UN expert group calls for release of Cambodian-American human rights activist after investigation

By SOPHENG CHEANG
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A United Nations expert group is calling for the immediate release of a Cambodian-American human rights activist, saying an investigation it conducted has concluded she was being “arbitrarily detained in violation of international law.” The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in a judgement late Wednesday that while attorney Theary Seng had been convicted of conspiracy to commit treason and other charges last year, she was in reality being punished for “making two posts on Facebook critical of Hun Sen,” Cambodia’s autocratic prime minister. The judgment comes a little more than a week before Cambodia’s general election, in which Hun Sen’s party is virtually guaranteed a landslide victory after the main opposition was barred.