WASHINGTON—As part of Covington's Kurt Wimmer Media Freedom Pro Bono Initiative, the firm assisted in preparing two new reports on press freedom and freedom of expression in Cambodia and Vietnam submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council on October 11, 2023. The joint submissions are being publicized on November 2nd, on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, ahead of the two countries’ Universal Periodic Review (UPR) taking place in Geneva in May 2024.
Covington supported the joint submission on Vietnam alongside Freedom House, RFK Human Rights (RFKHR), and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ); and the joint submission on Cambodia alongside Freedom House and RFKHR. Covington has previously assisted pro bono partners in preparing UPR submissions, having assisted Freedom House, CPJ, and the American Bar Association Human Rights Committee with a UPR stakeholder report on Cameroon earlier this year.
The groups’ submissions highlight the cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of journalists and human rights defenders, lengthy pre-trial and arbitrary detention, and incommunicado holdings over the past five years since the countries’ last UPR reports. Journalists are also regularly arrested and imprisoned for lengthy periods of time pursuant to alleged criminal incitement and anti-state charges in relation to their work.
In both reports, detained journalists and human rights advocates exercising their rights to freedom of expression were found to have been denied their rights to a fair trial and appeals process. These conditions have resulted in a chilling effect on press freedom and freedom of expression in the two countries.
According to the reports, the situation is made worse by the introduction in recent years of cybersecurity laws restricting internet access and increasing state censorship of information available online. Both states have significantly increased control over internet and social media platforms, restricting access to information online in a significant curbing of press freedom and freedom of expression of journalists and human rights defenders.
Among the recommendations in the reports, the groups urged the immediate release of journalists and human rights defenders exercising their free expression both countries have arbitrarily detained, end the mistreatment of these prisoners, and uphold their rights to a fair trial and appeal. They also called for the review of vague and overbroad laws which are misused to imprison journalists and to repeal the cybersecurity laws used to censor information online.
“Through Covington’s Kurt Wimmer Media Freedom Pro Bono Initiative, our attorneys provide pro bono support on media freedom matters, seeking to protect and advance press freedom and freedom of expression, and promote the safety of journalists and human rights defenders,” said Peter Lichtenbaum. “Our work on the joint submission to the United Nations UPR Review process assessing Vietnam’s and Cambodia’s actions with respect to press freedom and freedom of expression supports these objectives.”
The Wimmer Initiative was launched as a tribute to Covington’s late partner, Kurt Wimmer, an international leader in media law. Covington lawyers provide pro bono support on media freedom matters across two main pillars: protecting and advancing media freedom and the safety of journalists, and advising nonprofit newsrooms on media law and operational issues.
The Covington team was led by Peter Lichtenbaum, Eugene Yoon, and Cherine Foty. A cross-office team of lawyers assisted in preparing the two reports: Kimberly Stietz, Quyên Trương, and Maryam Chauhan.
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