A/HRC/4/95 page 8 15. At the beginning of 2006, the office monitored the arrests of the President of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights and his deputy, and the Director of the Cambodian Legal Education Center. They were charged with defamation in connection with a banner displayed during celebrations for International Human Rights Day on 10 December 2005. These followed arrests of the owner and director of a popular radio station and the President of the Independent Teachers’ Association in October 2005 on charges of defamation, disinformation and incitement. All five were released mid-January, but the charges remain pending. 16. On 4 January 2006, the High Commissioner issued a statement expressing her deep regret and concern that the lawsuits and arrests of members of civil society constituted a disturbing trend that threatened to undo progress made over the last decade to build an open and just society based on the rule of law. 17. On 26 May, the National Assembly passed an amendment to article 63 of the Provisions Relating to the Judiciary and Criminal Law and Procedures Applicable in Cambodia during the Transitional Period, commonly known as the UNTAC Law. This amendment removed the penalties of imprisonment in the event of conviction for criminal defamation but retained fines of between $250 and $2,500. 18. The office subsequently documented cases in which charges of disinformation had been brought, and became concerned about a possible trend to use charges of disinformation, which carries a prison sentence of up to three years and allows for pretrial detention, as an alternative to defamation. 19. Throughout the reporting period, demonstrations, marches, and public gatherings in Phnom Penh and the provinces were regularly denied permits. The office documented incidents of excessive use of force by armed riot police, particularly in relation to strike action by trade unions in the garment sector. It engaged with relevant local authorities to prevent an escalation of violence in some cases. 20. The office monitored evictions of poor communities living in informal settlements in central Phnom Penh during the period from May to July. It engaged with the authorities in order to prevent the use of force and to mitigate the impact of evictions. In correspondence and meetings with the authorities, it expressed concern that the eviction practices ran contrary to Cambodia’s obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It requested a halt to relocations to uninhabitable sites outside the city, which lacked water, sanitation and shelter, and underlined that evictions should be seen as a last rather than a first recourse. It urged their suspension until adequate measures had been put in place to ensure genuine consultation, legal redress and appropriate compensation for victims when relocations were inevitable. It stressed the responsibility of the Government to protect the health and safety of victims of evictions, and requested the authorities to allow NGOs to provide humanitarian assistance, when NGOs were prevented from doing so.