Call on the Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution addressing Cambodia’s gravely deteriorating human rights situation

This resolution should highlight and condemn the ongoing and systematic human rights violations in the country
and impunity for their perpetrators; build on the concerns expressed by a number of States at the Council’s 32nd session;
[1] and urge the Cambodian Government to urgently take corrective action to preserve the legacy of the Paris Peace Agreements,
ahead of their 25th anniversary and of key municipal and general elections (2017­2018). [2] The resolution should also request
the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Ms. Rhona Smith, to assess
the status of implementation of the recommendations made to Cambodia by various UN bodies and mechanisms,
including by her and her predecessors, and to identify benchmarks for progress and priority areas for reform
with a view to putting an end to the ongoing and systematic human rights violations committed in the country. [3]

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Cambodia was extended for an additional two years at the Council’s

30th session. This unique practice of bi-­annual country­-specific resolutions provides important continuity to
the monitoring of, and public reporting on, the situation in the country and helps streamline the work of the Council.

However, this should not prevent the Council from exercising its responsibility to take more de­cisive action given
the grave circumstances in Cambodia.

Since we expressed deep concern about Cambodia’s human rights situation in a letter sent to your and other delegations
prior to the Human Rights Council’s 30th session, [4] our fear that the country risked “falling deeper into a pattern of
institutionalized human rights violations, including political violence” and the alarm ex­ pressed by the Special Rapporteur
that the country was reaching a “dangerous tipping point,” have materia­lized. [5]

Indeed, since the adoption of Human Rights Council resolution 30/23 [6] on 2 October 2015, the Cambodian Government
has taken steps to further restrict the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, limit
the political opposition’s ability to meaningfully engage in policy-­making and campai­gning, and prevent
civil society organizations from operating freely and independently. Legislation that unduly restricts
human rights and fundamental freedoms continues to be in force, including the Law on Association and
NGOs (LANGO), which the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
has described as falling “significantly short of international human rights laws and norms” and
as “threatening the existence of a free and independent civil society in Cambodia,”
[7] with increasing concerns that the government is prepared to use it to arbitrarily
de­register civil society organizations it labels as violating the concept of “political neutrality.”
A Trade Union Law imposing new restrictions on the right to freedom of association
has also come into force, marking a further downward slide for labor rights in the country.
[8] Security forces continue to suppress peaceful protests, and in recent months,
instances of judicial harassment and unwarranted legal attacks against human rights defenders,
community activists, trade union­ists and political opposition members and their supporters
have multiplied, with no end in sight.

On 12 May 2016, four UN Special Rapporteurs jointly called on the Government of Cambodia
to “stop targeting civil society, human rights defenders, parliamentarians and UN personnel
and to take effective measures to protect civil society and respect fundamental freedoms
in the country.” [9] They highlighted the case of the Cambodian Human Rights and
Development Association (ADHOC), one of Cambodia’s oldest, largest, and most­ respected
human rights NGOs, whose four senior staff members have been targeted along with
a former staff member, now Deputy Secretary-­General of the National Election Committee (NEC).
They have been subjected to a judicial investigation and arbitrary detention on charges
that have all the hall­ marks of being politically-­motivated of “bribing a witness” in connection with
the provision of advice and legitimate reimbursement of food and transportation costs to
a woman alleged to have had an extra­marital relationship with the deputy opposition leader,
Kem Sokha. The continued detention of the five defenders, as well as the threats
and intimidation of those who have spoken out in their defense, including through a campaign
on social media, [10] has led to an increasingly repressive environment for freedom of expression
and sent a chilling message to the critics of the government.

On 10 July 2016, prominent Cambodian political analyst and social justice activist Kem Ley
was shot dead in broad daylight at a convenience store in a petrol station in central Phnom Penh.
Following the attack, five UN Special Rapporteurs jointly stated that “[t]he circumstances of
Mr. Kem Ley’s death have given rise to deep concerns in view of his standing as a critic of
the government and his regular comments in the media highlighting governance and human rights
concerns.” They added that his shooting “exemplifie[d] an alarming negative trend in Cambodia
whereby political activists and human rights defenders are facing in­ creasing restrictions [...]”
and that his killing is “likely to have a chilling effect on the pursuit of democracy and human rights
in Cambodia.” [11] The “prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into this crime” by “an independent body
with no ties to the government” they have called for has yet to be conducted.

These developments have taken place in a context of increased political tensions, as the country’s
two opposition leaders, Mr. Sam Rainsy and Mr. Kem Sokha, President and Vice­-President of the
Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) respectively, have been targeted with a series of
criminal allegations that have prevented them from effectively participating in Cambodia’s
public life. [12] In addition, 26 political prisoners, inclu­ding human rights defenders, [13]
are currently in detention in Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen and other high-­level officials
have threatened several opposition politicians, political commentators and civil society
representatives with legal proceedings, including for “defamation.” Amid the attacks against
civil society and other critical and independent voices and the increased harassment of
the media, these mounting political tensions threaten to make the elections planned for 2017
and 2018 neither free nor fair.

In the face of Cambodia’s rapidly deteriorating human rights situation as well as government
policies and practices that go against the spirit and purpose of the Paris Peace Agreements
and UN engagement in the country since, the Human Rights Council should adopt a resolution that:

We also call upon your Government to express its support to the renewal of the mandate of
the OHCHR country office in Cambodia through the prompt signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between the Government of Cambodia and the OHCHR, and to underline
the importance of the complementarities between the work of the Special Rapporteur,
other UN bodies and mechanisms and the OHCHR country office.

***

Twenty­-five years after the signing of the Paris Peace Agreements, this resolution should reaffirm
the UN’s historical responsibility to support the Cambodian people’s quest for justice, democracy,
human rights and the rule of law. As it examines the situation in Cambodia for the last time before
the country’s municipal elections (4 June 2017), the Human Rights Council should make clear
its intention to continue to closely monitor and address the situation in the country by adopting
a resolution that highlights the above-mentioned concerns and urges the Cambodian Government
to urgently take corrective action in this regard.

We thank you for your attention to these pressing issues and are available to provide your delegation
with further information as required.

Sincerely,