Arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Heng Sok

Arbitrarydetention /

Judicialharassment

Cambodia
March 9, 2018

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a jointpartnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requestsyour urgent intervention in the following situation in Cambodia.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sourcesabout the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Heng Sok, a community leader in Kiri Sakor District, Koh Kong Province. Mr. Heng Sok has been representing familiesinvolved in a dispute concerning 103 hectares of land granted to the LYP Group aspart of an agricultural economic land concession in 2010 inside the Botum SakorNational Park. LYP Group is owned by ruling party Senator Mr. Ly Yong Phat, who has been involvedin a various instances of land-grabbing.

Accordingto the information received, on February 23, 2018, four LYP Group securityguards asked Mr. Heng Sok to get inside a car and told him they would go to thecompany to settle a dispute over boundary markers that Mr. Heng Sok hadinstalled on disputed company land. Instead, they brought Mr. Heng Sok to the communepolice station in Koh Kong Province, who sent him to the Koh Kong provincialpolice station. Mr. Heng Sok was arrested after the LYP Group filed a complaintagainst him in connection with efforts to install boundary markers on land atthe centre of a land dispute between 50 local families and the LYP Group. TheLYP Group argued that Mr. Heng Sok lacked thenecessary documentation to install the boundary markers on the land.

OnFebruary 25, 2018, Mr. Heng Sok was brought before the Koh Kong Provincial Courtand charged with “using violence on the property owner” under Article 253 ofthe Land Management Law. If convicted, he faces up to two years in prison and a25,000,000 KHR fine (approximately 5,050 Euros). Yet several sources reportedthat Mr. Heng Sok did not resort to any form of violence while installing theboundary markers.

Mr.Heng Sok was subsequently placed in pre-trial detention. At the time of publicationof this Urgent Appeal, he remained detained at Koh Kong’s provincial prison.

In December 2017, Mr. Heng Sok submitted a petition to Koh Kong provincialauthorities to ask for their intervention in the land dispute with the LYPGroup. In early December 2017, the LYP Group had allegedly used bulldozers toclear the disputed land, which affected 50 families, caused protests, andresulted in a complaint being filed to the KohKong Provincial Court. The LYP Group received an agriculturaleconomic land concession from the Environment Ministry in 2010 to develop arubber plantation on 9,977 hectares of land inside the Botum Sakor NationalPark.

The Observatory strongly condemns Mr. Heng Sok’s arbitrary detention,which only aim at punishing him for his peaceful and legitimate human rightsactivities. The Observatory calls upon the Cambodian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr.Heng Sok, and to put an end to all acts of harassment, including at thejudicial level, against him.

TheObservatory further recalls that this is not the first time that Senator Mr. Ly Yong Phat’s LYP Group is involved in acts of harassmentagainst human rights defenders. In particular, in January 2018, Messrs. Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy, two members of theenvironmental grassroots organisation ‘Mother Nature Cambodia’, were sentencedto one year in prison and a one millionriel fine for filming suspected illegalsand dredging activity by Senator Ly Yong Phat’s company in Koh Kong Province[1].

TheObservatory urges the Cambodian authorities to ceasethe harassment of all human rights defenders in Cambodia, including land rightsdefenders, so that they can carry out their activities free of anyhindrance or reprisals.

Actions requested:

Please write to the Cambodian authorities asking them to:

i. Guaranteein all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Heng Sokand all human rights defenders in Cambodia;

ii. Immediatelyand unconditionally release Mr. Heng Sok as his arbitrary detention merely aimsat punishing him for his peaceful and legitimate human rights activities;

iii.Put an end to all acts of harassment, including atthe judicial level, against Mr. Heng Sok and all human rights defenders in Cambodia so thatthey are able to carry out their work without hindrance or fear of reprisals;

iv. Complywith all the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders,adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998, inparticular with its Articles 1, 5(b), and 12.2;

v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and withinternational human rights instruments to which Cambodia is a State party.

Addresses:

· Mr.Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Fax: +855 23 360666 / 85523 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 ofCambodia. Fax: +855 23 212708

· Mr.Ang Vong Vathna, Minister of Justice of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Fax: +855 23364119

· Mr.Prak Sokhon, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Fax: +85523 216 144 / +855 23 216141, Email: mfaic@mfa.gov.kh

· Mr.Keo Remy, President of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee. Fax: +855 12813781 / +855 23 211162 or +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

· AmbassadorMr. Ney Samol, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Cambodia to the UnitedNations in Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 788 77 74, Email: camemb.gva@mfa.gov.kh

Pleasealso write to the diplomatic representations of Cambodia in your respectivecountries.

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Geneva-Paris, March 9, 2018

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

The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 bythe World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of thisprogramme is to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergencyline:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax OMCT +41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / +41 22809 49 29

· Tel and fax FIDH +33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 143 55 18 80

[1]For more information, see Observatory Urgent Appeal KHM 002 / 0917 / OBS 100.1, published on January 26, 2018.