By Blaine Bookey, ERI 2008 Summer Legal Intern

Cambodia is on the brink of explosion. Oil has been discovered and the country is developing rapidly. Afflictions caused by exploration and development – including environmental destruction, human rights violations, and land grabbing accompanied by evictions – plague the country.

Mathoura (center) explains indigenous community's land rights to local police

Ping Ly and Mathoura Ith, two Cambodian attorneys, are working to prevent these disasters while they still can. Ping and Mathoura have been in the United States for just over a month and are currently interning with EarthRights International (ERI) in the DC office.

Ping and Mathoura both attended the Royal University of Law and Economic Science in Phnom Penh and completed their lawyer training in 2003. Mathoura began her career as an attorney working for the Legal Aid of Cambodia on a juvenile justice project. She then worked at the Community Legal Education Center (CLEC) on a public interest advocacy project, which involved representing the community in cases involving land disputes. Currently, she works for the East-West Management Institute (EWMI), an international NGO. At EWMI, she focuses on human rights and is also working on a project with the Ministry of the Interior providing land law training.

Ping began working in a private firm. At the same time, he worked as a part-time lawyer for Protection Juvenile Justice, a local NGO that represents juveniles both as victims and defendants. Thereafter, he began working at the Center for Social Development on the Court Watch Project (CWP). The CWP monitors criminal and civil proceedings and publishes reports every three months. The reports provide statistics on issues such as unlawful detention and adherence with fair trial rights. Moreover, the organization works more generally on the rule-of-law in Cambodia, monitoring courts being an important part of this, as well as analyzing cases to discuss the judiciary’s ability to serve as a check and balance on the executive. Last year, Ping began working as a contract lawyer for the CLEC where he represents clients in land disputes. One of his cases involves a dispute between approximately 300 families and a sugar company who has allegedly poisoned the ground water and destroyed and deforested the land.

Ping and Mathoura hope to continue their work upholding environmental and human rights in Cambodia and came to the US to gain tools to further support their efforts. They began their trip to the U.S. as participants in a summer program on environmental law at the American University, Washington College of Law. At American, they learned about environmental law in general as well as international institutions and mechanisms to protect the environment, such as the World Bank’s Inspection Panel.

Ping (center, in yellow) and Mathoura attending community meeting

At ERI, Ping and Mathoura have gained a more in depth knowledge of ERI’s approach. They have also attended Congressional hearings and a civil bench trial. ERI has helped facilitate meetings with other attorneys and organizations working on environmental and human rights issues. In addition to learning about substantive law and mechanisms, they have been able to learn about the role of the lawyer in another country. In Cambodia, lawyers must consult with the President of the Bar Association before discussing their case with the public including the press, TV, and radio. It is considered a breach of attorney-client confidentiality (even with the client’s consent) to talk about such a case to the public. In the U.S., media campaigns are used strategically in conjunction with litigation to effectuate change, a freedom we take for granted. Ping and Mathoura have been able to compare experiences with attorneys here and will take the knowledge gained back with them to their practice in Cambodia.

Ping and Mathoura’s visit to the U.S. is the beginning of a global partnership and they look forward to being part of an ever-growing network of international attorneys committed to working for justice.

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