Close down Cambodia’s drug detention centres, say human rights activists

Inmates at Cambodia’s compulsory drug detention centres are subject to torture, rape, and physical abuse and are denied basic medical care or treatment for their addiction, says a report published by the New York based group Human Rights Watch.

Their report, Skin on the Cable, was based on field research conducted in 2009, including interviews with 63 former inmates of seven of the country’s 11 dedicated drug detention centres and 11 members of staff from non-governmental and United Nations agencies working in Cambodia.

Joseph Amon, director of the health and human rights division of Human Rights Watch, said, “All of them told us the same story: of outrageous abuses and horrible conditions. People described being whipped with electrical cables, beaten, raped, or shocked with Tasers. They were forced to work and exercise to the point of …