Massachusetts lawmakers condemn Hun Sen’s crackdown and political charges against Members of Cambodia’s leading opposition political party
Washington (January 13, 2021) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), lead Democrat on the East Asia Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) released a statement in response to the scheduled January 14, 2021 trial of prominent political opposition leaders in Cambodia. The Government of Cambodia, led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, announced last year their intention to try dozens of activists belonging to the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the country’s main opposition party which was outlawed in 2017, sending many of its leaders into exile. Trials against some of the activists are scheduled to begin this week, while many are prevented from entering Cambodia to participate in their own defense.
“Prime Minister Hun Sen’s campaign to silence his political opponents by denying them the right to defend themselves in court reveals disdain for the rule of law,” said Senator Markey, Senator Warren, and Rep. Trahan. “Convening a kangaroo court to punish his critics for their opposition, along with his continued attacks on the press and civil-society, is a reflection of Hun Sen’s growing weakness, not strength. We call upon the Government of Cambodia to allow any individuals facing charges to return safely to Cambodia to participate in their own trials. However, it is clear that these trials are politically motivated and are operating outside the rule of law. The Cambodia Democracy Act sends the clear message that the U.S. Congress intends to help the Cambodian people deliver on the promise of the Paris Peace Agreements of a generation ago so they can participate freely in their government. We should pass that legislation.”
On January 14, 2021, Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Municipal Court will reportedly try 47 CNRP activists and officials, including Acting CNRP President Sam Rainsy, who lives in exile abroad, and others linked to politically-motivated charges of trying to organize protests against and overthrow the government of Hun Sen. The government has also failed to offer credible evidence to support charges of treason against Kem Sokha, CNRP President, for allegedly attempting to overthrow the Cambodian People’s Party. The Government of Cambodia has failed to issue passports and visas for opposition leaders and activists charged, making it unlikely they will be to answer their court summons in person. In 2020, Senator Markey introduced the Cambodia Democracy Act, in response to the deteriorating human rights and democracy situation in Cambodia.###
Posted by: Analyst S | Posted on: December 9, 2020
Talking on live show of Youth Voice for Justice of CNRP America, Mr. Sophoan adamantly articulated the viable plan returning back to Cambodia of CNRP leadership led by Mu Sochua as it is a mature political attitude responding to the court’s summons.
Legally speaking, the repatriation plan is purely to fight with the accusation of the Phnom Penh municipal Court summoned by deputy prosecutor Seng Heang. The accusation is bogus “plotting” to commit treason and “incitement” to commit a felony which are a serious crime without bleeding or hurting anybody physically and mentally at all. The accusation is politically motivated. The due process is non-existent as en mass trial was created by improper en mass name listing all together to attest to a public building. The court proceeding is set up to denounce all justice attempts because the defendants are not allowed to having sufficient time to prepare themselves at all including seeking or exercising rights to obtaining legal counsel or attorney. While the initial accusation is high the chance of trial in absentia is pretty bogus, this returning back to fight the legal accusation is apolitical. And no one can block or ban this physical presenting of the defendants as well as manipulating the court proceeding.
Political pragmatism has been visibly emerging among Cambodian people and their leaders. Court proceedings are considered the most safety net of social reform and social order revitalization although it is a bad court or a good court. When a society is at war, the brave men and women are needed to carry gun; but when a society is at peace, the brave men and women are needed to carry pen and paper. The court of Cambodia has been notoriously known for its “travesty of justice”. Many men and women have already been thrown in jail because of this bad court practice, and the sacrifices of those men and women shall deepen a new successful chapter of history of Cambodia. The grand policy to walk into the court room in order to restructure, repaint, restore human resource and refinance it, is very pragmatic and optimistic.
29 Years Anniversary of Paris Peace Agreement 23 October 1991-2020
ប្រធានបទ៖ ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរត្រូវការសន្តិភាពពិតប្រាកដតាមចំណារនៃកិច្ចព្រមព្រៀងសន្តិភាពទីក្រុងប៉ារីស Theme: Cambodian people need genuine peace as has been well inscribed within the Paris Peace Agreement
We, the undersigned 32 civil society organizations, urge the Governments of Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America to echo the European Union (EU) in its call for the respect of human rights in Cambodia. On August 12, 2020, the EU will partially suspend Cambodia’s “Everything But Arms” (EBA) tariff preferences in response to the Cambodian government’s “serious and systematic violations” of four human and labor rights conventions: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize No. 87 (1948), the ILO Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organize and to Bargain Collectively, No. 98 (1949), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966).
The Cambodian government continues to crack down on civil society, independent media, and the political opposition and human rights defenders to silence critical voices in the country. In the past three years it has adopted a series of repressive laws that unduly restrict human rights. In November 2019, the Cambodian authorities had arbitrarily detained nearly 90 people solely on the basis of the peaceful expression of their opinions or political views as well as their political affiliations. While 74 opposition members, detained on spurious charges, were released from detention in December 2019, the charges against them remain, and they risk re-arrest. Opposition leader Kem Sokha’s criminal trial for unsubstantiated treason charges has been marred by irregularities since it began in January. Sokha remains banned from politics and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. The Prime Minister announced that the trial could drag on into 2021.
In April, the Cambodian government used the Covid-19 crisis to adopt an unnecessary and draconian state of emergency law that provides the authorities with broad and unfettered powers to restrict freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association – rights that have already been severely restricted during his 35 years in power. Currently, another 30 political prisoners are behind bars due to the Cambodian government’s continued onslaught on free speech in the guise of combating Covid-19.
Cambodia committed to protecting and promoting fundamental human rights, providing equal protection of the law, and holding genuine periodic elections when it ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Cambodian government ratified all of the fundamental ILO Conventions that protect the rights of workers and trade unions. Respect for human rights and the rule of law are essential for a stable and flourishing business environment over the long term.
Cambodia agreed that access to the EU’s Everything But Arms preferential trade scheme is conditional on adherence to the principles in 15 core human rights and labor rights conventions. The European Commission’s decision on February 12, 2020 to partially suspend Cambodia’s EBA preferences followed a yearlong process of ‘enhanced engagement’ between the EU and Cambodia during which the Cambodian government was given every opportunity to cooperate and make significant progress in improving its protection of human rights and labor rights. The European Commission concluded that Cambodia had failed to take necessary measures to retain full EBA benefits.
