During a review by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED), the Cambodian delegation denied involvement of government agents in the disappearance of Thai activist in exile Wanchalearm Satsaksit, and therefore does not consider it a case of enforced disappearance.

Between 19 – 20 February, the CED convened to review the situation of enforced disappearance in Cambodia as a state party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED). The meeting was broadcast via UN Web TV. The CED asked the Cambodian delegation to report on the progress of four cases of enforced disappearance, including that of Wanchalearm. The delegate said that Wanchalearm’s case is under investigation and therefore “bound to confidentiality.”

However, the delegate said that Cambodia does not consider Wanchalearm’s abduction a case of enforced disappearance because it found no evidence that government agents were involved. The delegate also said that Cambodia has no cases of enforced disappearances and therefore has no statistics concerning such cases.

Wanchalearm disappeared on 4 June 2020 while living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he fled after the 2014 military coup. Both the Thai and Cambodian authorities have repeatedly denied any knowledge of his whereabouts. The Cambodian authorities said after his abduction that his visa had expired on 31 December 2017 and that there is no evidence of him living in Phnom Penh. However, Wanchalearm’s sister Sitanun Satsaksit said he was travelling under a Cambodian passport with a Khmer alias and that he has a Cambodian bank account. So far, no progress has been made in the investigation into his disappearance.

The Cross-Cultural Foundation (CrCF) said that it submitted a report to the CED, together with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), on the enforced disappearance situation in Cambodia. The report raised questions about the investigation into the disappearance of Wanchalearm and that of Khem Sophath, a 16-year-old boy who went missing during a crackdown by the Cambodian authorities against garment factory workers in 2014.

CrCF director Pornpen Khongkachonkiet said that if Cambodia says that its government agents could not be implicated with Wanchalearm’s disappearance, it should be able to provide information from their investigation on whether agents of any other state or any non-state actors are involved. She said that an investigation of a human rights violation should not be guarded by confidentiality and that information must be released at least during a UN meeting to ensure reform of Cambodia’s criminal justice procedure. Wanchalearm’s family and friends also have the right to know the truth about what happened to him and who is responsible for his disappearance, she said.