PHNOM PENH (Cambodia Herald) - The Cambodian Center
for Human Rights has denounced Thai "paranoia" towards Cambodian
Muslims, warning that the country is in danger of breaching the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In a letter to Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, the center's president Ou Virak said such "racial and religious profiling" of Cambodian Muslims would be a "serious breach of their human rights."
He was referring to reported accusations by Thai Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha that some Cambodian Muslims have joined the insurgency in the south of Thailand and are financial supporting insurgent networks.
"The implication is that Cambodian Muslims many soon be prevented from entering Thailand from Cambodia or will at the very least be monitored aggressively," he said.
"If scrutiny of Cambodia Muslims is indeed stepped up, such action would constitute illegal racial and religious profiling – in breach of Article 2 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which prohibit any discrimination on grounds such as race or religion.
In a letter to Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, the center's president Ou Virak said such "racial and religious profiling" of Cambodian Muslims would be a "serious breach of their human rights."
He was referring to reported accusations by Thai Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha that some Cambodian Muslims have joined the insurgency in the south of Thailand and are financial supporting insurgent networks.
"The implication is that Cambodian Muslims many soon be prevented from entering Thailand from Cambodia or will at the very least be monitored aggressively," he said.
"If scrutiny of Cambodia Muslims is indeed stepped up, such action would constitute illegal racial and religious profiling – in breach of Article 2 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which prohibit any discrimination on grounds such as race or religion.
"Furthermore, if Cambodian Muslims are actually prevented from traveling into Thailand, and from there on to Malaysia, where many economic migrants are (headed) – then their fundamental rights to freedom of movement – under article 13 of the UDHR and article 12 of the ICCPR – will also have been violated."
Ou Virak said the reported comments were "a significant setback for Cambodia-Thai relations" and that Thailand needed to solve political issues in the south either by itself or with the help of its neighbors.
"Resorting to paranoia and knee-jerk nationalism – of a familiar sort – by pointing fingers at its neighbors will not help anyone or solve anything, and risks exacerbating political tension between Cambodia and Thailand," he said.
Ou Virak urged the foreign minister to resist racial or religious profiling of Cambodian Muslims or other minorities, respect their fundamental human rights and continue rebuilding the political relationship between Thailand and Cambodia.
1 comment:
Thanks for protecting the Khmer citizen. Please don't let the foreigner look down on us Khmer.
We Khmer unit, we Khmer will able to solve most of our problem.
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