Cambodia: European Parliament remind EU-based business of the need to conduct thorough human rights & environmental due diligence
"Join motion for a resolution", 4 May 2022
... condemns the prosecution of ...trade unionists, human rights defenders, journalists, environmentalists, students and others for expressing their opinions...
... underlines that the trials of members of ... civil society activists, human rights defenders, journalists and ordinary citizens are being conducted in absolute contravention of international fair trials standards; calls on the government to reform the politicised judiciary, secure the right to due process for all...
... is deeply concerned about the government’s online surveillance and threats to free speech and the right to privacy...
... expresses concern about the intensifying crackdown on environmental activists, including land right activists, who have been notably targeted in recently held mass trials; strongly regrets, in this context, the reported acceleration of illegal logging in Cambodia’s protected forests during the pandemic and calls for the EU and the Member States to foster international coordination in order to prevent any unauthorised goods from being illegally exported from Cambodia...
... reminds EU-based businesses of the need to conduct thorough human rights and environmental due diligence, and to ensure that they have no ties with political leaders or leaders of the security forces responsible for serious human rights violations ... in Cambodia, as well as with entities owned or controlled by these leaders and entities benefiting from illegal logging and land grabbing;...
... calls for the EU, the Member States and the international community, in light of Cambodia’s role as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to seize the opportunity to apply pressure and take public actions to provide protection for activists and human rights defenders...