Cambodia: Arrests target critics of the Regional Development Zone

Cambodian authorities have arbitrarily arrested at least 94 people since late July 2024 for publicly criticizing the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) development triangle, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. At least 59 of those arrested, including environmental, human rights, and other activists, remain unlawfully detained and charged for peacefully expressing their views, including several children. Authorities should immediately drop all charges that do not face internationally recognized charges.

The CLV is a development plan between the governments of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam launched in 2004 to facilitate cooperation on trade and migration. In July, concerns about the agreement resurfaced on social media, particularly over land concessions and whether the CLV benefits foreign interests more than Cambodians. Many of those arrested were charged with conspiracy and incitement simply for expressing their opinions on the CLV or organizing peaceful protests.

“The arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement, peaceful assembly and expression are not justified under international law. The harassment of activists and their families is never acceptable. Worryingly, the Cambodian government's harsh response has resulted in young people, including some children, being unlawfully arrested and charged with serious crimes against the state,” said Kate Schuetze, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for East Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “Cambodia's partners should publicly and collectively call for an end to this attack on freedom of expression and assembly.”

background

Following the first arrest of three activists in July, Telegram groups with thousands of members formed and began organizing public gatherings and peaceful protest marches against the agreement. In early August, Cambodians also held demonstrations against the CLV in South Korea, Japan and Australia.

As public criticism grew, Cambodian authorities tightened security measures and travel restrictions. Local human rights groups alleged that government officials were monitoring land rights and civil society activists across the country. Several of them have been banned from leaving their communities and their family members have been threatened. Authorities have also set up roadblocks on highways into Phnom Penh and arbitrarily searched vans and taxis entering the capital.

The official Telegram channel of former Prime Minister and current Senate President Hun Sen broadcast videos of schoolchildren across Cambodia chanting their support for the development agreement.

Senior government officials have endorsed this rigorous approach in several public statements.

Hun Sen publicly called in July for the above-mentioned arrest and conviction of three activists who had criticized the agreement in a broadcast on Facebook. He also threatened critics of the CLV in Cambodia, as well as the families of opposition activists living abroad, with surveillance tactics that violate the right to privacy and the right to family life, stating: “I call on the [Cambodian] The government should track down and locate all the groups that have caused this problem and are living in the country. And it should collect all the cases of people outside the country and investigate their family history to find out where their families are if they are living outside the country.”

The National Police stated on August 11: “We are prepared to make sacrifices to protect the legitimate royal government and take strict measures to prevent and suppress treasonous acts without exception and at all costs.” On August 16, Cambodian gendarmerie chief Sao Sokha also released a video of a speech to his subordinates in which he ordered them to confront armed protesters and shoot if necessary.

Defense Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat told CamboJA News on August 12 that the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) supports the CLV, and in a post on Facebook, the RCAF high command stated that it will “…suppress and destroy all inciting tactics that destroy the nation and peace, as well as other attempts to sabotage and overthrow the legitimate royal government in any form.” Government officials at the national and provincial levels, including representatives of the armed forces, have issued a petition in support of the CLV.

In a speech on August 12, Hun Sen continued to publicly threaten CLV critics, including Hay Vanna, an opposition activist living in Japan: “[Y]you all tried to incite others. … [W]We heard what Hay Vanna said outside the country. … You have to think carefully. If you make mistakes, you could be in danger. … You have to think carefully before you travel to participate in the protests.”

On August 16, Cambodian authorities arrested Vanna's brother, Hay Vannith, a Ministry of Health official, and did not release any information about his whereabouts until August 20, raising fears that he had been forcibly disappeared. His family only learned of his detention after an audio recording of Vannith's “confession” to overthrowing the government was posted on the Cambodian government spokesman's Facebook page on August 21.

On August 19, the pro-government media outlet Fresh News broadcast a “confession” by youth activist Lach Tina, in which she accused other activists protesting against the CLV of organizing a plot against the government.

These alleged “confessions” by the prisoners and allegations of conspiracies against the government increase concerns for their safety and that of other detainees, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said.

Of the 94 people arrested, at least 59 have been charged and remain in custody or pre-trial detention. Cambodian authorities have charged at least 21 people with incitement to commit a crime, a charge often unfounded against human rights activists. In 2021, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia expressed concern about the misuse of incitement charges. Incitement carries a sentence of up to two years in prison, while “conspiracy” carries a sentence of up to ten years.

At least 33 people are accused of conspiring against the state, including four young adults from the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association. This charge was recently brought against members of the environmental group Mother Nature, prompting UN Human Rights Office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan to “call[ed] to Cambodia to hold broad public consultations to amend the relevant articles of the Cambodian Penal Code and bring them into line with international human rights law.” At least four children have also been charged with conspiracy, for which they face a prison sentence of up to five years instead of ten because they are children.

All four accused children remain in custody. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Cambodia ratified in 1992, states that the arrest and detention of a child should only be used as a last resort and for the shortest period of time. The Convention also protects children's rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

“The mass arrests of activists from the CLV Development Triangle Area are a targeted, coordinated attempt by Cambodian authorities to intimidate critics and prevent them from demonstrating in Phnom Penh or sharing their views on social media,” said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These unlawful detentions and charges demonstrate Prime Minister Hun Manet's lack of respect for Cambodians' rights and the country's international human rights obligations.”