Phnom Penh, 11 February 2014 – The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) condemns the Court’s decision today to continue to detain 21 demonstrators arrested during peaceful demonstrations in early January, 2014. ADHOC provided lawyers to 15 of the 23 people arrested at Yakjin Factory on 02 January 2014 and at the Canadia Industrial Zone on 03 January 2014.
ADHOC urges the Courts to drop all charges against the 23 demonstrators, and to compensate them for the time they have been illegally detained. Citizens of Cambodia have a constitutionally protected right to demonstrate, a right which has been denied through the use of deadly force to crackdown on demonstrators and the ongoing ban on assemblies. Four people have been killed; one young man is missing and scores more have been injured since the start of January. As yet nobody has been held to account for the violence, highlighting the culture of impunity which plagues Cambodia. The use of live ammunition on demonstrators is in breach of international standards of proportionality and has been widely condemned by rights groups and observers.
ADHOC calls for an independent investigation into the actions of the security forces in cracking down on demonstrations and the pre-trial detention of those detained. This should be implemented by the United Nations Investigative Committee. Human Rights NGOs and civil society must be allowed to take part in the process. Those implicated in the death of demonstrators must be held to account for their actions and the court system, which has so far failed to abide by international legal standards as it has so often failed in the past, must be reformed.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Ny Chakrya (Head of Human Rights Monitoring and Legal Aid Section) 011274959 – Khmer
Mr. Nay Vanda (Deputy Head of Human Rights Monitoring and Legal Aid Section) 012530251 – English
