Human rights
Economic, social and cultural rights
HRW slams NGO Law, court cases in report
In what has become a yearly tradition, Human Rights Watch levelled a broadside of criticisms at the Cambodian government on 27 January, accusing it in its annual report of enacting “draconian” legislation and granting itself broad “arbitrary powers” to suppress dissent. The global report’s Cambodia section ...
UN pressures Thai Government on 82 disappeared
The government has been active in dealing with enforced disappearances, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sek Wannamethee said on 7 January. Mr Sek’s comments came after the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 6 January urged the government to step up efforts to investigate the whereabouts of 82 ...
Activist groups look to next government to solve human rights abuses
Activists marked International Human Rights Day on 10 December by setting an agenda for the next government. Land rights topped the list in an online poll for rights and business priority issues conducted by the Institute for Human Rights and Business, a co-founder of the Myanmar Centre ...
Human Rights Day protest stays peaceful
Close to 2,000 people, including monks, NGO workers and citizens, marched peacefully to the Ministry of Justice on 10 December morning, defying City Hall’s ban on the Human Rights Day protest. Demonstrators from 16 different provinces marched from three separate locations – the Senate, Chenla Cinema and ...
Human Rights Day marches gathering steam despite gov't obstacles
Authorities in Siem Reap on 9 December blocked a march celebrating International Human Rights Day (IHRD), as officials in Phnom Penh reiterated their threat to shut down a planned mass rally in the capital on 10 December. As IHRD, officially on 10 December, approaches, associated demonstrations across ...
Myanmar comes under renewed pressure to ratify key human rights treaties
Myanmar has come under renewed pressure to lift itself from the bottom rung of countries to have ratified key international human rights treaties. Speaking at an event in Yangon yesterday to mark International Human Rights Day, Andrew MacGregor, a senior official from the Office of the ...
Conservative Buddhists donate to Kachin IDPs
Hard-line nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu has revealed that his Committee for the Protection of Race and Religion, known as Ma Ba Tha, is providing aid to displaced Christians in war-ravaged Kachin State. Ma Ba Tha said it had donated K6 million for internally displaced persons ...
Human rights envoy warns of ‘dangerous tipping point’ in Cambodia
The renewed tensions between the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party threaten to push Cambodia towards a “dangerous tipping point” if not resolved, the UN’s human rights envoy has said. Her words came as CNRP president Sam Rainsy, a warrant issued for ...
Civil society organisations to hold rally on 10 December
Civil society groups, unions, monks and activists are planning a thousands-strong march in Phnom Penh to deliver petitions to the National Assembly and Ministry of Justice to mark International Human Rights Day on 10 December. Keep reading ...
UN criticises Cambodia, China rights violations
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on 17 November that an arrest warrant issued against Cambodia’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy was a worrisome development and called for dialogue. Meanwhile, in Geneva, a UN watchdog questioned Chinese officials over alleged widespread use of torture in the country’s prisons, deaths ...
