Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)

Articles by Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)

Cambodia: Authorities urged to stop using violence against peaceful women strikers

51 groups in Cambodia have signed a statement deploring the harassment and intimidation carried out by authorities against the striking workers of NagaWorld who are mostly women.

Cambodia: ‘Government must restore fundamental freedoms’

In a joint submission to the UN Human Rights Committee, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights and ARTICLE 19 highlight the declining situation for freedom of expression, information, and assembly in Cambodia.

Cambodia: More reforms needed beyond conditional release of activists, say civil society groups

Civil society groups in Cambodia welcome the release of 27 activists and human rights defenders but note that 60 others remain in detention. They also criticized the conditional release of prisoners since it means they are still under threat of being arrested again.

Cambodia: ‘Threats against analysts are threats against freedom of expression’

Cambodian civil society groups urge the government to stop harassing analysts and other critical voices after the prime minister issued a warning against several writers commenting on the country’s foreign policy.

Police patrol in front of the Phnom Penh municipal court during a mass trial of more than 100 opposition members and activists, Cambodia, 26 November 2020, TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images

Cambodia urged to implement reforms before establishing a National Human Rights Institution

Civil society groups said the Cambodian government should first ‘redress’ the country’s human rights situation so that the planned establishment of a National Human Rights Institution will become truly “independent, effective and credible.”

Bou Rachna, widow of the slain Cambodian political commentator Kem Ley, kneels in front of a photo of Ley, at a Buddhist temple in Melbourne, australia, 9 July 2021, WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images

Cambodia: After five years, still no justice for Kem Ley’s death

45 groups have signed a statement assailing the failure of the Cambodian government to conduct an independent probe regarding the death of prominent political analyst Kem Ley, who was killed in July 2016.

Jailed opposition members and activists sit in a prison truck in front of the Phnom Penh municipal court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 14 January 2021, TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images

Civil society groups urge Cambodia to release all prisoners of conscience

Several groups in Cambodia pressed for the “release all non-violent prisoners of conscience as a mitigation measure to minimize the risk posed by the spread of COVID-19.”

A delegate takes a face mask for protection from COVID-19, at the entrance of the venue for the 11th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, in Vientiane, 13 January 2021, Xinhua/Kaikeo Saiyasane via Getty Images

Laos urged to stop online surveillance and mandatory registration of social media platforms

Several groups have issued a joint statement asking the Lao government to repeal a recent order for provinces to keep records of official social media channels and to enforce social media registration. The statement also called for an end of an online monitoring special task force aimed at controlling the spread of “fake news” concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.