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Tuesday 30 October 2012

European Parliament calls Cambodia to respect human rights

October 30, 2012 By NEOnline | ES

Activist in Prison/Image: Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP 
In a resolution passed on Friday in Brussels, European Parliament calls the Cambodian government to respect human rights. The Parliament also condemns the sentence of 1 October 2012 against Mam Sonando and the sentence of 24 May 2012 against 13 women and urges the government to start a transparent investigation over Chut Wutty's death.
Mam Sonando, the owner of Beehive Radio, and longstanding critic of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen and his rule was convicted to 20 years of prison because he instigated an 'insurrection' in Kratie province. The insurrection in Kratie province was actually a protest against country’s controversial land concessions policy. During the protests a 14-year-old girl, Heng Chantha, was shot dead by military authorities. On April 26 2012, Chut Wutty an environmental activist was shot dead by the Cambodian military police because he was collecting data on illegal logging activities. Until now the circumstances of his death remain unclear. In Parallel, 13 women were sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prisonfor participating in an anti-evictions campaign demanding proper resettlement for displaced people.  More specifically, the Cambodian government has granted 200 companies with economic land concessions, as a result many indigenous communities were forced to leave their land.

The resolution condemns the harassments, the killings and the prosecutions of human rights defenders in Cambodia. Moreover, calls the Cambodian authorities to halt land concessions and to reforms release political activists. These will affect EU-Cambodia commercial and political relations. Finally, the resolution due the national elections in July, urges the Cambodian government to adopt democratic electoral reforms proposed by the UN.

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