Cambodia: Arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Cambodian Confederation of Unions’s President Mr. Rong Chhun

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment against Mr. Rong Chhun, a prominent workers’ rights defender, President of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), and member of the Cambodian Watchdog Council (CWC)[1].

According to the information received, on the night of July 31, 2020, Mr. Rong Chhun was arbitrarily arrested at his home in Phnom Penh by police officers. On August 1, 2020, Mr. Chhun was charged with “incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest” (Article 495 of the Cambodian Criminal Code) by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and was subsequently transferred to pre-trial detention in the overcrowded Correction Centre 1 (CC1), in Phnom Penh. If convicted, Mr. Chhun could face a sentence of two years of imprisonment.

The arrest of Mr. Chhun followed a written statement issued by the Cambodia Border Affairs Committee on July 31, 2020 claiming that Mr. Chhun had issued a false and exaggerated statement on July 21, 2020 intended to stir social unrest and public misunderstanding[2]. On that day, Mr Chhun, following a trip to Tboung Khmum Province near the border between Cambodia and Vietnam on July 20, published on his personal social media account a statement on behalf of the CWC in which he reported alleged community land loss in the border area.

Furthermore, in an interview with Radio Free Asia ( RFA) on July 31, Mr. Chhun addressed the statement issued by the government and further discussed the concerns of villagers and farmers affected by the alleged land loss. Mr. Chhun was arrested shortly after the radio interview.

The Observatory recalls that this is not the first time Mr. Chhun has been subjected to arbitrary arrest and judicial harassment by Cambodian authorities. In December 2018, six workers’ rights defenders, including Mr. Chhun, were convicted, sentenced to a suspended prison sentence, and fined 35 million riel (US$8,700) each for their alleged role in the 2013 and 2014 Phnom Penh protests calling for higher minimum wage for informal workers[3]. In 2005, Mr. Chhun spent three months in prison on charges of “defamation” and “inciting others to commit a crime” for a public statement he made on the border agreement between Vietnam and Cambodia[4].

The Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest and judicial harassment of Mr. Chhun, which seem to be only aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights activities, and reiterates its deepest concern about the fact that freedom of expression of independent union leaders and human rights defenders in Cambodia has been increasingly repressed by the government since the run-up to the 2018 general election[5].

The Observatory urges the Cambodian authorities to guarantee the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Mr. Chhun and to immediately and unconditionally release him from the overcrowded CC1 prison in order to protect his health in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as all human rights defenders arbitrarily detained in Cambodia, as recommended by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet[6].