Phnom Penh, 3 April 2012 — The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) is deeply concerned about illegitimate restrictions to the right to freedom of expression and illegal arrests of community representatives in relation to the ASEAN People’s Forum, happened last weekend in Phnom Penh. On 31 March 2012, two community leaders were prevented from participating in a workshop of the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN Peoples’ Forum (ACSC/APF) and detained by the police without any legal justification.
On 30 March 2012, a group of thirty people from Botum Sakor and Kiri Sakor districts, Koh Kong province, travelled to Phnom Penh to submit a petition to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China. Their communities are embroiled in a land dispute with Union Development Group (UDG), a Chinese company which was awarded a land concession for the development of a tourism project. The following day, as they set out to go to the Chinese Embassy, armed forces prevented them from leaving their guesthouse. They were forced to enter a vehicle which took them back to Koh Kong province, and the police confiscated their petition.
However, five community representatives—Mrs. Tep Vanna, Mr. Lim Song and Mr. Chhay Peng Hout from Botum Sakor, and Mrs. Meung An and Mr. Tet Ten from Kiri Sakor—managed to make it back to Phnom Penh. On 31 March, three of them were invited to participate in a press conference and a workshop in the framework of the ACSC/APF, an event organized by civil society organizations to give the peoples of the region a voice in the run up to the April 2012 Phnom Penh ASEAN Summit. The three talked about restrictions on their right to peaceful protest.
At 4:00pm, as Mrs. Tep Vanna and Mr. Chhay Peng Hout went back to their guesthouse, they were arrested by the police, officially because they did not wear name tags during the press conference. They were brought to Phnom Penh Police Commission, detained for three hours, and forced to thumbprint documents stating they would not try to disrupt the ASEAN Summit. They were released after an intervention from ADHOC President Thun Saray and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Cambodian authorities contacted the guesthouse to know the names and whereabouts of the three other community representatives. ADHOC helped them move to another, safer place.
ADHOC reminds Cambodian authorities that they are under obligation to uphold citizens’ rights to free expression, association and peaceful assembly. Both the Cambodian Constitution and several international human rights instruments to which Cambodia is a party protect these rights. Diplomatic relations include the duty to protect foreign embassies from violence; they do not entail the right to prevent peaceful protesters from submitting petitions to foreign diplomats or raising issues of transnational concern.
Furthermore, ADHOC urges Cambodian authorities to stop placing undue restrictions on the activities of human rights defenders and community representatives, notably through illegal arrests and detention. Freedom of movement is protected under Cambodian and international law, and there is no legal basis for law enforcement officials preventing community members from exiting their guesthouse, deporting them from Phnom Penh, or participating in civil society meetings. Besides, the fact that Mrs. Tep Vanna and Mr. Chhay Peng Hout were arrested simply for failing to wear seminar name tags makes it clear that their detention was illegal and aimed to prevent them from being heard.
As Cambodia is chairing this year’s ASEAN Summit and seeking non-permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council, ADHOC reminds the Cambodian government that their actions are under international scrutiny, notably from human rights bodies and organizations. Respect for the right to peaceful protest, as well as for the right to freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, are standards against which Cambodia’s application for membership in international decision-making institutions will be assessed. Without these basic human rights and freedoms in place, Cambodia cannot be taken seriously as a functioning democracy, and therefore will not be endorsed by other countries that value such principles.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Ny Chakrya, Head of Monitoring Section at ADHOC: 011 274 959
Mr. Chan Soveth, Deputy Head of Monitoring Section: 016 937 591
Mr. Nicolas Agostini, Technical Assistant: 078 405 024
