UN Condemns Lengthy Prison Terms Given To Exiled Cambodia Dissidents To Block Return

UN Condemns Lengthy Prison Terms Given to Exiled Cambodia Dissidents to Block Return

The sentencing of nine exiled members from the disbanded Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) violates international law by blocking dissidents from participating in national politics, a team of UN human rights monitors said on Friday

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th March, 2021) The sentencing of nine exiled members from the disbanded Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) violates international law by blocking dissidents from participating in national politics, a team of UN human rights monitors said on Friday.

"This is related to their plan to return to the country to take part in Cambodia's political life, which was publicized on social media," the rights monitors said in a press release.

The Phnom Penh municipal court recently convicted former CNRP leader Sam Rainsy's and eight others on charges that a series of two-year-old Facebook post marked an "attempt to commit a felony" that endangered the nation's institutions, the release said. Rainsy received a 25 year sentence, the release said.

"International human rights law guarantees freedoms of association and expression, as they are central pillar of democratic societies and guarantors of free and fair electoral processes," the release added.

The panel was led by UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia Rhona Smith and included three other UN rights rapporteurs, according to the release.