Theary Seng’s Testimony for the Rule of Law of the Commission of Inquiry for Cambodia, 10 September 2022

Greetings from Cambodia from my home. My name is Theary Seng and it is my delight to be a part of testifying before the Commission of Inquiry on Cambodia. I am one of 139 individuals being tried for conspiracy to commit treason and incitement to social unrest in this unprecedented mass criminal trial that is ongoing here in Cambodia. So as I testify now, I'm living under this cloud of prosecutions or criminal prosecutions by this autocratic regime. I am a political activist, but in recent months, this massive criminal trial has turned to me into a political actress. The Mass Criminal Trial, or the Mass trial was initiated in 2019 upon public knowledge that the opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, would be returning to Cambodia or is planning to return to Cambodia. And the mass trial had its first initial hearing in November 2023, where I was present in the courtroom along with some 40 other charged individuals. Among the 139 individuals.

National rule of law standards are clear and must be applied to the mass criminal trial circumstances. These standards were voluntarily accepted by the Hun Sen regime. No one forced it on them, and form a core of Cambodian law. As you know, due process is very much synonymous with rule of law and forms. The basic standard of rule of law and due process is concerned with procedure, fairness, and application. From the very beginning of these proceedings, this regime has violated our due process rights under the law under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which from now on, I'll just simply say the Law on Civil and Political Rights, a law of Cambodia. We have the right to be informed promptly of the nature and cause of the charges against us. This includes both the law and the facts on which the charges are based. However, I have been denied the latter information, I'm sure the others have been. Also, none of the documents that the regime has provided me, the evidence is only a total of 9 1-sided pages of printout of alleged Facebook posts that they said I made, and that's the evidence identified. So none of these documents or the evidence have identified or reported on any specific action that I took that was allegedly criminal. Again, I'm certain the others are in the same situation. Rather, the documents simply allege in a conclusory manner without providing a single specific example that I used the internet to appeal to the Cambodian people and the armed services to violently overthrow the legitimate government. In short, given these documents given these documents were required to disclose any and all evidence that will be presented against me and the others in this proceeding and instead included unsubstantiated and vague allegations, this court should immediately the proceedings the prosecutions should immediately be dismissed. We also have the right under Cambodian law, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is a part of Cambodian law, to have adequate time and facilities to prepare our defense. However, without knowing the factual basis of the charges against us, due to lack of access for me to my case file, for the others they're in pre-trial detention with one lawyer representing some 60 individuals. However, without knowing the factual basis of the charges against us due to lack of access for me to my case file, we have been unable to prepare any defense whatsoever and for me, until January 2022, when I was forced to have to hire my own my lawyer, I have access to my case file. We also have the right under Common law, which is also under law and Civil and political rights to examine witnesses against us and to obtain attendance and examination of witnesses we might present on our behalf for a long time. For me, until January 2022 actually, I could not be prepared to cross-examine any witnesses against me because I didn't know the factual basis of the allegations. For example, I was puzzled during the trial hearing over the summons for me to appear and then it's Cancellation Order that was allegedly issued in November 2019. But remember, I didn't know about the proceeding until November 29 in 2021, years later, and I'm certain others are in a worse situation than me. So I'm puzzled. So there was something to appear and then its cancellation Order for me, and there's a disconnect there. But as it turns out, during the time that the regime accused me of fleeing justice, I was in Troms or no way for a human rights seminar hosted by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And I publicly documented my journey, which was about a week-long, to and from Cambodia, and no way. So the absurdity that I fled justice when I documented publicly my whereabouts all the time, and the irony that it should be a human rights seminar that I attended in Norway, just an example of the authority of the violations. Finally, under the law on Civil and Political Rights, in all of Cambodia, in the determination of any criminal charge against us, we have the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal established by law. As noted before, there has been no specific evidence provided to us by the court, prosecutor or any other authority to support the charges being brought against us. 7We were entitled to receive any and all such evidence in advance of the trial to enable us to adequately prepare a defense and to identify and prepare witnesses that we could offer in our own defense. As such, it was made clear throughout these proceedings that have already finished for me, but not for other charged individuals, that either the panel of judges is incompetent or that it has acted in a manner that it's not independent or impartial. Again, in violation of basic rule of law or due process standards. In my case, it goes against the grain of reason and the principles of justice that Article 256 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Cambodian be used to erase all small and gross violations alike, just because the Closing Order, it's French civil system here. Now the Closing Order has become final and definitive.