Human rights

Independent media outlets worldwide are facing an unprecedented crisis, as revealed in an in-depth report released Friday, which found that the 2025 U.S. aid cuts—removal of $150 million in annual support—triggered widespread closures, layoffs, and a surge in disinformation across dozens of countries. ...

Amnesty International accused the Cambodian government of deliberately ignoring widespread human rights abuses—including human trafficking, forced labor, child labor, slavery, and torture—carried out in more than 50 scamming compounds across the country. ...

Press freedom in Cambodia continues to deteriorate amid rising legal threats, shrinking funds, and tighter restrictions, a report by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) revealed, indicating a landscape of fear for media practitioners. ...

A series of alarming reports from Thai media outlets have painted Cambodia as a prime “scam hub”, but an insight documentary by Channel News Asia (CNA), featured Thailand’s pivotal role as a transit point for trafficked victims heading to scam centres across the region. ...

Despite five men pleading guilty in the US to being involved in a multi-million dollar scam and money laundering operation in Cambodia, according to the US Department of Justice, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Interior refutes claims that scam centres exist in the country, arguing that ...

A prominent human rights advocate Seng Theary, who is serving a six-year prison term, halted her 14-day hunger strike on the ninth day due to health concerns, as civil society groups called for her release. ...

Some 40 indigenous people celebrated World Environment Day, while calling on the authorities and stakeholders to address an unresolved compensation demand lasting nearly 10 years. ...

Cambodia witnessed a sharp rise in cases of harassment against journalists in 2024, according to the latest report by the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association (CamboJA), with a notable 28 percent increase in total incidents compared to the previous year. ...

An online publisher and two others have been charged with three criminal charges, related to the impact on the morality of the army, including a comment to discriminate against the force. ...

When the possibility of military action raises its head, the role of journalists becomes more crucial than ever. ...

A Ministry of Information spokesperson has reminded all media representatives — professional, non-professional and social media users — to avoid publishing information that could harm national security, damage relations with other countries or endanger law enforcement officials and personnel as they carry out their duties. ...

The Court of Appeal of Phnom Penh on Tuesday upheld the conviction of a lower court against union leader Morm Rithy — a decision which has been condemned as unjust by his lawyer and unionists who attended the trial. ...

UN experts are sounding the alarm over a humanitarian crisis unfolding in Southeast Asia, urging immediate, human rights-based action to dismantle scam compounds—including in Cambodia—where hundreds of thousands of people are “trafficked, trapped, and forced into online criminal operations”. ...

The Ministry of Information has criticized non-governmental organizations and press groups for “pursuing their own political agendas”, portraying negative press freedom in Cambodia, in relation to jailed environmental journalist Uk Mao’s case. The ministry claimed that Mao “violated journalistic ethics”. ...

Former Okhna Heng Sithy, who has levelled accusations of corruption and complicity in online scam operations at senior members of the Cambodian government, has been extradited from Russia to face charges of “aggravated blackmail”. He arrived in the Kingdom last night, May 24. ...

Journalists and editors from leading Cambodian media outlets gathered today, May 23, for a landmark training session on the ethical and responsible portrayal of children and youth in media coverage. ...

Cambodian authorities have announced that they intend to seek the cooperation from Thai authorities to extradite a Cambodian woman named Chou Chhin, who they say broadcast misleading information about the Kingdom’s ongoing trade negotiations with the US, via her “Women Overseas” Facebook page. ...

Ministry of Information spokesman Tep Asnarith has expressed concerns over the spread of misinformation regarding a recent tragic case that appalled the Kingdom – the murder of a 14-year-old school girl. ...

 CamboJA News has been awarded the World Justice Project’s Anthony Lewis Journalism Prize, recognizing our investigative reporting and daily coverage of issues undermining the rule of law in Cambodia. ...

A blistering report by a prominent U.S. crime expert, disallowed from returning to Cambodia by his employer in 2023 over alleged threats, has triggered a wave of condemnation from Cambodian officials after calling for expanded U.S. sanctions on elites linked to the country’s online scam ...

Cambodia and Indonesia have reaffirmed their shared commitment to intensify cooperation in combating transnational crime, following a series of high-level meetings between an Indonesian law enforcement delegation and key Cambodian institutions on May 20. ...

The Cambodian government has dismissed a recent international report alleging that the Kingdom is a global epicentre for transnational cybercrime, calling it politically motivated and lacking in scientific credibility. ...

The Census of Agriculture Cambodia 2023​ was launched this morning, May 19. The data generated by the census is expected to become a key driver in enabling the government and all relevant partners to develop effective plans for advancing Cambodia’s agriculture sector. ...

A series of deaths resulting from falls from high-rise buildings have raised public concerns, with some observers questioning the haste with which authorities appear to have ruled the cases suicides. ...