Human rights in Cambodia

After a series of flagrant violations against basic human rights a feeling of incertitude regarding the direction the country is emerging, sometimes comparing the situation to a newborn Burma.

The government continues to turn a blind eye to fraudulent confiscation of farmers' land, illegal logging, and widespread plundering of natural resources.

The NGO Human Rights Watch offers this assessment of the current state of affairs in Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander, had been in power since 1985.

His rule had relied on security force violence and politically motivated persecution of opposition members, activists, and human rights workers.

[2]Human rights in Cambodia may be seen in the context of both its traditions deriving primarily from Indian culture and its absolute rule of god-kings, and Buddhism, the main religion within Cambodian society.

In more modern times, the country has been greatly influenced by French colonialism and a half century of radical change from constitutional monarchy, to a presidential regime under Lon Nol, a radical Marxism–Leninism under the Khmer Rouge, a Vietnamese occupation under the communist party People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), and finally the restoration of constitutional monarchy under a United Nations administered transition (UNTAC), a result of the Paris Agreement signed in 1991.

More recently, what was decried as a campaign against freedom of expression[4] marked an accelerating backward slide in Cambodia's efforts to promote human rights values.

[6] Journalists in Cambodia are increasingly being subjected to various forms of harassment and pressure, as well as violence, a report published on August 3, 2022 by the UN Human Rights Office said, amid growing restrictions on civic space and press freedoms in the country.

[7] Soy Sros, a Cambodian woman who makes bags for international fashion brands like Michael Kors and Kate Spade, worked at the Superl factory in Kampong Speu Province.

On 4 April 2020, Soy was sent to prison for a Facebook post in which she wrote about her concerns that workers from her factory would be laid off in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

[8] In 2020, Human Rights Watch raised concerns that the Cambodian government had used the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic to restrict fundamental liberties, including granting laws banning the distribution of information, establishing surveillance of telecommunications, and total control of the media.

For several years, the Cambodian Ministry of Women's Affairs has shown a considerable commitment in the fight against gender-specific and domestic violence, making it a national Millennium Development Goal.

With widespread corruption and a long road ahead for Cambodia to become a constitutional state, LGBTI persons face the same type of difficulties as other citizens, where rule of law is weak.

Amongst several unresolved assassinations, the murder of union leader Chea Vichea received strong international coverage by major human rights and labour organizations, and the United Nations.

"Impunity for perpetrators of human rights abuses and lack of an independent judiciary remained serious problems," Amnesty's 2012 Annual Report said.

Informal detainees held in extra judicial centres have been forced to work on construction sites, including in at least one instance to help build a hotel.

"Impunity enjoyed by the rich and powerful helps explain a lack of public trust in Cambodia's judicial and law enforcement institutions.

[21][22][23] According to ABC News, it was during a brutal and lawless period, following the fall of the Khmer Rouge, that child sex slavery began to flourish.

"[6] In November 2021, Cambodia released 26 political, environmental and youth activists facing charges of incitement against the government, which human rights groups said was a positive step but that many more remained incarcerated.

A justice ministry spokesman, confirming the release of the jailed activists, denied any international pressure and said they were freed partly due to overcrowding in prisons.

Amid the growing restrictions on civic space in the country, journalists were increasingly subjected to various forms of harassment, pressure, and violence.