THE OBSERVATORY - PRESS RELEASE
CAMBODIA: Release immediately all human rights defenders detained
on the eve of ASEAN Summit!
Geneva-Paris, November 16, 2012. As the 21st Summit and Related
Summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is about to start
this Sunday in Phnom
Penh, the Observatory
for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human
Rights (FIDH), urges the Cambodian authorities to immediately release Mr. Mam Sonando, Ms. Yorm Bopha and Ms.
Tim Sakmony and to
put an end to any act of harassment against Cambodian human rights defenders.
From November 18 to 20,
2012, the Cambodian capital will welcome the 21st
ASEAN Summit and the 7th East Asia Summit. On this occasion, the
Observatory reiterates its call to the Cambodian authorities to put an end to
any act of harassment against human rights defenders, when 2012 saw an increase
in arbitrary arrests and
detention, judicial harassment, and, in some cases, assassination of defenders.
In particular, defending
economic, social and cultural rights has become increasingly risky for
Cambodian human rights defenders, especially when their activities run up
against powerful private interests which have benefited from economic land
concessions granted by the Government as well as from protection of their
concessions provided by State security forces.
On October 1, 2012, Mr. Mam Sonando, an outspoken advocate against human rights abuses, was sentenced to 20 years’
imprisonment and a fine of 10 million riels after being found guilty on charges
of insurrection and inciting people to take up arms against the State, in the
framework of a long-running land conflict with a private company in Kratie province.
Mr. Sonando’s arrest also followed his reporting over Beehive Radio of a complaint lodged at the International Criminal
Court (ICC) arguing that land-grabbing in Cambodia amounts to a crime against
humanity. A public call for his arrest was then issued by Prime Minister Hun
Sen in a nationwide televised speech.
Similarly, women human rights defenders Yorm Bopha and Tim Sakmony remain detained since September 4 and
5 respectively, on the basis of questionable allegations. Ms. Yorm Bopha, a
pivotal figure in the protests against forced evictions in the Boeung Kak area
of Phnom Penh, was detained for allegedly assaulting a person suspected of
theft. Ms. Tim Sakmony, a leader in protests against forced evictions from the
Borei Keila area of the capital, was arrested after the owner of land developer
Phanimex lodged a complaint alleging that she had made a “false declaration” in
a suit accusing Phanimex of inadequate compensation for persons evicted from
land the company is developing.
Accordingly, the Observatory calls upon the Cambodian
authorities to release immediately and unconditionally Mr.
Mam Sonando, Ms. Yorm
Bopha and Ms. Tim Sakmony, and to put an end to the judicial
harassment against them, as well as against Mr. Chan Soveth, Senior Investigator and Deputy
Head of the Monitoring Section of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development
Association (ADHOC) - who is being prosecuted since August 2012 on the basis of
charges that appear to be connected to the above-mentioned land dispute in
Kratie province -, and all human rights defenders in Cambodia, in compliance with the United
Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified
by Cambodia.
The Observatory also urges the
authorities to establish the full truth and re-open an immediate, thorough,
effective and impartial investigation into the extrajudicial killing of
prominent environmental activist Mr. Chut Wutty, Founder of the National
Resources Protection Group (NRPG), in Mondol Seima district, Koh Kong province,
in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil
competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal sanctions provided by
the law, after a Koh Kong court
concluded on
October 22 that Mr. Chut Wutty was
killed by a military police officer who was in turn fatally shot by a logging
company’s security guard, thereby terminating the investigation.
For further
information, please contact:
·
OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: + 41 22 809 49 39
·
FIDH: Arthur Manet / Audrey Couprie: + 33
1 43 55 25 18
Properties
Date: November 16, 2012
Activity: Human Rights Defenders
Type: Urgent Interventions
Country: Cambodia
Activity: Human Rights Defenders
Type: Urgent Interventions
Country: Cambodia
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