CAMBODIA: Independentradio station Director sentenced to 20 years in prison

Paris-Geneva, October 2, 2012. The Observatory forthe Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of theInternational Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), strongly condemns the conviction and harsh sentencingof Mr. Mam Sonando, Director and Owner of the FM station 105 (Beehive Radio),one of the few independent media outlets in Cambodia. Mr. Sonando is anoutspoken critic of the Government's human rights record, including serious andsystematic violations of land and housing rights.

Yesterday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Mam Sonandoguilty on charges of insurrection and inciting people to take up arms againstthe state under six articles under the Penal Code[1]and sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 10 million riels. OnJuly 16, 2012, he was formally charged by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Nineother co-defendants were also found guilty and sentenced to between 2 to 30years’ imprisonment and fines. The Court suspended the prison sentences of fiveco-defendants who had confessed. The co-defendants are all villagers from anarea in Kratie province which has been embroiled in a long-running landconflict with a private company.

Throughout the trial from September 11 to 14, the government dispatchedhundreds of police to block off the roads leading to the Phnom Penh MunicipalCourt to prevent Mr. Sonando’s supporters from gathering in front of the court.This heavy police presence also curtailed the presence of international trialobservers. Security guards removed an FIDH representative who attempted toobserve the trial on the ground that he did not receive an ‘admission ticket’to enter.

In his latest report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, theSpecial Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Cambodia, Mr. Surya Subedi,observed that human rights defenders and journalists “continued to encounterharassment, intimidation and the threat of a defamation or incitement lawsuit[2].”Such harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders have intensified in2012, characterised by arbitrary arrests and detention, judicial harassment,and, in some cases, assassination.

“Theconviction and sentencing of Sonando and other Kratie representatives isanother major blow to the rule of law in Cambodia”,said Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH president. “In the continuing absence ofcredible evidence in Sonando’s case, this guilty verdict is also an indictmentof the Cambodian judiciary which has all but lost any trace of independence andhas become instead a tool of repression of critics and human rights defenders”.

“Mam Sonando has been convictedfor his legitimate human rights activities. The Appeal Court should reversethis verdict and uphold the respect of the rule of law in Cambodia inaccordance to international human rights standards”,said Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary-General.

Background

Mr. Sonando is 70-year-old and holds both Cambodian and Frenchcitizenships. The Beehive Radio Station which he runs regularlybroadcasts reports that are critical of government polices. He is also thePresident of the Democrats Association, a non-governmental organisation dulyregistered with the Ministry of Interior with a mission to advocate fordemocratic freedoms and to raise awareness of civil and political rights,including the right to vote. Mr. Sonando was arrested on July 15 at hishome in Phnom Penh and has been in remand detention since.

The charges against Mr. Sonando stem from accusations by the Governmentthat Mr. Sonando was responsible for instigating villagers inhabiting an areaof farmland in Kratie province marked for development by the Russian company Casotim,which has been granted a 15,000 hectare economic land concession. On May 16,the Government sent in hundreds of armed security personnel, supported byhelicopter, to evict the villagers, killing Heng Chantha, a 14-year-old girl,during the crackdown. Government officials later justified the operation byclaiming the villagers, some of whom are members of the Democrats Association,were part of an attempt to secede from Cambodia. The authorities have so farfailed to initiate an investigation into the military siege and the killing ofHeng Chantha. Authorities have also failed to release any evidence of theso-called secessionist movement.

On June 22 2012, Mr. Sonando was in the Hague, the Netherlands, to coverthe presentation of a communication to the Office of the Prosecutor of theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) containing allegations of crimes againsthumanity committed by the Cambodian Government. The communication was submittedby the Khmer People Power Movement (KPPM), which is headed by prominentgovernment critic Sourn Serey Ratha. On June 22, the ICC acknowledged in writing the receipt of KPPM’scommunication. Mr. Sonando’s report on KPPM’s communication to the ICC wasbroadcast by Beehive Radio on June 25. A day later, on June 26, CambodianPrime Minister Hun Sen urged in a nationally broadcasted public speech that Mr.Sonando be arrested for masterminding “a plot to overthrow the Governmentand attempting to establish a State within a State”. No evidence has beenpresented to substantiate this claim.

Mr. Sonando has been imprisoned twice before. In 2003, he served twoweeks in prison after being charged with giving "false" informationand inciting people to commit crimes and to discriminate, in connection to atelephone call made to a program broadcast by Beehive radio in January 2003. In2005, he was again arrested and imprisoned for three months on charges ofincitement and defamation for giving an interview over the radio in whichcriticism of a border treaty between Cambodia and Vietnam was discussed.

For further information, please contact:

FIDH: Arthur Manet / Audrey Couprie:+ 33 1 43 55 25 18 (Paris)

OMCT: Isabelle Scherer: + 41 22 80949 39 (Geneva)

[1] Article 28 defines the crime of instigation of felony or a misdemeanor(felony is punishable by life imprisonment or by more than five years but nomore than 30 years, while a fine may also be imposed in addition toimprisonment; a misdemeanor is punishable by imprisonment between six days tofive years, while a fine may also be imposed in addition to imprisonment);Articles 456 and 457 define the crime of insurrectionary movement (punishableby imprisonment from seven to fifteen years); Article 464 defines the crime ofinciting people to take up arms against state authority (punishable byimprisonment from fifteen to thirty years if effective); Article 504 definesthe crime of obstruction of public officials (punishable by imprisonment fromsix months to one year and a fine from one million to two million Riels);Article 609 defines the crime of unlawful interference in the discharge ofpublic functions (punishable by imprisonment from one to three years and a finefrom two million to six million Riels).

[2] A/HRC/21/63. http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session21/A-HRC-21-63_en.pdf