{"id":7679,"date":"2024-08-26T10:53:24","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T01:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/?p=7679"},"modified":"2024-08-26T10:54:12","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T01:54:12","slug":"hrc57-ws-cambodia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/news\/2024\/08\/26\/hrc57-ws-cambodia\/","title":{"rendered":"[Statement] The Cambodian government must end its arbitrary arrests and campaign of suppression against political opposition and civil society"},"content":{"rendered":"

HRN has submitted a written statement to the 57th Session of the Human Rights Council calling on the government of Cambodia to end the arbitrary arrests and campaign of suppression against political opposition and civil society in Cambodia.<\/p>\n

The statement is below and here<\/a> in PDF format.<\/p>\n

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The Cambodian government must end its arbitrary arrests and campaign of suppression against political opposition and civil society
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Hun Manet\u2019s first year as Prime Minister has been a continuation of his father Hun Sen\u2019s repressive legacy following his 38-year authoritarian rule as head of the ruling Cambodian People\u2019s Party (CPP), with arbitrary arrests, harassment, and myriad restrictions inflicted upon political opponents, civil society, and journalists alike. Below are four ways that his campaign of suppression and rights violations are continuing.<\/p>\n

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  1. Suppression of Political Opposition: <\/strong>The 2023 National Election was characterized by attacks on activists[1]<\/sup><\/a> and election law changes which undermined true contestation.[2]<\/sup><\/a> Since then, the opposition Candlelight Party\u2014successor to the forcibly dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)\u2014was barred from the 2024 Senate Elections on the questionable basis that it lacked an original copy of its registration document.[3]<\/sup><\/a> Further, opposition members like National Power Party\u2019s leader Sun Chanthy[4]<\/sup><\/a> and the Candlelight Party\u2019s Vice President Thach Setha[5]<\/a> have faced incitement convictions, while the Candlelight Party\u2019s President Teav Vannol and another Vice-President Son Chhay have both faced defamation judgments with damages upward of USD$1 million.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    1. Suppression of <\/strong>Civil Society:<\/strong> At least 74 people were arrested between 23 July and 18 August 2024 for legitimate and peaceful activism surrounding the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area agreement (CLV-DTA).[6]<\/a> Checkpoints were deployed throughout the country to monitor the activism, and authorities announced that protestors could face 15 to 30 years in prison on treason charges.[7]<\/a> In July 2024, ten environmental youth activists from Mother Nature were sentenced to between 6 and 8 years in prison for plotting against the government and l<\/em>\u00e8se-majest\u00e9<\/em>.[8]<\/a> Five of those activists were violently apprehended after the verdict was announced and sent to five different prisons across the country, a cruel and unusual punishment that has no precedent in Cambodia.[9]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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      1. Arbitrary Restrictions on<\/strong> Journalists<\/strong>: In February 2023, one of Cambodia’s last independent news outlets Voice of Democracy<\/em> was shut down for naming Hun Manet, and not then-Prime Minister Hun Sen, as the signatory of a foreign aid document.[10]<\/a> Further restrictions followed when the government ordered internet providers to block websites associated with certain news outlets.[11]<\/sup><\/a> In December 2023, a Ministry of Information spokesperson stated that freedom of the press does not cover political content, further limiting independent journalism in Cambodia.[12]<\/sup><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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        1. Forced Evictions: <\/strong>In the last year and a half, about 5,000 families have been evicted from areas surrounding Angkor Wat under conditions that suggest forced removals with insufficient compensation and inadequate replacement housing. [13]<\/a> Another 5,000 are expected to be removed. Further, about 500 families are fighting for proper compensation after being displaced by the Funan Techo Canal project. This project is led by the Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation (OCIC) which has a documented history of being behind \u201chundreds of evictions and numerous land disputes<\/em>\u2014many of them lasting years and some turning violent<\/em>.\u201d[14]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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          1. Recommendations:<\/strong> HRN condemns the arbitrary arrests, suppression, and harassment of Cambodian dissenting voices, and we call on the Cambodian government to:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n