Chab Dai and LICADHO turn a blind eye to Citipointe church's human rights abuses of Chanti, Chhork and their daughters Rosa and Chita

Dear Naly and Helen

You have both ignored my letter to you of 13^th March:

http://citipointechurch.blogspot.in/2013/03/for-naly-pilorge-licadho-and-helen.html

You have also chosen to ignore my “13 Questions for Chab Dai and LICADHO” published on 17^th March:

http://citipointechurch.blogspot.in/2013/03/13-questions-for-chab-dai-and-licadho.html

“For Naly Pilorge and Helen Sworn regarding Australia's Prime Minister's apology to parent and child victims of forced adoption last century”

http://citipointechurch.blogspot.in/2013/03/for-naly-pilorge-and-helen-sworn.html

I should not be surprised, I suppose, since both of you have ignored all correspondence from me this past close to five years relating to the illegal removal of Rosa and Chita from their family in August 2008. This does not reflect well on the commitment of either Chab Dai or LICADHO to the basic precepts of transparency and accountability. Worse still, your silence regarding Chanti and Chhork’s legal and human rights amounts to the tacit approval of both Chab Dai and LICADHO to the forced removal of girls from the care of their family without the parents being told why the removal has taken place, without the parents being provided with copies of agreements that Citipointe church has entered into with Cambodia’s Ministries of Foreign and Social Affairs, without the parents being provided with any reintegration plan for close to five years, without the family being offered any financial assistance at all to life it out of poverty, without Chantix being offered any counseling at all regarding contraception, and without even medical assistance when, 8 months pregnant, Chanti’s baby was at risk as a result of her pneumonia that required her hospitalization. Chab Dai and Citipointe have turned a blind eye to Citipointe church’s abrogation of Chanti and Chhork’s human rights and to those of their daughters – both of whom have made it clear that they wish to be living with their family and not in an institution in which (they claim) they do not receive sufficient food, in which water is locked up at night so that they cannot drink and in which their hair is perpetually infested with lice – this last being something I can verify. On each and every occasion this past close to five years that I have been filming when Rosa and Chita visit, Chanti’s first task has been to de-louse the girls.

Citipointe’s behavior in relation to Rosa, Chita and their parents is quite simply unacceptable and the She Rescue Home should, I believe, be closed down. Some justification for the church’s actions could, I suppose, be put forward if Rosa and Chita were in fact the victims of Human Trafficking. However, as has been known to Chab Dai, the LICADHO and to MOSAVY for close to five years now, Rosa and Chita are not victims of Human Trafficking. They are merely the daughters of a poor family whose mother and grandmother were tricked into applying their thumb prints to a document that they believed had been presented to them by LICADHO. How can LICADHO countenance this form of deception in its own name without peaking out? Or was LICADHO a willing party to the drawing up of this phony contract – a contract which, in not being countersigned or witnessed and containing no terms and conditions, is not a legal document. The illegality of the document has been known for four years now and yet, again, Chab Dai and LICADHO have chosen to turn a blind eye to this fact.

On the basis of my experience with Citipointe it seems that pretty much any and everyone can open up an NGO and do what they like with neither Chab Dai or LICADHO raising any objections at all in public. An extraordinary state of affairs!

Naly, Helen, Chanti and Chhork’s hearts have been broken so many times now. Please do whatever you can to stop this form occurring. Please ask Citipointe church to provide Chanti (and myself as her legally appointed advocate) with copies of any and all agreements that Citipointe has entered into with the Ministries of Foreign and Social Affairs that gave the church the legal right, in August 2008, to retain custody of Rosa and Chita against the wishes of their parents. Rebecca Brewer made it clear in her email of 11^th August 2008 that Citipointe believed it had the legal right to hold Rosa and Chita until they were 18. I do not believe that on that date or at any time for the following year that Citipointe had any legal right to hold the girls. Whether I am right or wrong can only be determined if Citipointe produces the documents that demonstrate the legality of the church’s actions.

best wishes

James Ricketson