News
Companies pledge to put worker rights before profits
Representatives of the private sector and rights groups met yesterday at a forum on business and human rights to discuss how Cambodia’s growing industry can protect the rights of its workers. ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17249/companies-pledge-to-put-worker-rights-before-profits/
In Cambodia, some families still try to 'cure' LGBT sons and daughter
When Meas Sophanuth started to transition in high school, his mother — afraid that her child would bring shame to the family — tried to stop what she saw as his “unnatural” behavior. The government, for instance, has recently shown support for programs combating LGBT-based ...
Dominique Mosbergen
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lgbt-cambodia_5614ed2de4b0fad1591a0ced
Minister insists community groups are exempt from NGO law
The Interior Ministry has reiterated its claims that a new law requiring NGOs and associations to register with the government does not apply to small community-based groups, despite recent efforts by police to apply the legislation to a group of families in Kratie province. ...
Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/minister-insists-community-groups-are-exempt-from-ngo-law-95296/
Social media allows expression, but users weigh the risks of rumor
For many young Cambodians, social media has become more than simply a way to communicate with friends, and is a major source of news about their country and the world. But while observers say such websites have increased awareness about political issues in recent years, ...
Rape cases up 64% in first half of 2015, Adhoc says
Rights group Adhoc recorded 131 rape cases in the first six months of the year, compared to 80 cases in 2014—a nearly 64 percent increase—due to the influence of “uncontrolled foreign cultures” such as pornography, according to a report released by the NGO on Wednesday. ...
Janelle Retka and Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rape-cases-up-64-percent-in-first-half-of-2015-adhoc-says-90906/
Facebook battle over NGO law
The National Assembly may have approved the contentious Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO), but some young people are still urging the government to scrap it. ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13552/facebook-battle-over-ngo-law/
Police installing CCTV cameras at major intersections
Cambodian national police have begun installing closed-circuit TV cameras at traffic lights, in hopes of better enforcing traffic laws and to assist authorities in solving crimes. ...
Socheata Hean
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/police-installing-cctv-cameras-at-major-intersections/2866701.html
Chinese police start placing surveillance cameras
Chinese police began installing surveillance cameras on the streets of Phnom Penh on Tuesday, following a donation from Beijing to assist authorities in monitoring crime and traffic in the capital, an official said Wednesday. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/chinese-police-start-placing-surveillance-cameras-88535/
Controversial NGO law goes to National Assembly for debate
Despite widespread concern it could curtail pro-democracy and rights work in the country, a bill to regulate NGOs in Cambodia arrived at the National Assembly Tuesday, where it must be debated before its likely passage into law. ...
Neou Vannarin
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/controversial-ngo-law-goes-to-national-assembly-for-debate/2824628.html
CCHR calls for transgender rights
Marking the sixth annual International Transgender Day of Visibility yesterday, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) called on the government to protect transgender people and end discrimination. ...
Rebecca Moss
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cchr-calls-transgender-rights
Hun Sen meets with Nancy Pelosi, US delegation
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday met with a visiting delegation of U.S. Congress members, including House of Representatives minority leader Nancy Pelosi, a government spokesman said. ...
Chris Mueller
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-meets-with-nancy-pelosi-us-delegation-81080/
CCHR to launch community profiles highlighting land rights crisis
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) will launch Wednesday a series of short films profiling communties affected by the country’s pervasive and volatile land conflict. The profiles highlights cases from Phnom Penh and four other provinces, and show that insecurity of tenure, the failure ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/cchr-to-launch-community-profiles-highlighting-land-rights-crisis-7869
CCHR delivers petition to Justice Minister calling for an end to impunity
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights said that it would deliver Tuesday a giant photo petition to the Ministry of Justice as part of its annual Campaign to End Impunity. A statement on Monday said that CCHR has collected 263 photos of people holding signs that ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/cchr-delivers-petition-to-justice-minister-calling-for-an-end-to-impunity-7769
US Broadcaster Rejects Cambodian Claims of ‘Bias’
The Broadcasting Board of Governors, the US agency that oversees the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, has rejected claims by the Cambodian government that its broadcasters fabricate or manipulate news. In a statement responding to a report by the Cambodian Council of Ministers this ...
VOA Khmer
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/us-broadcasters-rejects-cambodia-claims-of-bias/1841443.html
New Cambodian Land Disputes Despite Moratorium on Key Concessions
At least 41 new land disputes were reported in Cambodia last year despite a government moratorium on the widespread grant of so-called economic land concessions, a rights group said Thursday. The new cases in 17 locations—including the capital Phnom Penh—added to the 223 land conflicts previously ...
Joshua Lipes
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/disputes-01302014194318.html
Clashes renewed at cordon
Frustrated Boeung Kak and Borei Keila community members flooded past a Daun Penh road barrier yesterday after attempting to lodge complaints with district authorities in connection with Sunday’s violence at Wat Phnom. On Sunday night, a brutal raid on a peaceful vigil of about 20 protesters ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/clashes-renewed-cordon
NGOs defend right to aid rally
Civil society groups yesterday hit back at the government after a Ministry of Interior statement released on Wednesday warned NGOs that they would be breaking ministry protocols on political neutrality by “directly or indirectly” supporting an unnamed political party or its protests. The Cambodia National Rescue ...
Kevin Ponniah and Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ngos-defend-right-aid-rally
Police block Bopha march
Phnom Penh Municipal Hall yesterday defended the actions of police and security guards who blocked protesters as they tried to leave the capital’s Boeung Kak area before they stopped and searched an NGO’s vehicle. Dozens of Daun Penh district police, security guards and military police blockaded ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/police-block-bopha-march
Cambodians wanted more from Obama
He came, he said nothing, he left. Publicly at least, President Barack Obama, the first US head of state to visit the Kingdom, uttered not a single word to the Cambodian people, although many have noted that he was extremely pressed for time. Cambodians, from the ...
Rights Groups File Lawsuit Over Land Meeting Breakup
Two local human rights groups filed lawsuits yesterday at the Ratanakiri Provincial Court accusing commune and village officials of defamation and intimidation after they disrupted land-rights training session last month. On July 26, a group of armed officials stopped Adhoc and the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) ...
Police Clamp Down on Land Rights Meeting
Local authorities, including a heavily armed police officer, broke up a training session on land rights in Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district on Friday, claiming the two groups had no legal right to hold such a meeting. The move marks the second time in less than a ...