Civil Society Members Show Support for Detainees
Published on 16 January 2006
On January 14, 2006, more than 150 members of human rights organizations, unions and other groups gathered in front of Prey Sar prison to show support for Mam Sonando, Rong Chhun, Kem Sokha and Pa Nguon Teang, all all detained inside the prison on defamation or related charges. Community Legal Education Center executive director Yeng Virak, who until recently was also detained with the other four men in the prison, was present at the event. Yeng Vireak was released on bail on January 11 following widespread international and domestic condemnation of the defamation arrests and detentions.
Family members of the four remaining detainees joined the event, including the wives of Mam Sonando, Kem Sokha and Pa Nguong Teang, the sister of Rong Chhun and the brother of Kem Sokha. The public gathering started mid-morning near the front of Prey Sar prison with people holding yellow balloons, the color of the newly-created Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia and its yellow ribbon campaign to demand freedom of expression in Cambodia. Families of the detainees spoke to the crowd, thanking them for their support and requesting the release and dropping of all charges against the men.
Shortly after, 350 yellow balloons and 50 birds were released into the air while the crowd chanted, "We demand Freedom of Expression!". People then walked to a nearby pagoda to pray for the release of the four detainees.
Mam Sonando, Rong Chhun, Kem Sokha, and Pa Nguon Teang can lawfully be held in pre-trial detention for up to six months before being brought to trial. All four men, as well as Yeng Virak who has been released on bail but continues to be charged, face charges of defamation. Mam Sonado and Rong Chhun also face additional charges.
All five men are charged in connection with public criticisms expressed of the government over controversial Cambodia-Vietnam border issues. The prosecutions have been widely condemned as an attack on freedom of expression in Cambodia. Most recently, the European Union expressed concern "over the continuing use of defamation law suits by the Royal Government of Cambodia against members of the opposition, media, trade unions and NGOs". Earlier, the US State Department described the arrests as "a concerted Cambodian government campaign to neutralize its critics". Amnesty International has declared the detainees Prisoners of Conscience, and begun an urgent appeal campaign urging its members to write to the Cambodian authorities asking for their release.
Freedom of speech and assembly are enshrined in the Cambodian Constitution as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international human rights treaties to which Cambodia is a signatory.
