Congressmen fear for speakers’ fate

Left to right: Mu Sochua, Dr. Pung Chiv Kek, Moeun Tola (Photo: SRP North America)

Thursday, 17 September 2009
Meas Sokchea and James O’toole
The Phnom Penh Post

Advise US Embassy to offer ‘island of freedom’ to Lantos commission witnesses.
REPRESENTATIVES from the US Congress sent a letter to the US Embassy in Phnom Penh urging the protection of three Cambodians who testified in Washington, as the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sought to downplay the significance of the US hearing.

Last Thursday, Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian Mu Sochua testified with Licadho rights group president Kek Galabru and Community Legal Education Centre labour programme head Moeun Tola in front of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a US congressional body that monitors human rights norms around the world. All three witnesses offered fierce criticisms of the government, with Mu Sochua testifying that Cambodian democracy is “experiencing an alarming free fall”.

On Tuesday, two members of the Tom Lantos commission sent a letter to US Ambassador Carol Rodley urging her to monitor the safety of the three witnesses when they return home to Cambodia.

“The US Embassy should represent an island of freedom in a country such as Cambodia, where dissidents and human rights defenders often face threats and discrimination by the government and government-controlled security forces,” US congressmen James Moran and Frank Wolf wrote.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs secretary of state Ouch Borith dismissed concern for the safety of Mu Sochua and the other witnesses on Wednesday as overblown, comparing them to other prominent figures associated with the opposition.

“Have we ever arrested [SRP head] Sam Rainsy?” Ouch Borith asked. “Sam Rainsy is a leading party representative, and he always wants to speak badly about Cambodia when he travels abroad.... As for [Mu Sochua’s] return to Cambodia, don’t worry about this.”

Ouch Borith went on to dispute Mu Sochua’s characterisation of a meeting she had with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last Friday. On Sunday, Mu Sochua told the Post that Clinton expressed interest in sending a US State Department delegation to Cambodia later this year, and “made it very clear that she does not wish to see further deterioration” in the Kingdom’s rights situation.

Ouch Borith said that during a recent meeting with Carol Rodley, the US ambassador clarified to him that the meeting between Clinton and Mu Sochua “was not official – it took place outside [Clinton’s] office”.

To the issue of the US delegation, Ouch Borith said Clinton “didn’t respond at all”.

US Embassy spokesman John Johnson confirmed in an email on Wednesday that Clinton “did meet briefly with Mu Sochua to discuss the current situation in Cambodia” but did not offer further details regarding the meeting.

US Ambassador Carol Rodley asked to ensure that Mu Sochua, Dr. Pung Chiv Kek and Moeun Tola do not come under the pressure of the PPenh regime

Click on the letter to zoom in

Congress of the United States
Washington, DC 20515

September 15,2009

Ms. Carol A. Rodley
Ambassador
Kingdom of Cambodia
c/o Department of State

Dear Ambassador Rodley:

We write today to ask the assistance of the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh in ensuring that three Cambodian individuals who recently traveled to the United States to speak at a congressional hearing do not come under any pressure from the government of Cambodia.

As you may know, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing on Thursday, September 10, on human rights and the rule of law in Cambodia. We were fortunate to have the following individuals travel from Cambodia to share with us firsthand accounts of the current situation: Mu Sochua, member of Parliament; Pung Kek, founder of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, and Moeun Tola, head of the labor program at the Community Legal and Education Center.

The U.S. Embassy should represent an island of freedom in a country such as Cambodia where dissidents and human rights defenders often face threats and discrimination by the government and government-controlled security forces. Such is the case with Mu Sochua who was stripped of her Parliamentary immunity and sued for defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen.

We ask that the embassy monitor the fate of these individuals upon their return to Cambodia and keep members of Congress informed.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Best wishes.

Sincerely,

Frank R. Wolf
Member of Congress

James P. Moran
Member of Congress

Congressional Hearing Scrutinizes Rights Abuses

Rep. James McGovern (left) and Rep. Frank Wolf (centre), co-chairmen of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
Mu Sochua (left), Kek Galabru (centre) and Moeun Tola (Right) testify at a US Congressional hearing on Thursday.
Sophie Richardson (right) testifies at a US Congressional hearing.

