Feb 10, 2023 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – Parliamentarians from all over Southeast Asia are urging the Thai government to listen to the demands of two young activists on hunger strike, and do everything they can to save their lives. ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) also would like to invite Members of the Thai Parliament and relevant authorities to open a debate on amending the draconian lèse-majesté Law, with which both activists have been charged.
Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon and Orawan “Bam” Phupong, 21 and 23 years old respectively, started their hunger strike on 18 January to demand reforms in the Thai justice system, the release of political prisoners and the abolition, or reform, of some of the laws used against dissidents, including the lèse-majesté law. According to media reports, the two activists are extremely weak, and there is concern for their lives.
The two activists face charges of lèse-majeste for publicly holding a sign asking whether the motorcades of members of the royal family, that often entail road closures in Bangkok, create inconveniences for the public. Tantawan also faces a second charge for the contents of a livestream she conducted on Facebook.
“It is tragic that these two young women feel that they have to put their lives at risk to fight for their beliefs. Whatever one may think of their ideas, they should be allowed to express them freely, as it would happen in a truly democratic country, and not amidst a climate of repression that leads to such extreme ways to voice dissent. Right now, the first priority should be to save their lives, but it is also crucial to initiate a candid debate on their demands,” said Kasit Piromya, former Thai Foreign Minister, and APHR Board Member.
Article 112 of Thailand’s Penal Code states that, “whoever defames, insults, or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent, or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years.” The Thai law of lèse-majesté, designed to defend and protect the revered monarchy, is one of the strictest in the world. It is often interpreted in a very loose manner and has been used widely in recent years as a weapon against political rivals. The main reason for this is that any Thai citizen can bring charges against anybody for allegedly violating Article 112.
A series of student protests broke the taboo on the monarchy in Thailand in 2020, demanding reforms on the institution, but they largely faded out in 2021, when the authorities began to crack down on protestors with accusations of lèse-majeste, as well as other offenses.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, at least 215 people in 234 cases were prosecuted under Article 112 between November 2020 and June 2022, including 17 minors. Of these lawsuits, at least 108 were filed by regular citizens, while the rest were filed by different Thai state institutions.
“There must be a law that protects the honor and safety of the Head of State, but it should comply with human rights standards. Article 112 prescribes an excessive punishment, and has been used all too often in a malicious way as a political weapon. Lawmakers in Thailand should look to reform the law. The penalties should be reduced, without a minimum sentence, and ordinary Thais should not be able to bring such charges; that only fosters witch-hunts. Only the Bureau of the Royal Household and the Public Prosecutor should be entitled to bring charges against those deemed to have defamed the king. A thorough revision of the lèse-majesté law will help to democratize Thailand, but will also benefit the monarchy itself, as an open debate of its role in modern Thailand is more necessary than ever,” said Kasit Piromya.
Click here to read this statement in Thai.
Sep 22, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – Southeast Asian parliamentarians have condemned the recent trial of dozens of members of the political opposition in Cambodia as a sham, and called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the international community to take strong action to halt Prime Minister Hun Sen’s relentless assault on human rights and democracy.
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) also called for all charges against the political opposition in the country to be dropped, and for all those currently detained to be released unconditionally.
Last week, Cambodia’s government started its latest mass trial targeting mainly members of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), with 37 defendants summoned to a Phnom Penh court for the hearing. According to media reports, only three defendants were physically present, with the rest either in hiding or in exile.
“No-one should be fooled by Hun Sen’s latest charade that the courts in Cambodia stand for anything other than a weapon in his unrelenting campaign to snuff out the country’s political opposition. Instead of using the courts to silence critical voices, Hun Sen should drop all charges against the political opposition and create a space for genuine opposition parties to run in a general election next year that is free and fair,” said Kasit Piromya, former Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs and APHR Board Member.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit treason and could face prison sentences of between five and 10 years. The allegations are related to a failed attempt by former CNRP Vice-President and current APHR Board Member, Mu Sochua, to return to Cambodia from self-exile in January 2021 to face charges in a separate politically-motivated trial. Mu Sochua, who has already been sentenced to 36 years, is among the figures summoned for the latest round of charges. She has made it clear she plans to return to Cambodia to face the charges against her, but has been prevented from entering the country.
Among those also facing charges is Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American human rights defender who is currently being detained in Preah Vihear Prison, in northern Cambodia. In a recent report, the Clooney Foundation for Justice’s TrialWatch Initiative and the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights described the trial against her as “a travesty of justice” and gave the trial’s procedure an “F” grade, meaning a trial “entailed a gross violation of international standards that affected the outcome and/or resulted in significant harm.”
The report also detailed “due process violations” committed against Theary, including her right to be informed of the charges against her, her right to counsel and adequate facilities to prepare a defense, her presumption of innocence, her right to be tried before and independent and impartial tribunal, and her post-conviction right to counsel.
