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Exiled Cambodians in Japan silenced by threats to loved ones back home
A new Human Rights Watch report reveals government officials and police are visiting relatives of activists to threaten them into silence
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It begins with a knock at the door in Phnom Penh: police officers asking about a son, sister or cousin living thousands of miles away – and warning the family to make them stop.
Cambodian dissidents who thought they had found safety in Japan are still facing threats delivered not to their own doors, but to the homes of loved ones left behind, according to a new Human Rights Watch report.
The NGO’s Tokyo office said on Tuesday that nearly all of the 23 Cambodian nationals it interviewed in Japan had described intimidation tactics, including visits by ruling party officials and senior military officers to their relatives in Cambodia.
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The Cambodian exiles said they were told to abandon protests abroad, or face consequences when they returned home.
One man, who fled Cambodia five years ago after protesting against land seizures, said he took part in a protest in Tokyo. Soon after, police appeared at his family’s residence.
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