Interior Minister Sar Kheng gestures at the ceremonial inauguration of Lvea High School and Svay Prey Primary School in Bavel district, Battambang province on December 14. SAR KHENG FB
Minister of Interior Sar Kheng urged all ministries to test everyone who wishes to work for the state or in the private sector, including students, for drugs, and to reject their applications to work or study if they test positive.
Sar Kheng made the remarks at a December 14 ceremony celebrating the achievements of Bavel High School, Lvea High School, and Svay Prey Primary School in Bavel district of Battambang province.
“Every citizen who wishes to serve as a police officer, run for commune council as a village chief, civil servants, members of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and the National Military Police or people seeking employment in the private sector should be tested for drugs. If their test is positive, they will not be allowed to work. Teachers and students are no exception,” he said.
He added that drivers of all kinds of vehicles must be tested for drug use as well. If their tests are positive, they will not be allowed to drive and they must have a certificate proving that their test is negative, and that documentation could be used as a factor in applying for jobs.
Sar Kheng urged all sectors to add these terms to recruiting staff, requiring job-seekers to have a certificate proving that their test is negative.
He warned that any businesses, factories or manufacturing enterprises that employ staff without the certificate will be held accountable.
He added that the main impediment to this policy is that the state cannot open a centre or institute to test everyone in society for drugs and the work needs the private sector in order to implement it. He also indicated that the state would not pay the costs of testing for anyone either, and each individual applicant for any job or school would have to pay for it on their own.
He also urged the enforcement of community sentencing for mild offences to avoid prison sentences as nationwide prisons are still overcrowded and this is an important part of helping to reduce public expenditure.
He said that, nationwide, prisons today house over 30,000 prisoners and remained overcrowded.
He added that to facilitate the work, he is discussing it with Sak Setha and Bun Hun, permanent secretaries of state at the ministry, to expand the use of community sentences.
“We already have the law. The Criminal Code covers community sentences. We already have legal principles and we just haven’t implemented this type of sentence yet. So, we must implement it, but I ask for the support of the people and local administrations because they set obligations for perpetrators,” he continued.
This community sentence is a non-custodial sentence for mild crimes and the punishment is some type of community work.
He added that the mild crimes eligible for community sentences are minor theft.
“We allow them to sleep at home, but they have to fulfill some obligations …because we’ve made arrests and put them in prison now and we don’t know where to put them because our prisons have to offer rice and water,” Sar Kheng stated.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director for monitoring at rights group LICADHO, said civil society organisations working in this area have made recommendations for years that encouraged the government to implement community sentences because the Criminal Code also stipulates as such.
“So, the court should raise this point to work and implement community sentences for any minor offences because community sentences are good. First, we don’t spend state funds on feeding them in prison and second, they can live with their family members and third they can help with community work,” he added.
“But so far, we have seen that the ministries of interior and justice have held meetings and set procedures to implement community sentences, but so far community sentences have not yet been implemented,” he continued.
Sam Ath acknowledged that community sentence implementation is hard, but that if the government and authorities tried hard enough to implement them and educate local people, it would be possible.
Meeting with Japanese deputy minister of justice Hiroyuki Kada back in July, Sar Kheng said that today in Cambodia community sentences could not be implemented smoothly because it lacks the support of the people, but Cambodia will strive to do it in order to reduce state spending.
