Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - UN envoy blasts gov’t in new report

UN envoy blasts gov’t in new report

Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Rhona Smith speaks at a press conference at the UN offices in Phnom Penh this year.
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Rhona Smith speaks at a press conference at the UN offices in Phnom Penh this year. Pha Lina

UN envoy blasts gov’t in new report

An advance release of UN Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith’s upcoming report to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) gives the government poor marks on a raft of social and political issues, prompting a government spokesman last night to declare that the former professor “doesn’t deserve to work in Cambodia”.

The report, obtained last night, touches on everything from democratic safeguards to the treatment of indigenous peoples, and is near-universally critical, arriving at the conclusion that recent developments “suggest that the law is increasingly being used to restrict the democratic space in the country”.

Smith’s report is due to be delivered to the HRC in Geneva on September 28. The rapporteur – who was derided just two months ago by human rights observers for being perceived as having a cosy relationship with the government – reserved her most incendiary remarks for the Kingdom’s current political situation.

Citing “a raft of arrests, detentions, charges and convictions against members of political parties and civil society”, the report paid special attention to the use of the judiciary, which she said, gives “the impression of restrictions applied in furtherance of political objectives”.

Several opposition and civil society members have been besieged by court cases widely considered to be politically motivated. CNRP president Sam Rainsy is in self-imposed exile to avoid jail, and his deputy Kem Sokha remains holed up in party headquarters to avoid arrest after being convicted last week for failing to honour court summonses.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan, however, responded to Smith’s assertion by arguing that Sokha had defied a court order, and that he and NGO staffers arrested after being caught up in his alleged sex scandal are obliged to face the charges against them in front of a judge.

“The law has been approved by the National Assembly and so [has] nothing to do with the government,” Siphan said. “The house of representatives represented the will of the people as a majority. The law depends on the culture of each country.”

In her report, Smith also mourned the loss of Cambodians’ constitutionally protected freedom of expression.

“It was, until recently, a characteristic of Cambodian society, contributing to open debate and discussion,” she wrote, noting that “an ever wider range of laws are being used to impose restrictions”.

Siphan, however, maintained that free expression remains protected under the law, “but they have to comply and cooperate with the local authorities”.

The special rapporteur also weighed in on the ongoing voter registration process, recommending that mechanisms be put in place to ensure migrant workers, along with other transient persons, are registered.

Siphan, however, countered that Smith was “not our boss, our church – we have to comply with the election law from the National Assembly”.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Ministry orders all schools, public and private, to close for SEA Games

    From April 20 to May 18, all public and private educational institutions will be closed to maintain order and support Cambodia's hosting of the 32nd SEA Games and 12th ASEAN Para Games, said a directive from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Cambodia will host the

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • Almost 9K tourists see equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat

    Nearly 9,000 visitors – including 2,226 international tourists – gathered at Angkor Wat on March 21 to view the spring equinox sunrise, according to a senior official of the Siem Reap provinical tourism department. Ngov Seng Kak, director of the department, said a total of 8,726 people visited Angkor Wat to