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
14 September 2009

“Speaking for myself, if there is any harm or ill-will done to any of you, I personally will offer an amendment to cut aid across the board, zero doubt, military, non-military, everything, to Cambodia.” - US Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Va)

Click here to watch the PHOTO SLIDESHOW by Taing Sarada.

A US congressional committee turned its attention to Cambodia on Thursday, with six members of the US House of Representatives and four advocates for human rights in Cambodia all stating strong concern for rights setbacks in Cambodia over the past several years.

The hearing room in Washington was standing room only, as Mu Sochua, a member of parliament from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, Kek Galabru, president of the human rights group Licadho, and Moeun Tola, head of the labor program for the Community Legal Education Center, appeared before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

More than 200 others attended, as the Cambodians testified to the repression of free expression, the stripping of opposition parliamentary immunity, a lack of independence in the judicial system, land-grabs and repressed labor rights.

“This is not about American interest,” said Jim Moran, a Democrat from Virginia and member of the commission. “This is about human interest, human rights and the ability of the Cambodian people to express themselves freely, to move freely, to organize freely, and certainly to engage in a free and fair election, and that’s what we’re concerned about.”

The hearing was undertaken after reports of a worrying trend in Cambodia, of an apparent government crackdown on dissent, especially of lawmakers and journalists supportive of the opposition parties. One editor has been jailed for alleged incitement and another has closed his newspaper for fear of similar charges, while SRP lawmakers Mu Sochua and Ho Vann have both been taken to court by ruling party officials.

“We want to give Hun Sen, the prime minister, every opportunity to correct the situation, to the change some of his policies,” Moran said. “Maybe he’s just getting bad advice and he can sack whatever minister is giving him that advice. We don’t want to suggest how he might want to deal with this, but things need to turn around, and I think that’s the point of this hearing. It is unacceptable what’s going on there.”

Mu Sochua told the hearing that suspension of parliament immunity for members of the opposition meant a threat to democracy, as they cannot fulfill their tasks if they are worried about being prosecuted.

Referring to human rights reports by the UN, EU and local rights groups, Mu Sochua described a rights situation in Cambodia that has deteriorated to an alarming level, worries the government has repeatedly dismissed.

“We believe that such a denial and the continued grave violations of the rights of our people deserve immediate action to restore the vision of the Paris Peace Accords,” Mu Sochua said. “We need to crack the facade of democracy in Cambodia.”

Her concerns were echoed by a Kek Galabru, who as the founder of Licadho is a well-respected rights advocate. She said she worried that some laws, like the draft NGO law and law on public protest, need immediate US intervention.

Kek Galabru said she wanted the US to persuade the government of Cambodia to eliminate penal punishment of government critics and to kill a law that would put increased restrictions on nongovernmental organizations. She also recommended arrests and criminal charges against suspects still at large but wanted in connection with the murders of journalists, union activists and others.

These measures, however, were only temporary solutions, she said. In the long run, the US should aid in establishing an independent national human rights body, in accordance with UN conventions.

“If we can get this kind of institution with your support, we can promote and protect human rights in Cambodia, and maybe the lives of many Cambodians will be better,” she said.

Moeun Tola told the hearing that garment workers suffer from short term contracts, depriving them of long-term benefits, such as annual leave, while the un-prosecuted murders of activists remain a threat to union activities.

The public hearing was held at the Rayburn Congressional Office Building, directly across the street from the US Capitol in central Washington. Rarely do members of the US Congress conduct public hearings on issues specifically related to Cambodia.

Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, also testified on the panel. She said members of the Cambodian armed forces, police, and bodyguard units were involved in human rights abuses, like land-grabbing, evicting the poor, killing former members of the royalist party Funcinpec, intimidating rights activists, and illegal logging.

“All of these problems are really a function of impunity in Cambodia,” Richardson told the hearing. “There are a few people ever prosecuted, perhaps with the exception of Sochua, for real crimes.

“And, certainly, since the people in the government are not held accountable, ending on-going abuses and a culture of impunity really has to be one of the main purposes of US policy in Cambodia,” she said. “Otherwise we are nowhere further down the track than we were in 1991, the signing of the Paris Peace Agreement.”

Cambodian Embassy officials at the hearing declined to comment on the hearings, saying they were not officially invited to take part, but the embassy has issued a statement calling the hearing “biased.”

