International community calls for Kem Sokha's release

01Jan06--Cambodian human rights advocate Kem Sokha steadily receives the international community's support for his release after he was arrested last week on charges of defamatory remarks against the Cambodian government.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour issued a statement expressing "deep regret" for the arrests and commented that the international community "has reason to be deeply concerned." Arbour emphasized Cambodia's being party to international human rights treaties and reminded the Cambodian government of their duty to "respect and ensure human rights… including the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly."

Human Rights Watch warned that further arrests might occur, given the climate of fear and uncertainty already operating in Cambodia. The arrests violate the right to freedom of expression and are contrary to the standards set by the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. The declaration provides for the individual and collective right to "promote and strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms" and "participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

United States Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli strongly criticized the incident and referred to it as "another step down the wrong path for Cambodia."

Reports on reasons of Sokha's arrest point to the handwritten defamatory remarks against Prime Minister Hun Sen in the banners of the December 10 international human rights day rally that Sokha's organization, along with 63 other groups, assembled. Although the organizers claimed that the handwritten remarks did not come from them and that the banners were put down after they took notice, Sokha and another activist Yeng Virak, Director of the Community Legal Education Center, were arrested by the Cambodian police on 31 December 2005.

Kem Sokha is the executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. He had been elected as a member of the National Assembly and Senator, respectively, and used to head the human rights committees of both.

The Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism affirms the international community's call for the release of Kem Sokha and others. The Working Group is an informal coalition of individuals and groups working with ASEAN governments and civil society towards the establishment of an intergovernmental human rights mechanism in Southeast Asia. It is organized into national working groups composed of representatives of government institutions, parliamentary human rights committees, academe, and non-government organizations. Kem Sokha is the Chair of the Cambodian Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism.