A former opposition parliamentarian was prevented from leaving Cambodia last week despite a letter of permission from National Assembly Chairman Chea Sim.
Still another opposition parliamentarian was barred from leaving on Monday, as was Mam Sonando, owner of the Sambok Khmoum (Beehive) radio station.
Meanwhile, a Cambodian legal expert expressed frustration Tuesday that the international community hasn’t done more to pressure the CPP-controlled government to lift the ban. This is believed to be the first time the government has prevented political leaders from leaving since the 1991 Paris Peace Accords.
“It’s unconstitutional and a blatant violation of human rights,” said Lao Mong Hay, executive director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy. “I cannot understand…how they [the international community] could ignore it. Is this a police state?”
Only the UN and Thai government have spoken out against the ban, with the Thais warning Friday that it could “derail” the process of forming the new Assembly and coalition government.
CPP officials have indicated that the ban could be lifted if the opposition continues to cooperate in forming the new government. Opposition party officials have said the ban constitutes coercion.
Chea Vannath, vice president of the Center for Social Development, agreed Tuesday that the ban is unconstitutional but said she didn’t expect it to be lifted before the new Assembly convenes.
“To my point of view, the ban will remain effective until the National Assembly can be convened, or maybe longer. It is very much related to convening the Assembly session.”
On Sept 10 opposition activist and former parliamentarian Kem Sokha was prevented from leaving. Government officials said police had their orders from Second Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Last week, the Thais thought they had struck a deal with Chea Sim that included ending the ban, which apparently applies to opposition parliamentarians, Funcinpec generals and other opposition figures.
Separately, Kem Sokha, chairman of the old Assembly’s Commission on Human Rights, got a letter of permission from Chea Sim to attend a five-day workshop on human rights in Thailand.
But when Kem Sokha sent an assistant to Pochentong Airport late last week to finalize travel arrangements, immigration police—after checking with superiors for an hour—said the letter was “canceled.”
Political analyst Kao Kim Hourn said Tuesday that he considers the ban unconstitutional unless the person trying to leave has been charged with a crime or is under an arrest warrant.
On Monday, Mam Sonando was prevented from boarding a plane to France, via Malaysia, even though he had a visa, sources said. Mam Sonando couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday. On Sept 9, the Ministry of Information shut down his station, saying that its coverage of alleged Vietnamese involvement in poisonings had endangered the country’s social order.
On Monday evening a former Funcinpec member also was prevented from leaving. A UN monitor witnessed the incident.
Ros Hean, now of the Sam Rainsy Party, was stopped by immigration police at Pochentong Airport after buying a round-trip ticket to Bangkok. “He looked at my passport as if he knew me already and then said he had to ask his boss,” Ros Hean said Monday evening. “He was gone seven minutes, then came back and said to me, ‘Sorry, you cannot go. You need to wait two or three days.’ I just want Cambodia to have freedom like it did in 1993 up to early 1998.”