The situation related to human rights and democracy has drastically deteriorated in Cambodia in recent years, notably since Hun Sen used the country’s courts to dissolve the CNRP in 2017, shortly after it had run his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) close in successive nationwide elections.
As a result of the dissolution, the CPP now holds all 125 seats in the National Assembly, which it has used to push through increasingly repressive laws, as well as proposed changes to the constitution that would pave the way for Hun Sen to transfer power to his son.
“Hun Sen is clearly of the view that he can continue abusing his power with absolute impunity, and the international community, including ASEAN, should send a clear message that such actions will not be tolerated – at the very least they must not legitimise any elections that take place under the current conditions. The deeper Hun Sen entrenches his rule, the harder it will be to return the country to democracy. International actors must take action now, and do everything in their power – including targeted sanctions, diplomatic maneuvering and support for civil society – to get the country back on the democratic path,” said Piromya.
Jun 16, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia said the most recent bout of political convictions imposed by the authorities in Cambodia on dozens of members and supporters of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) should raise alarm within ASEAN and , called for all the charges against them to be dropped and for the immediate and unconditional release of those currently detained.
On 14 June 2022, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted more than 50 former members and supporters of the CNRP, which was arbitrarily dissolved in 2017, on bogus charges of treason. A prominent Cambodian-American lawyer, Theary Seng, was sentenced to six years in prison and immediately arrested after the trial. Others received sentences ranging from five to eight years imprisonment. Of those convicted, 27 are in exile and were tried in absentia. One of them is Mu Sochua, former CNRP Vice-President and Board Member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
“This is just another episode of a years-long relentless assault by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s regime against political opponents and democracy itself. Using a judiciary that lost any semblance of independence a long time ago, Hun Sen and his government are de facto turning Cambodia into a one-party state in which nobody is safe except those who obediently accept his increasingly dictatorial rule,” said Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament in Malaysia and APHR Chairman.
The verdict is part of a series of mass trials that started in November 2020 targeting 138 CNRP members for their support to the attempted return to Cambodia of the exiled leader of the party, Sam Rainsy, in 2019. The government charged them, among other charges, with conspiracy to commit treason alleging that they were planning to overthrow the government through a revolution. The trials have been far from fair, as shows the fact that former CNRP members who defected to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) have their sentences suspended or charges against them dropped.
The sentences come after the recent Commune and Sangkat Elections, held on 5 June 2022, in an environment of harassment and intimidation against the opposition. Those were the conditions that set the stage for the landslide victory of Hun Sen and his CPP that resulted in the polls.
“Both ASEAN and the international community at large should do all they can to support democracy in Cambodia and stop Hun Sen from weaponizing the law and the state apparatus for his own interests. The longer Hun Sen is allowed to continue abusing his powers with impunity, the more difficult it will be to restore democracy in the country. Letting a dictator run free has not only consequences on the people of Cambodia but the region as a whole. His reckless and unilateral handling of the Myanmar crisis as the current Chair of ASEAN is just one example of it,” said Santiago.
Dec 3, 2020 | DFF, Statements
We, the 57 undersigned nongovernmental organizations express our deep concern about the Cambodian government’s harassment of independent media outlets and their journalists. The government should immediately drop the the apparently politically motivated charges against the journalists listed below and unconditionally release them. It should repeal or significantly amend repressive laws that unjustifiably impede media freedom and freedom of expression, including media freedom. Finally, the government should immediately reverse the revocations of licenses of independent media outlets listedbelow and refrain from similarly revoking licenses in the future.The Cambodian government is currently holding two journalists in pre-trial detention on politically motivated incitement or defamation charges: Sok Oudom and Ros Sokhet. A third journalist, Rath Rott Mony, is presently serving a two-year prison sentence on a similarly fabricated charge.1. On June 25, 2020, the Phnom Penh municipal police’s Cybercrime Bureau arrested Ros Sokhet, the publisher of the Cheat Khmer (“Khmer Nation”) newspaper, based on two posts made on his Facebook page, addressing Prime Minister Hun Sen’s succession plans and Cambodia’s micro-loan debt crisis. The authorities charged Sokhet with incitement to commit a felony and sent him to pre-trial detention at Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison. The Ministry of Information, which granted Cheat Khmer a media license in April 2020, announced a review of the license in light of the court case.2. On May 13, 2020, police arrested Sok Oudom, owner of the Rithysen radio station and news website in Kampong Chhnang province, charging him with incitement to commit a felony for reporting on the same land dispute at Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary in Kampong Chhnang province as journalist for Sneha Cheat online news site Keo Hour, and the court charged him with the same crime. Oudom is currently held in pre-trial detention at Kampong Chnnang provincial prison. Oudom regularly reported on longstanding land disputes between local farming communities and powerful officials.3. On December 7, 2018, Thai authorities arrested Rath Rott Mony, a fixer for Russian state media outlet Russia Today (RT), upon the request of the Cambodian government that alleged Mony had committed incitement when working with RT on a documentary that featured accounts of poverty-stricken families sending their daughters to engage in child sex trafficking. On December 12, he was deported to Cambodia and sent to pre-trial detention. In June 2019, a Phnom Penh court convicted him of incitement to discriminate (article 496 of Cambodia’s penal code) and sentenced him to two years in prison. In June 2020, the Supreme Court ordered Mony’s retrial.In an especially outrageous case which exemplifies Cambodia’s relentless attack on media freedoms, on October 5, the Phnom Penh municipal court convicted journalist Sovann Rithy – director of online news outlet TVFB – of incitement and sentenced hum to an 18-month prison term. The five months and 28 days he spent in pre-trial detention were deducted, and the court suspended the remainder of the prison sentence; he was released from prison on the same day. On April 7, 2020, Phnom Penh police arrested Sovann Rithy based on allegations that he had incited chaos by quoting on his Facebook page the following words from Prime Minister Hun Sen’s speech on April 7 about the economic impact of Covid-19: “If motorbike-taxi drivers go bankrupt, sell your motorbikes for spending money. The government does not have the ability to help.” According to NGO reports, between January and May 2020, Cambodian police and judicial authorities summoned and questioned at least a dozen journalists for their reporting.Independent journalists have long been harassed by the authorities, especially when reporting critically about the government. Two former Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists, Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin, still face fabricated espionage charges based on unsubstantiated allegations that they had conspired with a foreign government; two former Cambodia Daily journalists, Zsombor Peter and Aun Pheap face a trial in absentia based on baseless incitement charges; and a reporter for TV3, Phal Dam, faces baseless incitement charges for reporting on land related issues.At least nine other cases of harassment against journalists have been recorded since 2019, including cases against Keo Hour, a journalist for Sneha Cheat online news site, who the authorities released on bail without dropping the incitement charges; Hun Sokha, president of the Club of Independent Journalists; Keo Ratana, publisher of TN Online; Prak Sovann, Rasmei Kampuchea Daily journalist; and Sath Chanbuth, journalist for Rasmei Kampuchea Daily and Apsara TV.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the government has revoked four licenses of independent media outlets: online news site CKV TV Online, Rithysen radio station and online news site, and TVFB news site. In April, the Ministry of Information revoked CKV TV Online’s license, alleging it was in “severe violation of journalism that affects public order.” Similarly, the Ministry of Information revoked Rithysen radio station’s license alongside its separate news website’s licenses based on unsubstantiated allegations that the radio station was “publishing information which is exaggerated information, contains incitement to violence, provocation to commit discrimination and provocation to cause social insecurity and chaos.” Further, the Ministry of Information revoked TVFB’s broadcasting license on grounds that owner Sovann Rithy published information which “was to generate an adverse effect on the security, public order and safety of society.”
The Cambodian government has mounted a broad attack on press freedom and freedom of expression since mid-2017. The government forced the closure of the Cambodia Daily, one of Cambodia’s most respected independent English language daily newspapers. Another longstanding independent outlet, the Phnom Penh Post was forcibly sold in May 2018 to a businessman with ties to the Prime Minister and has since editorially mirrored government positions. In August 2017, the Cambodian authorities ordered the closure of 32 FM radio frequencies across 20 provinces, targeting stations that relayed Khmer language news broadcasts by RFA, Voice of America (VOA), and Voice of Democracy. RFA closed its office in Phnom Penh in September 2017 after 20 years of operations in Cambodia, citing threats to its staff. A few days after RFA’s office closure, the Interior Ministry threatened journalists who had worked for RFA with legal action if they continued reporting for RFA.
In the past years, the Cambodian government adopted a series of repressive laws that have enabled a crackdown on independent media and social media and resorted to provisions in the penal code – in particular articles 494 and 495 – to silence critical reporting and its reporters.
During the Covid-19 crisis, the Cambodian government adopted a highly repressive Law on the Management of the Nation in State of Emergency that provides Prime Minister Hun Sen with unfettered, undefined and overbroad powers to monitor private communications and an unlimited restriction of reporting by all media outlets. We also understand the Cambodian government has drafted a National Internet Gateway Sub-Decree, yet to be adopted, which would severely impact freedom of expression and information online, facilitate blanket surveillance of all online communications and would allow the blocking of certain types of content by the authorities if deemed to “affect safety, national revenue, social order, dignity, culture, traditions and customs.”