Meanwhile, rights activists have called for several specific actions from the government: the release of jailed journalists and union members and reinstatement of parliamentary immunity for opposition party members, along with visa sanctions on corrupt governmental officials and their children.

Other members of the Human Rights Commission present were co-chairmen James McGovern, a Democrat from Virginia, and Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, as well as Ed Royce, a Republican from California, Anh Joseph Cao, a Republican from Louisiana, and Niki Tsongas, a Democrat from Massachusetts.

Each praised the Cambodians for coming forward and testifying.

“I want to make it clear that every single member of this committee will remain in contact with you, and we will follow closely with you what will happen to you when you go home,” McGovern said. “There should be no retribution for telling the truth.”

“Speaking for myself,” Wolf said, “if there is any harm or ill-will done to any of you, I personally will offer an amendment to cut aid across the board, zero doubt, military, non-military, everything, to Cambodia.”

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Tom Lantos [Human Rights Commission Hearing]

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Cambodian-Americans discuss on the problem of human rights violations in Cambodia

Left to right: Dr. Pung Chiv Kek, Mr. Tung Yap of CAHRAD and Mrs. Mu Sochua

11 September 2009
By Moeung Tum
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

In the evening of Thursday 10 September 2009, over 60 Cambodian-Americans met at the Harvest Moon Restaurant near Washington DC to discuss their concerns on the human rights violations and the violations of freedom of expression in Cambodia.

These Cambodian-Americans came from the states of Virginia, Maryland, Philadelphia and a number of other US states. The met each other last night with the presence of three guest speakers: Dr. Pung Chiv Kek, Licadho President, Mr. Moeun Tola, Labor Director for the Community Legal Education Center (CLEC) NGO, and Kampot SRP MP Mu Sochua.

The 3 speakers showed slides on the actual situation befalling in the Cambodian people: the hardship of poor Cambodians who are evicted by force from their homes, the use of armed violence on the Cambodian people, the melee scene from Mrs. Mu Sochua showing up at the tribunal to answer to the lawsuit brought up by Hun Xen’s defamation claim.

Dr. Pung Chiv Kek told the audience that, currently, freedom at the grass root level in Cambodia is violated and threatened. Moeun Tola said that, union activists who defend the workers’ rights are threatened, sued and fired by factory owners.

The meeting was organized by the Cambodian American for Human Rights and Democracy (CAHRAD) organization to review the latest situation on human rights violations and violations of freedom of expression in Cambodia. The goal is to provide a forum where Cambodian-Americans can help provide their input in the resolution on these issues based on their abilities and in compliance with the US law.

Moeun Tola called on the US Congress to provide zero duty access to Cambodian exports

Moeun Tola (2nd from right) (Photo: SRP North America)

Zero duty status subject to labour laws implement

September 12, 2009
Fibre2fashion News Desk (India)

Moeun Tola, chief of the Labour Programme Unit at the Community Legal Education Centre in Cambodia, has called on the US Congress to provide zero duty access to Cambodian exports, subject to that it meets minimum labour standards.

He said, concession should be granted along the lines of Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein's Trade Act of 2009. This is the third such bill to go before the Senate, following the Trade Act of 2005 and the Trade Act of 2007, both of which failed.

He argued for benchmarks to be set in line with international and national labour standards and called on US government to put pressure on Cambodia to fully implement its labour laws and pass its long-awaited anti-corruption law.

The Trade Act 2009 extends zero duty access to 14 least developed countries (LDCs), one of which is Cambodia.

Photos from the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing

Attendants to the packed-room hearing (All Photos: SRP North America)
Panel members of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
US Congressmen James P. McGovern (C) and Frank R. Wolf (R), the co-chairs of the TLHRC
Attendants to the hearing
Sophie Richardson (R), Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, gives her testimony. Sitting next to her are, from left to right: SRP MP Mu Sochua, Dr. Pung Chiv Kek, and Mr. Moeun Tola
Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, gives her testimony
Mrs. Mu Sochua giving her testimony
TLHRC panel members

