News
Charged Rights Worker Returns to Cambodia; Hearing Pending
Human Rights investigator Chan Soveth has returned to Cambodia more than two-and-a-half months after leaving in the face of a criminal charge that is thought to be linked to an alleged insurrection that took place in Kratie province in May. On August 14, the court charge ...
Obama Urged to Address Rights Issues During Cambodia Visit
Some of the U.S.’ most senior lawmakers are urging Barack Obama to speak out on what they called Cambodia’s deteriorating human rights situation when the U.S. president makes what will be the first visit to the country by a sitting American leader later this month. ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/obama-urged-to-address-rights-issues-during-cambodia-visit-5555/
Insight: Land conflict, impunity dims Cambodia's awakening
Cambodia’s transformation from war-torn basket-case to one of Asia’s most promising emerging economies is being overshadowed by a backwards lurch in human rights and land policies that critics say are entrenching poverty. ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/12/us-cambodia-protests-idUSBRE8AB17J20121112
Cambodia: shrinking forests breed violence
Hang Serei Oudom told his 7-month pregnant wife that he was going out to meet a source. A journalist for Vorakchun Khmer Daily, he was investigating illegal logging for luxury woods in the jungles of Cambodia’s northeastern Ratanakkiri province. Three days later, on Sept. 11, he ...
Cambodia Accuses Europe of Interference
In its first official response to a highly critical resolution on Cambodia from the European Parliament, the government has rejected all criticism and instead accused the Parliament in Brussels of playing politics and interfering in Phnom Penh’s affairs. In its resolution approved October 26, the European ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodia-accuses-europe-of-interference-5183/
Silencing the Voice of Dissent
Before its owner was arrested in July on charges of insurrection, Beehive radio had hit the consciousness of few outside Cambodia. While international rights groups and press watchdogs were quick to jump on a story of political posturing and the quashing of free speech in the ...
Jailed Radio Station Owner Launches Appeal
Mam Sonando, the independent radio station owner whose jailing for 20 years earlier this month provoked international condemnation of the country’s courts, has launched an appeal, his wife and a prison official said yesterday. Mr. Sonando, the owner of Beehive Radio, was convicted by the Phnom ...
Hun Sen Alludes to Mam Sonando in Warning Message
Journalists, NGO workers and politicians are not immune to the long arm of the law if they flout it, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday as he distributed land titles in Kampot province. Mr. Hun Sen’s comments come 10 days after independent radio station owner Mam ...
Frequency of criticism
Officials from four government bodies along with a personal adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday urged two US government-funded radio stations to be more professional and law-abiding during a closed-door meeting at the Council of Ministers. While little information was forthcoming regarding the content of ...
PM defends Sonando verdict
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday lashed out at critics of the Mam Sonando verdict, saying outsiders shouldn’t be seeking the release of a prisoner. Speaking to hundreds of villagers at a land title ceremony held in Chhuok district of Kampot province, Hun Sen defended the guilty verdict handed ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012101159243/National-news/pm-defends-sonando-verdict.html
Habitat Day Marked by capital's evictees
Evictees wearing small model houses on their heads to symbolize their struggles marched to the National Assembly yesterday to ask authorities to intervene to stop more forced evictions. About 400 representatives of 40 communities across the capital joined human rights activists at the former Dey Krahorm eviction site ...
Backers ask King to set Sonando free
Members of the Association of Democrats, the group led by jailed activist and Beehive Radio owner Mam Sonando, rallied in front of the Royal Palace yesterday to deliver petitions appealing for his release. Huon Phannary, the deputy secretary-general of the association, said yesterday that nearly 100 ...
'Outsider' criticism of verdict blasted by NGO
In a bluntly worded statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has shot back at critics of the Mam Sonando verdict, stressing that there were no political motivations to the case and accusing “outsiders” of trying to pressure a sovereign court. “Mr. Mam Sonando is the mastermind of ...
'Outsiders' Accused of Interference in Sonando Case
The Foreign Affairs Ministry has fired back at criticism over the conviction of independent radio station owner Mam Sonando on insurrection charges, accusing “outsiders” of seeking to interfere in the judicial system. Supporters say the case against Mr. Sonando for allegedly leading an anti-government movement ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/outsiders-accused-of-interference-in-sonando-case/
Sonando Verdict a Tough Test for KRT Legacy
When the international community hammered out a hard-fought deal with the government in 2001 for a war crimes tribunal to try the most senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime, they hoped their efforts would also set an example for local court system riddled with ...
Reporting on Sonando Case Shows Differences in Local Media
The 20-year jail sentence for independent radio station owner Mam Sonando made headlines around the world yesterday, but coverage of Mr. Sonando’s case was markedly different in local Khmer-language media yesterday, particularly national TV where not a mention was made. While the three major Khmer-language newspapers- ...
Govt hits back at critics
The recent deluge of comments critical toward the Cambodian government is an attempt to sow political chaos, a senior official said yesterday. At a press conference held at the Council of Ministers, Keo Remy, deputy chairman of the Press and Quick Reaction Unit, blasted several individuals ...
Donors Criticize Sonando Sentence
Three of the Cambodia’s most important donors have now condemned the 20-year jail term handed down to independent radio station owner Mam Sonando for alleged insurrection activities-a verdict branded as politically motivated by many local and international human rights groups. Despite the tough words from the normally very ...
Sonando gets 20 years
In a move that stunned his supporters and drew ire from rights groups and foreign embassies alike, independent radio station owner Mam Sonando was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday on charges of insurrection. Sonando, owner of broadcaster Beehive Radio and president of the rights ...
Sonando Jailed for 20 Years; Sentence Denounced
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court handed down a 20-year jail sentence to independent radio station owner Mam Sonando yesterday for his role in fomenting an alleged secessionist movement in a decision drawing condemnation from human rights groups and some of Cambodia’s main foreign donors. The court ...
Verdict Due October 1 in Trial of Jailed Radio Station Owner
On the fourth and final day of his trial for alleged involvement in a secessionist movement, independent radio station owner Mam Sonando told the court on Friday that he had returned to Cambodia from the U.S. to stand the trial because he was innocent. Mr. Sonando, ...
Focus on 'Secession' Trial Shifts Back to Mam Sonando
Independent radio station owner Mam Sonando mounted a spirited defense during the third and last day of testimony at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday in his trial for allegedly leading a secessionist group. At time raising his voice, waving his arms and grabbing his head ...
Mam Sonando's 'Secession' Trial Focuses on Absent Suspect
The trial of independent radio owner Mam Sonando continued for a second day at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday, though most of the testimony centered around the fellow alleged secession leader Bun Ratha, who remains at large. Along with eight others, Mr. Sonando and Mr. Ratha stand ...
Radio Station Owner Denies Secession Charges
Independent radio station owner Mam Sonando declared his innocence yesterday at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court where his trial began over his alleged involvement in a secessionist movement in Kratie province. Commenting on organization he founded, the Association of Democrats, Mr. Sonando told the court it was ...