IPU's decision in Mrs. Mu Sochua's case

Mrs. Mu Sochua (L) vs. Cambodia's Strongman Hun Xen

COMMITTEE ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PARLIAMENTARIANS CASE No. CMBD/47 - MU SOCHUA - CAMBODIA Decision adopted by the Committee at its 130th session (Geneva, 12 - 15 July 2010)

The Committee,

Referring to the case of Ms. Mu Sochua, a member of the National Assembly of Cambodia, and to the resolution adopted by the Governing Council at its 186th session (April 2010),

Referring also to the legal analysis of this case by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights of 30 May 2010,

Taking into account the information provided on a continuous basis by the sources,

Recalling the following:

• In a widely publicized speech made by Prime Minister Hun Sen on 4 April 2009 in Kampot Province, where Mrs. Mu Sochua was elected in 2008 and which she represents in the National Assembly, reference was made to a woman who could only have been Mu Sochua in a derogatory manner with sexual innuendos;
• On 23 April 2009, Mrs. Sochua announced at a press conference that she would file a defamation lawsuit under Article 63 of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) Criminal Law, stating that she respected the Prime Minister as the head of the government but wanted him to be held responsible for his insults; on 27 April 2009, Mrs. Sochua filed the lawsuit against Mr. Hun Sen who, in turn, filed a defamation lawsuit against her, stating that lifting Ms. Mu Sochua’s parliamentary immunity would be “as easy as ABC”; he also brought a defamation lawsuit against her lawyer, Mr. Kong Sam Onn, for stating during the press conference that he had defamed Ms. Sochua,
• On 10 June 2009, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court dismissed Mrs. Sochua’s case against the Prime Minister without any investigation, stating that it was groundless; however, the court moved ahead with the Prime Minister’s lawsuit, requesting that Mrs. Sochua’s parliamentary immunity be lifted;
• On 22 June 2009, the National Assembly, in a closed-door session, lifted her immunity by a show of hands without giving her the possibility to defend herself and without a debate;
• On 4 August 2009, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Ms. Mu Sochua guilty under Article 63 of the UNTAC law criminal provisions of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen by: (i) holding a press conference to announce that she would file a defamation lawsuit against the Prime Minister, (ii) informing the IPU and the Global Fund for Women of the matter, (iii) affirming that the Prime Minister’s words against her “affected all Khmer women and women all over the world”, all of which showed that she had acted in bad faith with the intention of defaming the Prime Minister worldwide and sullying his reputation and dignity; she was fined 8.5 million riel and ordered to pay another 8 million riel in damages to the Prime Minister (a total of appr. US$ 4,000); on 28 October 2010, the Court of Appeal upheld the judgment; as for her lawyer, disciplinary proceedings have been brought against him by the Cambodian Bar Association, as a result of which he withdrew as defence counsel for Mrs. Sochua and joined the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP); the Prime Minister withdrew his complaint against him and the disciplinary proceedings were dropped,

Considering that, after a first hearing on 7 April 2010 was adjourned owing to the absence of Mr. Hun Sen and Mrs. Mu Sochua, the Supreme Court, on 2 June 2010, upheld the Court of Appeal’s, ruling on the Municipal Court’s decision; noting that Mrs. Sochua has stated that she will not pay the fine and that, as a consequence, may be sent to jail,

Recalling that the Cambodian parliamentary authorities have rejected allegations of irregularity and insisted that the rule of law was followed by the National Assembly and the courts and argued that Mrs. Sochua should have paid the fine, as advised by colleagues, and the case would have been over;

Bearing in mind that Article 31 of the Constitution of Cambodia stipulates that the rights and freedoms of citizens include the “human rights as stipulated in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the human rights covenants and conventions and women’s and children’s rights; that, moreover, Articles 41, 39, 31 and 45 of the Constitution respectively guarantee freedom of expression, the right of Khmer citizens to denounce public officials for breaches of the law committed during the course of their duties, equality before the law and prohibits discrimination against women, and that Article 46 explicitly prohibits obscenity against women,

1. Is alarmed at the prospect of Mrs. Mu Sochua being sent to jail as a result of proceedings which it can only consider to be a travesty of justice;
2. Points out once again that the court, while summarily rejecting Mu Sochua’s lawsuit against the Prime Minister, went ahead with the Prime Minister’s lawsuit and concluded that she defamed him without having seriously examined, let alone proven that she had made a bad faith or malicious allegation or deduction of fact that had tarnished the reputation of the Prime Minister, but instead relied on letters she had written to the IPU and the Global Fund for Women; finds it distressing that the courts did not redress this situation upon appeal;
3. Affirms once again that Mrs. Sochua was entitled to bring a defamation lawsuit against the Prime Minister, she was entitled to announce this publicly and to write letters in this respect to the IPU, the Global Fund for Women and any other international organization she seemed fit to receive her complaint; in doing so she was exercising her most fundamental right to freedom of expression guaranteed under Cambodia’s Constitution and international human rights law,
4. Notes with deep dismay that, in this particular instance, the IPU and its mechanism to defend the human rights of members of parliament served in fact to violate the human rights of a member of parliament, which it finds all the more appalling as the Parliament of Cambodia is a Member of the IPU;
5. Calls on the Cambodian authorities, including the National Assembly, to take whatever steps are necessary to redress this situation,
6. Requests the Secretary General to forward this decision to the authorities, to Ms. Mu Sochua and to the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) in Cambodia; requests him also to inform donor countries of its concerns in this case;
7. Decides to continue examining this case at its next session, to be held during the 123rd IPU Assembly (October 2010).