Civil and political rights
Freedom of expression
Kingdom, Japan hold rights dialogue
CHRC President Keo Remy said after the meeting that he and the Japanese team – led by Masato Otaka, Ambassador in charge of UN Affairs and Deputy Assistant Minister of the Foreign Policy Bureau at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – discussed human rights issues ...
Niem Chheng
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdom-japan-hold-rights-dialogue
Seven arrested for commemorating Kem Ley's assassination
A middle-aged man was arrested and sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court Wednesday while three other supporters of slain political analyst Kem Ley were also arrested as they were attempting to sell t-shirts with Kem Ley’s portrait and commemorating his assassination’s third anniversary. According to ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/seven-arrested-for-commemorating-kem-ley-assassination/4994656.html
UN concerned over political crackdown
UN human rights experts have expressed concern about what they call an escalating trend of silencing political opinion, saying the government has used criminal law to deny former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) members’ the rights to expression and to hold gatherings. However, senior government ...
Khorn Savi
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-politics/un-concerned-over-political-crackdown
NGOs call for speedy passage of information freedom law
A group of 19 non-governmental organisations and associations have urged the Kingdom’s legislative and executive bodies to expedite the passage of a draft law on freedom of information, which the group said had been delayed for years. ...
Long Kimmarita
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngos-call-speedy-passage-information-freedom-law
PM: Fight against fake news
Prime Minister Hun Sen raised cyber-security and access to information in his address to nearly 5,000 participants at the correspondents’ dinner held on Friday in Phnom Penh. In his speech, Hun Sen called on officials and members of the press to wage a fight against ...
Niem Chheng
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-fight-against-fake-news
PM calls for end to ‘fake news’
Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on local and international journalists to join hands in tackling fake news, which he said could cause social turmoil in the Kingdom and beyond. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-calls-end-fake-news
CPP: ‘Behave or Sokha suffers’
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) spokesman warned Kem Monovithya on Thursday that her attempt to damage “national reputation and prestige” would lead to her father, Kem Sokha, receiving even harsher punishment. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cpp-behave-or-sokha-suffers
International law perspective on protection of human rights in Cambodia
History was created by the European Parliament on September 13. For the time since the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission known as UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia), the Parliament passed a 13-point resolution aimed at according tougher actions against Cambodia and its rulers similar ...
Awathey Ek
http://www.atimes.com/international-law-perspective-on-protection-of-human-rights-in-cambodia/
Civil Society Groups in Cambodia Suppressed: Report
Local and international civil society groups operating in Cambodia face government-imposed restrictions on their operations and have been significantly hindered in their work in the lead up to Sunday’s general election, according to a recent report by a U.S.-based think tank. ...
Channy Chheng
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/civil-society-groups-in-cambodia-suppressed-report/4495078.html
Disappointed in election preparations in Cambodia, house committee to meet on possible sanctions
The lawmakers were set to discuss the Cambodia Democracy Act and an amendment that could see Phnom Penh handed further sanctions over its crackdown on the opposition, civil society, and independent media. ...
Sok Khemara
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/us-congress-to-hold-final-hearing-on-possible-cambodia-sanctions/4398333.html
Rights groups, former opposition concerned by sale of independent newspaper to investor linked to PM
Human rights groups and former opposition officials have expressed concerns over the impact of the recent sale of the Phnom Penh Post newspaper to a Malaysian investor with historical ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...
At Cambodia’s last independent newspaper, top editor fired, foreign journalists quit
All but a handful of foreign journalists on staff at The Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia’s last remaining independent daily newspaper, resigned on Wednesday. Citing differences over the meaning of “editorial independence,” they quit within days after new owners fired its editor-in-chief who refused to remove a published ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.voanews.com/a/cambodia-last-independent-newspaper-editor-fired-reporters-quit/4387613.html
Newspaper staff protest firing of editor as new owners cull dissenting voices
Kay Kimsong was fired on Monday after representatives of the new owner ordered senior staff to remove an article about the sale from its website, claiming factual inaccuracies. ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/newspaper-staff-protest-firing-of-editor-as-new-owners-cull-dissenting-voices/4384807.html
Phnom Penh Post sold to Malaysian investor
Saturday’s announcement by Post Media CEO Bill Clough identified the buyer of the English-language Phnom Penh Post as Sivakumar G., who was described as having an experienced journalist’s background and representing a strong investment group from Malaysia. No price was given. ...
Associated Press
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/phnom-penh-post-sold-malaysian-investor/4382678.html
As Cambodia marks press freedom day, journalists fear increasing restrictions following crackdown
As the world celebrated Press Freedom Day on Thursday, the mood among Cambodian journalists was subdued following a months-long crackdown on dissent in the media. The theme of this year’s event was “Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and The Rule of Law”, and special attention ...
UN releases memos on concerns
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Monday published a batch of communications held with the Cambodian government since June last year, showing that the international body has voiced its concern about a range of issues from the arrest of ...
Leonie Kijewski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/un-releases-memos-concerns
Cambodian media under threat: report
Media outlets in Cambodia have came under increasing threat over the past year, according to a new report by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), though the Ministry of Information, responding to a similar recent report, has insisted freedom of expression and the press is ...
Leonie Kijewski and Rinith Taing
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodian-media-under-threat-report
Press freedom ‘collapsed’ in 2017, journalist survey says
The “façade of media freedom” in the Kingdom “collapsed” last year, with journalists reporting a sharp drop in their hopes for independent press, according to the results of a new survey launched yesterday. The Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) study surveyed 75 journalists from ...
Rinith Taing
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/press-freedom-collapsed-2017-journalist-survey-says
Government unit publishes 132-page treatise on threat of ‘colour revolution’
The Council of Ministers released a no-holds-barred book about its efforts to root out a purported foreign-backed “colour revolution” in Cambodia yesterday, lashing out at superpowers like the United States for supposedly trying to cause “immeasurable catastrophe” in the country. ...
Mech Dara and Daphne Chen
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-politics/government-unit-publishes-132-page-treatise-threat-colour-revolution
Cambodia PM berates media at correspondents' dinner
Cambodia’s long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen berated journalists on Sunday at a dinner his government hosted for correspondents and accused some of spreading fabricated stories. ...
Prak Chan Thul
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cambodia-media/cambodia-pm-berates-media-at-correspondents-dinner-idUSKBN1FA0ZB
World Democracy in Crisis, New Freedom House Report Says
The report, “Freedom in the World 2018”, released on January 16, found that 2017 was the 12th consecutive year of decline in freedom globally, with 71 of the 195 countries included in the report suffering declines, including Cambodia. ...
Freedom in the World
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/world-democracy-in-crisis-new-freedom-house-report-says/4210004.html
Analyst Kim Sok's bail request denied at Supreme Court
Outspoken government critic Kim Sok was rejected bail at the Supreme Court this morning, with the prosecutor arguing that to grant Sok early release from an 18-month prison sentence would cause “chaos” in society. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/analyst-kim-soks-bail-request-denied-supreme-court
Hun Sen lashes out at journos, analysts over comments on reform record
The prime minister lashed out at journalists and analysts today for questioning the current government’s reform record, a seeming reference to a Post article from December about a speech in which he touted his administration’s progress. ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hun-sen-lashes-out-journos-analysts-over-comments-reform-record
Former deputy prime minister calls for protests
Former Funcinpec Deputy Prime Minister Lu Lay Sreng could be facing a new court case after calling for peaceful protests against the government in a video posted to Facebook yesterday, issuing comments similar to ones that recently saw former opposition leader Sam Rainsy slapped with ...
Niem Chheng and Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-politics/former-deputy-prime-minister-calls-protests