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Rights activists urge ASEAN states to resist Cambodia’s demands to arrest dissidents
Rights activists and lawmakers in Southeast Asia are calling on the governments of ASEAN to resist demands by the Cambodian government to detain and deport exiled dissidents looking to return to their homeland.
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Cambodian Ambassador to Indonesia Hor Nam Bora (left) speaks in front of vice president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) Mu Sochua (right), who held a briefing ahead of her party's planned return on Saturday. The opposition party has been planning to return on the country's Independence Day on Nov. 9 after two years in exile. JP/Dian Septiari (JP/Dian Septiari)
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ctivists and lawmakers in Southeast Asia are urging ASEAN governments to resist pressure from Phnom Penh to arrest dissidents who enter their territories, as a dismantled Cambodian opposition plans a perilous return to their homeland this weekend after years in political exile.
The calls were made following the detention of Mu Sochua, the vice president of the outlawed Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), by Malaysian authorities upon her arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Thursday, in the latest crackdown on Cambodian activists by ASEAN governments in recent days.
Under the instruction of Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodian authorities have issued arrest warrants for CNRP founder Sam Rainsy and other dissidents making their way home through neighboring countries. The government has also deployed troops along the border with Thailand in anticipation of a homecoming march, arguing that the CNRP dissidents are plotting a coup.
Earlier this week, two other Cambodian opposition activists were arrested in Malaysia as they sought to fly to Thailand, but the country's human rights commission said they would be processed by the United Nations' refugee agency to be resettled in another country, AFP reported.
Sochua had also previously been deported to Kuala Lumpur as she attempted to enter Thailand on Oct 20.
“These acts of intimidation orchestrated by the Cambodian government, with the support of other ASEAN governments, highlight the collusion among ASEAN leaders to suppress and harass critics, activists and opposition leaders,” said Rachel Arinii, East Asia and ASEAN program manager at Forum-Asia, a regional human rights organization.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said his country was looking for a third country to accept Sochua. "Our principle – in ASEAN in particular – generally is that we don't interfere in the internal affairs of other countries,” Mahathir was quoted by Reuters as saying.
