Phnom Penh - Cambodian police said Tuesday they had detained
at least five foreigners for distributing leaflets urging the release
of two men convicted of the murder of a trade union leader during an
annual donor meeting.
Daun Penh district police chief Phorn Pheng said at least five
people he believed to hold foreign passports had been 'invited' to
the Phnom Penh municipal police foreigner office but said he could
not give details.
'We did invite five people go to the foreigner police office ...
They were distributing leaflets outside a meeting while (Cambodian
Prime Minister) Hun Sen spoke inside,' Pheng said.
He said he could not confirm local media reports which said that
as many as eight foreigners were detained, including Americans,
Canadians, a New Zealander, a Briton and a Scandinavian, but added
that they were not expected to face serious charges.
'I don't know any more information, because they have been
transferred from my department now, but I hope and would expect they
will be free to go soon,' he said.
The two-day annual meeting of most of the aid dependent country's
key donors is scheduled to conclude Wednesday, with donors tipped to
meet or surpass the 601 million dollars pledged to Cambodia last
year.
The foreigners were allegedly distributing leaflets demanding the
release of two men convicted of the January 2004 murder of union
leader Chea Vichea.
Under criticism by a number of donors, the 2005 convictions for
the murder of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun have been blasted by
human rights groups including Amnesty International as a cover-up.
There have been widespread demands for the men's case to be reopened.
The annual donor meeting comes in the wake of the government's
recent banning of a negative logging report by London-based
environmental group Global Witness and a highly critical report in
Geneva last week by Yash Ghai, UN human rights envoy to the Cambodia.
On Saturday, New York-based Human Rights Watch demanded donors
make Cambodia more accountable for how it uses aid, claiming human
rights abuses and endemic corruption were still rampant despite
billions in aid being poured into the country in the past decade.
The meeting comprises key bilateral donors to Cambodia including
the US, Germany, Japan and South Korea, and the Asian Development
Bank, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the
United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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