Social development
Civil society
Embassies Warned CNRP Wants Coup
The government has informed foreign embassies in the country that the opposition’s threatened demonstrations over the election results are intended to illegally overthrow the elected CPP-led government, a ministry spokesman said Wednesday. Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said that letters were ...
Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/embassies-warned-cnrp-wants-coup-41248/
NGOs, Sar Kheng talk investigation
Interior Minister Sar Kheng sat down with representatives from 10 civil society organisations on Friday for what Cambodian Center for Human Rights president Ou Virak described as a “very frank discussion” of how to handle the investigation into the multitude of alleged irregularities in last ...
The Phnom Penh Post
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngos-sar-kheng-talk-investigation
NEC Says Don’t Believe Reports, Wait for Election Results
By 8 p.m. on the day of the July 28 election, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith was declaring victory for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s CPP with 68 seats to the opposition’s 55. In the days that followed, preliminary results released by the National Election Committee (NEC) arrived ...
Kuch Naren and Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/nec-says-dont-believe-reports-wait-for-election-results-38702/
Election Monitors Submit Request to Review NEC Documents
Independent election monitors and civil society groups submitted a request to the National Election Committee (NEC) on Friday asking to review post-election voter rolls and Identity Certificates for Elections (ICE) forms in seven provinces in which reports of election irregularities were widespread on July 28. The ...
The Cambodia Daily
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/election-monitors-submit-request-to-review-nec-documents-38287/
Cambodia establishes joint committee to investigate election irregularities
The National Election Committee (NEC) decided today to establish a joint committee to investigate the alleged irregularities of Sunday’s election, an official said Saturday. “We decided to create a joint committee which will consists of representatives from the NEC, the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=NjVmZjU1NDMyYTR
US calls for review of election ‘irregularities’
The US Department of State on Monday called on Cambodian authorities to carry out a full investigation into “all credible reports” of election malfeasance, saying that it was “concerned” by various issues taking place both on, and leading up to, last Sunday’s vote. At a press ...
The Phnom Penh Post
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/us-calls-review-election-%E2%80%98irregularities%E2%80%99
RCAF Asked to Reassure Public After Coup Warnings
Civil society groups and the opposition on Wednesday called on the military to issue a statement repudiating claims made by the owner of a popular radio station that the military would remove the opposition from office if it wins Sunday’s national election. The calls came after ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/rcaf-asked-to-reassure-public-after-coup-warnings-36616/
Election gag: Calls made for overturn of media ban
Civil society organisations and local communities yesterday called on the government to cancel an order banning all media from broadcasting foreign election-related reports in the five days before the election. The joint statement, signed by 21 civil society groups, comes after the government on Saturday rescinded ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/election-gag-calls-made-overturn-media-ban
In Mondolkiri, Political Candidates Address Ethnic Minority Concerns
Human rights workers and other civil society groups on Wednesday urged the competing political parties for July’s election to address the ongoing land crises and illegal deforestation that are hurting indigenous populations. About 100 people from various ethnic minority groups from five provinces attended a forum ...
Cambodia eyes to become region's prominent gems, jewelry market
Cambodia has eyed to become a precious stone and jewelry hub in Southeast Asia region in the near future, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh said Thursday. Speaking at the opening of the 5th international gems and jewelry fair here, the minister said that with the fast ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2013-06/13/c_132452793.htm
Protesters Mix Petitions, Black Magic to Get Land
Sporting red bandanas and armed with the accoutrements of Khmer black magic, several hundred demonstrators representing embattled communities throughout the country held noisy protests outside several government offices yesterday, where they placed curses on corrupt officials and submitted written petitions demanding justice. Unlike previous protests that ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/protesters-mix-petitions-black-magic-to-get-land-30761/
Boeung Kak villagers, city officials talking titles
Local authorities met with Boeung Kak community members yesterday to register villagers left out of the oft-criticised resettlement scheme as a first step to providing them with titles and onsite housing. More than 10 officials including police, commune and village chief, as well as representatives of ...
Land Battle Headed to Court
Eight ethnic Tampuon villagers from Ratanakkiri’s Bakeo district will file a lawsuit at provincial court today alleging that more than 70 hectares of protected forest have been illegally cleared by a police official and six villagers from a neighbouring commune. Ting Kham Se, 52, of Laminh ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052765851/National/land-battle-headed-to-court.html
Abused women’s support services to expand
Helping women find better employment opportunities is key to ensuring they feel able to report rape and sexual abuse, government and civil society representatives said yesterday. Although Cambodian courts are prosecuting an increasing number of cases involving violence against women, economic concerns stop many from reporting ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052265772/National/abused-women-s-support-services-to-expand.html
Prosecutor Wants Change To Sonando Charges
In a bizarre twist at the Appeal Court hearing of radio station owner Man Sonando, the prosecution yesterday asked that judges drop the charge against Mr. Sonando of inciting antigovernment violence, but then asked the court to uphold another charge leading to an insurrection. Mr. ...
Sesan Dam Law Approved
Cambodia’s parliament on Friday approved a law providing financial guarantees for the developers of a planned hydropower dam on a Mekong River tributary, despite opposition from civil society groups seeking to delay the project. Villagers campaigning against the Lower Sesan 2 dam in northeastern Cambodia’s Stung ...
Civil society seeks to delay new dam on Sesan River
Civil society groups urged the National Assembly Thursday to delay the adoption of a bill on the construction of a $780 million dam on the Sesan River in northeast Cambodia. Chhit Sam Ath, executive director of NGO Forum, told a news conference that estimates of ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=OTNhN2RjN2M1ZTA
Boeng Kak Families Pitch a New Solution to Land Dispute
A group of Phnom Penh residents locked in a long-running land dispute with a real estate project owned by CPP Senator Lao Meng Khin are pitching City Hall a plan they hope will prevent them from being evicted and keep them close to home. “We ...
Land activists targeted, rights groups say
Prominent female land activists Tim Sakmony and Yorm Bopha, who have been locked in Prey Sar prison since their arrest in early September, will face court today on charges rights groups say have been fabricated to stop them and others from protesting. Hundreds of the women’s ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2012122660488/National/land-activists-targeted-rights-groups-say.html
UN,Cambodia jointly hold workshop on Sustainable Energy for All
The United Nations Development Program and Cambodian Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy on Thursday jointly held a workshop on Sustainable Energy for All ( SE4All) in order to discuss the future of sustainable energy in Cambodia. The workshop, opened by Suy Sem, Minister of Industry, ...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-12/13/c_132038593.htm
Rights Groups Say Work to Go On Despite Hun Sen's Remarks
Rights groups said they will continue to advocate in land grabbing and eviction cases, and villagers involved in such disputes said they will continue to turn to NGOs for help despite a warning by Prime Minister Hun Sen for civil society to stay clear of ...
We Will Not Be Moved
They’re known as the BK13 and they’re not prepared to let greedy developers take the very, very little they have. They’re 13 women – mothers, grandmothers – who live around what used to be Boeung Kak Lake – not far from the centre of Cambodia’s ...
Bilateral Talks, and Their Two Interpretations
Two polarizing narratives emerged after the Monday night discussion between U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Hun Sen, with the U.S. claiming it had been “tense,” while Cambodia insisted the talks were cordial. When it came to agenda, Mr. Obama put human rights, electoral and ...
Criticism Continues of Shortcomings in Asean Rights Declaration
Criticism continued yesterday of the Asean Human Rights Declaration, which was signed in Phnom Penh on Saturday after regional leaders decided to make last-minute revisions that were widely deemed as inadequate. U.N. experts ans civil society groups criticized the lack of consultation in drawing up the ...