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CAMBODIA

CASE N° CMBD/01 - SAM RAINSY
CASE N° CMBD/02 - SON SOUBERT
CASE N° CMBD/03 - POL HAM
CASE N° CMBD/04 - SON SANN
CASE N° CMBD/05 - KEM SOKHA

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 168th session (Havana, 7 April 2001)


The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the outline of the case of Mr. Sam Rainsy, Mr. Son Soubert, Mr. Pol Ham, Mr. Son Sann and Mr. Kem Sokha of Cambodia, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/168/13(c)-R.1), and to the relevant resolution adopted at its 167th session (October 2000),

Recalling its persistent concern at the de facto impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of the grenade attack of October 1995 against Mr. Kem Sokha, Mr. Pol Ham, Mr. Son Sann and Mr. Son Soubert, then members of the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party, and that enjoyed by the perpetrators of the grenade attack on a demonstration in March 1997 led by Mr. Sam Rainsy, currently leader of the opposition, in which a dozen people were killed and more than a hundred injured; recalling also that the then Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia reported serious abnormalities in security arrangements for the March 1997 demonstration, which indicate that the attackers were acting with the complicity of the security officers,

Recalling that both attacks were condemned by the then governmental authorities, who pledged to ensure that the perpetrators would be brought to justice, and that the two Prime Ministers at the time agreed to set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the March 1997 attack,

Recalling that a Cambodian delegate to the 104th Conference (October 2000), Senator Phay, undertook to provide updated information on the results, if any, of the investigations into both grenade attacks; noting, however, that no such information has been forthcoming,

Considering that, at the hearing held on the occasion of the 105th Conference (April 2001), the delegation, which did not include Senator Phay, stated that, albeit aware of the request for information, they had not yet succeeded in gathering relevant details and drawing up a report on the matter; however, the delegation, and Senator Chhang Song in particular, undertook to ensure that the competent authorities would indeed provide such information; the delegation confirmed further that investigations into both attacks were still under way but added that there was insufficient evidence to arrest the perpetrators of the grenade attack of October 1995,

Noting that, in the resolutions they adopted in recent years on the human rights situation in Cambodia, the United Nations General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights have consistently stressed the need to combat impunity and, in particular, to elucidate the attacks in question,

Recalling that, according to the sources, Mr. Kem Sokha has been accused of incitement to racial unrest and damage to public property following peaceful demonstrations which he led in autumn 1998 to protest against what the opposition viewed as electoral fraud, and that a warrant for his arrest was issued; the case has reportedly not been dropped but only suspended because he enjoys parliamentary immunity; noting that, according to the leader of the Cambodian delegation to the 105th Conference, Mr. Kem Sokha and his colleagues from the former BLDP are now safe as they have joined FUNCINPEC, which affords them protection,

Recalling also that another arrest warrant, issued in September 1998 for Mr. Sam Rainsy, has reportedly never been officially withdrawn, and that the judicial proceedings seem to have been suspended but not dropped,

  1. Thanks the Cambodian delegation for the observations it provided, and trusts that it will stand by its renewed pledge to provide the requested information on the stage reached in or results of the investigations into the grenade attacks of October 1995 and March 1997 against the former and incumbent MPs concerned; invites Senator Song to seek that information from the competent authorities;

  2. Reaffirms that combating impunity, one of the stated priorities of the present Government, is a prerequisite for the establishment of a democratic State based on the rule of law and respect for human rights; further reaffirms that if the State fails in its duty to dispense justice, it is guilty by omission of violating the right to justice of the persons concerned;

  3. Reiterates its wish to ascertain whether the judicial proceedings instituted in autumn 1998 against Mr. Kem Sokha and Mr. Sam Rainsy have been dropped and to receive detailed information in this regard;

  4. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the competent authorities, to the sources and to the persons concerned, as well as to the competent United Nations human rights bodies;

  5. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session (September 2001).

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