KHM 002 / 0917 / OBS 100.1
Sentencing /
Arbitrary detention
Cambodia
January 26, 2018
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and
FIDH, has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the
following situation in Cambodia.
New
information:
The Observatory has been informed about the conviction and sentencing of Messrs. Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy, two members of the environmental grassroots organisation ‘Mother Nature Cambodia’, for filming suspected illegal sand dredging activity in Koh Kong Province.

Dem Kundy and Hun Vannak leaving Koh Kong provincial court on 26 January 2018. (c) Licadho
According to the information received, on January 26,
2018, Koh Kong Provincial Court’s Judge
Keo Sokha convicted the two environmental rights defenders of
charges of “violating privacy” (Article 302 of the Criminal Code) and
“incitement to commit a felony” (Article 495), respectively, and sentenced each
of them to one year in prison, with a seven-month suspended sentence, and a 1
million riel (approximately 200 Euros) fine. Messrs. Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy have been in pre-trial detention since
September 12, 2017 and are
expected to be released on February 12, 2018.
The Prek
Svay Prison is severely overcrowded, has deplorable sanitary conditions, and
lacks basic provisions such as water, food, and medical care. Messrs. Hun
Vannak and Doem Kundy are reportedly detained in an extremely cramped 4x4-meter
cell, which houses up to 20 other inmates.
Messrs. Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy were arrested on September 12, 2017
in Kiri Sakor District, Koh Kong Province, after they filmed two large vessels conducting suspected
illegal sand dredging activities off the coast of Prek Ksach Commune, Koh Kong
Province (see background information). On October 3, 2017, the Koh Kong
Provincial Court denied their bail motion. The sentence of the two
defenders was delivered a day after their trial
began at the Koh Kong Provincial Court on January 25, 2018.
The Observatory strongly condemns the
sentencing and ongoing arbitrary detention of Messrs. Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy,
which only aim at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities.
The Observatory calls on the Cambodian authorities to immediately and
unconditionally release Messrs. Hun Vannak and
Doem Kundy and to put an end
to all acts of harassment against them and all human rights defenders in
Cambodia.
Background information:
On September 12, 2017, Messrs. Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy were arrested off the coast of Koh Kong Province and taken to Koh Kong provincial police headquarters for questioning. They had been on a small speedboat and
just finished filming two large vessels that they suspected
were about to carry silica sand for export. The video was to be used to ask
prominent businessman and ruling
Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) Senator Ly Yong Phat[1],
who owns the company that operates the nearby Special Economic Zone (SEZ) from
where the sand had been extracted, why the ships appeared not to be broadcasting an Automatic
Identification System signal. The lack of such signal meant that the ship did
not appear on online ship tracking databases. The police were reportedly acting in response to a complaint issued by
the company Kirisakor
Koh Kong SEZ, under the control of Ly Yong Phat, which claimed that
the activists were filming “inside the company’s private land”.
On September 13, 2017, Messrs. Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy were interviewed by
the Koh Kong Prosecutor without
a lawyer present. The Koh Kong Provincial Court subsequently charged them with “incitement
to commit a felony” (Article 495 of the Criminal Code) and “violation of
privacy (recording of a person’s image)”
(under Article 302).
Their arrest
came just two days after ‘Mother
Nature Cambodia’ posted an online video exposing huge discrepancies in silica sand trade figures with Taiwan,
highlighting more than US$30 million in undocumented and potentially illegal
exports. Mother Nature Cambodia’ has
repeatedly sought to expose discrepancies in sand trade figures between
Cambodia and third countries, including India and Singapore, which would
indicate large-scale sand smuggling. The Observatory believes that this video might be the real reason for
the arrest of Messrs. Hun Vannak and
Doem Kundy.
The two defenders were
subsequently placed in pre-trial detention in Prek Svay prison,
Khmerak Phumin city, Koh Kong province.
On
October 3, 2017, their bail motion, which was submitted on September 28, 2017,
was denied.
The Observatory recalls that several ‘Mother Nature
Cambodia’ members have faced legal action and have
been harassed and imprisoned for campaigning against illicit sand
dredging in Koh Kong Province[2].
Moreover, on September 15, 2017, ‘Mother Nature
Cambodia’ was pressured into de-registering following the harassment of its
directors by the Cambodian authorities.
Actions requested:
Please write to the Cambodian
authorities asking them to:
i. Guarantee in all
circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Messrs. Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy, as well as of all human
rights defenders in Cambodia;
ii. Immediately
and unconditionally release Messrs. Hun Vannak
and Doem Kundy, as well as all detained human rights
defenders in Cambodia, as their detention is arbitrary since it only aims
at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities;
iii. Put an end to
all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Messrs. Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy and all human rights
defenders in the country so that they are able to carry out their work without
hindrance;
iv. Comply with all the
provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted
by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular with
its Articles 1 and 12.2;
v. Guarantee the respect of
human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal
Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments
signed or ratified by Cambodia.
Addresses:
·
Mr.
Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Fax: +855 23 360666 / +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 the Kingdom of
Cambodia. Fax: +855 23 212708
·
Mr.
Ang Vong Vathna, Minister of Justice of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Fax: +855 23
364 119
·
Mr.
Prak Sokhon, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Fax: +855
23 216 144 / +855 23 216 141, Email: mfaic@mfa.gov.kh
·
Mr.
Keo Remy, President of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee, Fax: +855 12 81 37
81 / +855 23 21 11 62 or +855 23 88 10 45 (c/o Council of Ministers)
·
Mr.
Suon Visal, President of the Cambodian Bar Association, Fax: +855 23 864
076, Email: info@bakc.org.kh
·
Ambassador
Mr. Ney Samol, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Cambodia to the United
Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 788 77 74, Email: camemb.gva@mfa.gov.kh
Please also write to the
diplomatic representations of Cambodia in your respective countries.
***
Geneva-Paris, January 26, 2018
Kindly inform us of any action
undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory for the
Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by
the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this
programme is to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights
defenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights
Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.
To contact
the Observatory, call the emergency line:
·
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
·
Tel
and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
[1] Senator Ly Yong Phat is the President
of the L.Y.P group and has been mentioned in a large number of
land-grabbing and other human rights violations allegations.
[2] See Observatory Urgent
Appeal KHM 004/1115/OBS 094.1, published on July 4, 2016, as well as
Urgent Appeal KHM 001/0617/OBS
065, published on June 16, 2017.
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