Joint statement To Cambodian Gvt re Tola Moeun FINAL key signatories<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWe, the undersigned global unions and international human rights and workers\u2019 rights
\norganizations, call for the charges against Cambodian human rights defender Moeun Tola to
\nbe immediately dropped.<\/p>\n
As reported on January 18, 2018, in the Phnom Penh Post, prosecutors in Cambodia have
\nsought criminal charges and an order for pre-trial detention against Tola and two other
\nprominent civil society leaders, Pa Nguon Teang, an advocate for press freedom, and
\nVenerable But Buntenh, an activist monk. Tola is the Executive Director of the Center for the
\nAlliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL), and is a renowned supporter of labor
\nrights in Cambodia.<\/p>\n
On January 18, the Phnom Penh Court deputy prosecutor issued a preliminary charge for
\n\u201cbreach of trust\u201d against the three men, who were all members of the funeral committee for
\nmurdered activist Kem Ley. The deputy prosecutor also recommended that they be placed in
\npre-trial detention. None of the men were in the country at the time of the announcement; they
\nrisk imprisonment for an indefinite period if they return. If convicted, they face imprisonment
\nfor up to three years.<\/p>\n
It is well known that Cambodia\u2019s courts are not independent, but rather are driven by the
\npolitical interests of the ruling Cambodian People\u2019s Party. These charges constitute an attempt
\nto silence and punish one of the country\u2019s leading independent voices for worker rights. As
\ndetailed in the Phnom Penh Post, the pretext for the changes is a criminal complaint filed
\nagainst Tola by Pich Sros, the leader of the obscure Cambodia Youth Party. Last year, Pich
\nSros filed the first complaint against the country\u2019s main opposition party, the Cambodia
\nNational Rescue Party, and its leader Kem Sokha, which led to Sokha\u2019s jailing and the party\u2019s
\ndissolution by the courts.<\/p>\n
The charges issued against Tola concern an unsubstantiated claim that he and the two other
\nactivists misappropriated funds raised for the funeral of Kem Ley, a well-known government
\ncritic who was assassinated in July 2016. Human Rights Watch has termed the
\ncharges \u201cpolitically motivated legal harassment\u201d and an example of the government targeting
\ncivil society activists. Moreover, multiple members of Kem Ley\u2019s own family have repeatedly
\nstated that there is no basis for the allegations, and that Tola and the other two accused leaders
\nnever handled any of the funeral funds. Further, the complainant politician, Pich Sros, neither
\ntook part in the funeral nor has any connections to Kem Ley\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
This case is emblematic of broader deterioration in the labor rights and human rights climate
\nin Cambodia, where the government has closed down a number of independent media outlets,
\nshut down the National Democratic Institute (NDI), dissolved the Cambodia National Rescue
\nParty and arrested its leader on \u201ctreason\u201d charges, and engaged in politically motivated
\nprosecutions against a number of human rights defenders and unionists.<\/p>\n
We, the undersigned organizations, are strongly calling upon the Cambodian
\ngovernment to respect fundamental human rights and to immediately drop the charges
\nagainst Tola and his two co-defendants.<\/p>\n
We stand in solidarity with 35 Cambodian human rights organizations expressing similar
\nconcerns and call for action.<\/p>\n
Sincerely,<\/p>\n
Building and Wood Worker\u2019s International
\nInternational Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied
\nWorkers’ Associations
\nPublic Services International
\nInternational Domestic Workers Federation
\nHuman Rights Watch
\nAsia Floor Wage Alliance
\nClean Clothes Campaign
\nInterfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
\nInternational Labor Rights Forum
\nUnited Students Against Sweatshops
\nBangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity
\nMaquila Solidarity Network
\nNational Guestworker Alliance
\nGlobalization Monitor
\nAsian Transnational Corporations Monitoring Network
\nNational Economic and Social Rights Initiative
\nHuman Rights Now
\nJobs With Justice
\nCoalition of Immokalee Workers
\nPeople & Planet
\nChina Labour Bulletin
\nLabour Education and Service Network
\nStudents and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour
\nKorean House for International Solidarity
\nLabour Action China
\nBangladesh Nari Progati Sangh
\nSedane Labour Resource Centre (LIPS)
\nTenaganita Womens’ Force
\nAction Labour Rights
\nLabour Education Foundation
\nMAP Foundation
\nTrade Union Rights Centre Indonesia
\nPakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research
\nThe Cambodian Australian Federation
\nT’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Human Rights Now signed a joint statement with 34 other organizations to call on the Cambodian government to end politically motivated persecution of human rights defender Moeun Tola. The entire statement can be read below or downloaded here:\u00a0Joint statement To Cambodian Gvt re Tola Moeun FINAL key signatories We, the undersigned global unions and international human rights and workers\u2019 rights organizations, call for the charges against Cambodian human rights defender Moeun Tola to be immediately dropped. As reported on January 18, 2018, in the Phnom Penh Post, prosecutors in Cambodia have sought criminal charges and an order for pre-trial detention against Tola and two other prominent civil society leaders, Pa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"countries":[],"class_list":["post-4374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-statement"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4376,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4374\/revisions\/4376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4374"},{"taxonomy":"countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/countries?post=4374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}