Thousands of Cambodians from around the country, including community activists, trade unionists, students and NGO workers, will gather at Phnom Penh’s Olympic Stadium on Sunday (December 10) to commemorate International Human Rights Day.

Jointly organized by more than 70 organizations under the theme “We Are All Human Rights Defenders”, the day-long event aims to acknowledge and promote the valuable roles that Cambodians from all walks of life play in protecting human rights. It will celebrate the achievements made in human rights in Cambodia, but also focus on critical issues still facing the country’s citizens - including the theft and exploitation of land and natural resources; restrictions to the freedoms of expression, association and assembly; and violations of labor rights.

The event will feature songs, dramas and exhibitions by participating organizations, and a keynote speech by Hina Jilani, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders.

The occasion will serve to highlight the need for greater protection of human rights defenders in Cambodia, who in 2006 have continued to face threats, harassment, physical assaults, and arrest and imprisonment. In the first 10 months of the year, there were more than 47 recorded cases of persecution of human rights defenders, according to a briefing paper compiled by the Cambodian League for the Promotion & Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) which is being issued to coincide with the December 10 event.

The briefing paper, entitled Attacks and Threats Against Human Rights Defenders in Cambodia 2006, states that community activists and trade unionists are increasingly being targeted for serious violations such as physical assault or unjustified arrest and imprisonment. In particular, the briefing paper notes a growing trend of perpetrators filing malicious criminal complaints against rural villagers who represent their communities in land conflicts with powerful individuals. Many community representatives have been summonsed to court or imprisoned on criminal charges in 2006, in an attempt to frighten communities into giving up their land and to punish those who try to defend them.

To mark this year’s International Human Rights Day, a statement of support for Cambodian human rights defenders has been signed by 110 human rights defenders from 32 countries around the world. Signatories include anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa; Doan Viet Hoat, a democracy activist who spent 20 years in prison in Vietnam; Angkhana Neelapaichit, who assists victims of violence in southern Thailand and is the wife of lawyer Somchai Neelapaichit who has disappeared and is presumed murdered; and Ivory Coast journalist Freedom Neruda, who has twice been jailed for criminal defamation of the country’s president.

Last year’s International Human Rights Day celebrations in Phnom Penh, which were also held at Olympic Stadium, led to the arrests and jailing of three prominent rights defenders - Kem Sokha, Pa Nguon Teang and Yeng Virak. The three, charged with defaming the government in connection with a banner displayed at the event, were eventually released on bail after international and domestic condemnation of their imprisonment.

International Human Rights Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and has been celebrated all over the world since 1950.

News media and the public are invited to attend the December 10 event at Olympic Stadium, which will begin at 7am and finish around 4pm. (Please see attached schedule.)

For more information, please contact:
▪ Yeng Virak, Executive Director of CLEC, 012-801-235
▪ Kek Galabru, President of LICADHO, 012-940-645
▪ An Nan, International Human Rights Day Organizing Committee member, 012-994-812

PDF: Download full statement