A Cambodian girl stands amid a crowd of people during an event to mark the 60th Anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights in Phnom Penh. An international rights group has demanded Cambodia's rulers end a spate of legal action against critics, which it called the government's "harshest crackdown in years" on free speech. (AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)Wednesday, July 15, 2009
PHNOM PENH (AFP) — An international rights group has demanded Cambodia's rulers end a spate of legal action against critics, which it called the government's "harshest crackdown in years" on free speech.
New York-based Human Rights Watch alleged premier Hun Sen's government aimed to silence political opposition and critics with a recent "campaign of harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action."
"The Cambodian government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years," said the group's Asia director, Brad Adams, in a statement.
Cambodian authorities have lodged at least nine criminal defamation and disinformation complaints against journalists, members of parliament, lawyers and critics of the government since April.
Criminal defamation cases against two opposition lawmakers are expected to proceed over the next weeks, and opposition newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer closed operations Friday to avoid prosecution for criticising government officials.
"The space of opposition media and peaceful dissent is rapidly shrinking in Cambodia, especially now with the closure of one of Cambodia's last remaining opposition newspapers," Adams said.
Cambodian government officials were not immediately available for comment.
The UN's human rights office in Cambodia also issued a report last month warning the spate of lawsuits against critics could nurture "fear, frustration and anger, with the risk of leading to further conflict and violence".
New York-based Human Rights Watch alleged premier Hun Sen's government aimed to silence political opposition and critics with a recent "campaign of harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action."
"The Cambodian government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years," said the group's Asia director, Brad Adams, in a statement.
Cambodian authorities have lodged at least nine criminal defamation and disinformation complaints against journalists, members of parliament, lawyers and critics of the government since April.
Criminal defamation cases against two opposition lawmakers are expected to proceed over the next weeks, and opposition newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer closed operations Friday to avoid prosecution for criticising government officials.
"The space of opposition media and peaceful dissent is rapidly shrinking in Cambodia, especially now with the closure of one of Cambodia's last remaining opposition newspapers," Adams said.
Cambodian government officials were not immediately available for comment.
The UN's human rights office in Cambodia also issued a report last month warning the spate of lawsuits against critics could nurture "fear, frustration and anger, with the risk of leading to further conflict and violence".
7 comments:
The only language that Hun Sen understands is force, unless someone speaks this language to him in a precise manner with accuracy he'll never stop and understand what pain is. Hun Sen at the moment is riding a horse with his hands free, at top of mountain Everest. He's immortal at least in his mind.
there is a single year where we don't get these serious setback?
None since Hun Sen came to power have progress be made forward but rights have been continuously curtail from year to year until Cambodia under total fear! Get ready for Ho Chi Minh's rise from his grave to personally congratulate his god-son Hun Sen.
I wonder how educated Hun Manet is, being educated in the state and all he must have been enlighten by living in free and open society like America.
I hope you bring this knowledge to good use when your god-king father gives you the throne!
Have you seen the documentary of the demise of the dominant hyena. This hyena and her brood dominated the pack of hyenas for years.Until the fateful day when her invincibilty made her ignore the dangers of a dominant lion. In one moment of inattention the lion broke the hyena's back.Later that day the henas rebelled and killed the crippled hyena and her brood.
This will happen to Hun sen, the one eyed hyena, and his family.
There will be no throne to give to. The one eyed hyena will be overthrown.
one eyed hyena is scared of social unrest. With the ever degrading economic crisis, there will be a breaking point where the people will be fed up and demand actions from the government. that is why he is trying to silence all critics right from the beginning.
I agreed with 1:25. He thinks he is on top of the world; that is why he is abusing his power against basic principles for democracy. He uses the court not for the rule of law but as a tool to fear and punish his critics; and he is the prime minister of Cambodia. What kind of role model is this?
Democratic Kampuchea Pol Pot Khmer Rouge Regime had committed:
Tortures
Executions
Massacres
Atrocities
Crimes Against Humanity
Starvations
Overwork to Death
Slavery
Rapes
Human Abuses
Assault and Battery
Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime had committed:
Assassinations
Assassinate Journalists
Assassinate Political Opponents
Murders
Killings
Extrajudicial Execution
Grenade Attack
Terrorism
Drive by Shooting
Tortures
Intimidations
Death Threats
Threatening
Human Abductions
Human Rights Abuses
Human Trafficking
Drugs Trafficking
Under Age Child Sex
Corruptions
Bribery
Illegal Mass Evictions
Illegal Land Grabbing
Illegal Firearms
Illegal Logging
Illegal Deforestation
Illegally use of remote detonation on Sokha Helicopter, while Hok Lundy and others military official on board.
Illegally Sold State Properties
Illegally Remove Parliamentary Immunity of Parliament Members
Plunder National Resources
Acid Attacks
Turn Cambodia into a Lawless Country
Oppression
Injustice
Steal Votes
Bring Foreigners from Veitnam to vote in Cambodia for Cambodian People's Party.
Abuse the Court as a tools for CPP to send political opponents and journalists to jail.
Abuse of Power
Abuse the Laws
Abuse the National Election Committee
Abuse the National Assembly
Violate the Laws
Violate the Constitution
Violate the Paris Accords
Impunity
Under Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime, no criminals that has been committed all of these crimes above within Hun Sen Khmer Rouge government have ever been brought to justice.
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