National government

A deputy district military police chief in Kampong Thom’s Santuk district is under scrutiny for allegedly clearing up to seven hectares of community forest land for personal gain, and district officials are investigating the case with the aim of presenting it at the provincial court ...

The justice minister yesterday defended three long-awaited laws on judicial reform which were approved by the Council of Ministers last week in a move slammed by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) as lacking transparency. Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana said that the “three ...

Ang Mealatey, the former president of Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court, was appointed president of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday, ending the eight-year tenure of Chiv Keng. Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana and Supreme Court President Dith Munty presided over the ceremony of around 100 ...

Small and medium-size enterprises (SME) have been urged by the Cambodian government to employ more environmentally friendly practices at a green industry workshop in Phnom Penh yesterday. Cham Prasidh, minister for the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts, said SMEs and handicraft producers’ reliance on fossil fuels ...

The vast majority of the country’s 600,000-strong garment factory workforce appeared to be back on the job Monday despite a call from unions to continue a stay-at-home strike until Tuesday. Eight unions had spent weeks urging workers to stay home after the Khmer New Year from ...

The U.N.’s human rights office in Cambodia expressed concern Monday that 22 detained protesters may not be allowed to attend their trials on Friday, while the government insisted that the prisoners will be transported to the court. Two minors were arrested for intentional violence for their ...

A team of disabled security guards hired to protect the embattled SL Garment Factory in Phnom Penh is seeking the formalization of their employment and an end to what they claim is the factory’s exploitation of their impairments. In November—at the height of an occasionally violent, ...

Military police and local forestry officials in Stung Treng province confiscated more than 90 pieces of luxury-grade Thnong wood from a private farm on Sunday, but only after the suspected owner escaped, according to officials. Provincial court prosecutor Chroeng Khmao said a joint force of military ...

Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority is scheduled to hold this week its annual general meeting of shareholders, the second since its shares were listed two years ago. The meeting is due to take place at the authority’s headquarters in Daun Penh district on Thursday morning. ...

A police officer who has been implicated in a fatal hit-and-run has been asked by local police in Kandal province to come to their office and negotiate a settlement for the victims’ families, police said Sunday. Ek Sovannara—the son of Ek Krit, a former Kandal provincial ...

Sao Sothy’s home is small and the furniture is sparse. There are no tables or chairs. In one room, there is a small bed, but her family of four sleeps on mats in the living room. Hanging on the otherwise bare walls is Ms. Sothy’s ...

At least eight bus drivers from Phnom Penh Sorya Transportation company were fired last week for leading a strike before Khmer New Year to demand higher wages, employees and union representatives said Sunday. About 80 drivers went on strike on April 3 demanding a $60 increase ...

About half of the University of Health Science’s class of 2014 risks not graduating this year, having refused to register for a new compulsory final exam. A 2007 sub-decree states that a national-level examination for medical students would be implemented from that academic year onwards. But ...

The number of domestic and foreign tourists visiting historical sites and the Kingdom’s coastal areas increased sharply during this year’s three-day Khmer New Year, according to provincial tourism departments. Data from Siem Reap’s tourism department show 258,000 tourists visited the city of ancient temples, an increase ...

Nearly 80 judges and prosecutors will be transferred to new jurisdictions today in a move that the Justice Ministry maintained would curb corruption, despite more sceptical assessments yesterday from legal observers and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party. According to Sam Prachea Manith, chief of cabinet ...

The Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) released a statement on Friday expressing concern over three recent cases of reporters facing harassment while attempting to document illegal logging in Preah Vihear, Pursat and Kompong Cham provinces. Sorn Mongkul, a reporter for Kampuchea Thmey newspaper based in Preah ...

More than 2,000 workers at three factories in Svay Rieng’s Bavet City went on strike Saturday, claiming their bosses owed them money. About 500 workers at the You Li factory, which makes baby clothes, went on strike Saturday because management refused to pay them for Thursday ...

The Council of Ministers of Cambodia on Friday passed three draft laws, designed to strengthen the country’s longtime-criticized judicial system, according to a government media statement. The green light was given during a weekly cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...

Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA), Cambodia’s only listed company, made a net profit of 9.68 million US dollars in 2013, up 12.5 percent compared with 8.6 million US dollars in a year earlier, the firm ‘s audited financial statement showed Saturday. The statement said the ...

A few garment factories resumed operations in Phnom Penh on Friday, albeit at reduced capacity, as thousands of workers returned to the city after Khmer New Year celebrations in the provinces. While the majority of factories in Meanchey and Pur Senchey districts stayed closed, it remained ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy yesterday said that up to a quarter of a million ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia could be granted full citizenship rights via the Nationality Law if his Cambodia National Rescue Party were to come to power. The CNRP president has sought in ...

Most garment factories did not open for business Thursday, choosing to extend the Khmer New Year holidays—which officially ended Wednesday—rather than face industrial action in the form of a planned nationwide stay-at-home strike. However, a number of workers interviewed Thursday said they knew nothing about the ...

Villagers in Kampong Khlaing commune in Siem Reap province’s Sotr Nikum district have halted Kamlearnh fish paste production due to lagging demand, according to the industry’s representative body. Proum Hong, president of Kampong Khlaing Fish Paste Producers Association (KKFPPA), said the inflated price of the product, ...

Cambodian land advocates face some of the most threatening and deadly working conditions in the world, according to a new report by UK-based environmental watchdog Global Witness. Since 2002, 908 reported killings linked to land activism have occurred across 35 countries – with 13 taking place ...