Human rights

Cambodian sex workers are often thought of as victims of trafficking. And that may be true for some. For others, however, work in the country’s entertainment sectors offers financial security, and sex work becomes a choice. ...

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that an arrest warrant issued against Cambodia’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy was a worrisome development and called for dialogue. He called for dialogue and encouraged all political players to “refrain from violence, intimidation and harassment.” ...

For the second time in three weeks the United Nations has expressed concern over increasing tensions between Cambodia’s Government and opposition, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today calling the arrest warrant issued against opposition leader Sam Rainsy “worrisome.” ...

The victory of Aung San Suu Kyi’s movement in Burma after years of military rule and repression is already starting to unnerve autocrats nearby. Last week, Sam Rainsy, an opposition leader in Cambodia, declared that the democrats’ “resounding” victory “has created panic among the last ...

Borei Keila residents reacted with outrage yesterday when City Hall announced only 34 of 154 displaced families will get on-site housing in the community, following a reassessment of the land dispute victims’ claims. ...

In the market for lower to middle income housing, the line between ‘public’ and ‘affordable’ has been blurred.Post Property AnalysisLocal property developer, WorldBridge Land, Co. Ltd., and Singapore-based construction company, Strait Construction Group Pte, Ltd, last week announced a $100 million Memorandum of Understanding on ...

The Koh Kong Provincial Court yesterday questioned 17 villagers locked in a land dispute with the Chinese-owned Union Development Group (UDG) over a pair of competing lawsuits filed in the wake of a clash between locals and company security guards in January. ...

A man in Kampong Speu’s Oral district was briefly placed under house arrest yesterday, following his public criticism of the government and prime minister at a town hall meeting.Ung Ny, Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) Oral district executive director, said that 45-year-old Hay Hoeun, a ...

The United Nations human rights office expressed concern today over a worsening climate for opposition politicians and activists in Cambodia, and stressed that the right to peaceful assembly and to freedom of expression belongs to all. ...

Cambodia has been named among states accused of using counter-terrorism measures to clamp down on human rights and civil society in a report released this week by the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism.Speaking in New York on Monday, the British rapporteur ...

Defense Minister Tea Banh says Cambodia’s soldiers should have the right to support demonstrations.Speaking at the airport as he waited for Prime Minister Hun Sen to arrive from an official visit to France, Tea Banh said his troops have a right to “express their opinion.” ...

Following the eviction earlier this month of about 1,000 mostly Vietnamese families living in floating homes in Kompong Chhnang City, provincial authorities now have plans to evict a further 1,500 mostly Cambodian families living further south on the river, officials said Sunday. ...

The United Nations’ human rights agency in Geneva has urged Cambodia to abide by its obligations not to forcibly return 13 Montagnard refugees to Vietnam and to register the claims of hundreds more asylum seekers living in limbo in Phnom Penh. ...

Villagers from the former Boeung Kak lake, Borei Keila and Thma Kul communities are to hold a month-long protest in Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park to pressure City Hall to resolve a long running land dispute. ...

A leading Cambodian rights worker has been summoned to appear at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, in what colleagues say is an effort to intimidate rights advocates. ...

A prominent human rights advocate says Cambodia continues to operate in a repressive environment, with a government that fails to respect local and international standards and laws. ...

Phnom Penh’s public housing policy, aimed to provide affordable housing for the middle income class and low income class, is expected to boost the construction sector in Cambodia as an increased population and rapid urbanisation is expected to create a demand of more than a ...

More than 800 indigenous people in Mondulkiri province are seeking to oust the provincial governor, who is accused of violating the rights of the ethnic minority. ...

Several hundred demonstrators yesterday marked World Habitat Day by gathering at the National Assembly to submit a petition calling on the government to halt forced evictions and guarantee housing rights. ...

Around 1,500 protesters marked World Habitat Day on Monday by marching through Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh and calling on the government to put a stop to forced evictions in the Southeast Asian nation. ...

Rhona Smith, the U.N.’s new special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, on Tuesday addressed the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva for the first time, telling the body that she planned to focus on marginalized people in the country. ...

The government has announced plans to upgrade a sub-decree on torture prevention to the status of royal decree in order to comply with its international obligations, but observers said yesterday that the proposed changes will do little to bolster the body’s impartiality.The decision was confirmed ...

A Cambodian University student, who was arrested by provincial police in Siem Reap after he threatened to kill Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng on social media, has confessed to the plot to throw a grenade at the government official during the school’s graduation ceremony, the ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy over the weekend again raised the prospect that a future CNRP government may oversee forced redistributions of land from the rich to the poor in order to correct cases of land-grabbing under Prime Minister Hun Sen’s reign.Mr. Hun Sen last week ...