Brussels, December 4, 2002. Mr Sok Yoeun, was arrested on 24 December 1999 after a Thai politician complained that Thailand was harbouring a Cambodian "terrorist". Two months earlier, he had been forced into making a videotaped confession. He was initially sentenced to six months' imprisonment for entering the country illegally. Since this sentence expired on 26 June 2000, he has been detained pending the outcome of a request for his extradition to Cambodia. This request was made under legislation that does not allow for the extradition of persons accused of political offences. The Cambodian authorities have accused Mr Sok Yoeun, who is a member of a prominent Cambodian opposition party, the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), of being responsible for a 1998 rocket attack, which Prime Minister Hun Sen claimed was aimed at him. This allegation is widely believed to be unfounded. Thai Criminal Court decided to send back Mr Sok Yueun, a refugee and a prisoner of conscience, to Cambodia, where he risks an unfair trial, years of imprisonment and other human rights violations. Mr Sok Yueun has received a refugee status from the United Naitons High Commissioner of Refugee (UNHCR) in Thailand and has been offered resettlement in a third country. By being granted a refugee status, Mr Sok Yueun has been recognized as a person who is "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality or political opinion." The decision to extradite Mr Sok Yueun is a forcible return, which is a violation of the "non-refoulement" principle of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Refugee Status, Article 33 (1). The article states that a refugee shall not be expelled or returned "in any manner whatsoever to the frontier of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion." Although the Thai state has not ratified the 1951 Convention, it still serves as a customary law and it applies to all states, especially the principle of "non-refoulement."

Question of Olivier Dupuis, General Secretary of the Transnational Radical Party and member of the European Parliament to the European Commission

“What information does the Commission have concerning the case of Mr Sok Yueun ? How does the Commission intend to assist him in order to avoid extradition and to obtain his immediate release without condition ? How does the Commission intend to persuade the Cambodian authorities to stop persecuting democratic and grant everybody the full respect of fundamental rights and freedoms ?"