Cambodia acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1992, and is obligated to respect and protect the right to freedom of opinion and expression without interference, and the right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Any restrictions to these rights must be justified through a strict test of legality, necessity and proportionality with respect to a legitimate aim. None of these above-mentioned cases against journalists and their publications meet these principles: they do not assert or advance a legitimate aim and could not be necessary towards such any such aim, and therefor violate international human rights law and Cambodia’s legal obligations. The UN Human Rights Committee has called on Cambodia to “[r]efrain from prosecuting journalists […] as a means of deterring or discouraging them from freely expressing their opinions”
We call on the Cambodian government to drop the charges and unconditionally release all journalists jailed for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, end harassment of journalists and media outlets, repeal or significantly amend repressive laws so as to allow for a vibrant and free media landscape in line with its international human rights obligations, and reverse revocations of media licenses to facilitate media freedom and the right to freedom of expression and information.
This statement was endorsed by:
1. 197 land community, Chikhor Leur commune, Koh Kong province
2. Adil Soz – International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech
3. Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT)
4. Amnesty International
5. Article 19
6. ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)
7. Asian Democracy Network (ADN)
8. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
9. Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL)
10. Beong Tunle Mrech Community, Preah Vihear province
11. Boeung Bram Community, Battambang province
12. Boeung Chhouk Community, Phnom Penh
13. Boeung Trabek Community, Phnom Penh
14. Borei Keila Community, Phnom Penh
15. Bu Sra community, Mondulkiri province
16. Building Community Voices (BCV)
17. Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU)
18. Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)
19. Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM)
20. Cambodian Food and Service Workers Federation (CFSWF)
21. Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC)
22. Cambodian Institute for Democracy (CID)
23. Cambodian Journalists Alliance (CamboJA)
24. Cambodian Youth Network (CYN)
25. Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL)
26. Chikhor Krom Land Community
27. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
28. Civil Rights Defenders
29. Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC)
30. Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL)
31. Equitable Cambodia (EC)
32. Former Boeung Kak Women Network Community, Phnom Penh
33. Human Rights Watch
34. Informal Democratic Economy Association (IDEA)
35. International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
36. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
37. International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Asia-Pacific
38. International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX)
39. International Press Institute (IPI)
40. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
41. Lor Peang Community, Kampong Chhnang Province
42. Natural Resources Protection Community in Krakor district, Pursat province
43. Pailin Land Community
44. Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)
45. PEN International
46. Phnom Bat Community
47. Phnom Kram Community, Siem Reap province
48. Phum 23 Community
49. Prey Peay Community, Kampot province
50. Prome Indigenous Community, Preah Vihear province
51. Railway Station, Toul Sangkae A community
52. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
53. SOS International Airport Community
54. Thma Da commune, Pursat province
55. Toul Sangkae B Community
56. Trapeang Sangkae Community, Kampot province
57. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Nov 9, 2020 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – On the eve of the second anniversary of Philippine Senator Leila de Lima’s imprisonment, parliamentarians from across Southeast Asia today expressed grave concern over her continued detention on trumped-up charges and reiterated their call for her immediate release.
“The two years Senator de Lima has spent languishing in prison serve as a dark reminder of President Duterte’s zero-tolerance for scrutiny and the eroding state of democracy and human rights in the Philippines. The charges against her fly in the face of justice and the Philippine government must end its judicial harassment against her without further delay,” said ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) Chairperson Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian Parliament.
On 24 February 2017, Sen. de Lima, a member of APHR, was arrested on charges related to drug trafficking (Sections 3 and 5 of the Dangerous Drugs Act). These have since been amended by the Department of Justice to conspiracy to traffic drugs (Section 26(b) of the same law). Her case has been marred by significant delays – it took approximately 18 months before she was arraigned in one of her three cases – and to date, four judges have inhibited themselves from hearing her case.
Senator de Lima has been one of the most vocal critics of President Duterte’s deadly crackdown against those allegedly involved in illegal drugs. Before her arrest, she was leading a Senate investigation into the President’s so-called ‘war on drugs’. In 2009, as Chair of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, she led a separate inquiry into President Duterte’s alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings when he was mayor in Davao City.
“It’s clear that the charges against her are politically motivated. Her prolonged and unjust imprisonment has been nothing but an attempt to deliberately silence Senator de Lima’s efforts, which were focused on important matters of public interest,” added Charles Santiago.
In November 2018, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that her imprisonment “lacks a legal basis” and is a form of reprisal due to her human rights work in the Philippines. The Working Group also urged the Philippine government to take steps to remedy the situation, including compensation and reinstatement of positions she was ousted from.
The Southeast Asian MPs noted with concern that thousands of people have been killed in the anti-drug campaign in the Philippines with an almost complete lack due process and independent investigations.
“Senator de Lima’s only ‘crime’ was trying to end the bloody anti-drug campaign unleashed under the current government. The Philippine people need more champions for justice like the Senator. As she continues her fight behind bars, she can rest assured that her regional peers are standing in solidarity with her and will keep raising her case until the day she walks free again,” concluded Charles Santiago.