Photos from the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing

A panel member of the TLHRC, Congressman James P. McGovern, the co-chair of the TLHRC, with Mrs. Mu Sochua and Dr. Pung Chiv Kek (All Photos: SRP North America)
Dr. Pung Chiv Kek and Mr. Moeun Tola talk with the hearing attendants
Mrs. Mu Sochua greets the attendants to the hearing
Mrs. Mu Sochua greets the attendants to the hearing

An attendant shows which party he is supporting
Attendants to the hearing

Briefing dinner following the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing

Moeun Tola and Dr. Pung Chiv Kek were also present during the dinner following the Tom Lantos Human Rigths Commission hearing (All Photos: SRP North America)

SRP MP Mu Sochua briefed the attendants to the dinner

Mr. Tung Yap (C), Dr. Pung Chiv Kek (L) and Mrs. Mu Sochua (R)

Mrs. Mu Sochua was presented with a plaque

Participants to the dinner

Mrs. Mu Sochua is being interviewed

Cambodians testify in US

"I am one of the thousands of innocent journalists, trade union leaders, teachers and villagers who are tried by a judicial system that is well known for corruption, for incompetence and for acting under the control of the government and those who have political influence and money.... As the direct result of widespread corruption in the courts, Cambodian families find themselves in debt as bribes must be paid to court officials and to judges just to have access to justice or to be free from legal persecution." - Mu Sochua, SRP parliamentarian

"The Cambodian authorities regularly use violence or the threat of it to restrict workers' rights to peacefully protest over legitimate labour rights issues. Peaceful gatherings outside factories by striking workers have repeatedly been forcibly dispersed by armed police in recent years. In the process, strike leaders and workers have been injured and may be unlawfully arrested. Local government authorities routinely reject requests for unions to march and rally in public areas." - Moeun Tola, head of labour programme unit, CLEC

"Cambodia is currently facing a crisis in human rights, which constitutes a backward slide in the country's democratisation and efforts to promote good governance. The international community, including the United States, made a significant contribution to bringing peace and the concept of democracy to Cambodia in the early 1990s. Sadly, the hard-won steps which have been made toward pluralistic democracy, and toward economic and social development, are now in danger." - Kek Galabru, president of Licadho

Friday, 11 September 2009
James O'toole and Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Witnesses attack government's human rights record at congressional hearing

HUMAN rights and freedom of expression are under grave threat in Cambodia today, a panel of Cambodian witnesses told representatives from the US Congress on Thursday at a hearing in Washington.

Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian Mu Sochua, Licadho rights group president Kek Galabru and Community Legal Education Centre (CLEC) labour programme head Moeun Tola were invited to testify in front of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a congressional body that monitors human rights norms around the world. Copies of prepared remarks were obtained from all three by the Post.

Cambodian democracy is "experiencing an alarming free fall", Mu Sochua said, according to the testimony. Having refused to pay court-ordered compensation to Prime Minister Hun Sen in connection with her defamation conviction last month, Mu Sochua warned that she will be sent to prison in the absence of intervention by the US and other donor countries.

Moeun Tola's testimony focused on labour conditions in the Kingdom, which he said had deteriorated sharply in the last few years. He expressed concern for the security of union organisers in Cambodia, citing the murders of officials from the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia including Chea Vichea, Ros Sovannareth and Hy Vuthy. Moeun Tola also criticised Cambodia's lack of a minimum wage, and said that in the only industry with such a standard in place - the garment industry - wages are "insufficient, especially in light of rising costs of food, health problems related to work and other necessities".

He called for the US to institute duty-free status for Cambodian textiles and to urge the Cambodian government to fully implement the 1997 Labour Law.

Kek Galabru highlighted the status of land and housing rights in Cambodia, noting that more than 250,000 people have been victims of land-grabbing since 2003 in the 13 provinces in which Licadho operates.

"Cambodia's increasing landlessness is a recipe for future economic and social instability," she said.

She also cited recent threats to freedom of expression, outlining several of the nine criminal complaints the government has filed against members of media, opposition and civil society organisations since April of this year.

In view of these developments, the Licadho president said that her organisation "believes that the country is facing the gravest threat to its democratic development since the 1997" factional fighting.

Mu Sochua echoed these criticisms, calling for visa sanctions on officials suspected of corruption and a suspension of US aid to the Ministry of Defence until a regulatory framework is established for mineral and petroleum concessions.

