambodians, and continued to do so.
“ […] I was put in a dark cell, not like jail today. It was not even like the S21 prison (Toul Sleng), my cell was worse because at least in the S21 cells you could see light and had air. In my cell it was all walled, with a little hole, and I was shackled all the time. I was there for around three months, and then I fell sick. I didn’t realise they treated people like this. I had visited the jail before in the time of Lon Nol, to see a friend, and then there was a lot of space and light in cells. But the Vietnamese built small cells, with two to three people to each cell. I would never forget that experience, and it is why I developed the idea to set up a human rights organisation.
After three months they were worried I would die, so I was moved to a common cell, where I was for about one and a half years. I was released because of the Paris Peace Agreement. I well remember that they released me on 7 October, and on 23 October they signed the agreement. They released me before the United Nations (UN) actually came, because they knew I hadn’t committed any crime. I already had the idea during my time in the jail that I just wanted to concentrate on human rights, not political activity. This was at the end of 1991. I collected fifteen people, including Koul Panha and Chhith Sam Ath, and others who were former political prisoners to join with me to establish a human rights organisation. I already had the name ADHOC—Cambodian Human Rights Organisation. I tried to write the by-law for the organisation, translatedinto French, but I had to wait until 14 January 1992 when the first meeting of the Supreme National Council (SNC) was held, led by Prince Sihanouk, with four warring factions present.
In that meeting they decided that from that day forward, every Cambodian who would like to set up a new political party, trade union, NGO or association would have to submit to the SNC, and no longer to the government of Hun Sen. One day later on 15 January I sent an application to Prince Sihanouk as chairman of the SNC, at the royal palace. I had to wait until March, but in the meantime I also received a lot of intimidation. The police followed me all the time. One deputy minister who knew me, she was also a member of the royal family, invited me to a friendship dinner. As soon as I arrived she pointed at me and said, ‘Saray, you are a stupid man.’ I was surprised, and asked her why. She said, ‘You have a high level of education, and you are poor, why not try to find a high position in the government, like minister or deputy minister? Why not do business? Why are you doing this stupid thing, human rights?’ And I responded to her: ‘In our society, we should have some people like me, stupid people; if you have only the clever men, it’s not good for our society!’ She said ‘Oh, you are still the same after so much time in jail, Saray! I will have to report to my boss, to Ngor Dien, the Vietnamese Ambassador.’ I thought, ‘Oh, my god!’ This was not a friendly dinner, it was intimidation.
I hadn’t done anything wrong, only that I had different ideas from the leader, yet I was treated worse than the criminal people. Criminals lived and were treated better than me in jail. The Khmer Rouge put me in jail yet I was innocent, knew nothing, had been a student. Under the Vietnamese, I went to jail for reading a paper. I didn’t injure or try to kill someone, nothing at all. Why must they treat me as though I was worse than criminals? I knew I was better off than a lot of people who had died, been killed, starved and tortured, many of my compatriots. But it was enough for me, and from then on I knew I had to do something for the country, for human rights” […]
Excerpt from Chapter 2 of the book “Seeking Justice in Cambodia: Human Rights Defenders Speak Out”, written by Mrs Sue Coffee. To read the full chapter on Thun Saray, click here. The Khmer version of “Seeking justice in Cambodia” can be found online for free at https://seekingjusticeincambodia.com/. The English version can be bought in Cambodian bookstores or online.
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ADHOC’s Vision, Mission, Goals and Values
The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit and non-governmental human rights organization based and active in Cambodia since 1991.
For more than 26 years, ADHOC has worked to address the absence of basic rights, freedoms and liberties in Cambodia by providing people with knowledge and understanding of human rights, law and democracy, and how to defend their rights and freedoms. ADHOC’s purposes include assisting victims of abuses in their quest for justice, strengthening the capacity of ordinary citizens to claim their rights, and encouraging citizens to lobby and advocate for improvement and enhancement of laws, institutions and law enforcement.
Vision
ADHOC envisions a society that respects human rights and law
Mission
ADHOC educates and empowers Cambodian people to realize and defend their rights and to advocate people in the state powers to work for better governance and respect human rights.
Goals
ADHOC seeks to bring about changes in policies and practices of democratic institutions, especially the judicial system and strengthening the civil society.
Values
ADHOC is an independent, non-partisan, non-political, non-profit, and non-governmental organisation.
ADHOC’s logo is designed with the “Brahma-vihara’s” four-faced, and three arms under the crown of four faces, in three-color, and has the following meanings:
- Fourfold Brahma – represents the Brahma-vihara, which means that the Dhamma is a dwelling place of mind, consisting of four values or ”Four Perfect Virtues” such as 1). metta (loving ki
ndness), 2). karuna (compassion), 3). mudita (sympathetic joy or empathy), and 4). upekkha (equanimity). - Three arms under Brahma have three colors-white, yellow and black represent the color of humanity, non-discriminatory and non-racial in the world.
To fulfill its mission, ADHOC is comprised of two main sections: the Human Rights and Land Rights Section and the Women’s and Children’s Rights Section.
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The Human Rights and Land Rights Section
The Human Rights and Land Rights Section handles complaints of human rights abuse such as extrajudicial killings, illegal arrest and detention, torture, physical assault, impunity, or violations of fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association. In addition, the Section handles cases of land and natural resource rights violations, including those concerning land grabbing, forced evictions, Economic Land Concessions (ELCs), Social Land Concessions (SLCs) and destruction of natural resources.
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The Women’s and Children’s Rights Section
The Women’s and Children’s Rights Section focuses on issues of gender-based violence (GBV), including rape, domestic violence, human trafficking, and migrant abuse.
Service delivery:
Each of ADHOC’s sections conducts three kinds of activities:
- Support to victims of human rights violations, through Investigation and intervention, case-by-case fact-finding, legal advice and representation, and material, travel, medical, case management and repatriation assistance;
- Empowerment activities, including capacity-building training, sensitization courses, workshops, meetings, or network-building events; and
- Advocacy and lobbying, including press conferences, statements, thematic reports, dialogue meeting directly with high ranking, diplomats or workshops and meetings between authorities, communities and victims to encourage them to share information and find joint solutions to disputes and challenges, as well as advocacy activities at the regional and international levels.
ADHOC operates across Cambodia from a Central Office in Phnom Penh and 17 provincial offices.
PRIZES AND AWARDS
ADHOC has been striving to protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms for each and every Cambodian for the past 26 years. Its achievements have been recognised by the international community through the following awards and prizes won over the years:
- Prix de la Mémoire of the Danielle Mitterrand- France Libertés Foundation, awarded by Danielle Mitterrand on 29 November 1993;
- The 3rd Asia Human Rights Award on 11 December 1998 in Tokyo, Japan;
- Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty awarded by the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, 16 March 1999;
- The Human Rights Prize of the French Republic (Prix des droits de l’homme de la République Française) awarded by the French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in 1999;
- The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders awarded to the ADHOC 5 (FreeThe5KH) on 10 October 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland.