Dictator Hun Xen's Cambodia is on par with Dictator Mubabe's Zimbabwe when it comes to Press Freedom

Left: Mugabe; Right: Hun Xe

Zim ranked 117 in world Press freedom

2012-01-30
Bridgette Bugalo
Own Correspondent

Zimbabwe has been ranked 117, on Press freedom in the world, improving by six notches from 2010, despite constant arrests of media practitioners last year, according to a report released by Reporters Without Borders.

Zimbabwe is tied on position 117 together with Cambodia, Fiji, Oman and Venezuela.

The international journalistic body ranked Finland and Norway as the most democratic, coming first and second respectively, while Eritria (179) and North Korea (178) were ranked the worst.

China Has 'Highly Repressive' Press: Poll

Freedom House map of media freedom in 2011.

2011-05-02
Radio Free Asia

Cambodia’s score also deteriorated due to an "aggressive use of disinformation and defamation legislation against journalists, as well as a reduction in media diversity following the closure of an opposition newspaper," Freedom House said.

Asia suffers a modest decline in an annual media freedom survey.

The level of press freedom in the Asia-Pacific region has fallen, with conditions in China "highly repressive" and with extensive state and Communist party controls also evident in Laos and Vietnam, U.S. human rights group Freedom House said in an annual survey Monday.

The region is also home to two of the survey’s poorest performers, Burma and North Korea, it said, citing a modest decline in the average score for the Asia-Pacific in the group's latest annual media freedom index assessing the degree of print, broadcast, and Internet freedom.

Only five percent of the region’s population had access to free media, while 46 percent live in "partly free" and 49 percent in "not free" media environments.

2009 LICADHO Report: Cambodia’s Media Continue to be Attacked, Threatened and Censored

May 2, 2009
Source: Licadho

Cambodia's media is often described as one of the freest in the region, especially relative to the likes of Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos or China where the media is all but controlled by the government1. But the reality is that Cambodia's media still exists in a repressive environment where the government controls the majority of the media. Those that it does not control, it is not afraid to attack, threaten or censor.

The 15 months reviewed in the latest LICADHO briefing paper - from January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009 - saw a number of cases of defamation lawsuits, repeated censorship, attacks, threats and intimidation.

The period review was crucial politically with the national election held in July 2008. The murder two weeks before the vote of opposition-aligned journalist Khim Sambo was a chilling reminder of the risks Cambodian journalists face for doing their job.

"The continued intimidation of the media through physical attacks, threats, charges of defamation and disinformation and murder ensure the lack of an environment free from political pressures for media to cover sensitive and important issues affecting Cambodians," says Naly Pilorge, Director of LICADHO.

As yet, no one has been arrested for the killing of Khim Sambo, a pattern consistent with the murders of journalists in Cambodia since 1993. In 2008, another journalist fled Cambodia with his family and has since been granted asylum in Norway after receiving death threats for his work for Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Most of the Kingdom's media outlets are aligned to a political party and most favor the Cambodian People's Party (CPP). All eight television channels are aligned with the CPP, as are 11 of the main 22 Khmer-language stations, and 13 of the 24 larger Khmer-language newspapers.

The briefing paper is titled Restrictions on the Freedom of Expression in Cambodia's Media, and is published in celebration of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2009. The briefing paper is an update to LICADHO's previous report on the subject of media restrictions which was published in May 2008 - Reading Between the Lines: How Politics, Money and Fear Control Cambodia's Media.

The report is available from http://licadho-cambodia.org/reports.php?perm=130

For more information, contact:
Dr. Kek Galabru, President of LICADHO at 012 940 645

World Press Freedom Day

03 May 2009
By Im Navin
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French

On 03 May, to mark the World Press Freedom Day, Licadho publishes a report on the situation in Cambodia.

According to France-based Reporters Without Borders, Cambodia dropped dramatically in the press freedom ranking: ranked 85th in 2007, Cambodia ranked 126th in 2008. Even though Cambodia’s ranking is better than that in neighboring countries (Vietnam, Laos, Burma, China), the press situation in Cambodia seems to be degrading.

In July 2008, two weeks before the general election, Khim Sambo, a reporter close to the opposition party, was assassinated with his son in Phnom Penh. The police still has not found the killers yet. According to Licadho’s report, 14 reporters were threatened in 2008, as compared to 7 in 2007; 10 reporters were arrested, as compared to 6 in 2007. A Cambodia journalist even received asylum in Norway in 2008 following death threats he received.

Licadho, the human rights NGO, selected to underscore the fact that Cambodian journalists continue to be threatened, attacked, and censored. “The continued intimidation of the media through physical attacks, threats, charges of defamation and disinformation and murder ensure the lack of an environment free from political pressures for media to cover sensitive and important issues affecting Cambodians,” Naly Pilorge, Licadho’s director, declared.

The NGO recalled also that the majority of newspapers and TV stations are attached or aligned with one political party. The majority of them support the ruling CPP: all TV channels, half of the radio stations and 13 out of 24 main publications in Khmer.

On the other hand, the Club of Cambodian Journalists chose to focus on the border conflict with Thailand. It assures that reporters in the disputed area could help resolve this conflict. It also underscores that the authorities let reporters do their work on the spot and that soldiers assure their security. However, on the Thai side, Thai army upholds information and prevents reporters from moving freely.