This seminal report will be the first comprehensive examination of juveniles in detention in Cambodia. Savontang stands out from the rest. There are many more Savontangs nation-wide. Open, the Cambodian courts detain children in prison for petty offenses such as stealing a cow, clothes, or car mirrors. Legal Aid of Cambodia's lawyers and staff periodically visit provincial prisons and observe children incarcerated with adult offenders with little consideration for the seriousness of the crime committed by either party.
Children sleep in the same cells as hardened convicts for a current lack of space and alternatives.
These conditions inevitably expose children to potential abuse by the adult inmates and guards. Moreover, the environment in the prisons is incompatible with rehabilitative goals for inmates, in general, and children, in particular. Prisons lack the most basic necessities such as adequate food, clothing, bedding, space, recreation, education, and health care. In the US these conditions have been classified as cruel and unusual punishment by courts of law and alternatives have been created. In Cambodia, local authorities either are unaware of alternatives to incarceration or lack financial resources and the will to search for other solutions.