Human rights

The UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Cambodia, Rhona Smith, is to land in the Kingdom on Monday, in her first official visit since questioning the “genuineness” of the July 29 national elections, polls she claimed were “one-sided”. ...

Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district administration will tear down illegal houses and shops built on the bank of Prek Thnot river, said its administrative director Mok Puthea. He said illegal homes, shops, cafes and canteens in Teuk Thla village along the river in Kraing Pongro commune ...

Cambodia’s foreign ministry on Thursday said a decision by the European Union to ramp up trade pressure on the country over human rights concerns was an “extreme injustice”, adding it risked destroying decades of development in the country. ...

ANZ Bank failed to meet its own human rights standards when it financed a Cambodian sugar plantation that was linked to forced evictions, child labour and workplace deaths, according to an Australian government investigation. ...

Authorities in Kratie province yesterday demolished a dozen family farms deemed illegal in Snuol district’s Khsoem commune. A villager who requested anonymity said that the demolition was conducted by provincial and district authorities along with police and military police officers. ...

The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) spokesman warned Kem Monovithya on Thursday that her attempt to damage “national reputation and prestige” would lead to her father, Kem Sokha, receiving even harsher punishment. ...

History was created by the European Parliament on September 13. For the time since the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission known as UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia), the Parliament passed a 13-point resolution aimed at according tougher actions against Cambodia and its rulers similar ...

The government has lashed out at a European Parliament resolution passed last week that calls for former opposition leader Kem Sokha’s treason charges to be dropped and human rights to be restored, arguing the resolution was biased. ...

Ney Sam Ol, Cambodian Ambassador to the United Nations, expressed disappointment on Tuesday in Geneva over a call made by the newly-appointed UNHCR head to release all political prisoners in the country. ...

The European Parliament is set to hold urgent debates on selected human rights, democracy and rule of law topics on Thursday in Strasbourg, France, a briefing released by the body said last week. Discussion on Cambodia will centre on the imprisonment of court-dissolved Cambodia National ...

A Thai civil court has accepted a class action suit filed by Cambodian land victims from Oddar Meanchey province against sugar producer Mitr Phol. However, it ordered the disputing parties to mediate on Thursday before the court proceeds with legal procedures. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday postponed the hearing of five human rights activists dubbed the “Adhoc 5” due to the absence of key witnesses. Four officials from rights group Adhoc – Nay Vanda, Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan and Lim Mony, and Ny Chakrya, ...

Some 300 villagers from Kratie province’s Snuol district protested outside the land management ministry in Phnom Penh on Thursday, calling for a solution to their long-running land dispute with a rubber plantation in the province. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday freed on bail, two former Radio Free Asia (RFA) reporters, who were charged with espionage. Oun Chhin, 49, and Yeang Sochea Meta (Sothearin), 35, were arrested by the Meanchey district authorities on November 14, last year, and spent ...

Over100 indigenous groups from eight of the Kingdom’s provinces asked the government on Thursday to grant them land concessions instead of forcing their relocation. Celebrating the 24th International Day of Indigenous People, the groups gathered under the banner of the Indigenous People’s Migration and Movement. ...

The Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) on Monday said ‘fake news’ has been polluting publications and sparking controversy in the Kingdom, especially on social media. The remarks were made on Monday at a roundtable discussion organised by CCJ in Phnom Penh. ...

Local and international civil society groups operating in Cambodia face government-imposed restrictions on their operations and have been significantly hindered in their work in the lead up to Sunday’s general election, according to a recent report by a U.S.-based think tank. ...

Global Witness has called on the United States to impose sanctions against four Cambodian tycoons for their alleged roles in the demise of Cambodian democracy and for human rights abuses. Its allegations, in a report on Friday, were brushed off by a ruling CPP spokesman ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on Wednesday instructed police officials and local authorities to serve the people without considering political affiliations or religion. In the handover ceremony of 1,646 motorbikes to police stations nationwide, Kheng told police officials that they must serve the people regardless ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) has expressed confidence that the probability of the European Union (EU) suspending the Kingdom’s access to its Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme is “very low”. GMAC deputy secretary-general Kiang Monika said his belief is based on the fact ...

Representatives of the Kingdom’s private sector this week urged the European Union not to cancel the Everything-but-arms (EBA) scheme in response to a perceived deterioration of human rights and democracy in the country. ...

The European Commission (EC) has reiterated the European Union’s (EU) demand for the immediate release of opposition leader Kem Sokha and called on Cambodia to take the necessary measures to ensure that the court-dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) be swiftly reversed. ...

Officials with the Land Management Ministry and Koh Kong Provincial Hall yesterday ended a years-long land dispute between villagers and sugar companies through distribution of compensation to the families involved. ...

Human Rights Watch yesterday issued a scathing report alleging that 12 army and police leaders close to Prime Minister Hun Sen have committed serious human rights violations. The report drew the ire of the Defence Ministry and government, which issued a retort saying that it ...