Watch the Rule of Law Session Here
This 2-hour fact-finding session will address how the Hun Sen government undermines the rule of law standards. The session will also outline his influence and control, especially over the judiciary, and the lengths to which he has been willing to go to keep his government in power on an uncontested basis.
On June 14, 2022, Theary Seng was sentenced to imprisonment for six years for allegedly conspiring to commit treason and encouraging civil unrest for expressing her views critical of the Cambodian government on Facebook. Theary Seng and 138 others defendants in the Mass Criminal Trial have been unjustly accused and imprisoned for political reasons.
Two days before her arrest and imprisonment, Theary testified to the Commission of Inquiry, exposing the Hun Sen government's numerous violations of the rule of law standards. She emphasized that the Hun Sen government does not deserve to be given support by the international community.
Kingsley Abbott, Director of Global Accountability of the International Commission of Jurists, will give the keynote address. Mr. Abbott will explain how the Hun Sen government's long-standing campaign of repression is inconsistent with the rule of law and many international human rights standards.
The rule of law standards include:
Governments observing human rights standards,
Independent courts not controlled by the government, nor by political or financial considerations,
Accountability for violations, and
Free press, independent civil society institutions, human rights, and democracy are allowed to thrive, and free and fair elections are held.
The session will be joined by special guests, Brad Adams and Jessica Finelle, who will discuss the importance of the new development of the French Criminal Court's decision that indicted Hun Sen's top two generals for the 1997 Grenade Attack. This court decision is an essential first step in holding the Hun Sen government responsible and accountable for their human rights abuses.
Speaker:
Keynote Speaker: Kingsley Abbott, Director of Global Accountability of the International Commission of Jurists
Louisa Coan Greve, Commissioner, Commission of Inquiry for Cambodia
Brad Adams, Former Executive Director Asia Division, Human Rights Watch
Jessica Finelle, Independent Lawyer, Paris Bar
Samuel Sontag, Legal Assistant, Commission of Inquiry for Cambodia
Theary Seng, Lead Defendant, Cambodia Mass Criminal Trial
Sam An Um, Former Cambodian Member of Parliament
Kolvath Som, Cambodian Political Opposition Leader (Canada)
Sothea Sek, Interim Chair, Committee for Paris Peace Accords (Minnesota)
Tiffany Stills, Columbia University Legal Intern, Commission of Inquiry for Cambodia
Kate Rosenstengal, Columbia University Legal Intern, Commission of Inquiry for Cambodia
Voiceover:
Mehgan Andrzejewski, Voiceover Professional