Govt denies repression

On Wednesday, the Cambodian Embassy in Washington released a statement defending its government's record on human rights, though it did not mention the congressional hearing specifically.

"Like any democratic country in the world, Cambodia cannot [allow] the proliferation of voluntary public defamation and disinformation intended to create social disorder," the statement said.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, repeated his criticism that the hearing was "unfair" because no representatives of the Cambodian government were invited.

"The opposition groups have never said anything good about the government," he said Thursday. "Whenever there is good news, they ignore it."

Though all three witnesses called for specific reforms in US policy toward Cambodia, it is not clear whether the hearing will generate any substantive changes.

Chea Vannath, an independent analyst and the former executive director of the Centre for Social Development, noted that the commission has no legislative authority in Congress, only the ability to make recommendations.

"In the political structure of the United States, it takes more than a hearing to change policy," she said. Still, she added, such events are important because of their "indirect effects", and their capacity to raise awareness of rights issues.

"This is an international mechanism to promote the rule of law, democracy and international standards," she said.

Hem Heng spinning the truth in the US ... does anybody believe him?

Forced eviction in Dey Krahorm: A policy of land distribution to the rich and powerful by Hun Xen's regime?

Hem Heng, Hun Xen's truth spinner in Washington DC

Cambodian embassy in Washington DC claims that human rights in Cambodia is continuously improving (sic!)

10 September 2009
By Ung Chamroeun
Radio France Internationale
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

In a statement issued on 09 September, the Cambodian embassy in Washington DC claimed that democracy and respect of human rights are in smooth progress in Cambodia. The statement was issued right before an opposition MP and two NGO representatives were to provide their testimonies to the US Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), an institution involved in the review of human rights issues in the world. The Cambodian spokesman of the ministry of Foreign Affairs has already indicated that what the opposition MP and the NGO officials will talk about are not constructive criticisms.

Expecting that the opposition MP and NGO officials will not provide positive viewpoints about the Phnom Penh regime to the TLHRC, Hem Heng, the Cambodian ambassador to Washington DC, tried to attract the public opinion by claiming that democracy and human rights in Cambodia is continuously progressing since 1993.

In a addition to this major point, Hem Heng also raised about the respect of freedom of expression by Hun Xen’s government which allowed thousands of NGOs, news media and unions to set themselves up in Cambodia.

Regarding the legal dealing of SRP MP Mu Sochua and Hang Chakra, the editor-in-chief of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, the Cambodian embassy in the US claimed that they were dealt according to the law, just like in any developed country in the world (sic!).

The last point of the Cambodian embassy statement raised was the issue of social land concessions provided to poor people along various provinces, however, it also criticized groups of people who grabbed these lands and turned them into private properties.

It is not yet known what SRP MP Mu Sochua, Dr. Pung Chiv Kek, President of the Licadho human rights organization, and Mr. Moeun Tola, the director of CLEC, will tell the US Congress commission.

Nevertheless, Koy Kuong, spokesman for the ministry of Foreign Affairs, is already certain that the trio will not provide any constructive criticisms. Furthermore, he claimed that because the TLHRC is only listening to one side, it cannot receive truthful information.

Meanwhile, in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), an organization regrouping 21 NGOs, and Amnesty International issued a 70-page report about forced evictions in Cambodia. The report indicated that poor people in Cambodia are usually victims of land-grabbing by rich and powerful people who put pressure on the legal system.

Three Advocates To Address US Rights Commission

SRP MP Mu Sochua (L) and Licadho's President, Dr. Pung Chiv Kek (R)

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
04 September 2009

"When they sue us, they push us to the court, but once we countersue, they tell us not to and ask us to leave them to exercise their freedom of expression ... I think that we should have a clear grammar for democracy. We should not use democracy wrongly and out of grammar, causing people to copy a bad example" - Ong Yentieng, senior Hun Sen adviser and chairman of Hun Sen's regime human rights committee

Three prominent Cambodians are scheduled as key participants in a US congressional hearing on human rights this month, as concerns persist over the government’s ongoing treatment of dissenters.

Mu Sochua, a Kampot National Assembly representative for the Sam Rainsy Party who recently lost a defamation suit to Prime Minister Hun Sen, is set to join Kek Galabru, founder of the rights group Licadho, and Moeun Tola, head of the Community Legal Education Center’s labor program, in Washington Sept. 10.

