Tuesday, December 9, 2014

# 62 LICADHO remains silent on David Fletcher's right to a fair trial

Dr Kek Pung
President
LICADHO

9th Dec 2014

Dear Dr Pung

You do not respond in any way to my letters or answer any of my questions.

If there is one lesson to be learnt from David Fletcher’s predicament it is that no British man charged with sex offences in Cambodia can expect LICADHO, ADHOC, Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond or the media to defend his right to a fair trial.

In response to a recent blog entry, about the murder of  Dave Walker and the possible complicity of non government organizations, the following comment appeared.

“If Dave Walker was murdered because he was on the verge of exposing scams like the one that netted Fletcher and if APLE was involved WTF is Licadho doing partnering with thieves and murderers!”

Are you sure, Dr Pung, that LICADHO has not, in its quest to rid Cambodia of sex offenders, partnered with ‘thieves and murderers’?

You have certainly, in the case of APLE, entered into a close working relationship with an NGO that has no qualms about pursuing and prosecuting a man (David Fletcher) whom APLE knows to be innocent of the crime of rape. And now you know that David Fletcher cannot be guilty of raping Yang Dany – unless, that is you believe a woman’s hymen can grow back.

Barely a week passes when LICADHO does not issue a statement critical of the Cambodian government, call for greater transparency, accountability and so on. Why is it that LICADHO never issues any statements critical of NGOs? Why does LICADHO remain silent about what is clearly a breach of David Fletcher’s legal and human rights in being denied any trial at all in which he can call witnesses, present evidence, conduct a defense?  

Even if there was compelling evidence that he had raped Yang Dany (and there is none) David Fletcher is entitled to a fair trial in accordance with the Cambodian Code of Criminal Procedure. By remaining silent on the case of Mr Fletcher and other men in positions similar to his (Matt Harland, for example), LICADHO is sending a very clear message to APLE and the Cambodian judiciary:

“Do what you like with men who may or may not be sex offenders. LICADHO will make no comment, offer no criticism and make no public demands that these men are entitled to fair trials.”

Since I began this blog I have been inundated with emails from readers who are concerned about the lack of transparency, accountability and legality of the way in which APLE conducts its affairs. And by others who have information that, cumulatively, points towards extraordinary levels of corruption within certain NGOs, including APLE. I would love to be able to pass all of this information on to some independent investigating body that would assess it impartially but there is no such body or organization in Cambodia.

With LICADHO’s disinterest in and silence about NGO human and legal rights abuses, and with a government that is corrupt, where does one go with information that requires independent investigation? There is nowhere. Corrupt NGOs know this and can exploit it – especially when they have plenty of money to throw around to buy the silence of anyone who may feel inclined to speak out.

It is only a few days since I found out that Terres des Hommes gave APLE 1.6 million Euros last Dec. How much, if any, of this money flows to LICADHO? This is a legitimate question, Dr Pek, given Naly’s relationship with APLE. Or perhaps I should phrase the question thus:

“How much money does Naly receive for services rendered to APLE?”

If Naly receives no remuneration, if LICADHO receives no remuneration, why not come out and say so? If you are confident that APLE conducts its affairs with due respect for Cambodian law and for the legal and human rights of men like David Fletcher, why not come out and say so?

My suspicion is that Terres des Hommes, in giving such a large sum to the NGO, is unaware of APLE’S modus operandi – unless, that is, Terres des Hommes has as little interest in the guilt or innocence of the men jailed as LICADHO? There is still a cohort of women who believe that all men are rapists; that any man who wishes to have anything to do with children other than his own must be a pedophile. A witch-hunt mentality has gripped much of the Western world when it comes to pedophiles (real and imagined) and there is, as APLE knows, a lot of money to be made out of exploiting this fear.

One comment I received privately in the past couple of days includes the following:

“I was out late one night & went out for a smoke chatting with a couple asked what they did etc, then was asked what I did I replied I had a small hotel in Thailand & was wiped out by the tsunami ....... her reply was & I quote " ARE YOU A PEDOPHILE???" (I am not, just to let you know) I am very good at cutting people to the quick verbally, but was so insulted & angry I chose not to respond because I would have verbally destroyed her & probably ended up being accosted by her husband; the security guard (who I had previously got on well with) overheard the conversation & followed me around for 15 min then told me to leave?? WTF!! So I can empathise with David in his current situation. If David has done anything then he deserves to be punished accordingly!!”


A day will come when this hysteria is recognized for what it is; just as the day came when the Salem witch hunt was recognized for what it was. Yes, there are pedophiles out there in the world. Yes, they should be found and punished. In the process of doing so, however, innocent men should not be jailed in order to feed the business model of an organization such as APLE; a business model that requires a constant stream of men to prosecute and incarcerate if APLE is to be seen to be competent at its job.

With enormous sums of money flowing into APLE’s coffers from organizations such as Terres des Hommes you can be sure that Thierry Darnaudet, Samleang Seila, Ana Piniero and others are well aware that they will have to deliver a constant supply of pedophiles and sex offenders to convince these donors that they are doing a good job. Without a high arrest and conviction rate the sponsors and donors may not feel inclined to be as generous next year. From a business point of view this would be a disaster. APLE needs a constant supply of sacrificial victims to keep its business thriving. The laws of supply and demand operate here. Sponsors and donors demand pedophile convictions and APLE supplies them. The perfect business model and who is going to criticize it? As Mr Samleang Seila has made clear in public statements, anyone who starts up a blog such as my own must be a pedophile. And anyone who advocates the right of men like David Fletcher to a fair trial can so easily be accused of being ‘soft on pedophiles.’

If LICADHO is in receipt of any money from ALPE and this is the reason for your silence, Dr Pung, you are part and parcel of the problem that APLE represents. If LICADHO is not in receipt of any money from APLE but chooses to remain silent about APLE’S modus operandi, you are nonetheless morally culpable. There is now so much evidence of APLE’s legal and human rights abuses that it is only a matter of time before the NGO’s scam is exposed as Somaly Mam’s was. Indeed, the APLE scam is much much worse than Somaly Mam’s. She may have lied about her past but, to the best of my knowledge, did not include in her own business model the jailing of innocent men in order to keep donations flowing into her Foundation’s coffers.

Please reassure me, Dr Pung, and the many people now following this blog, that you have faith in APLE or that you have concerns about the way in which this NGO secures the conviction of men like David Fletcher on the basis or little or no evidence and then guarantees that there will be no trial that even comes close to meeting the requirements laid out in the Cambodian Code of Criminal Procedure.

best wishes


James Ricketson

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