August 17, 2005

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Cambodia.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights (LICADHO) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) about the sentencing to long prison terms of two purported murderers of Mr. Chea Vichea, the late President of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC).

According to the information received, on August 1, 2005, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court found guilty Mr. Sok Sam Oeun, 36, and Mr. Born Samnang, 24, for the murder of Mr. Chea Vichea, who was shot three times while reading a newspaper outside Phnom Penh's Wat Lanka on January 22, 2004 (See Observatory Annual Report 2004).

Both men were each sentenced to 20 years in prison and each ordered to pay $5,000 compensation to the plaintiff, despite the failure to observe minimum guarantees for a fair trial, including at the stage of investigations and prosecution.

According to the information received, the investigation into Mr. Chea Vichea's murder was marked with numerous procedural irregularities and inconsistencies, including the arrest of the accused without warrant, the dearth of evidence against them (no forensic evidence was presented and no eyewitnesses testified in person during the trial), and an initial confession of one of the accused was allegedly made under duress after he was beaten and given inducements. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court ignored all these irregularities during the trial.

Mr. Born Samnang had withdrawn his confessions alleging that they had been obtained under duress and Mr. Sok Sam Oeun had denied any involvement in the murder since the outset. Several witnesses testified that Mr. Born Samnang was not in Phnom Penh on the day of the murder, but at Neak Leung, 60 kms from the capital, celebrating Chinese New Year. Mr. Vichea's brother said he would not accept the money because he did not believe that both men were guilty.

Thus, no substantial new evidence was presented to the court since the case was dismissed by Judge Hing Thirith for lack of evidence in March 2004, and Mr. Thirith was subsequently demoted to a position in Stung Treng province.

Mr. Sok Sam Oeun and Mr. Born Samnang said that they would ask King Norodom Sihamoni to grant them royal amnesties as well as request intervention in their case from Prime Minister Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh before they lodge a complaint with the Appeal Court. The two men have 60 days to file an appeal, beginning with the date of their conviction.

Moreover, the Observatory stresses that both the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia and Mr. Peter Leuprecht, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia, denounced the outcome of this trial, respectively on August 1 and August 16, 2005.

The Observatory is deeply concerned about this new example of the Cambodian court's lack of independence from political pressure, and fears that this parody of justice merely aims at protecting the real perpetrators of the murder of Mr. Chea Vichea. The Observatory requests the Cambodian authorities to guarantee that a full, impartial and independent inquiry into the murder of Mr. Chea Vichea be carried out.

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities of Cambodia urging them to:

1. conduct a fair, impartial, independent and credible inquiry into the murder of Mr. Chea Vichea, in order to identify the real perpetrators, bring them to justice and pronounce sentences proportional to the gravity of the crime;
   
2. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Sok Sam Oeun and Mr. Born Samnang, as well as witnesses for the defence;
   
3. release immediately and unconditionally Mr. Sok Sam Oeun and Mr. Born Samnang since their detention is arbitrary;
   
4. adopt immediate measures to put an end to all acts of violence against human rights defenders and guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders are able to carry out their work in Cambodia;
   
5. comply with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, in particular article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels", and article 12.2, which provides that "the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration";
   
6. more generally, comply with the terms of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other regional and international human rights instruments to which Cambodia is a party.
   
   

Addresses:

• Mr. Hun Sen, Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, Fax: +855 23 36 06 66 / 88 10 45 (c/o Council of Ministers), Email: leewood_phu@nida.gov.kh
  
• Mr. Sar Kheng, Deputy Prime Minister and Co-Minister of Interior, Ministry of Interior, 275 Norodom Blvd, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, Fax: + 855 23 21 27 08
  
• Mr. Hor Nam Hong, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 161 Preah Sisowath Quay, cnr rue 204, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, Fax: + 855 23 21 61 44 / + 855 23 21 61 42
  
• Mr. Om Yentieng, Minister & President of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee, Office of the Prime Minister, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, Fax: +855 12 81 37 81 / +855 23 21 11 62 or +855 23 88 10 45 (c/o Council of Ministers)
  
• Mr. Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister, Fax: + 855 23 88 06 24, Email: leewood_phu@nida.gov.kh
  
• Ambassador Mr. Vun Chheang, Permanent Mission of Cambodia to the United Nations in Geneva, Chemin de Taverney 3, Case postale 213, 1218 Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland, Fax: + 41 22 788 77 74
  

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

***

Geneva - Paris, August 17, 2005