Foreign ministry warns diplomats for having 'arbitrarily extended' their roles
US Ambassador W. Patrick Murphy (center) addresses media people in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court following the verdict in the trial of Kem Sokha, former leader of the now-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), in Phnom Penh on March 3. (Photo: Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP)
By Luke Hunt
Western diplomats and international civil society groups have slammed a Cambodian court verdict, saying the decision to sentence former opposition leader, Kem Sokha, to 27 years of confinement was a politically motivated miscarriage of justice.
The 69-year-old former president of the outlawed Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was found guilty of treason on March 3 and will serve his sentence under house arrest. He will only be allowed visits by his immediate family and was also banned from politics for life.
Among the harshest critics calling for his immediate release were the United States, the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
However, human rights groups inside Cambodia remained silent.
Amnesty says there are at least 39 political prisoners behind bars in Cambodia after “being arbitrarily arrested on bogus charges” ahead of general elections in July.
Many more have been charged and sentenced in absentia after fleeing abroad by a judicial system ranked at 139 out of 140 countries — one place behind the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan — by the World Justice Project 2022 Rule of Law Index.
“This verdict is an unmistakable warning to opposition groups"
“The Cambodian justice system has once again shown its jaw-dropping lack of independence by convicting Kem Sokha on baseless, politically motivated charges,” Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director Ming Yu Hah said.
“This verdict is an unmistakable warning to opposition groups months before national elections. The use of the courts to hound opponents of Prime Minister Hun Sen knows no limits,” she said.
US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said the conviction was “part of a larger pattern of threats, harassment, and other unacceptable actions by Cambodian authorities.”
US ambassador in Phnom Penh, Patrick Murphy, who was in court, echoed those sentiments.
“The United States is deeply troubled by the conviction of respected political leader Kem Sokha,” Murphy said. “The multi-year process to silence Kem Sokha based on a fabricated conspiracy is a miscarriage of justice.”
“Denying Kem Sokha and other political figures their freedom of expression, their freedom of association, undermines Cambodia’s constitution, international commitment and past progress to develop a pluralist and inclusive society.”
Australian ambassador Justine Whyatt added, “We are deeply disturbed by today’s decision” while noting his country had “consistently called for a fair and transparent resolution in the case.”
Both the official Agence Kampuchea Presse and the government mouthpiece, Fresh News, ignored the court’s verdict, which was based around a US-backed — or “foreign power” — plot to oust Hun Sen, and the mountain of criticism that followed from abroad.
But on March 4, both carried a response from the foreign ministry stating it was “gravely concerned” by Western diplomats who had “arbitrarily extended” their diplomatic roles which were counter to “universally accepted principles governing relations between sovereign states”.
"Truth matters little to the Hun Sen regime"
“To state that the trial against Mr. Kem Sokha built on a [fabricated conspiracy] is prejudiced and hypocritical. The fact is that the charge solely derives from a constitutional and criminal breach, not a political motive,” it said.
Analysts said Cambodia is now increasingly isolated from the international community due to a seven-year crackdown on dissent, which has gathered pace and includes the recent closure of the independent news outlet Voice of Democracy on Hun Sen’s orders.
Throughout, Cambodia has moved into an ever tighter orbit with China ahead of staging its first Southeast Asian Games in May, elections in July and a widely expected transfer of power by Hun Sen to his eldest son Hun Manet.
“It is deeply concerning that the Royal Government of Cambodia continues to suppress political opponents and independent media in the lead-up to elections in July,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.
Mercy Barends, APHR chairwoman, said accusations that Kem Sokha had conspired with the US government to overthrow Hun Sen was “a manifestly absurd accusation.”
“Yet truth matters little to the Hun Sen regime, its members only care about the exercise of unbridled power over the country, which they see as just their personal property in order to enrich themselves,” she said.
“Nobody should be fooled into believing that, in the current conditions, a fair and free election is possible in Cambodia,” Barends added. “With so many opposition figures in jail or in exile, and the continuing harassment of the opposition, the polls will only be a farce designed by Hun Sen and his party to legitimize their power.”
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at HRW said Kem Sokha’s plight highlighted the “judiciary’s total lack of independence” and it was time for governments that had rescued this country from its status as a war-torn failed state to think again.
“Governments that have sought for decades to promote a rights-respecting Cambodia should use this nonsensical and punitive verdict to reassess their approach to Hun Sen’s government,” he said.
“Sending Kem Sokha to prison isn’t just about destroying his political party, but about squashing any hope that there can be a genuine general election in July.”
“Kem Sokha’s case highlights the Cambodian judiciary’s total lack of independence and the ruling party’s ability to control Cambodia’s political environment to its own liking,” Robertson said.
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