DOCSLIB.ORG

Rainsy Charged with Defamation

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Rainsy Charged with Defamation R 3447 E MB U N SSUE I FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2020 Intelligent . In-depth . Independent www.phnompenhpost.com 4000 RIEL Cambodia braces for worst Don’t miss our Special Report as travel restrictions ease Inside page 8-9 Rainsy charged with defamation Khorn Savi tional Police chief and a son of Lundy. received from lawyers in France, Rainsy covered what was mentioned Hun Sen and Vichea brought the Rainsy, the self-proclaimed “act- an investigating judge of the Paris in Hun Sen’s complaint dated Au- two separate legal cases against FRENCH court has charged ing president” of the Supreme criminal court decided on June 8 to gust 20 last year. The letter further Rainsy with the French courts after former opposition leader Court-dissolved Cambodia National charge Rainsy with defamation. stated the prosecution of Rainsy in he wrote online that the prime min- Sam Rainsy with defama- Rescue Party (CNRP), lives in exile “Our Cambodian government law- Paris is inevitable. ister killed Lundy by ordering the tion for claiming that Prime in France to avoid a slew of charges yers received this news according to “A French investigating judge explosion of a helicopter that Lundy MinisterA Hun Sen ordered the killing against him in the Kingdom on top a clearly stamped letter in French found that there is sufficient evi- boarded from Phnom Penh to Svay of former National Police chief Hok of the defamation case in France. about the charge against Sam Rain- dence that Sam Rainsy committed Rieng in 2008. Lundy. Ky Tech, a lawyer representing sy, and this is true,” he said. the crime as accused. Rainsy didn’t Rainsy also alleged that Lundy’s Two separate complaints were filed by the government, told The Post on The one-page letter translated oppose the charge, according to the Hun Sen and Dy Vichea, the deputy Na- Thursday that according to a letter from French said the charge against letter,” Tech said. CONTINUED – page 2 Cambodian from Malaysia gets Covid-19 Khorn Savi While no deaths from Covid-19 has been reported ONE OF the 204 Cambodian domestically, a Cambodian passengers who returned UN peacekeeper in Mali lost from Malaysia on Tuesday his life to the disease. tested positive for Covid-19, The Ministry of National the Ministry of Health said. Defence said 10 Cambodian The 21-year-old from peacekeepers in Mali and six Koh Kong province is being military trainees in Russia treated at the Khmer-Soviet have also contracted the virus, Friendship Hospital. all of whom have recovered. Ministry of Health spokes- The government has tried to person Or Vandine said the stop person-to-person trans- other 203 passengers who test- missions in the country with a ed negative are being quaran- focus on tightening measures tined at Hun Sen Champuvorn against passengers arriving High School in Phnom Penh from abroad, the ministry said. and at quarantine centres in All passengers are re- their respective home prov- quired to be sent to waiting inces. They are not allowed to facilities upon their arrival. Proud moment self-quarantine at home. They must have their sam- Deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) Hun Manet presides over the handover of 290 mili- tary trucks bought from China to RCAF units and the National Police at Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh. HEAN RANGSEY STORY > 4 “We are sending them to ples taken for testing before their respective quarantine self-quarantine at home or centres according to their at quarantine centres man- addresses,” she said. aged by the ministry. The Cambodian embassy Cambodia has cancelled the in Malaysia confirmed that requirements that Cambodian ‘Unsafe’ US food stalls trade talks 115 of the 204 passengers citizens who hold foreign pass- on board the flight had been ports and Visa K have $50,000 US TRADE talks with the EU told lawmakers on Capitol Hill. very difficult issues with the UK. With Britain, however, “we stranded there since April 7. in health insurance and pay and Britain have stalled in part “There is a sense in Europe, Also, I’m hopeful that we’ll work will have agricultural problems” The latest case brings the a $3,000 deposit for testing, due to suspicions of poor which I think is shared – hope- our way through them”. in negotiations, he warned. national total of confirmed treatment and quarantine. American food standards, fully not as deeply with [Brit- He said agriculture had been Lighthizer vowed that there Covid-19 cases to 129, most But they need to have certifi- Washington’s chief negotiator ain] as it is with Europe – that at the centre of all recent trade would be no compromise of which are imported. The cates confirming they are free said on Wednesday. American food is unsafe.” negotiations and was “a huge, regarding US agricultural health ministry said of the 129 of Covid-19 dated no later than “I think there’s a desire to make He dismissed the worries huge winner” for Americans in exports. patients, 126 had recovered. 