Human rights

Two human rights activists, who were summoned to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday over allegations that they incited an attack on two Daun Penh district security guards in October, asked the court to have the real perpetrators arrested. ...

A number of young people were detained in 2016 for making social media posts deemed to be inciting violence. The opposition has said freedom of expression among its youth wing is limited compared to more seasoned activists. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered authorities to arrest any politicians pledging to clear the debts of voters with micro-finance institutions (MFIs) and banks if their party wins the elections. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued a warrant yesterday summoning human rights activists Am Sam Ath and Chan Puthisak to court today on charges that they incited an attack on two Daun Penh district security guards during a World Habitat Day protest on October 10. ...

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 ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said he would consider releasing four human rights officers and an election official – who have been detained since April – after the verdicts in their cases, but he said two members of the opposition will receive no such consideration. ...

While Cambodia in theory offers full citizenship to members of its Khmer Krom minority, in practise, many members of the community remain in a legal shadowland, unable to access a wide range of rights, a new report released yesterday shows. ...

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. ...

Almost 200 people protested yesterday in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet City, demanding the release of Mang Puthy, president of the Cambodia Informal Economy Reinforced Association (CIERA), who says he was arrested after officials framed him for attempted murder. ...

About 100 people representing 162 families from Koh Kong province came to Phnom Penh yesterday to resubmit a petition to the National Assembly and some state institutions asking for intervention in a decade-old land dispute with three sugar companies. Phav Nherng, a representative of the families ...

The government has patched up a quarrel with the United Nations’ human rights wing less than two weeks before the organization would have been forced out of Cambodia. But the two-year agreement came with a reminder of Cambodia’s sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in national ...

With 10 days remaining until a government-imposed deadline for the U.N.’s human rights office to either sign a new agreement to operate in the country or close down, there is no sign that the two sides have come any closer to reaching a deal. ...

An NGO is taking aim at development companies in a new report detailing the troubling tactics of construction companies forcibly evicting residents of Phnom Penh. The study, released yesterday, showed that among 77 sites since 2011 throughout Phnom Penh where residents were evicted so their building ...

In recent years, communities displaced by sugar plantations have attempted to reclaim their land by targeting the plantations’ investors and buyers overseas, but a study published last week in the peer-reviewed Journal of Civil Society suggests such efforts may disappoint. ...

Civil society organizations, unions and citizens celebrated Human Rights Day in Phnom Penh on the weekend, but were not permitted to march through the streets and many opted to hold their celebrations in Freedom Park. On Saturday, Yang Kim Eng, the chairman of the Cambodian Human ...

Boeung Kak land activists have called on the government to release one of their most prominent representatives, Tep Vanny, who was charged with intentional violence related to a protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house in 2013, a case reactivated after she was arrested during ...

Civil society organizations and youth groups have called for young people to be more involved in human rights and the environment. They also demanded greater protection for young activists who have suffered threats, violence and court action. The call was made in a youth forum on young ...

More than 50 people representing 253 families from Preah Vihear province’s Choam Ksan district resubmitted a petition to the Interior Ministry yesterday, asking authorities to expedite a resolution of their land dispute. ...

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 ...

The United Nations is standing behind Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) country representative Wan-Hea Lee after a letter signed by Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon accused her of failing to respect Cambodia’s sovereignty.​ ...

More than 100 former Boeung Kak and Borei Keila residents submitted petitions to the premier and various ministries in Phnom Penh yesterday, asking for intervention in their respective land disputes and making various other requests. ...

Companies should embrace the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in their operations and encourage a positive impact through their activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public, said an NGO official yesterday. “CSR-focused businesses would proactively promote public ...

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. ...

After her third UN fact-finding mission to Cambodia, special rapporteur Rhona Smith issued a searing review of the human rights situation in the country, stating that the days of the government evoking the troubles of the past century as an excuse for its present shortcomings ...