Human rights

A proposed access-to-information law more than a decade in the making was unveiled to the public yesterday, with just one item left to finalise – punishments for officials who refuse to disclose public information. ...

The head of a Khmer Krom advocacy association yesterday issued a statement urging his followers not to join ex-opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s newly minted Cambodia National Rescue Movement, claiming it will provoke violence. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said on his Facebook page that the number of people celebrating Chinese New Year in Cambodia is increasing.Mr Hun Sen said Cambodia now celebrates three New Year celebrations annually, including New Year’s Eve, and the Chinese and Khmer New Year. ...

The Constitutional Council is planning to meet later this week to discuss amendments to the Constitution, including changes to an article guaranteeing the right for citizens to form organisations and political parties. The document, a letter of invitation to local media, outlines an agenda for the ...

A group of US Senators has sent a letter to Nikki Haley, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, urging her to work with other members of the UN Human Rights Council to pass a resolution on Cambodia’s political situation.​ ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen met with members of the press yesterday, not shying away from classifying some journalists and media outlets as extortionists and tax evaders, while applauding United States President Donald Trump’s efforts to go after so-called fake news.​ ...

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. ...

Almost 20 Borei Keila families have decided to accept compensation in one of the country’s most prominent and longstanding land disputes.​ ...

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. ...

Borei Keila residents have continued to reject compensation in exchange for leaving their land, claiming the latest offer was inadequate. Two of the remaining 11 families met with the 7 Makara district governor in Phnom Penh yesterday to discuss compensation. ...

Foreign-based members of Cambodia’s dissolved opposition party have launched a movement to demand the release of its detained leader and to call for free and fair elections and possibly protests. ...

Authorities are to force about 40 families in Koh Kong province to relocate from their homes in Botum Sakor National Park. The villagers asked authorities to provide them with social land concessions, because they have no other place to live. ...

Arriving in Phnom Penh in the midst of a political crackdown on dissent, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang showed no qualms about signing 19 major development deals yesterday with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, making it clear that Chinese aid to the Kingdom remains unaffected by ...

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. ...

Kem Monovithya, the daughter of jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha and a CNRP official, met with United States officials yesterday to discuss the possibility of further sanctions on the Cambodian government if measures taken in an ongoing political crackdown are not reversed. ...

Koh Kong provincial authorities on Monday ordered 40 families living in Botum Sakor district to vacate their land and homes after it was determined they were illegally occupying a national park.​ On Friday, authorities went to inspect Botum Sakor National Park and found 40 families ...

The Information Ministry will use a new form of media pass for journalists working in Cambodia by the end of January in order to easily manage and collect data from journalists. ...

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. ...

Preah Sihanouk province authorities yesterday demolished part of one home and its fence, which had encroached on a road they are trying to widen in the province’s Prey Nop district. ...

A deadline for a group of Borei Keila residents to accept compensation or leave their homes with nothing passed on Friday, with none of the residents agreeing to move to a resettlement site, and authorities saying they have no right to remain, but with no ...

The National Election Committee (NEC) said only four political parties had registered to contest the February Senate elections, from which the country’s main opposition, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, will be excluded following its widely condemned dissolution by the Supreme Court in November. ...

Villagers in one of Phnom Penh’s fiercest land disputes said yesterday they are determined to stay in Borei Keila despite today’s deadline to either accept compensation or leave with nothing. ...

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 ...

“THE logical approach now”, reckons Naly Pilorge of LICADHO, a Cambodian human-rights watchdog, “would be to continue attacking.” She is talking about a crackdown on all forms of political dissent launched in August by Hun Sen, who has been prime minister for 32 years and ...