Human rights
Civil and political rights
Analysts warn of violence if political status quo continues
Unless there are fundamental changes to the dynamics of politics in Cambodia—with the government suppressing dissent and the opposition often relying on racially charged attacks—disenchantment following next year’s election is likely to lead to violence, a think tank warned in a political analysis released on ...
Colin Meyn
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/analysts-warn-of-violence-if-political-status-quo-continues-124760/
PM calls for accurate reporting
Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on all media institutions in the country to disseminate accurate news and avoid immoral acts and commentary that could sway public opinion or that of the judiciary. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/34311/pm-calls-for-accurate-reporting/
Internet freedom ranking slips
Cambodia fell four spots in a 2016 ranking of internet freedom across the world released yesterday, with the organization behind it tying the drop to a spate of arrests for nothing more than Facebook posts and a much-maligned telecommunications law that critics say gives the ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/32011/internet-freedom-ranking-slips/
Post-Khmer Rouge PM dies
Pen Sovann, Cambodia’s first prime minister after the Vietnamese invasion in January 1979 that swept the Khmer Rouge from power and a serving opposition member of parliament, passed away at his home in Takeo province’s Duan Keo town on Saturday evening aged 80. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/31437/post-khmer-rouge-pm-dies/
Rights must improve: UN
The UN’s special rapporteur for human rights yesterday told Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn that Cambodia is the top ranking country in terms of freedom of expression in the Asean region, but must improve in other areas of human rights which have been raised by the ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/30914/rights-must-improve--un/
Envoy calls for prison reform
Rhona Smith, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, who is on a three-day trip to the Kingdom, yesterday voiced her concern about overcrowding in prisons caused by an increase in temporary detentions before trials. Ms. Smith, on her third visit to Cambodia, raised ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/30689/envoy-calls-for-prison-reform/
Government, UN at loggerheads
Cambodia’s ambassador to the United Nations pulled no punches in his response to a joint statement from almost 40 countries condemning the government’s recent actions and threats against peaceful protests, implying in his own letter that the opposition party was participating in “unlawful and anarchic ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/29841/government--un-at-loggerheads/
38 nations criticize PM, gov’t
In a joint statement released yesterday, 38 nations came together to express their concern about the political situation in Cambodia and demanded the government ensure a safe environment for human rights defenders and civil society groups. The statement, delivered by United States Ambassador to the UN ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/29776/38-nations-criticize-pm--gov---t/
Call for better handling of land disputes
Civil society organizations yesterday repeated calls for land disputes to be resolved quickly, peacefully and without authorities using police and the courts to put pressure on communities. Speaking at an event celebrating poor urban communities at the American Intercon School yesterday, more than 200 people, including ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/29659/call-for-better-handling-of-land-disputes/
CNRP talks mass protests after Sokha conviction
Opposition leaders on Sunday called on supporters to consider mass demonstrations after the conviction on Friday of CNRP Vice President Kem Sokha, while a government spokesman warned that those who attempted to heed the call to action would pay a “very high price.” ...
Khuon Narim and George Wright
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/second/cnrp-talks-mass-protests-sokha-conviction-117862/
UN Rights review ‘Not business as usual’
With rebuke raining down on the ruling CPP for its judicial assault, arrests and intimidation of the political opposition and other critics, Cambodia’s annual assessment by the U.N. Human Rights Council will be held next week in Geneva. ...
Janelle Retka
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/un-rights-review-not-business-usual-117790/
Australian ex-peace broker calls for sanctions
The international community should put “maximum pressure” on the Cambodian government to improve the country’s human rights situation, including possible sanctions on top officials, former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans said on Friday. ...
Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/australian-ex-peace-broker-calls-for-sanctions-116081/
Weekly check-in rejected by NGOs in Oddar Meanchey
An annual reporting requirement under the contentious Law on Associations and NGOs, or LANGO, is being intentionally misinterpreted by local police, according to a group of NGOs in Oddar Meanchey province. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/weekly-check-rejected-ngos-oddar-meanchey
UN rapporteur Rhona Smith defends approach
UN Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith has responded to growing concerns among the human rights community that she is not fulfilling her mandate. ...
Jack Davies
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/un-rapporteur-rhona-smith-defends-approach
Cambodia investigating coup declaration against PM
Cambodian police say they are investigating the declaration of a coup against the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, but have laughed off any suggestion of the threat being serious. ...
Julia Wallace
http://aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/cambodia-investigating-coup-declaration-against-pm/612788
US envoy urges government to release NGO staff
A visiting U.S. human rights envoy on Tuesday urged the government to release and drop charges against five current and former rights workers arrested in April amid what he called a deteriorating political situation in which the courts have disproportionately targeted state critics. ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/us-envoy-urges-government-to-release-ngo-staff-115653/
Reporters without borders ‘concerned’ by threats
International media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said in a statement released on Tuesday that it was concerned by what it characterized as a “surge” in threats against journalists and news organizations in Cambodia in recent weeks. ...
Julia wallace
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/reporters-without-borders-concerned-by-threats-115667/
Justice ministry praises UN rapporteur
Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin sang the praises of UN Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith on Saturday, following a report in the Post on Friday that she had lost the confidence of many in the human rights community. ...
CNRP to oppose lifting of members’ immunity
The opposition plans to attend the National Assembly’s Standing Committee meeting today to debate the lifting of immunity for two of its lawmakers. ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp-oppose-lifting-members-immunity
UN rapporteur not ‘fulfilling mandate’, say rights veterans
Concerns are mounting among the human rights community, particularly in the wake of political analyst Kem Ley’s murder, that UN Special Rapporteur to Cambodia Rhona Smith is failing to fulfil her mandate in a time of what one observer termed “fear and confusion”. ...
Jack Davies
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/un-rapporteur-not-fulfilling-mandate-say-rights-veterans
Officials on run after journalist reports threats, illegal timber
A reporter in Mondulkiri province who climbed a mango tree to look into a police official’s compound for a rumored stash of illegal timber over the weekend says he was later detained and threatened with a beating. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/officials-on-run-after-journalist-reports-threats-illegal-timber-115055/
Ninth ‘black Monday’ sees clashes, threats
Anti-government protests marking the ninth “Black Monday” culminated in violent clashes between activists and security guards in Phnom Penh on Monday. ...
Ben Sokhean and George Wright
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ninth-black-monday-sees-clashes-threats-115003/
Koh Kong sand-dredging opponents on trial over alleged threats
After more than 10 months in pretrial detention, a trio of activists from environmental group Mother Nature yesterday faced court for allegedly threatening to destroy dredging equipment during a protest against sand mining in Koh Kong province last year. ...
Phak Seangly and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/koh-kong-sand-dredging-opponents-trial-over-alleged-threats
Local human rights forum ‘shut down’ in Preah Vihear
The organizers of a June 17 human rights training workshop in Preah Vihear say it was shut down by police, though local authorities yesterday insisted officers only went to ask that it be postponed for pragmatic concerns. ...
Bun Sengkong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/local-human-rights-forum-shut-down-preah-vihear