Bangkok--2 May--OHCHR-Bangkok
Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Elizabeth Throssell
Location: Geneva
Subject: Cambodia
Cambodia
We call on the Cambodian authorities to release without delay five human rights defenders who have been in pre-trial detention for one year, and whose detention was yesterday extended for an additional six months by the investigating judge. We regret that despite an opinion by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention last November that ruled the detention of these five individuals to be arbitrary, their detention has been extended.
The five human rights defenders include four staff of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) - Lim Mony, Ny Vanda, Ny Sokha and Yi Soksan - as well as the Deputy Secretary General of the National Election Committee and former ADHOC staff member, Ny Chakrya, They face corruption charges relating to assistance they provided to a woman who was allegedly facing pressure from the authorities to give false testimony. The woman later conceded. She gave the sought testimony and claimed that the "Adhoc 5" had bribed her to lie to investigators.
The UN Working Group had concluded in November "that the five individuals were detained as a result of the exercise of their rights and freedoms", and called for their release. A number of UN Independent Experts have also urged their release, expressing their dismay about the use of criminal proceedings "as a pretext to suppress and prevent the legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression and to silence human rights defenders."
While we recognize the obligation of the investigative judge to thoroughly investigate the case, the use of pretrial detention should be the exception, rather than the rule, and be allowed only for the shortest possible time necessary, on the basis of clear evidence and valid legal reasoning. We regret that these safeguards appear not to have been followed at any of the bail hearings.