Human rights

A Cambodian newspaper publisher who made critical comments about Prime Minister Hun Sen on Facebook has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.  A Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday jailed Ros Sokhet for incitement and ordered him to pay a fine of $500 (2 million riels), said Sam Sokong, ...

One of two Muslims allowed to run for the governing party in Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s general election on Sunday, Sithu Maung, worries fake news on Facebook could damage his chances. Within a torrent of racist abuse and misinformation posted about him ahead of the polls are false ...

When Hla, 19, tried to go back to work seven months ago after having a baby, there were no jobs. Hundreds of garment factories in Myanmar had closed after western fashion brands cancelled orders due to the pandemic, leaving thousands of women jobless. As lockdown gripped Yangon, ...

A recent draft of the cybercrime law obtained by VOA Khmer has drawn concerns from NGOs and rights groups over clauses that could help the government intensify its crackdown on freedom of expression, while also raising privacy and data collection concerns. The draft law, the formulation ...

The United States continues to urge the Cambodian government to open democratic space for citizens to help the country toward a development path of durable democracy and respect for human rights, US officials say. Recent communications between the US and Cambodia come amid the government’s current ...

Outspoken Vietnamese democracy activist and author Pham Doan Trang has been arrested on anti-state propaganda charges, police and state media said Wednesday, as rights groups condemned her apprehension just hours after annual U.S.-Vietnam human rights talks and warned that the blogger faced the risk of ...

Myanmar was considered Asia’s last frontier market, not too long ago – rich in natural resources and investment potential, but only just emerging to the possibilities of digitization. About a decade later, sweeping reforms brought a new era of connectivity, bringing down the cost of smartphones and mobile ...

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam attended the programme “Connecting millions of hearts” in Hanoi on October 10 to launch a charity movement on the iNhandao platform and debut digital platforms in education, health care and culture. The event was part of the project on developing the digital ...

As dark clouds approached her village in northwestern Cambodia one afternoon in July, Set Sreylon prepared for the monsoon that threatened to flood her new family home. While the rains were a concern, the 37-year-old feared a bigger threat to her property – the daily visits ...

Authorities in Vietnam have arrested a Facebook user for sharing his grievances about how the local government has handled a dispute over his family’s land, RFA has learned. Le Van Hai, from Binh Dinh province in the country’s South Central Coast region was charged with “abusing ...