Keo Remy, head of the government’s Human Rights Committee, has claimed a UN representative admitted to wrongly evaluating Cambodia’s record on human rights – a claim denied by that representative yesterday.

Remy’s comments came following a Tuesday meeting with Wan-Hea Lee, a representative from the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). According to a press release, the meeting was meant to discuss strengthening cooperation, building trust, and technical assistance between the two organisations.

In an audio recording obtained by the Post, Remy told reporters after the meeting that Lee had admitted she had “wrongly evaluated that Cambodia does not pay attention to human rights”. He went on to claim that the OHCHR rep recognised his committee “has advanced research related to human rights issues”.

But Lee yesterday told the Post via email that while Remy “did refer to ‘wrong’ assessments about the human rights situation in Cambodia and the Adhoc and NEC cases” at their meeting, she “did not reply”.

“My view is that the concerned actors have amply made their views known, including OHCHR, and it would not be helpful to rehash them at this meeting, which was on future cooperation between OHCHR and the CHRC,” Lee said.

In September, the OHCHR released a statement expressing “deep concern” about the human rights situation in Cambodia. An MoU between the body and Cambodian government has been languishing unsigned for the past 10 months.