News
Unions to lead holiday strike
When is a strike not a strike? That’s a question being asked after union leaders yesterday announced they will inform garment factory owners that their members want to use annual leave days to wage their stay-at-home strike the week after Khmer New Year. The leaders of eight ...
Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/unions-lead-holiday-strike
National Assembly to hold second session next month
The National Assembly will hold its second session on April 1 under chairmanship of Heng Samrin, Chairman of the National Assembly. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=MGM4ZGQ5MWNiOTV
European donors working on joint cooperation aid strategy
Cambodia’s European aid donors said Tuesday they are working on a new five-year “cooperation strategy” designed to increase the impact of the millions of dollars in loans and grants they give the country each year. With a combined $209 million in aid to Cambodia in 2012, ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/european-donors-working-on-joint-cooperation-aid-strategy-54937/
Proposed law gives new powers to Justice Ministry
The last of three draft laws written with the aim of cleaning up the courts establishes four new judicial chambers, but legal and political experts worry that it does little to loosen the grip of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Justice Ministry over the courts. The draft ...
Lauren Crothers and Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/proposed-law-gives-new-powers-to-justice-ministry-54546/
CPP official: Hun Sen did not propose amnesty law
A CPP official said that Sam Rainsy’s recent comments over amnesty law were inaccurate. Yeap said that it was completely wrong because Prime Minister Hun Sen didn’t propose this law [amnesty law] during the summit on September 16 at the National Assembly. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=ODI0ZTg4MDliMWF
Proposed Iran loan under fire
Opposition lawmakers-elect yesterday lambasted reports that Cambodia has asked Iran for a $54.45 million loan. Following an official visit to Tehran last week by a delegation from the National Assembly led by First Vice Chairman Nguon Nhel, Cambodia’s official news agency, Agence Kampuchea Press, reported that ...
Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/proposed-iran-loan-under-fire
CPP says public forums on reform underway
Officials from the ruling CPP said Wednesday that a series of public forums announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen earlier this year, which he said would help gather input for his promised plans to introduce widespread political reform, are now being held around the country. The ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cpp-says-public-forums-on-reform-underway-54049/
Government’s Trade Union Law may limit freedom of association
A draft trade union law that the government has pledged to introduce by the end of the year includes provisions that will allow for unions to be suspended if their activities are deemed illegal, the head of Cambodia’s largest employers association said Wednesday. Van Sou Ieng, ...
Hul Reaksmey and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/governments-trade-union-law-may-limit-freedom-of-association-54042/
Judicial draft laws still unseen: rights groups
Two civil society organisations are calling on Prime Minister Hun Sen to publish three long-gestating draft laws on judicial reform to allow ample time for “genuine, inclusive and meaningful participation in the drafting process”. Hun Sen said in a speech last Wednesday that the three laws ...
Stuart White
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/judicial-draft-laws-still-unseen-rights-groups
Opposition will not join the parliament until a new election: Sam Rainsy
The Opposition leader reaffirmed that the Cambodia National Rescue Party would not join the National Assembly until there is an agreement on new election. “We will not join the Assembly until there is an agreement on the holding of a new election,” Sam Rainsy said in ...
The Cambodia Herlad
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=NDgyOWM1YjMwMTQ
As political impasse continues, some donors hold on to funding
An increasing number of NGOs in Cambodia are facing the prospect of budget cuts, with money from foreign donors decreasing as a political deadlock continues. Cambodia’s robust civil society relies on donor countries, but some have postponed funding while the country’s two rival political parties remain ...
Suy Heimkhemra
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/as-political-impasse-continues-some-donors-hold-on-to-funding/1864701.html
Judicial reform drafts to move forward in March
Three judicial reform draft laws will be submitted to the Council of Ministers last this month, justice officials said Wednesday. The draft laws deal with the functions of the courts and the conduct of judges and prosecutors, as well as an oversight body called the Supreme ...
Kong Sothanarith
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/judicial-reform-drafts-to-move-forward-in-march/1864692.html
UN Envoy Cautious Over Cambodian Political Settlement Prospects
A U.N. rights envoy to Cambodia on Wednesday expressed “cautious optimism” that the parties of Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition leader Sam Rainsy would move toward ending their seven-month political deadlock following an agreement achieved this week between the two sides on a set ...
Radio Free Asia News Staff
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/surya-subedi-03062014183612.html
Low ranking for rule of law
The World Justice Project yesterday ranked Cambodia 91st out of 99 nations and at the bottom of the barrel regionally in terms of its devotion to the rule of law, despite its midlevel performance in terms of providing order and security. In its annual Rule of ...
Stuart White and May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/low-ranking-rule-law
Gov’t suspends freedom of association for unions
Following a complaint from the Free Trade Union (FTU) over the Ministry of Labor’s refusal to register 10 local branches of its organization, a ministry official said Wednesday that the constitutional right to freedom of association has been suspended until a new trade union law ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-suspends-freedom-of-association-for-unions-53271/
Education system out of its depth
When Sim Sok Toeur, 32, returned from study in Australia last April, he did so with a vision for Phnom Penh’s skyline. For Sok Toeur, a scholarship to study overseas granted him a better quality of education than was possible in Cambodia – even though ...
Maria Wirth
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/education-system-out-its-depth
Clarification sought on government’s fraught NGO Law
A request has been sent to the government’s Human Rights Committee and the interior and foreign affairs ministries seeking clarification on the status and whereabouts of a draft law that will govern associations and non-governmental organizations, asking to see the latest version of the law ...
Phorn Bopha and Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/clarification-sought-on-governments-fraught-ngo-law-52238/
Detainees not being used for leverage: Yeap
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 ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/detainees-not-being-used-leverage-yeap
Maina Kiai calls on Cambodia government to lift ban on public assemblies
UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai has asked the government of Cambodia to lift a ban on public gathering that has been in force for a month. A statement also said Kiai met and raised the issue of the blanket protest ban with Secretary of State for ...
Standard Digital News Staff
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000104438&story_title=kiai-calls-on-cambodia-government-to-lift-ban-on-public-assemblies
Despite deadlock, PM says business as usual
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 ...
Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/despite-deadlock-pm-says-business-usual
Hun Sen warns against attempts to hold Cambodia ‘Hostage’
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday accused certain groups of trying to hold the nation “hostage,” saying his government was functioning normally despite opposition calls for him to resign and hold fresh elections following disputed polls. His administration has also drawn criticism over its heavy ...
Radio Free Asia News Staff
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/warning-02102014190358.html
Motor insurance slows to a crawl
Insurance providers sold far fewer motor vehicle and personal accident policies in 2013 than in the previous year, sparking concern among some in the industry that the importance of being covered in case of a road accident isn’t getting through to drivers. According to the General ...
May Kunmakara and Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/motor-insurance-slows-crawl
UN Concerned Over Suppression of Rights
The U.N.’s General Assembly released its latest round of recommendations to improve the human rights situation in Cambodia on Thursday following a review held last week in Geneva. The statements made by delegations from 76 countries during the review urged Cambodia to fulfill its promise to ...
Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/un-concerned-over-suppression-of-rights-51220/
UN Rights Officials Want Serious Rights Reforms, Opposition Says
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy says the international community is now pushing hard for serious human rights reforms in Cambodia. Sam Rainsy, head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was this week in Geneva, where a UN human rights review of Cambodia took place. The UN’s Human Rights ...
Sok Khemara
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/un-rights-officials-want-serious-rights-reforms-opposition-says/1841074.html