Six months on, government says Kem Sokha’s arrest a matter of ‘life or death’ for Cambodia

Foreign Affairs minister Prak Sokhonn [left] speaking at an event today in Phnom Penh. Hong Menea

Mech Dara and Erin Handley | The Phnom Penh Post 
Publication date 02 March 2018 | 18:21 ICT

As the six-month anniversary of the arrest of former opposition leader Kem Sokha on treason charges nears, Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry is criticising what it characterizes as “endless” foreign interference in the country.

Cambodia has faced increased international scrutiny in recent weeks, with the United States cutting off aid, Germany ending some preferential visa treatment for Cambodian government members, and Australian politicians lambasting Prime Minister Hun Sen for his violent rhetoric.

The international rebukes have largely been in response to a widespread crackdown on political freedom in Cambodia, most notably the September 4 arrest of Cambodia National Rescue Party leader Kem Sokha.

In the Foreign Ministry’s annual report, released today, the government contended that all of the legal measures taken by the state were a matter of ‘life or death’ for the nation.

Sokha’s arrest and other political manoeuvers were needed to “dodge outside interference”, prevent attempts to “impose the foreign will that is opposed with our national interests” and also to prevent Cambodia from falling “into the dark world era”, according to the report.

Even though economic sanctions have not yet been implemented, “some political pressures are taking place,” former Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said, referring to the severance of some US aid.

The ministry said there was a vast difference between human rights abuses in Myanmar and the Philippines – which have been marred by campaigns of ethnic cleansing and extrajudicial killings, respectively – and Cambodia, and condemned Western governments’ criticisms of the Kingdom.

“Our issue is completely an internal issue, but why do some super powers interfere into the internal affair?” Foreign Minister Prak Sokhorn asked. He also criticised opposition politicians abroad for acting as “propagandists”.

The Foreign Ministry’s justifications come as Southeast Asian lawmakers called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of Sokha on the cusp of the six-month anniversary of his midnight arrest.

Sokha, president of the now-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party, was arrested on September 4 and charged with “treason” over remarks he made during a 2013 speech in Australia about receiving career advice and assistance about democratic change from the US.

On Friday, the Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights Chairperson Charles Santiago said Sokha’s “continued detention is an outrageous abuse of power by Cambodia’s ruling party”.

“These trumped-up charges should never have been brought in the first place," he said. "They should be immediately dropped and Kem Sokha unconditionally freed.”

Sokha’s appeals for bail have been denied by the Cambodian courts. He has since requested release for medical treatment abroad. Sokha's predecessor, Sam Rainsy, said the government's increasing restrictions on freedom were responsible for plunging Cambodia into a darker state and that the international community wouldn't be fooled by their hypocrisy.

“From George Orwell to Stalin to the Nazis to Pol Pot to present Hun Sen, words in their world do not have the same meaning as in our current vocabulary,” he said. “They are distorted and perverted so as to manipulate people's minds in a Kafkaesque way and to actually add insult to injury and death.”

Former CNRP deputy in exile Mu Sochua stressed that in a democracy, “change of leadership by the people doesn’t mean toppling the government”.

“On the eve [of] a major election to determine the fate of the nation in the next years, these freedoms must be upheld,” she said in a message.

Cambodian Center for Human Rights Executive Director Chak Sopheap said that regardless of political opinion, “international human rights law requires that all persons be treated equally before the law”.

“In Cambodia, opposition members and politicians are systematically discriminated against by a judicial system that is consistently ranked among the least independent in the world,” she said. “Pre-trial detention must only be imposed as a measure of last resort, when no other options are available. In Kem Sokha's case, there is no indication that adequate consideration was given to bail or other pre-trial measures.”