The Ministry of Interior on Tuesday condemned Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) report entitled Cambodia’s Dirty Dozen: A Long History of Rights Abuses by Hun Sen’s Generals, which claims 12 army and police generals are the backbones of human rights violations in Cambodia, as “a crazy human rights report”.

The ministry added that the report “can’t be excused” and called on the NGO’s Asia director, Brad Adams, to “stop interfering in Cambodian sovereignty by producing fake reports”.

The report details 12 generals, eight of whom work within the Ministry of National Defence and four at the Ministry of Interior, who HRW claims, “had demonstrated a willingness to commit rights abuses on behalf of [Prime Minister] Hun Sen” and “ruthlessly and violently carried out his orders”.

The ministry said: “Human Rights Watch, with Brad Adams as its head, has again invented a crazy human rights report, insulting the development of all sectors of the Kingdom of Cambodia, which is led by a legitimately elected government.

“The Ministry of Interior condemns HRW, and regards this as a falsified report that can’t be excused, and demands [Adams] stops interfering in Cambodian sovereignty by producing fake reports with hidden poisonous tricks.”