An Open Letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia

July 19, 2009
By Jaemark Tordecilla
Filed under: Cross Border, Media
The Daily PCIJ

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) and its members and allies working for the promotion and protection of free expression in Southeast Asia have issued an open letter to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, denouncing a “rapidly and palpably deteriorating environment for free expression in Cambodia.”

The groups and advocates have noted a rash of attacks against journalists, lawyers, advocates, and parliamentarians over the past year that has severely restricted the space for press freedom and political speech in Cambodia. SEAPA says Cambodia’s leaders must be taken to task for the situation, stressing that violations of people’s rights to free expression are ultimately a regional problem and concern. The open letter calls attention to Cambodia in the context not only of its constitutional guarrantees for free expression, but also in the light of the ongoing 42nd Ministerial Meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which is taking place in Phuket, Thailand. The ASEAN’s task this week to adopt Terms of Reference for the formation of an ASEAN Human Rights Body, SEAPA said, takes on significance and urgency precisely because of situations such as that unfolding for the free expression environment in Cambodia.

Please find below the open letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

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An Open Letter to Prime Minister Hun Senon The Deteriorating State of Freedom of Expression in Cambodia

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The Office of Prime Minister Hun Sen

Phnom Penh

Kingdom of Cambodia

17 July 2009

Dear Prime Minister Hun Sen:

We, the undersigned, representing free expression advocacy groups from around Southeast Asia, are gravely concerned by a palpably deteriorating freedom of expression and civil rights environment in Cambodia.

Since 2008, the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen has been witness and apparent party to an alarming series of crackdowns on news editors, reporters, members of parliament and human rights defenders.

We perceive a systematic attack on the press, parliament, and the legal community, all of which — taken especially with the exploitation of a weak and politicized judiciary — have severely compromised the environment for free expression in Cambodia.

Consider:

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