72 hours before departure. things work through, but for however as “thinly veiled pro- the new US-Mexico-Canada “We either have fair access Two of the three who remain Foreigners, Vandine said, whatever reason, we haven’t tectionism”. free trade agreement (USMCA), for agriculture or won’t have to hospitalised recently had re- are required to pay other fees made much headway,” US Trade These are “very difficult issues and also in agreements reached deal with either one of them,” turned from Indonesia. for virus-related services. Representative Robert Lighthizer with Europe and they will be with China and Japan. he said. AFP MONEY don’T MISS OUR SPECIAL MATTERS SUPPLEMENT TODAY 2 THE PHNOM PENH POST JUNE 19, 2020 WWW.phnompenhpost.COM National New working group created to revamp immigration law Voun Dara INISTER of Interi- or Sar Kheng has requested former justice minister MAng Vong Vathana to lead the interior ministry’s working group in drafting a bill to re- place the existing immigration Officials inspect an illegal ​​​mine operation in Kratie province. THE law, which he said is outdated CAMBODIA TIME given technology advance- ments in the digital era. Sar Kheng made the re- National commitee quest at the 18th meeting of the National Committee for Sub-National Democratic probes gold mining Development (NCDD) at the ministry on Wednesday. “Almost everything needs to operations in Kratie change. If we want to amend all of that, then I think we should Khouth Sophak Chakrya tures from the gold. make a new law,” he said. “It is still illegal because To make a new law, he said, THE National Committee for those pits are owned by the a request must be sent to Hun Prevention and Crackdown Xing Yuan Kanng Yeak Co Sen. “I would like to inform The minister says the existing law is outdated given technology advancements in the digital era. INTERIOR MINISTRY on Natural Resource Crimes Ltd, which received a licence you in advance that I have re- targeted an illegal gold mining from the government to mine quested that Ang Vong Vatha- aimed at ensuring the man- before the law came into on immigration, chaired by operation in Kratie, marking gold,” said Chamnan. na, chairman of the committee agement of all foreigners in force, it applies to all foreign- secretary of state Sok Phal. the fourth such investigation Roth Sola, the Kratie pro- on Immigration Law, revise it. Cambodia, and to determine ers entering, passing through Phal said the meeting was in the area within a week. vincial deputy director for the Sar Kheng said the immigra- the rules and conditions that and staying in Cambodia. held to exchange ideas to pre- Kratie deputy district gover- department of mines and en- tion law was written in 1994 apply to foreigners entering, “The immigration work has pare draft amendments to the nor Khan Chamnan, who also ergy, told The Post that he has and many changes have been passing through and staying been very successful, such as Law on Immigration, which heads the committee, told already sent the complaint made to it over the years, and in the Kingdom. noting foreigner statistics. We the working group passed on The Post on Thursday that in file to the Kratie provincial Cambodia just revised the law The law applies to all for- have done it well. There are to Sar Kheng. early rainy season gold min- prosecutor. on nationality. “The law on im- eigners, except in the case of perhaps more than 80,000 The group asked for more ing offences increase. The court charged the three migration has been changed a the application of the rules foreigners only in the coun- guidance at the Tuesday “On Thursday last week, I men involved in the O’ Salong lot, so we must form a commit- of international law to which try,” Sar Kheng said. meeting. That is when Sar led joint forces to investigate case on Tuesday for operating tee to prepare a proposal to re- Cambodia is a signatory. On May 8, the ministry held Kheng advised the group to four gold mining businesses a mining business without arrange the law,” he said. Even if the person has en- a working group meeting to submit a report to overhaul in O’ Rolong area at Svay permission from the authori- The ministry said the law is tered to live in the Kingdom draft an amendment to the law the law from scratch. Chreah commune, in Snuol ties. They are being held in district. We detained three pre-trial detention, Sola said.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Cambodia and Major Powers 173 CHAPTER 10 – Conclusion 199
