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COMMITTEE ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PARLIAMENTARIANSCOMMITTEE ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PARLIAMENTARIANSCOMMITTEE ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PARLIAMENTARIANSCOMMITTEE ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PARLIAMENTARIANS

CASE No. CMBD/47CASE No. CMBD/47CASE No. CMBD/47CASE No. CMBD/47 - --- MU SOCHUA MU SOCHUA MU SOCHUA MU SOCHUA ---- CAMBODIA CAMBODIA CAMBODIA CAMBODIA

D DD Decision adopted by the Committee at its 13ecision adopted by the Committee at its 13ecision adopted by the Committee at its 13ecision adopted by the Committee at its 134 44 4 thththth sessionsessionsessionsession ( (( (GenevaGenevaGenevaGeneva, ,,, 4 44 4 ---- 7777 July July July July 2011) 2011) 2011) 2011)

The Committee,

Referring to the case of Ms. Mu Sochua, an opposition member of the National Assembly of Cambodia, and to the resolution adopted by the Governing Council at its 188 th session(April 2011),

Taking into account the information provided by one of the sources on 10 June 2011,

Recalling the following information on file:

- Ms. Mu Sochuas public announcement that she would file a defamation lawsuit againstthe Prime Minister prompted the latter to file a lawsuit against her, citing as evidence interalia her complaint to the IPU; while her lawsuit was quickly dismissed, the Prime Ministerslawsuit proceeded and in June 2010, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the Phnom

Penh Municipal Court which had found her guilty and ordered her to pay a hefty fine; asMs. Mu Sochua refused to pay the fine, it was deducted from her MPs salary, although insuch cases, a prison term is normally served;

- By November 2010, the fine had been paid off in full, but her parliamentary immunity hasnot been restored; different opinions were given as to how her parliamentary immunityshould be restored until the National Assembly stated in a letter of 12 April 2011 that, byvirtue of Article 535 of the Penal Code, Ms. Mu Sochua has to wait one year beforesubmitting an application for rehabilitation to the Appeal Court; should no application besubmitted, her immunity would be restored automatically after five years; the leader of theCambodian delegation to the 124 th Assembly stated that rehabilitation is governed by theCriminal Code, including for members of parliament and, during the period in question,Ms. Mu Sochua must not commit any other crime if she wishes to be rehabilitated,

Considering that, in May 2011, while making door-to-door visits in Battambang town toinform inhabitants of their right to free public health care and education, Ms. Mu Sochua and herteam of locally elected councillors were reportedly surrounded and threatened by members of theruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP), who accused her of inciting villagers against thegovernment; noting that the opposition team lodged a complaint with the Governor the followingday and that Ms. Mu Sochua sent a report about the threats to the Ministry of the Interior,

Recalling that United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms have expressedconcern about the independence of the judiciary in Cambodia and that, most recently, the UnitedNations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, in his report to the UnitedNations Human Rights Council of 16 September 2010 1, identified freedom of expression as a majorcause for concern, along with the numerous challenges faced by the judiciary, and expressedconcern about the narrowing of political space, and recommended that defamation anddisinformation be decriminalized altogether,

1 A/HRC/15/46.

INTERINTERINTERINTER----PARLIAMENTARY UNIONPARLIAMENTARY UNIONPARLIAMENTARY UNIONPARLIAMENTARY UNION CHEMIN DU POMMIER5

1218 LE GRAND-SACONNEX / GENEVA (SWITZERLAND)

TELEPHONE + 41 22 - 919 41 50 - FAX + 41 22 - 919 41 60 - E-MAILpostbox@mail.ipu.org

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1. Deeply regrets that nothing seems to have been done to restore Ms. Mu Sochuasparliamentary immunity and r ecalls the concerns expressed in the GoverningCouncils resolution of April 2011 at the application of the provisions of the CriminalProcedure Code regarding restoration of parliamentary immunity, which has resultedin an additional punishment for Ms. Mu Sochua;

2. Calls on the National Assembly once again to review the legislation concerningparliamentary immunity, regarding both the restoration and the lifting of parliamentaryimmunity so as to ensure that such immunity becomes an effective tool for protectingmembers of parliament against any proceedings that may be unfounded andpolitically motivated;

3. Reaffirms the serious concerns it expressed earlier about the defamation proceedingsbrought against her by the Prime Minister, which it continues to consider as using the

judiciary for political purposes; reiterates in this respect once again its wish toascertain any action that may have been taken to follow up the recommendationsmade by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in

Cambodia;

4. Is concerned that Ms. Mu Sochua and local councillors accompanying her may havebeen threatened by members of the ruling party because she informed villagers oftheir rights, which illustrates only that she is carrying out her parliamentary mandateand wishes to ascertain what action, if any, may have been taken upon receiving herreport and complaint to prevent such incidents in the future;

5. Requests the Secretary General to convey this decision to the authorities and to thesources;

6. Decides to continue examining this case at its next session, to be held during the125 th IPU Assembly (October 2011).