News

The National Assembly (NA) said the European Parliament (EP) did not respect the Kingdom’s independence and sovereignty when it passed a resolution strongly critical of the recent conviction and sentencing of former opposition leader Kem Sokha for “treason”. ...

Former opposition leader Kem Sokha’s lawyers said in a Tuesday statement that they were denied access to their client in violation of his rights, preventing them from discussing a planned appeal against his treason conviction. ...

Three associations in the garment, footwear and travel goods and commerce yesterday once again sent a letter to the European Parliament appealing to postpone the scheduled partial withdrawal of the Everything but Arms (EBA) trade preferences. ...

The spokesman for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has said the government is in no way concerned after the European Parliament gave it three months to reverse what it called the “systematic repression of the political opposition”. ...

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. ...

The European parliament has voted to consider suspending Cambodia’s preferential “Everything But Arms” trade access to the European Union in response to the country’s authoritarian backslide. ...

The European Parliament passed a resolution yesterday calling on the European Commission and European External Action Service to impose visa restrictions on Cambodian officials and freeze their assets, and to review the human rights clauses of the Everything But Arms (EBA) agreement for a potential ...

Two separate groups of international parliamentarians this week raised concerns over the state of democracy in Cambodia, seeing threats to pluralism and human rights in harassment of opposition politicians, trade unions and civil society activists. ...

The E.U.’s ambassador to Cambodia said he would weigh appeals from pro-government unions critical of a call by opposition party leader Sam Rainsy to push the government to improve its human rights record through increased economic pressure. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday blithely brushed aside a recent threat from the European Parliament to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Cambodia over human rights abuses, challenging the body to follow through. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday slammed recent calls for sanctions against Cambodia over what supporters of the measures call a government-level disrespect of democracy, claiming the first to be hurt by sanctions would be NGOs. ...

The European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution accusing the Cambodian government of laying politically motivated charges against the opposition and calling for aid cuts if its respect for human rights fails to improve—a loud echo of a resolution it passed just six months ago. ...

Six months after the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Cambodian government to scrap a draft NGO law that came into effect in August, the E.U. announced on Monday that it had pledged 8.2 million euros (about $8.9 million) to local and international ...

Parliament urges Cambodia to drop all charges brought against opposition leader Sam Rainsy and Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) members; calls on the Bangladesh authorities to restore the full independence of the media; and appeals to the government of Afghanistan to intensify cooperation with the ...

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Thursday calling on the Cambodian government to cancel a draft law that would strictly regulate NGOs and associations in the country, warning that its passage could cost Cambodia up to $700 million in development aid. ...

The opposition CNRP made another pitch for an end to free trade benefits for Cambodian sugar exports to the European Union at a meeting in Phnom Penh on Wednesday with visiting European Parliament members, blaming the benefits for effectively subsidizing companies that are evicting poor ...

The European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht started his visit to Cambodia on Tuesday to bolster bilateral trade link. De Gucht held talks with his Cambodian counterpart Sun Chanthol and both sides agreed to further promote bilateral trade relations for mutual benefits, Ken Ratha, ...

An ad hoc committee comprised of representatives from the European Union, the Ministry of Commerce, provincial administrations and the sugar industry met again yesterday at the ministry’s headquarters to continue its discussion of issues faced by those displaced by sugar plantations. The committee touched upon topics ...

The director of a CPP senator’s sugar plantation accused of stealing land from hundreds of families said Wednesday that most locals were happy with the new jobs the plantation has generated, a week after a visiting European Union parliamentarian renewed calls for an investigation of ...

Sugar plantations that benefit from the European Union’s Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme, which allows preferential access to the E.U.’s market, have further impoverished Cambodia’s poor, and an investigation needs to be launched, a member of the European Parliament (MEP) said on Friday. Patrice Tirolien, MEP ...

A member of the European Parliament is in Cambodia investigating agri-business firms accused of evicting hundreds of families while benefiting from a free-trade scheme with Europe worth millions of dollars, according to the NGO Equitable Cambodia. The visit from France’s Patrice Tirolien follows a resolution the ...

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 ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy left for Europe yesterday evening to attend a UN Human Rights Council review on Cambodia in Geneva and to lobby European Union officials to take a stronger stance against the government, he said before departure. Rainsy plans on attending the Universal Periodic ...

European Union (E.U.) Ambassador to Cambodia Jean-Francois Cautain distanced himself Monday from a European Parliament resolution calling for an independent investigation into July’s disputed national election and the killing of five striking garment workers this month. The European Parliament on Thursday passed the resolution, which urges ...