News

Officials are attempting to se­cure the release of two Cambo­dian men who were sentenced to three months in a Thai prison on Thursday after being summarily convicted of at­tacking government inspectors at a market in Sa Kaeo province the day before, ac­cording to the Ministry ...

More than 220 ethnic Tompuon families in Ratanakkiri’s Lumphat district yesterday filed a complaint to rights group Adhoc over a 2,000-hectare land dispute against an economic land concession.   ...

Ahead of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s planned visit to Cambodia this week, local and international NGOs have urged Mr. Kerry not to sign any new bilateral agreements unless Cambodia vows to improve its human rights and democracy efforts. ...

In a move to crack down on future illegal logging, the government has created a special Commission, led by human rights group Adhoc, which will review and cancel any licenses of companies that violate forestry laws. ...

Next week, Cambodia will join a conference focused on stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The conference, to be held in Washington D.C. on January 27th, is part of the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), started in 2003 to keep bomb parts ...

In a seeming about-face, the government has backed away from its looming deadline to deport more than 100 Montagnards currently seeking asylum in Cambodia, instead pledging to “expedite” the process of assessing their refugee status. ...

A rights group official said he was threatened for looking into a December homicide case in Pursat province that left one woman dead and her brother injured. ...

Cambodia’s military police said yesterday that they have sealed the Vietnam border against wood transport following a major crackdown on two tycoons’ logging warehouses on Sunday. Local observers and experts, however, suggested the actions were little more than a hiccup for a long-tolerated illicit trade. ...

Hundreds of workers from the Agile Sweater factory in Kampong Speu province gathered in front of the provincial court yesterday, praying for authorities to release five unionists arrested at the factory on Tuesday. ...

Four Vietnamese military-controlled land concessions in Ratanakkiri province were downsized to a fraction of their original acreage as part of a government audit of land leased to private companies, officials said yesterday, amid opposition criticism of the concessions. ...

Some 1,500 hectares in social land concessions granted to families in Stung Treng province are being illegally cleared and sold by the community’s land broker, according to locals and rights group Adhoc. ...

The Vietnamese province of Dak Lak is donating cash and materials to build a new police station across the border in Mondolkiri’s Koh Nhek district, according to a police official. ...

A senior human rights monitor in Banteay Meanchey province was questioned on Wednesday by the provincial court over a street protest that took place on Monday, but his organization, Adhoc, is claiming that the court breached judicial procedure in getting him there. ...

The government’s Apsara authority will join forces with the Preah Vihear administration to establish a joint committee to prevent illegal logging and to manage state land in the protected areas around Koh Ker, officials said yesterday. ...

When 112 families gathered to demonstrate for four hours in front of the Ratanakkiri provincial court last Wednesday, most of their invective was directed toward the court itself, and toward someone they termed “a rich man from Phnom Penh,” a Mr. Heang Socheat, whom, they ...

More than 200 people living on a contested plot of land in Ratanakkiri province on Thursday lodged a petition with the provincial court calling for the release of three community leaders who were convicted and jailed on Wednesday over a dispute with a wealthy businessman, ...

The Phnom Penh municipal government has rejected a request from NGOs to mark international Human Rights Day on December 10 with a march from the National Assembly to Freedom Park, claiming the walk would pose a threat to public security. ...

Cambodia is the single most dangerous place in the world to work as an environmental journalist, according to a new report released by the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) this week. ...

Evidence of illegal logging perpetrated by Vietnamese lumberjacks in collusion with local authorities in Ratanakkiri’s Andong Meas district was submitted to a local rights group by an ethnic Jarai community yesterday. ...

The investigating judge involved in ongoing legal proceedings against human rights activist Ny Chakrya has said a warrant for the man’s arrest is under consideration after Chakrya failed to respond to a subpoena to appear in court yesterday. However, Chakrya’s employer, rights group Adhoc, said ...

Twenty-nine loggers were sent back to Cambodia from Thailand on Sunday after the group was arrested by Thai soldiers while logging rosewood across the border from Banteay Meanchey province, an official said Monday. ...

A representative of 18 vendors in Sihanoukville asked the government for help in reviving the area where they used to live and work, claiming that the half-finished construction sites destroyed the area and any businesses operating there.  ...

The Geneva-based Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders has appealed to the public to urge Cambodian authorities to end their “judicial harassment” of prominent human rights advocate Ny Chakrya, who stands charged with public defamation and attempting to coerce court officials. ...

A prominent human rights advocate says Cambodia continues to operate in a repressive environment, with a government that fails to respect local and international standards and laws. ...