Cambodia: Release Kong Raya, End Crackdown on Dissent

A Khmer version of this statement is available here.

JAKARTA –  Lawmakers from Southeast Asia today expressed disappointment that the Cambodian Supreme Court did not grant bail to youth activist Kong Raya, urging the authorities to immediately release him along with fellow activist Soung Neak Poan, and drop all charges against them and other individuals detained solely for exercising their fundamental freedoms.  

The Court failed to make a decision on the request today, pending a formal ruling to be announced on November 4. This is yet another illustration of the Cambodian authorities’ misuse of the judiciary to keep anyone with a critical mind behind bars, said ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), warning of excessive use of pretrial detention.

Kong Raya and Soung Neak Poan were charged earlier this year with ‘incitement to commit a felony’ after commemorating the three-year anniversary of the death of Kem Ley, a prominent Cambodian political analyst who was murdered in broad daylight on 10 July 2016. Kem Ley was particularly critical of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Government.

“The allegations against them are ludicrous. Their case illustrates how in today’s Cambodia anyone who dares to express any form of support to critics of Hun Sen, even the least threatening and most remote ones, end up straight in jail,” said Eva Sundari, former Indonesian Member of Parliament (MP) and APHR Board Member.

Kong Raya was arrested on 9 July 2019 for selling t-shirts on Facebook with Kem Ley’s image, as well as the phone number of a taxi driver who was available to drive people to the commemoration. Soung Neak Poan, a former member of Kem Ley’s youth group, was arrested the next day at a commemorative ceremony outside the petrol station where Kem Ley was murdered. Prior to his arrest, Soung Neak Poan was holding a sign reading “end extrajudicial killings”.

“Instead of arresting activists calling for justice, the Cambodian government should work to provide long-overdue accountability and justice for Kem Ley’s murder. An independent, transparent and impartial investigation must finally be conducted to address the many unanswered questions about his murder,” said Charles Santiago, Malaysian Member of Parliament (MP) and APHR Chair.

The detention of Kong Raya and Soung Neak Poan are part of a wider ongoing and systematic crackdown by Prime Minister Hun Sen on dissent in Cambodia. After the disbandment of Cambodia’s main opposition party, the shut down of most independent media and widely discredited elections held in 2018, Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) currently holds all 125 of the seats in Parliament, as well as all representation at the provincial and local levels, effectively making it a one-party state.

Members of and activists associated with the opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), have increasingly become the targets of arrests and harassment since the party was dissolved in November 2017. In recent weeks, ahead of the planned return of prominent exiled politicians on 9 November, dozens of CNRP members have been arrested. APHR reiterates that all those who wish to work constructively and peacefully towards democracy in Cambodia must be allowed to do so without fear of reprisal.

“Without a viable opposition to provide checks and balances, Hun Sen’s authoritarian rule is threatening the country’s development and having a detrimental effect on its citizens. For the benefit of everyone in Cambodia, Hun Sen should let exiled politicians return peacefully to restore democracy in the country and build a better society for all Cambodians,” said Walden Bello, former Philippine MP and APHR Board Member.