(SEAPA/IFEX) – SEAPA has raised alarms over the arrest and detention of two prominent Cambodian human rights defenders on charges of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen under Article 63 of Penal Code. On 31 December 2005, Cambodia Center for Human Rights (CCHR) director Kem Sokha and Cambodia Center Education of Law (CCEL) coordinator Yeng Virak […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – SEAPA has raised alarms over the arrest and detention of two prominent Cambodian human rights defenders on charges of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen under Article 63 of Penal Code.
On 31 December 2005, Cambodia Center for Human Rights (CCHR) director Kem Sokha and Cambodia Center Education of Law (CCEL) coordinator Yeng Virak were arrested in their respective offices.
The Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ) reported on 1 January 2006 that the arrest took place despite the presence of foreign ambassadors and local and international media. According to CAPJ reports, the two were later escorted to court to hear the charges before being sent to Prey Sar Prison for detention.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said on 4 January that CCHR’s “Voice of Democracy” radio broadcast was shut down for several hours to prevent it from broadcasting live coverage of the arrest. The government claimed that the program’s live broadcast on the arrest could have incited public unrest.
According to CAPJ reports, the defamation charges were brought against Sokha and Virak by the Cambodian government on 21 December. Government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said Sokha and Virak were responsible for a hand-written banner on Human Rights Day on 10 December which bore the slogan: “It is a Communist Government and Traitor Regime”.
Sokha reportedly denied his participation in the Human Rights Day celebration and any responsibility for the slogan.
“The slogan on the banner was written by the people. This is out of my responsibility because a different committee worked for this demonstration on Human Rights Day,” Sokha was quoted as saying by reporters.
If convicted, Sokha and Virak could face up to one year in jail, be fined up to 10 million riels (approx. US$2,400), or both.
Ambassadors to the United States, Britain and Japan, and representatives of the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch in Cambodia have already expressed concerns over the arrest and detention of the two prominent activists as a sign of a worsening human rights and free expression situation in Cambodia.
SEAPA protests against the arrest and detention of Sokha and Virak as a clear violation of international principles of free expression and the right to advocacy, provided under the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
SEAPA calls upon the government to drop all criminal and defamation charges brought against its opponents and critics and to immediately release all such individuals currently detained on these grounds.