    Table of Content EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 CHAPTER 1 – Civil and Political Rights 5 PART 1: Repression of Political Opposition 6 PART 2: Persecution of the Memorialization of Kem Ley 24 PART 3: LANGO and CSO Freedom 28 CHAPTER 2 – Media and Press Freedoms 40 PART 1: The Media Landscape 44 PART 2: Laws and Policies 48 PART 3: Criminalization of Press and Journalism 58 CHAPTER 3 – Labor Rights and Politics 71 PART 1: Key Policy Issues for Labor 72 PART 2: Trade Union Law 75 PART 3: The Tripartite National Council on Minimum Wage 80 PART 4: Right to Strike 84 PART 5: Status of Legal Prosecution of Unionists 97 PART 6: International Brands and Labor Associations 103 PART 7: Remedying Violence Against Unionists – Remembering Chea Vichea 106 CHAPTER 4 – The Legislative Branch 108 CHAPTER 5 – The Judicial Branch 118 PART 1: Lack of Justice 120 PART 2: Legal Reform 124 PART 3: Legal Aid 130 CHAPTER 6 – The Executive Branch 135 CHAPTER 7 – Democratic Elections 148 PART 1: 2019 Sub-national Elections 148 PART 2: 2019 Voter Registration 155 CHAPTER 8 – The EU and EBA Status 158 CHAPTER 9 – Cambodia and Major Powers 173 CHAPTER 10 – Conclusion 199 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Democracy in Cambodia was assessed on how to decline in 2019. The ruling party consolidated its hegemony over the political system, and there were no significant improvements in liberal pluralism. As outlined in this report, important reforms occurred in different areas; however, reforms were not sufficient in any areas to meet the standards of an established democratic system. Improvements were made to laws, but there are still significant problems with existing legislation.
    [Show full text]
  • Shrinking Civil Space in Cambodia : Ngos Manoeuvring and Navigating Restrictions and Insecurities in the Cambodian
    MSC INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES POLITICS & GOVERNANCE OF DEVELOPMENT COURSE CODE: SCD-80436 MSC THESIS Shrinking Civil Space in Cambodia NGOs manoeuvring and navigating restrictions and insecurities in the Cambodian pre-election landscape CHRISTINE FLEISCHER STUDENT NR: 920402241070 SUPERVISOR: DR. IR. GEMMA VAN DER HAAR 05.07.2019 ABSTRACT Shrinking civil space is a pressing global trend spreading over a wide range of countries. Yet in-depth research on how shrinking civil space affects NGOs in such highly insecure and repressive settings physically, organisationally and emotionally, and what response strategies they engage in, is limited. This research analyses how three national and international NGOs active in Cambodia dealt with the limitations and challenges surrounding shrinking civil space ahead of the 2018 national elections. These three organisations were studied during a three-month period of ethnographic fieldwork late 2017/early 2018, through participant observation, informal conversations, interviews, literature study and the study of grey literature. This research illustrates how the Cambodian government increasingly tends towards an authoritarian regime, characterised by a restrictive civil society landscape. NGOs were affected by classic tools of repression: physical harassment like intimidation and threats, criminalisation, administrative burdens, stigmatisation, and spaces of dialogue under pressure. These had considerable impact both directly and indirectly. Distrust, frustration and cynicism were frequent emotional reactions. A striking phenomenon was the pervasive culture of fear, created through occasional crackdowns in a setting of omnipresent insecurity, opaque political deterrence court cases, shut-down of independent media, rumours, and ambiguous legislation allowing arbitrary repression of adversaries. This culture of fear is a very effective tool to control and silence the majority of Cambodian civil society.
