Cambodia: Help Reverse the Tide of Authoritarianism

Alert Issued: March 1, 2006

Japan, the US, and other donors have an opportunity to halt Cambodia’s slide into authoritarianism, but only if they take firm action at a meeting this week.

In 2005 Cambodia’s opposition political leaders were driven abroad or arrested, while journalists, labor activists, and human rights defenders were charged with criminal defamation and incitement. While most of the complaints were withdrawn early this year, these activists remain vulnerable to re-arrest and prosecution.

The activists represent the last elements of openness and political pluralism in Cambodia. For them to be silenced will be devastating for the Cambodian people.

Major international donor countries and institutions can influence the Cambodian government to turn away from authoritarianism and repression.

This week we are asking you to do something different: please call on Cambodia’s major donors, including the U.S., Japan, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, to make the vulnerable situation of Cambodian human rights defenders a part of their dialogue with the Cambodian government, and to hold Cambodia to its promises to respect human rights.

Learn more about recent criminal defamation cases brought against activists, journalists and politicians in Cambodia.

Sample Letter

To the Members of the Consultative Group,

Last year’s donors conference led to pledges of more than half a billion dollars, a significant portion of Cambodia’s budget. Now is the time to use the leverage that comes with such a contribution to halt the deterioration of human rights in Cambodia. Respect for human rights is not a side issue to this year’s conference, but goes to the heart of Cambodia’s ability to implement a development program with even a modicum of transparency, accountability, or public debate.

I urge you to make human rights considerations a central part of your dialogue with the Cambodian government. New funding commitments and their disbursement should be made contingent on progress on freedom of speech and the press, and respect for the basic rights that human rights defenders need to carry out their work.

In 2005 at least a dozen people were charged with defamation or incitement under Article 60 and 63 of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) law. Among these were prominent human rights activists Kem Sokha and Pa Nguon Teang, as well as journalist Mam Sonando and labor activist, Rong Chhun. Others fled the country to avoid arrest.

The government recently withdrew criminal complaints against seven of those charged, and a royal pardon overturned the 18 month in absentia sentence of opposition leader Sam Rainsy. But the charges may still be on the books, and it is unclear if the type of summons known as a writ of capias has been revoked. Four others residing abroad are still at risk of prosecution as complaints against them have not been dropped. Hang Sakhorn, an editor of the newspaper Ponleu Samaki, was also charged with defamation and is believed to remain in detention. Another journalist, Kay Kimsong, faces jail on March 9, just after the donor meeting, unless he pays a heavy fine.

Prime Minister Hun Sen voiced support for making defamation a civil and not a criminal matter. But it is important to ensure that any politically motivated charges are dropped completely and immediately, and that the Prime Minister follows through on his pledge so that they cannot be arrested again after the Consultative Group meets.

The recent criminal defamation arrests and charges against opposition figures, labor activists, journalists, and human rights advocates clearly demonstrate the danger of loosely worded criminal defamation provisions in the hands of increasingly autocratic state authorities. With the support of donors, Cambodia must institute a penal code that does not criminalize defamation and that eliminates other provisions that undermine internationally recognized guarantees of basic freedoms needed by human rights defenders. If the penal code is delayed, than Articles 60 and 63 of the UNTAC law should be revoked without waiting for a new code.

I also urge you to directly support civil society programs and judicial reform. The question of political interference in the judiciary is of enormous importance to the daily lives of Cambodians. Judicial independence will be a vital question in the internationally supported Khmer Rouge tribunal.

The World Bank has noted that the Cambodian Government is “rather adept at doing just enough to win donor support.” It is now up to the donors to link pledges and disbursements to tangible improvements in freedom of expression and freedom of the press, including an end to politically motivated criminal defamation charges. Failure to do so will contribute to increasing violations of human rights in Cambodia.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.