Human rights

As the 20th Asia Media Summit (AMS 2025) launched in Siem Reap on July 22, a resounding message emerged from media leaders across the Asia-Pacific region. ...

Cambodia will spotlight the growing challenges of fake news, malinformation and disinformation at this year’s 20th Asia Media Summit (AMS), which will take place in Siem Reap from July 21 to 24. Notably, Thailand will not participate in this year’s summit. ...

The investigating judge of the Phnom Penh Municipal placed eight suspects linked to online scams in temporary pre-trial detention on July 20, as part of the latest efforts to supress these crimes. The current campaign has seen almost 3,000 suspects arrested. ...

Raids on suspected online scam rings rolled out across Cambodia on Thursday night, but major known compounds were left untouched – even as hundreds were seen fleeing one of them and boarding buses, underscoring reports that operations had continued despite a supposed crackdown last year. ...

As of July 19, law enforcement authorities in the capital and provinces had raided 52 suspected online scam operations in Phnom Penh and 14 provinces. They have detained a total of 2,767 suspects, including 843 Chinese nationals. Of them, authorities have sent 11 suspects to ...

The Cambodian government has ordered a nationwide crackdown on online scams, citing rising threats from foreign criminal networks, as international pressure mounts over alleged state complicity and Thailand ramps up its own response amid a tense border dispute. ...

Former nine Boeung Tamok villagers have been sentenced to one month jail for protesting against a land acquisition, despite agreeing to accept the government’s land exchange policy. The verdict caused confusion and sadness among the community. ...

Just a day after Prime Minister Hun Manet ordered a renewed crackdown on online scam operations, the authorities have arrested nearly 750 suspects across three provinces and the capital.​ ...

The Preah Sihanouk Provincial Police Commissioner have reiterated their firm commitment to suppressing all crimes and maintaining security for tourists in the coastal province, particularly regarding online fraud. Last week, authorities detained over 40 Vietnamese nationals for cybercrime. ...

Cambodia’s courts remain politicized and opaque, reinforcing impunity for those who target activists and government critics, rights group CIVICUS said Wednesday. ...

More than 100 unionists, youth activists and opposition members gathered at a Phnom Penh gas station on Thursday where political analyst and rights activist Kem Ley was shot dead nine years ago while drinking his morning coffee. ...

Recently, several social media users have shared images of a boy holding his little brother, alongside a picture of their mother who had supposedly passed away, claiming to raise money for humanitarian efforts to help orphans. ...

The amendment to the Constitution to revoke the citizenship of Cambodians who collude with foreigners against the Kingdom’s national interests is imminent. Today, both the prime minister and the president of the Senate emphasised the necessity of this law, comparing it to similar laws already ...

Over 1,200 foreigners were denied entry to Cambodia in the first six months of 2025, while the number of national and international travellers entering and exiting through Cambodia’s international checkpoints reached 3.6 million, a nearly 15 per cent increase compared to the same period in ...

One year after five Mother Nature Cambodia activists were imprisoned, civil society groups and families are calling for their immediate release. To mark the anniversary of their detention, rights groups launched a five-day campaign demanding justice, highlighting how their continued detention harms environmental protection efforts ...

Two Korean-owned commercial banks in Cambodia have been accused of human rights abuses against vulnerable borrowers, where they allegedly used aggressive debt practices, according to a new report by a Korean NGO. ...

In recent months, the Ministry of Information has recorded a significant spike in fake news, particularly surrounding the Cambodian-Thai border issue. ...

Independent media outlets worldwide are facing an unprecedented crisis, as revealed in an in-depth report released Friday, which found that the 2025 U.S. aid cuts—removal of $150 million in annual support—triggered widespread closures, layoffs, and a surge in disinformation across dozens of countries. ...

Amnesty International accused the Cambodian government of deliberately ignoring widespread human rights abuses—including human trafficking, forced labor, child labor, slavery, and torture—carried out in more than 50 scamming compounds across the country. ...

Press freedom in Cambodia continues to deteriorate amid rising legal threats, shrinking funds, and tighter restrictions, a report by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) revealed, indicating a landscape of fear for media practitioners. ...

A series of alarming reports from Thai media outlets have painted Cambodia as a prime “scam hub”, but an insight documentary by Channel News Asia (CNA), featured Thailand’s pivotal role as a transit point for trafficked victims heading to scam centres across the region. ...

Despite five men pleading guilty in the US to being involved in a multi-million dollar scam and money laundering operation in Cambodia, according to the US Department of Justice, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Interior refutes claims that scam centres exist in the country, arguing that ...

A prominent human rights advocate Seng Theary, who is serving a six-year prison term, halted her 14-day hunger strike on the ninth day due to health concerns, as civil society groups called for her release. ...

Some 40 indigenous people celebrated World Environment Day, while calling on the authorities and stakeholders to address an unresolved compensation demand lasting nearly 10 years. ...