AFP: Amnesty slams Cambodia ahead of Mary Robinson visit

Amnesty international slammed Cambodia for the disappearance of three people who lived under refugee protection in Cambodia as UN rights chief Mary Robinson was scheduled to arrive.

Amnesty said it was "gravely concerned that the Cambodia authorities are failing to fulfil their obligations" towards refugees following the disappearance of a Vietnamese monk and two Chinese Falungong practitioners.

Thich Tri Luc, 45, of the outlawed Vien Hoa Dao Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam went missing on July 25 despite holding protection by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

And the Falun Dafa Information Centre in New York claimed last week that Chinese couple Li Guojun and his wife Zhang Xinyi were deported although they lived in Phnom Penh with UN refugee certificates.

Amnesty said in a statement the Falungong pair were arrested by Cambodian police on August 2 amd forcibly returned to China on August 9.

"There are unconfirmed reports that they are now in detention in the PRC (Peoples' Republic of China)," London-based Amnesty said.

Fears remain for the safety of Thich Tri Luc.

Amnesty said the monk had already been granted refugee status by the UNHCR and it was feared he had been abducted and forcibly returned to Vietnam "where he is at risk of imprisonment and other serious rights violations."

The UNHCR office in Cambodia has refrained from commenting on the disappearances but the Amnesty statement came just ahead of the arrival of Robinson who is touring China, Cambodia and East Timor.

On Monday, Robinson urged China to embrace political reform, warning Beijing on her final official visit to the country that its human rights record remained a "deep concern".

She is scheduled to arrive in Cambodia late Tuesday.