    [Show full text]
  • Government Critic's Murder Resurrects Cambodia's Violent Past
    Government critic’s murder resurrects Cambodia’s violent past POSTED ON: July 12, 2016 | CAMBODIA - CURRENT AFFAIRS - FEATURED - HIGHLIGHTS | By: Paul Millar, Globe A Cambodian man kisses the forehead of slain political analyst Kem Ley during a funeral ceremony at a pagoda in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 11 July 2016. Photo: EPA/MAK REMISSA The murder of respected political analyst Kem Ley marks a return to Cambodia’s dark past of political violence The murder of political analyst and strident government critic Kem Ley on Sunday morning has thrust Cambodia back to a time when government opponents were gunned down in the street for speaking out against the ruling party. Shot dead at close range at a Caltex service station in central Phnom Penh, where he regularly stopped for coffee, Ley’s murder drew crowds of mourners into the streets as protesters struggled to prevent police from carrying away his body. The shooter, who originally gave his name in a recorded confession to police as Choub Samlab, which translates to “meet to kill”, has been identified by local media as Siem Reap resident Eout Ang. Although initial police statements claimed the shooting was caused by a quarrel over a $3,000 debt allegedly owed by Ley, Ang’s wife told the Phnom Penh Post that she could not believe her husband had acted of his own accord. “There must have been someone who ordered him to kill him,” she said. Sebastian Strangio, the author of Hun Sen’s Cambodia, told Southeast Asia Globe that Ley’s death had all the hallmarks of a politically motivated hit – though he stressed that it was difficult to know precisely who was behind the shooting.
    [Show full text]
  • Summary This Submission Examines the State of Fundamental Rights, Including the Right to Form and Join Unions, Freedom of Sp
    Summary This submission examines the state of fundamental rights, including the right to form and join unions, freedom of speech and assembly and the right to strike, in particular in the context of the workplace. Workers are deprived of their right to freedom of association and expression in practice due to systematic judicial harassment and intimidation. Regressive legislative reforms have further tightened the government’s grip on trade unions. Weak enforcement measures and the absence of independent, accountable and transparent institutions have been key factors in the lack of progress since Cambodia’s last Universal Period Review. In addition, we examine the expose of children to the worst forms of child labour remains, which remains an area of critical concern. International Obligations Cambodia has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of the Child among others. In addition, Cambodia has ratified the Fundamental Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), including the: Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No.
    [Show full text]
  • Thecambodiadaily
    All the News Without Fear or Favor The Cambodia daily Volume 65 Issue 38 Thursday, August 25, 2016 2,000 riel/50 cents Soldiers Rally Against Plans For Kem Ley Statue By Khy Sovuthy the cambodIa daIly Soldiers and military com- manders stationed along the Thai border have joined a veterans’ as- sociation to urge the government not to approve a public statue of slain political analyst Kem Ley in Phnom Penh, and vowed to re- move it if erected. CNRP lawmaker Ou Chanrath last week asked the Phnom Penh municipal government for per- mission to place a statue of the popular and outspoken commen- tator, who was gunned down in- side a Phnom Penh convenience store on July 10, at the city’s Free- Reuters dom Park. Though the man ar- An underwater test-firing of a strategic submarine ballistic missile is seen in this undated photograph released rested for the shooting claims he by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang in April. killed Kem Ley over an unpaid debt, many are convinced it was a political assassination. City Hall has yet to make a deci- North Korea Launches Missile Toward Japan sion, but resistance to the proposal ReuteRs clear-armed North Korea’s land- porters, referring to an area of con- has been building among the North Korea fired a submarine- based arsenal was destroyed, ex- trol designated by countries to country’s soldiers and veterans. launched missile yesterday that perts said. help maintain air security. “We are absolutely against put- flew about 500 km toward Japan, a The ballistic missile was fired at The missile was fired at a high ting a statue of Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Paris Peace Accords Reach a Milestone, but Should Cambodians Celebrate?
