Judicial harassment of prominent defenders Pa Nguon Teang, Venerable But Buntenh and Moeun Tola

Cambodia

January 30, 2018

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) andFIDH, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Cambodia.

Briefdescription of the information:

The Observatory has been informed about the judicialharassment of three prominent human rights defenders in Cambodia, Mr.Pa Nguon Teang, Executive Director of the Cambodian Center forIndependent Media, Venerable ButBuntenh, Executive Director of the Buddhismfor Peace Organization, and Mr. MoeunTola, Executive Director of the Center for Alliance of Labour and Human Rights(CENTRAL).

According tothe information received, on January 4, 2018, Mr. Pa Nguon Teang, Venerable ButBuntenh and Mr. Moeun Tola were charged by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court with“breach of trust” under Articles 391 and 392 of the Criminal Code of Cambodia,for allegedly misappropriating funds in relation to the funeral of Dr. Kem Ley, a prominent activist andpolitical analyst who was murdered on July 10, 2016[1].

The chargesfollow a complaint filed on September 8, 2017 by Cambodian Youth Party leader, Mr.Pich Sros, who accused the three human rights defenders of embezzling donationsas members of Dr. Kem Ley’s funeral committee. If convicted, the defenders facebetween six months and three years in prison and a fine of up to six millionRiel (about 1,247 Euros).

Following Dr.Kem Ley’s death, a funeral committee was formed, which included Mr.Pa Nguon Teang, Venerable But Buntenh and Mr. Moeun Tola amongits members. The committee was responsible for logistical support, includingorganizing the funeral procession and related events. The threehuman rights defenders insist that their role did not involve the management ofdonations or any other funds. Further, members of Dr. Kem Ley’s family havepublicly discredited the current lawsuit, calling it “baseless”, and never filed a complaint regarding the handling ofdonated funds.

The Observatory strongly condemns the judicialharassment against Mr. Pa Nguon Teang, Venerable But Buntenh andMr. Moeun Tola, and considersthe charges against them as being politically motivated, since they clearly aimat punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities and furthersilencing Cambodian civil society and human rights defenders in general. The Observatory calls on the Cambodianauthorities to put an end to all acts of harassment against them and all humanrights defenders in Cambodia.

Actions requested:

Please write to the Cambodianauthorities asking them to:

i. Guarantee in allcircumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr.Pa Nguon Teang, Venerable But Buntenh, and Mr. Moeun Tola, as well as of all human rights defenders in Cambodia;

ii. Put an end to all forms ofharassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Pa NguonTeang, Venerable But Buntenh, Mr. Moeun Tola and all human rights defenders in thecountry so that they are able to carry out their work without hindrance;

iii. Comply with all theprovisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adoptedby the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular withits Articles 1 and 12.2;

iv. Guarantee the respect ofhuman rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the UniversalDeclaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instrumentssigned or ratified by Cambodia.

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 23364 119

· Mr.Prak Sokhon, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Fax: +85523 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 3781 / +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 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

Please also write to thediplomatic representations of Cambodia in your respective countries.

***

Geneva-Paris, January 30, 2018

Kindly inform us of any actionundertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this programme is to preventor remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. OMCT andFIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanismimplemented by international civil society.

[1]For more information see Cambodia:Joint Open Letter: Request to Create aCommission of Inquiry into the killing of Kem Ley, July 7, 2017, and Cambodia:Joint Open Letter regarding the investigation into the death of Dr. Kem Ley,February 28, 2017.