The report, jointly prepared with the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) and the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF), denounces the Cambodian government’s failure to comply with the country’s obligations under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), to which Cambodia is a state party.
Such failure is illustrated by two cases of apparent enforced disappearance that were registered by the CED in 2014 and 2018, respectively. To date, both cases remain unresolved, and the Cambodian government has failed to determine the fate and whereabouts of the two victims, adequately investigate their enforced disappearance, and identify the perpetrators.
The first case regards Mr. Khem Sophath, a 16-year-old boy who disappeared during a violent crackdown by Cambodian security forces against striking garment factory workers on 3 January, 2014, in Phnom Penh.
The second case concerns Mr. Wanchalearm Satsaksit, a Thai activist who was last seen on the afternoon of 4 June, 2020, in Phnom Penh. He is an outspoken critic of the military junta that ruled Thailand between 2014 and 2019, and fled Thailand after the May 2014 military coup.
The CED will review the situation of enforced disappearances in Cambodia during its 26th session, on 19 and 20 February 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Read the report below.