Cambodia detains foreigners over protest at donor meeting

Phnom Penh - Cambodian police said Tuesday they had detained at least five foreigners for distributing leaflets urging the release of two men convicted of the murder of a trade union leader during an annual donor meeting.

Daun Penh district police chief Phorn Pheng said at least five people he believed to hold foreign passports had been 'invited' to the Phnom Penh municipal police foreigner office but said he could not give details.

'We did invite five people go to the foreigner police office ... They were distributing leaflets outside a meeting while (Cambodian Prime Minister) Hun Sen spoke inside,' Pheng said.

He said he could not confirm local media reports which said that as many as eight foreigners were detained, including Americans, Canadians, a New Zealander, a Briton and a Scandinavian, but added that they were not expected to face serious charges.

'I don't know any more information, because they have been transferred from my department now, but I hope and would expect they will be free to go soon,' he said.

The two-day annual meeting of most of the aid dependent country's key donors is scheduled to conclude Wednesday, with donors tipped to meet or surpass the 601 million dollars pledged to Cambodia last year.

The foreigners were allegedly distributing leaflets demanding the release of two men convicted of the January 2004 murder of union leader Chea Vichea.

Under criticism by a number of donors, the 2005 convictions for the murder of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun have been blasted by human rights groups including Amnesty International as a cover-up. There have been widespread demands for the men's case to be reopened.

The annual donor meeting comes in the wake of the government's recent banning of a negative logging report by London-based environmental group Global Witness and a highly critical report in Geneva last week by Yash Ghai, UN human rights envoy to the Cambodia.

On Saturday, New York-based Human Rights Watch demanded donors make Cambodia more accountable for how it uses aid, claiming human rights abuses and endemic corruption were still rampant despite billions in aid being poured into the country in the past decade.

The meeting comprises key bilateral donors to Cambodia including the US, Germany, Japan and South Korea, and the Asian Development Bank, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank.