The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its previous resolutions on Cambodia,

–  having regard to the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Kingdom of Cambodia which entered into force on 1 November 1999,

–  having regard to the Statement of 28 December 2005 by the Presidency of the European Union on behalf of EU Heads of Missions in Phnom Penh following the conviction of opposition leader Sam Rainsy,

–  having regard to the statement of 4 January 2006 by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights concerning the latest arrests of human rights activists in Cambodia,

–  having regard to Rule 115 of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia ignores calls from international community to restore the parliamentary immunity of three members of the Sam Rainsy Party,

B.  whereas on 22 December 2005 the country's opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who has been in self-imposed exile since losing his parliamentary immunity, was found guilty of "criminal defamation" and sentenced to 18 months in prison,

C.  whereas on 31 December 2005 Kem Sokha, President of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, and Yeng Virak, Director of the Cambodian Legal Education Centre, were arrested and imprisoned pending trial for allegedly defaming the government;

D.  whereas on 4 January 2006 Nguon Teang, the deputy director of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, was arrested and also accused of defamation,

E.  whereas this new round of arrests of government critics in recent weeks testifies to a deteriorating human rights situation in Cambodia and increasing governments intolerance to criticism,

1.  Reiterates its calls on the Cambodian Government to immediately restore parliamentary immunity to the three members of the Sam Rainsy Party, Members of Parliament Sam Rainsy, Chea Poch and Cheam Channy;

2.  Believes that the series of arrests and defamation charges against members of the political opposition, civil society, trade unions and the media is a major step backwards for democracy in Cambodia, which endangers the efforts of Cambodian civil society to establish itself as a stable and democratic nation based on the rule of law;

3.  Calls on the Cambodian Government to release imprisoned human rights activists and members of the Sam Rainsy opposition party and withdraw politically motivated charges against them;

4.  Considers that Cambodian Government's actions to restrict and punish freedom of expression, association and assembly are in clear contradiction with the definition of a democratic government;

5.  Calls on the Cambodian Government to abide by the undertakings on fundamental freedoms guaranteed in the core international human rights agreements ratified by Cambodia and enshrined in Cambodian Constitution;

6.  Calls on the Member States to consider sanctions if the Cambodian Government does not take immediate action to reverse its increasingly anti-democratic decisions and strengthen its efforts to establish the rule of law;

7.  Reiterates its suggestion to send an ad hoc EP delegation to Cambodia to meet with the imprisoned activists, members of the opposition and representatives of local NGOs in order to evaluate human rights situation in the country;

8.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the government and parliament of Cambodia.