MOSCOW, November 14 (Sputnik), Ekaterina Blinova – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has slammed Cambodia's government for its latest crackdown on peaceful protesters.
"The Cambodian government’s latest crackdown on peaceful protest makes a mockery of promises of democratic reform. The country’s donors should publicly condemn this escalating wave of abuse. Failure to speak out will only encourage the ruling party to further close political space and block any hopes for progress toward a genuine multi-party democracy," said Brad Adams, the executive director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division since 2002, as quoted by the organization's official media source.
The human rights organization has accused Cambodian authorities of "harassment, arbitrary detention, and summary trials" against participants of the protest rallies. HWR points out that since November 10, 2014, Cambodian police have arrested about 15 protesters. Eleven of them have received one-year prison terms in summary trials.
HRW believes that the arrests were made to suppress the CPP's (Cambodian People's Party) opposition, which demands that the ruling party reform the Cambodian "flawed" electoral system. Two opposition party members, Meach Sovannara and Tep Narin have also been arrested this week, both of them are being held without bail.
On November 12 Cambodian police arrested two monks outside a pagoda, who were carrying bags full of flags.
Khit Vannak, 26, and Sang Kosal, 19 were charged the very next day with "participation in a criminal association," the Cambodia Daily reports. The monks were planning to join farmers' rallies near the National Assembly and Prime Minister Hun Sen's house aimed "to call attention to their [farmers'] land dispute in the northern province," writes the media outlet citing Um Sopheak, the court's deputy prosecutor.
"I charged the two monks with participation in a criminal association because they were planning to be involved with Thursday's protest. The charge is not related to any previous protests," Mr. Sopheak emphasized.
HRW urges foreign donors to demand an end to the crackdown, denouncing the arrests as non-democratic and violating human rights of Cambodians.
"The government's actions in the face of peaceful protest are that of a dictatorship, not a democracy. The break-up of protests and the summary trials harken back to the CPP’s one-party state in the 1980s. Are donors going to keep silently writing the checks that prop up the Hun Sen government, or are they finally going to find their voices and demand an end to crude repression?" claimed Brad Adams, as cited by HRW's media source.
