KHM 001 / 0616 / OBS 047.5

Judicial harassment

Cambodia

August 22, 2018

The Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in Cambodia.

New information:

The Observatory has beeninformed by reliable sources about the continued judicial harassment of Mr.Yi Soksan, Senior Investigator, Mr. Nay Vanda,Head of Administration, senior staff members of the Cambodian Human Rights andDevelopment Association (ADHOC) and Mr. Ny Chakrya,former Head of ADHOC’s Human Rights and Monitoring Section and now DeputySecretary-General of the National Election Committee (NEC).

According to theinformation received, on the morning of August 12, 2018, Mr. Nay Vanda receiveda summons at his home issued by the Vice Prosecutor of the Phnom Penh MunicipalCourt, Mr. Kuch Kim Long and dated August 9, 2018. On August 15 and 16, 2018,respectively, Mr. Ny Chakrya and Mr. Yi Soksan also received the same summonses.They have all been sued to attend a hearing at 7:30am on August 27, 2018 at thePhnom Penh Municipal Court, in relation to trumped-up charges that were broughtagainst them in May 2016 and for which they have been arbitrarily detained formore than one year between 2016 and 2017 (see background information)

The Observatory recallsthat, in addition to Messrs. Yi Soksan, NayVanda, and Ny Chakrya, the charges, whichare still pending, include ADHOC Senior Investigator, Ms. Lim Mony, and ADHOC Head of Human Rights and Land Rights Section,Mr. Ny Sokha (see backgroundinformation) All five human rights defenders face 5 to 10 years’ imprisonment,if convicted.

The Observatory condemns inthe strongest terms the continued judicial harassment against Mr. Ny Sokha, Mr.Yi Soksan, Mr. Nay Vanda, Ms. Lim Mony, and Mr. Ny Chakrya and urges theCambodian authorities to drop all charges against the five human rightsdefenders, as they are only aimed at punishing them for their peaceful andlegitimate human rights activities. The Observatory also urges the authoritiesto end all acts of harassment, including at thejudicial level, against all human rights defenders in the country.

Background information:

In March 2016, Ms. KhomChandaraty (aka Srey Mom) had requested the assistance of ADHOC in connectionwith her interrogation by anti-terrorism police and a prosecutor about analleged affair with deputy opposition leader Mr. Kem Sokha. ADHOC responded toMs. Srey Mom’s request for legal and material assistance and provided a US$204allowance to cover her food and transportation costs. This legitimate support,aimed at covering the basic expenses of a client, was subsequently construed bythe Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) as bribery and corruption.

On April 27 and 28, 2016,Messrs. Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, Ny Chakrya, and Ms. Lim Mony werebrought in for questioning by the ACU. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) official Mr.Soen Sally, who was also summoned, did not appear before the ACU due to hisimmunity as a UN staff member.

On May 2, 2016, Messrs.Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, and Ms. Lim Mony were charged with “bribery ofa witness” under Article 548 of the Criminal Code and detained. In addition,Messrs. Ny Chakrya and Soen Sally were charged with being “accomplices tobribery of a witness” under Articles 29 and 548 of the Criminal Code. Mr. NyChakrya was also detained.

On June 13 andSeptember 28, 2016 respectively, the Court of Appeals in Phnom Penh and thenthe Phnom Penh Municipal Court denied bail to the five defenders.

On October 27, 2016,the Phnom Penh Municipal Court extended the detention of the five for up toanother six months under the pretext that the defendants needed to remainavailable for any further interrogation and court procedures.

On November 11, 2016,the five defenders were denied bail for the second time by the Court ofAppeals.

On November 21, 2016,the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) declared the detention ofMessrs. Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, Ny Chakrya, and Ms. Lim Mony arbitrary.The UNWGAD said their deprivation of liberty was in contravention of Articles7, 9, 10, 11, and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) andArticles 9, 10, 14, 22, and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights (ICCPR), to which Cambodia is a State party. The UNWGAD calledon the Cambodian authorities to immediately release the five human rightsdefenders and award them appropriate compensation.

