News

The total number of serious and minor crimes in Cambodia increased by 1 percent, or 27 cases, in 2013 compared to the previous year, while Phnom Penh’s crime rate rose by 62 percent, a report released by the Interior Ministry on Tuesday says—laying the blame ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday took a stand against intimidation and harassment at markets, ordering municipal and provincial governors to crack down on aggressive fee collectors they employ. Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the capital’s Royal School of Administration, Hun Sen distanced himself from what ...

A senior ruling party lawmaker has rejected allegations that the group of 21 activists, unionists and workers arrested during protests last month and denied bail for a second time yesterday are being used as a political tool by the government to force the opposition party ...

The National Election Committee (NEC) on Tuesday called on political parties to send in lists of proposed candidates who wish to be considered in the upcoming municipal, provincial, city and district council elections, which are scheduled for May 18. NEC President Im Suosdey said at a ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that calls for him to resign and for a new “face” to lead the country were hypocritical as the faces of his critics also remained unchanged. Mr. Hun Sen also said that the political situation in the country is perfectly ...

Despite the country remaining trapped in a tense political stalemate that shows no signs of abating, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday reiterated that the government would continue working as normal while the opposition’s boycott of parliament continues. “I will not talk about the political situation, as ...

In case the 29 officers Prime Minister Hun Sen promoted on January 30 to four-star general were not enough, six Interior Ministry police chiefs were also promoted to the same top rank late last month. A January 22 royal decree, obtained Wednesday, elevated the six lieutenant ...

The Ministry of Justice is kicking into overdrive its long-stagnated efforts to finish three fundamental laws on the function of the judiciary, saying it hopes to complete the laws – which it characterises as key judicial reforms – by the end of the month, the ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday laid out more details in his plan to introduce a series of political reforms after a narrow win for his long-ruling CPP at the polls in July, including creating a new national working group and establishing public forums to ...

International tourist arrivals to Cambodia for 2013 increased 14.1 percent over arrivals in 2012, despite lingering political uncertainty following the July election, according to preliminary annual figures from the Ministry of Tourism. The number of visitors entering the country last year reached 4.2 million, compared to ...

General Neang Phat has become the second senior military official to wade into the current political impasse between Prime Minister Hun Sen’s CPP government and the CNRP, accusing the opposition party of trying to destabilize the country, according to a local media report. Gen. Phat, who ...

Cambodia’s human rights record was assessed Tuesday by the U.N. Human Rights Council’s 47 member states in Geneva, many of which cited concerns about the recent violent suppression of protests by the government, and a judiciary beholden to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling CPP. The U.N. ...

CPP National Assembly President Heng Samrin has ordered Cambodia’s newest ambassadors to Asia and Europe to go on a public relations offensive against mounting news abroad that the country’s respect for democracy and human rights is slipping. Cambodian security forces have shot dead seven people ...

Ahead of today’s hearing on Cambodia’s record at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, opposition figures and analysts said the ruling Cambodian People’s Party has reverted to familiar tactics of post-election suppression. Analysts yesterday said that the breaking up of Cambodia National Rescue Party-led protests ...

More than 50 per cent of candidates nominated by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party in the upcoming provincial and district council elections should be women, a coalition of 12 civil society groups said in a letter on Thursday. ...

There was a shift of almost seismic proportions between January and November 2013 as the number of people who believe the country is being steered in the right direction fell sharply, while the number of discontented citizens rose, according to a new report. Launching its annual ...

Defense Minister Tea Banh used the annual meeting of national military police in Phnom Penh on Wednesday to reiterate that the armed forces would remain committed to defending Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government in the ongoing political dispute with the opposition CNRP, local media and ...

Union leaders yesterday said that despite having held strikes calling for a doubling of the minimum wage that were supported and encouraged by the country’s opposition party, they did not feel betrayed that the wage hike was taking a backseat in political negotiations. Following a government ...

Three NGOs on Wednesday called on ANZ Royal Bank to help the hundreds of families who have lost farmland to a sugar plantation that the bank helped to finance in Kompong Speu province. The NGOs also made public a 2013 social and environmental impact assessment of ...

Several hundred civilian supporters of Prime Minister Hun Sen, backed up by an equal number of military police and provincial police armed with automatic rifles, batons and tear gas launchers, forced opposition leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha to cancel a meeting with party followers ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen passed a sub-decree late last year to expand the scope of his government’s Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC) by creating new departments and placing rights monitors in villages, according to a copy of the Royal Gazette dated December 31 and distributed ...

Ahead of the 10-year anniversary on Wednesday of the assassination of Free Trade Union (FTU) President Chea Vichea, police said Monday that despite their inability to bring anyone to justice for the high-profile slaying, the case remains open. However, Chea Mony, the brother of Chea Vichea, ...

The opposition may be readying a formal request that the United Nations and King Norodom Sihamoni play a role in future negotiations between the Cambodia National Rescue Party and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. On a trip to Takeo province on Saturday, CNRP deputy president Kem ...

Speaking two weeks after crushing opposition party demonstrations demanding his resignation, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday called on supporters of his ruling CPP to prepare to stand up against any group aiming to overthrow his government. “All of you who voted for the CPP, be ...