Civil and political rights

Several government institutions are working together to improve the effectiveness of the media, as they understand that access to information is vital to the well-being of the population.​ ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen urged the Information Ministry to finalize the long-delayed Law on Access to Information during a Saturday press gala in Phnom Penh. He claimed the draft law would be adopted in the next two years after the July national elections.  ...

The draft Law on Access to Information could possibly be passed in 2024 or 2025, according to Prime Minister Hun Sen. The drafting of the law has been underway for several years, with inputs from different stakeholders including NGOs and UNESCO who have been pushing for ...

The Ministry of Information, in response to a number of civil society organisations, said it has been working to accelerate the drafting of the Freedom of Information Act. The ministry said it is optimistic that the law will be promulgated in 2023. ...

A controversial video, which features a “provocative” song and graphic footage of a violent clash between protesting garment workers and authorities nine years back, has been removed from the official websites and social media pages of four civil society organisations (CSOs). ...

Minor party leaders say voting irregularities they flagged after last year’s commune election have not been addressed by the National Election Committee, which has ignored most of their suggestions for electoral reform. ...

The Appeal Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling finding  Candlelight Party vice president, Son Chhay, guilty of defamation against the Cambodian People’s Party and ordered him to pay  4 billion riel ($1 million) in damages — an increase by a third of what ...

Six Southeast Asian journalist organizations from five countries formed a regional partnership to combat increasing repression and deteriorating press freedom at a conference in Phnom Penh on Monday.  ...

Young indigenous women and people working to support the development of indigenous women found that young indigenous women live in a situation where information is lacking due to social perspective and public service. ...

Cambodia’s levels of freedom of expression, press and access to information remain low, and the work environment for journalists and human rights defenders is “increasingly dangerous,” the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said in a report released Thursday. ...

The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) reaffirmed its commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. ...

Media literacy refers to the ability to think objectively about the information a person comes into contact with through general media and, increasingly, social media. It is a common goal of the government and civil society organisations to bring this knowledge to the Cambodian people, ...

The Ministry of Information has disputed a joint statement on impunity for crimes against journalists issued by the Coalition of Cambodian Journalists (CamboJA), Cambodian Centre for Independent Media (CCIM) and 32 other civil society organisations (CSOs). ...

A new website dedicated to serving readers’ cravings for the essential progress of Cambodia’s digital economy has been officially launched by Meta (formerly Facebook) and Open Development Cambodia (ODC). ...

A Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) official said at least 2,000 people from Candlelight (CP), currently the country’s second-largest party, have joined the ruling CPP, just days after the latter was warned of supposed links to former opposition leader Sam Rainsy. ...

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) is always committed to improving the respect of press freedom and freedom of expression as enshrined in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia. ...

The pandemic has thrown additional hurdles to the media landscape as there is a quiet resignation of consuming news in the region, the head of a research centre said on Thursday, claiming people find news troublesome, problematic, and biased. ...

Cambodian experts, academia, government, civil society, private sector and youth discussed how AI and e-Government interact with the right to Access Information, in a recent seminar organised by UNECO and the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (CADT). ...

UNESCO and Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (CADT) are slated to hold talks on Access to Information 2022 on Friday, when panelists will discuss Artificial Intelligence (AI) and e-Governance, which they say can play an important role in improving access to information in the digital ...

A son of casino firm NagaCorp’s billionaire senior CEO has been accused by unionists of snatching and throwing to the ground a phone belonging to a striking employee of the company’s NagaWorld casino, with video also showing the identified executive lobbing a traffic cone at ...

Cambodia on Friday commemorated International Day of Universal Access to Information with a conference that gathered over 150 representatives from the government, civil society, indigenous communities, youth groups, organisations of persons with disabilities and political parties. ...

Civil society organizations and indigenous peoples’ representatives call on the government to disclose information to the public and include additional elements in the “Right to Information Law” to reduce corruption while they still face some challenges in obtaining sensitive information from government. ...

Press freedom groups and foreign donors on Friday discussed the potential benefits and goals of establishing a national press council, including developing a standardized code of ethics for journalists nationwide and promoting public trust and self-regulation in the industry. ...

The August report from Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) was released yesterday and revealed that social media rights for women in six poor communities in Phnom Penh were restricted by threats and intimidation from local authorities after they shared information on the challenges they face in ...