A member of a banned Cambodian opposition party has been arrested in Bangkok and is at risk of deportation, according to Human Rights Watch.
Thol Samnang is being held at the Suan Phlu immigration detention centre in central Bangkok, Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher on Thailand with HRW Asia, said yesterday.
According to local media reports, Thol Samnang was preparing to visit a UNHCR office when he was apprehended near Victory Monument.
Mr Sunai said in a tweet that Thailand’s new anti-torture and forced disappearance legislation prohibits the deportation of people who may face harm in the destination country.
The Candlelight Party, the only meaningful opposition party left in Cambodia, in late May lost its bid to overturn a state-imposed ban on it taking part in the national elections on July 23.
Cambodia’s National Election Committee had refused to register the party after it failed to submit certain documents. The Constitutional Council subsequently upheld the decision, paving the way for long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen to run a one-horse race.
Critics and rights groups accuse him of using the legal system to crush any opposition to his rule, particularly in the run-up to elections.
The Candlelight Party gained traction in last year’s local polls, claiming 22% of the popular vote, and was planning to challenge Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in every constituency in the national polls.
In the 2018 elections, the CPP won every seat after the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved. The Candlelight Party was founded in 1995. In 2012, it merged with other opposition forces to form the CNRP.