On November 28, 2016,the Court of Appeals upheld the extension of their pre-trial detention foranother six months and refused to close the investigation. The Court arguedthat the issue of the extension of detention and the continuation of theinvestigation were up to the discretion of the Investigating Judge of the PhnomPenh Municipal Court.

On November 30, 2016,the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeals’ June 13, 2016 decision to refuseto release the five on bail. The Court based its decision on Article 205 of theCriminal Procedure Code, therefore upholding the continued applicability ofboth detention grounds, i.e. to maintain public order and to prevent collusionwith accomplices, victims, and witnesses.

On February 27, 2017,the Supreme Court decided to sever the appeal of Mr. Ny Chakrya from that ofthe other four defenders.

On March 13 and March31, 2017 respectively, the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeals’ November28, 2016 decision to extend the pre-trial detention of Messrs. Ny Sokha, YiSoksan, Nay Vanda, and Ms. Lim Mony and of Mr. Ny Chakrya for up to another sixmonths.

On April 27, 2017, thePhnom Penh Municipal Court’s Investigating Judge Theam Chanpiseth extended thedetention of Messrs. Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, Ny Chakrya, and Ms. LimMony for another six-month period.

On June 29, 2017,Investigating Judge Theam Chanpiseth ordered the release on bail of Messrs. NySokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, Ms. LimMony, and Mr. Ny Chakrya. Between 7pm and 8.30pm,they were all released from Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar and Police Judiciaireprisons, where they had been incarcerated for 427 days in pre-trial detentionon trumped-up charges. The decision came after the Judge closed theinvestigation and sent the case to trial for a yet to be determined date.

Actions requested:

Please write to theauthorities in Cambodia, urging them to:

i. Ensure that Messrs. Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda and NyChakrya right to a fair trial is respected andguarantee their physical and psychological integrity, as well as that of allhuman rights defenders in Cambodia;

ii. Put an end to all forms of harassment,including at the judicial level, against Messrs. Ny Chakrya, Ny Sokha, YiSoksan, Nay Vanda, and Ms. Lim Mony, and against all human rights defenders inthe country so that they are able to carry out their work without hindrance;

iii. Comply with all provisions of the UNDeclaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations GeneralAssembly on December 9, 1998, in particular with its Articles 1, 5(b), and12.2;

iv. Guarantee the respect of human rights andfundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on HumanRights and other international human rights instruments signed or ratified bythe Kingdom of Cambodia.

Addresses:

· Mr. Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Fax: +855 23360666 / 855 23 880624 (c/o Council of Ministers), Email:leewood_phu@nida.gov.kh / cppparty@gmail.com

· Mr. Sar Kheng, Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister of theKingdom of Cambodia. Fax: +855 23 212708, Email: moi@cambodia.gov.kh

· Mr. Ang Vong Vathna, Minister of Justice of the Kingdom of Cambodia.Fax: +855 23 364119, Email: moj@cambodia.gov.kh

· Mr. Prak Sokhon, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom ofCambodia. Fax: +855 23 216 144 / +855 23 216141, Email: mfaic@mfa.gov.kh / mfaicasean@mfaic.gov.kh

· Mr. Keo Remy, President of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee. Fax:+855 12 813781 / +855 23 211162 / +855 23 881045 (c/o Council of Ministers)

· Mr. Suon Visal, President of the Cambodian Bar Association. Fax: +855 23 864076, Email: info@bakc.org.kh

· Ambassador Mr. Ney Samol, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Cambodiato the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 788 77 74, Email:camemb.gva@mfa.gov.kh

Please also write to the diplomatic missionsor embassies of Cambodia in your respective country as well as to the EUdiplomatic missions or embassies in Cambodia.

***

Paris-Geneva, August 22, 2018

Kindly inform us of any action undertakenquoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protection of HumanRights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is tointervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights DefendersMechanism implemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergencyline:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 4355 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29