    Paris Peace Accords Reach a Milestone, But Should Cambodians Celebrate? 2016-10-19 RFA Rhona Smith, UN special rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, speaks during a press conference in Phnom Penh, Oct 19,2016. RFA On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords that ended Cambodia‟s war with Vietnam and pointed the way toward a modern state, the U.N.‟s human rights envoy to the country urged the nation‟s leaders to bury the past. Rhona Smith, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, said on Wednesday that her 10- day tour showed a “very different” nation than the one that struggled to throw off the bloody Khmer Rouge, find peace with its neighbor, and, at least on paper, establish a democracy. But she also saw a government that is too willing to live in the past. “The time for the government to blame the troubles of the last century for the situation today is surely over,” she wrote in a statement at the end of her official fact-finding mission. “Cambodia has earned its place on the international stage as an equal sovereign state and, as such, the government must take responsibility for implementing at the national and [local] levels all those rights and freedoms in the treaties it has so willingly ratified,” she wrote. While the accords marked the official end of the Cambodian-Vietnamese War in 1991, allowed Cambodia to implement a new constitution and hold elections, Cambodia is embroiled in an ongoing political crises that has seen government critics mysteriously killed, opposition party members thrown in jail and a poor record on human rights.
    [Show full text]
  • UPR Cambodia 2019
    Submission by: Front Line Defenders – The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Related to: Cambodia UPR Session: 32nd session (January 2019) Submitted: 12 July 2018 Front Line Defenders (www.frontlinedefenders.org) is an international NGO based in Ireland with special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). Founded in 2001, Front Line Defenders has particular expertise on the issue of security and protection of human rights defenders and works to promote the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders) adopted by General Assembly resolution 53/144 of 9 December 1998 The following submission has been prepared based on information received from independent human rights defenders (HRDs) in Cambodia, including through three field missions undertaken by Front Line Defenders staff between 2014 and 2018. This submission covers the situation of human rights defenders in Cambodia between 2014 and 2018. Contact person: Ed O’Donovan, Head of Protection, [email protected] 1 I. INTRODUCTION AND KEY CONCERNS 1. In Cambodia, the crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly intensified ahead of the national elections in July 2018. The authorities’ misuse of the judicial system to silence human rights defenders (HRDs) and critical voices increased, while the security forces continued to harass and intimidate civil society members and HRDs. 2. HRDs faced threats, physical attacks, arrest, judicial harassment and arbitrary detention for peacefully carrying out their human rights work.
    [Show full text]
  • UN-HRC42-Cambodia-2019
    NGOs in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations Check Against Delivery Organizations: Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), and International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) Item: Item 10 – Interactive dialogue on the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia Date: 25 September 2019 Speaker: Catherine Morris Oral Statement to the 42nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council from Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), NGOs in special consultative status Thank you, Mr. President; Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), and the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) thank the Special Rapporteur for her reports.1 Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring that no one is “left behind,” necessitates equal access to remedies for rights violations within a trustworthy and independent legal system. Cambodia has not fulfilled its treaty obligations to establish judicial independence and integrity. Civil society’s rights advocacy is continually resisted.2 Lawyers, defenders,3 journalists,4 politicians, or activists reporting on corruption,5 election irregularities,6 labour rights violations,7 illegitimate land acquisition,8 environmental degradation,9 or other rights abuses, including by businesses, are routinely subjected to official vilification; intimidation; interference with rights to expression, association,10 and assembly; criminalization; arbitrary detention;11 and even unlawful killings with impunity.12 Since 2017, political opposition has been systematically suppressed, including through misuse of the judiciary. Despite the Special Rapporteur’s repeated calls for release of opposition leader Kem Sokha, he remains under court-imposed restrictions tantamount to house arrest.
    [Show full text]