US citizen sues Cambodian government for ‘wrongful’ imprisonment

Asian Correspondent | 12 April 2016

Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) information head Meach Sovannara, foreground, is escorted to a police van after an adjourn from the Appeal Court n Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Pic: AP.

A U.S. citizen and member of Cambodia’s opposition party, who was sentenced to 20 years jail last year, is now suing the Cambodian government over his imprisonment.

Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) information head Meach Sovannara, who is currently serving the sentence, was convicted along with 10 other party members in July for insurrection after a violent protest in 2014.

Following several failed bids to post bail, Sovannara, who lived in Long Beach, California, had his legal representatives file a lawsuit on Friday in a Los Angeles federal court.

The lawsuit accuses the Cambodian government of illegally detaining CNRP leaders, as well as administering torture and cruel and inhuman treatment of the detainees.

Among the defendants named is Prime Minister Hun Sen’s son, Hun Manet, who is in charge of the military and security police.

SEE ALSO: Anger mounts over jailing of 11 opposition activists in Cambodia

According to the Huffington Post, while foreign governments are usually protected from being brought to court in the U.S. due to sovereignty laws, The Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act does have exceptions, which include violent actions committed against U.S. citizens while abroad.

Sovannara’s lawsuit is the first time the exception is being used in the U.S. to hold members of a foreign government responsible for human rights violations.

Besides that, the Anti-Terrorism Act has also been included in the lawsuit, with Sovannara alleging that his imprisonment and treatment while in detention is equivalent to international terrorism, giving him grounds to sue for criminal and civil damages.

Human rights groups – both local and international – condemned the sentence when it was first announced last year, calling it a “draconian” measure meant to quash political dissent. This would not be the first time such accusations were lobbed at Hun Sen and the Cambodian People’s Party.