Human rights

The General Department of Prisons has dismissed a report made by rights group Licadho which claimed there are violations of basic human rights in the Kingdom’s prisons. ...

The inter-ministry committee finalised its review of the draft bill on access to information on Friday and plans to submit it to the Council of Ministers in January before it is sent to the National Assembly. ...

The EU slammed the government for the dire human rights situation in the Southeast Asian country, giving it a one-month deadline to respond to a preliminary report on suspending trade preferences before deciding whether to go ahead with the plan. Brussels has warned Phnom Penh ...

Voice of America (VOA) has contacted Beehive Radio FM 105 and Radio FM 102 to discuss buying air-time to broadcast again, they said. VOA had recently received approval from the Minister of Information to go on air. ...

After the authorities on Friday and Saturday dismantled 49 of some 1,000 huts which had been built illegally on forest land in Siem Reap’s Phnom Kulen National Park, Banteay Srei district governor Khim Finan said on Sunday that a hunt was on for a group ...

A Ministry of Justice spokesman and Cambodia’s Permanent Mission to the UN Office at Geneva (Unog) have described demands for the treason charge against Kem Sokha to be dropped as tantamount to interference in the judiciary. Rhona Smith, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation ...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on Wednesday said the government was studying the EU Commission’s preliminary report on the human rights situation in the Kingdom that could lead to a suspension of access to its “Everything But Arms” (EBA) agreement.The EU launched ...

Rhona Smith, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia on Friday issued a statement expressing “grave concerns” over the “heightened political crackdown across Cambodia”. ...

The Union of Journalist Federations of Cambodia has established a working group tasked with promoting media freedom and evaluating content to foster quality journalism in the Kingdom. The UJFC in a statement on Tuesday said the working group is dubbed the Cambodian Committee for Media Assessment ...

The Union of Journalist Federations of Cambodia has urged local unions and media associations to collaborate and conduct a joint evaluation of the Kingdom’s media freedom. UJFC president Huy Vannak, who was re-elected to his position during its congress on Saturday, said all local unions and ...

The Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC) and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia are to hold a national-level workshop on Wednesday to ensure the implementation of recommendations by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR). ...

The Information Ministry yesterday announced that the draft Law on Access to Information is ready to be reviewed during an unspecified inter-ministerial meeting next month after it deemed that the draft’s contents are in line with international standards and the constitution. It also said the draft ...

The government has tasked the Cambodia Human Rights Committee with preparing a draft law on establishing the National Human Rights Unit in the Kingdom, a move in line with the Paris Principles adopted by the United Nations in 1993. A CHRC statement yesterday said that on ...

Cambodina Human Rights Committee (CHRC) spokesman Chin Malin on Wednesday rejected a report by a group of NGOs to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that the Kingdom is facing an “ongoing human rights crisis”. Malin said he also expected that the possible adoption of ...

The government yesterday ordered two NGOs to retract a critical report on the negative impacts of microloans after summoning their representatives for a meeting to defend their research. The report, published last month by Licadho and Sahmakum Teang Tnaut, featured seven case studies of abuse chosen ...

The Ministry of Information on Tuesday concluded the final revision by key ministries of the draft Law on Access to Information, without making any major amendments. It will be submitted to the Council of Ministers to be rubber-stamped by the end of September or beginning ...

The Ministry of Information and the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT) joined hands to strengthen the capacity of journalists, TV presenters and commentators to upgrade their skills in helping to address human trafficking. ...

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Ket Sophann yesterday said the government has submitted a report to the European Commission detailing efforts made to improve human rights in the Kingdom. The report, submitted on Tuesday, is in response to a 30-page note sent by the EC in March ...

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 ...

In an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review on July 31, Mogherini – who is also the Vice-President of the European Commission – was asked whether the EU’s possible sanctions would lead to reforms in Cambodia, to which she said the Kingdom “needed to respect ...