Cheam Channy ( km, ជាម ច័ន្ទនី; 15 February 1961 – 25 October 2018)
was a
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
n
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
and member of parliament for the opposition
Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). He was elected as a representative for
Battambang Province in the 1998 National Elections, then again for
Kompong Cham province in 2003.
2005 arrest
On 3 February 2005, a vote in the Cambodian National Assembly removed the
parliamentary immunity from Cheam, fellow MP Chea Poch and party leader
Sam Rainsy. Rainsy and Poch, both facing possible charges of
criminal defamation, left the country. Cheam did not leave and was arrested later the same day by military police. He was charged by the Cambodian
Military Court
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
with the criminal offences of Organised Crime and Fraud, as well as a
military charge of disobeying orders. These charges relate to accusations that Cheam had created an illegal army for the SRP. Cheam appealed by letter to Prince
Norodom Ranariddh
Norodom Ranariddh ( km, នរោត្តម រណឫទ្ធិ; 2 January 1944 – 28 November 2021) was a Cambodian prince, politician and law academic. He was the second son of King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and a half-brother of Kin ...
, but the prince responded that he could not intervene in judicial matters.
Cheam was brought to trial on 8 August 2005, after courts exhausted the maximum six months allowed by Cambodian law for pre-trial detention. In his defense, Cheam stated, "I have never recruited or appointed anyone in an army structure, nor have I taken money from anyone ... I am pleading with the court to set me free. I have never done anything even close to what the charges against me say."
The prosecutor argued that Cheam's actions had endangered national security.
The following day, the Military Court sentenced Cheam to 7 years imprisonment.
Amnesty International criticized the trial, stating that it "fell far short of international standards for fairness and failed to produce any evidence to corroborate the charges against him".
International response
The arrest and detention of Cheam met with widespread international condemnation.
Peter Leuprecht, the special representative of the
United Nations Secretary-General
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary-g ...
for human rights in Cambodia, called the trial unfair and called for Cheam's release. The
U.S. State Department listed the case in a report on "Arbitrary Arrest or Detention" and noted that "international and local NGOs widely criticized Cheam Channy's arrest and detention as illegal under criminal law". Amnesty International declared him to be a
prisoner of conscience.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
described the charges against Cheam and other parliamentarians as "a thinly-veiled effort by Cambodia's ruling parties to eliminate their political opponents", and objected to the use of a military court to try a civilian. On 1 February 2006, the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
adopted a resolution calling on the Cambodian government to unconditionally release him. The
United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) is a body of independent human rights experts that investigate cases of arbitrary arrest and detention. Arbitrary arrest and detention is the imprisonment or detainment of an individual, by a State, wi ...
declared Cheam's imprisonment "arbitrary" and "in contravention of article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights".
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Royal pardon
On 2 February 2006, King Norodom Sihamoni reduced Cheam's sentence from seven years' imprisonment to three years. Four days later, Cheam received a full royal pardon, and was released from prison. The U.S. State Department praised the pardon, calling it a "positive turn".
Death
Cheam died on 25 October 2018. He had been suffering from a brain tumour that had subsequently spread to his intestines.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheam, Channy
1961 births
2018 deaths
Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Cambodia
Cambodian prisoners and detainees
Channy, Cheam
Recipients of Cambodian royal pardons
Candlelight Party politicians
Deaths from brain cancer in Cambodia
People from Battambang province