UN Official Tells Government Not to Be Defensive of Rights Record

James Heenan

May 12, 2013
By Lauren Crothers
The Cambodia Daily

The U.N.’s representative for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia (OHCHR) on Friday warned the government not to be defensive about criticism from other countries and civil society groups when it submits its first progress report to the U.N. Human Rights Council on 91 recommendations Cambodia accepted in 2009.

Speaking at a workshop be­tween the OHCHR and the government’s Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC) in Phnom Penh, James Heenan said he wanted to “very respectfully” remind the government that the U.N.’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process is about showing what has been done and owning up to what has yet to be done.