“It’s high time that we all talk about the reality there, and we have enough evidence,” said Mu Sochua, who last month was ordered to pay more than $4,000 in fines and compensation after she brought a suit against Hun Sen for allegedly degrading remarks in a speech in April.

The three are scheduled to give testimony to the House of Representative’s Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, co-chaired by Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, and James McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, examining “a concerning trend in the Cambodian government’s overall human rights record,” according to the commission.

The commission cited as one reason for the hearing a July 29 Washington Post report of “a heightened crackdown on journalists and opposition activists” that “has provoked new concern that the government [of Cambodia] is engaging in widespread abuse of the nation’s legal system to muzzle its detractors.”

It also referred to Mu Sochua’s defamation case, diminished rights for workers and labor, and the eviction of people from their land without compensation.

Mu Sochua said in an interview in Washington Tuesday she would discuss these issues and the suspension of her own parliamentary immunity, along with another SRP colleague, which paved the way for two lawsuits.

“I would like to make it clear that the Sam Rainsy Party will not make an appeal to cut aid to Cambodia, so the Cambodian people should not worry about this,” Mu Sochua said. “We are here at the US Congress to provide truth about a grave situation that might affect democracy and human rights in Cambodia.”

Kek Galabru said she will ask the US to assist Cambodia in ensuring its courts are made independent and in finding ways to tackle land issues.

“The land issue is very important because it is the life and bread of some 80 percent of Cambodians living in rural areas,” she said by phone Wednesday.

“The US should help find a way to distribute land in a fair manner to ensure good, successful and positive developments where the majority of people benefit, not just a small group, leaving the majority in tears,” she said.

Meanwhile, shorter work contracts for workers after a US quota program ended and suits filed against labor leaders are a concern, said Moeun Tola, adding “past killings of [union leaders] have never been solved…which is a threat to the freedom of unions.”

The rights commission hearing was announced Aug. 25, and its examination of the situation in Cambodia is a rare instance. Along with the Cambodians invited are representatives from the US State Department.

“I am sorry that the commission only invited an opposition team, without inviting another side…to give a balanced report and find out the truth for a solution,” said Koy Kuong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

That the administration was not invited was “not fair, not neutral, and biased,” he said. “It won’t help promote human rights.”

Cambodia’s own human rights committee, headed by senior Hun Sen adviser Om Yienteng, was not aware of the hearing.

Om Yentieng, contacted Monday, said the government had not broken any laws in pursuing lawsuits against Mu Sochua and others.

“When they sue us, they push us to the court, but once we countersue, they tell us not to and ask us to leave them to exercise their freedom of expression,” he said. “I think that we should have a clear grammar for democracy. We should not use democracy wrongly and out of grammar, causing people to copy a bad example.”

Tom Lantos Human Rigths Commission's Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Cambodia Hearing Announcement

Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) Hearing Announcement:

Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Cambodia

1-3 p.m.
Thursday, September 10
Location TBD

On July 29, The Washington Post reported “a heightened crackdown on journalists and opposition activists…has provoked new concern that the government [of Cambodia] is engaging in widespread abuse of the nation’s legal system to muzzle its detractors.” On August 4, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court found opposition parliamentarian Mu Sochua guilty of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen.

According to the 2008 State Department Human Rights report, current labor law in Cambodia provides only private-sector workers the right to join a trade union without prior authorization, but the government’s enforcement of the law has been selective. Additionally, despite the 2001 law requiring land titling for communal lands of indigenous peoples, little was done to implement this law and there have been several reported incidences of indigenous peoples being forced to leave their land without compensation. These issues are part of a concerning trend in the Cambodian government’s overall human rights record.

To discuss these issues, we will welcome as our witnesses:***

Panel I

• State Department-Invited

Panel II

• Mu Sochua, member of Parliament, Sam Rainsy Party
• Pung Kek, founder, LICADHO
• Moeun Tola, head of labor program, Community Legal Education Center

***Witness list subject to change.

If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Hoffman (Rep. Wolf) or Hans Hogrefe (Rep. McGovern) at 202-225-3599.

Frank R. Wolf, M.C.
Co-Chairman, TLHRC

James P. McGovern, M.C.
Co-Chairman, TLHRC