Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)

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.

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.”

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.

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.”

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.

Several civil society groups have warned that women and children are at risk of abuse in quarantine centers or at home as some areas in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh are placed under lockdown.

The Sub-Decree on the Establishment of the National Internet Gateway violates Cambodia’s international human rights obligations and its Constitution, by threatening human rights online and offline, particularly the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and privacy.

Civil society groups in Cambodia denounced the arrest of five forestry activists who were collecting evidence of widespread illegal logging inside the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary.