Human rights

KAMPONG SPEU PROVINCE— Three years ago, Pao had a farm and a charcoal stove near a stream in a community called Omlaing in western Cambodia. The farm gave her rice, charcoal sales gave her extra income and the nearby forest provided edible and medicinal plants. Pao ...

By the time London Fashion Week comes to a close, 58 high-end designers will have shown their collections. Rail-thin models will have walked the runways. Debate will have raged over size zero. In Cambodia, meanwhile, garment workers stitching clothes that supply the UK high street are ...

Victims of the violent clashes that broke out between security forces and stone-throwing youths in Phnom Penh on Sunday night recounted the event Monday, with some saying they sustained injuries while battling against riot police and others saying they were simply unfortunate commuters trapped in ...

The intervention of the United Nations in two violent clashes between police and protesters on Sunday was as much of a surprise to the opposition party as to bewildered onlookers, a party spokesman said. Officers from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights ...

A wealthy tycoon who stands accused of savagely abusing two teenage maids for nearly a decade has been anointed with the sought-after honourific of oknha. In a royal decree dated July 26 and obtained yesterday, Veng Lyphytech – who, along with his wife, Ly Pov, faces ...

Violent clashes have erupted in Cambodia, leaving a protester dead and several wounded as thousands gathered to challenge strongman premier Hun Sen’s disputed election win. Security forces fired smoke grenades, tear gas and water cannon at rock-throwing opposition supporters in Phnom Penh in an escalation of ...

Anonymous Cambodia, a group of local computer hackers, has claimed responsibility for disrupting at least three government websites since Saturday and vowed additional hacking attacks to protest against July’s “unfair” election, according to the group’s Facebook page and Twitter account. Since Saturday, the hackers have attacked ...

The opposition CNRP said Thursday it is forging ahead with plans to hold a three-day demonstration, which the party has dubbed a “camp-in,” despite a letter from the Ministry of Interior that says the protests can only go on for one day. The Interior Ministry letter, ...

Civil society groups yesterday hit back at the government after a Ministry of Interior statement released on Wednesday warned NGOs that they would be breaking ministry protocols on political neutrality by “directly or indirectly” supporting an unnamed political party or its protests. The Cambodia National Rescue ...

Cambodia’s opposition said on Thursday that it had filed a lawsuit against the kingdom’s poll authorities over strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen’s disputed election win. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) accused three top National Election Committee officials and their accomplices of faking voter names on ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Wednesday released a statement warning civil society groups that they would be in breach of their operating contracts should they offer support, directly or indirectly, to the opposition CNRP at its planned three-day demonstration beginning Sunday. The warning comes a day ...

Diminishing populations of hoofed animals in Southeast Asia have hit Cambodia hard, with numbers of one of the Kingdom’s indigenous species dropping by 90 per cent. The current banteng census shows an 80 per cent drop in the world’s banteng population and a 90 per ...

More than 50 supporters of jailed anti-eviction activist Yorm Bopha marched through central Phnom Penh on Tuesday to demand her speedy retrial, acquittal and release, visiting the Supreme Court, the Royal Palace and the European Union and World Bank offices. Ms. Bopha has consistently professed ...

The number of women serving as lawmakers in the next mandate has dropped from last term, even after parties made final adjustments that saw more women moved up into key positions. According to official results released by the National Election Committee on Sunday, women will hold ...

A Thai-owned sugar company has threatened legal action against a newspaper that ran a story and video depicting the use of child labour at its Koh Kong province plantation, but advocates on the ground there say the children are indeed used as employees. The Bangkok Post yesterday reported ...

Despite being one of the earliest proponents of the U.N.-sponsored Convention on Cluster Munitions, Cambodia was still not ready to sign on, an official said on the eve of the fourth annual meeting of state parties to the treaty in Zambia. Heng Ratana, director-general of the ...

One year ago today, Hang Serei Odom, a journalist in Ratanakkiri province, received a fateful phone call. After telling his wife he was going to meet a military police officer, he bid her goodnight. He left his house in Banlung City at about 7 p.m. ...

The following is the full text of an Executive Summary of the White Paper on the 2013 General Election for the National Assembly issued by the National Election Committee on Thursday: On 28 July 2013, the general election for the 5th mandate of Cambodia’s National Assembly ...

Phnom Penh Municipal Hall yesterday defended the actions of police and security guards who blocked protesters as they tried to leave the capital’s Boeung Kak area before they stopped and searched an NGO’s vehicle. Dozens of Daun Penh district police, security guards and military police blockaded ...

Authorities in Cambodia have imposed unusual travel restrictions in a southeastern province ahead of a planned opposition mass protest against election results this weekend, residents and non-governmental groups said Tuesday, criticizing the move as a violation of freedom of movement. Some of them suspect that the ...

Cambodian and international rights groups have renewed their calls for the release of Phnom Penh housing rights campaigner campaigner Yorm Bopha one year after her arrest, urging the public and national leaders not to forget her during the country’s current political deadlock. Global watchdog Amnesty International ...

Far stricter monitoring of the recruitment and employment of Cambodians and other migrant labourers is needed to ensure the future of the Thai fishing industry, a new study by the International Labour Organization warns. Two and a half per cent of the 241 Cambodians interviewed ...

Citing a lack of public confidence in the official post-election irregularity resolution process – namely, the Constitutional Council’s opening of vote packages – a coalition of leading civil society groups yesterday appealed to the two main political parties to swiftly come back to the negotiating ...

Calls for big-name apparel brands to take more responsibility for working conditions in Cambodian garment factories are growing louder as representatives of retail companies ranging from H&M to Wal-Mart arrive in Phnom Penh for a semi-annual buyers’ forum this week. Since it began three years ...