 |
| even supporters of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party have been poorly treated |
 |
| A furious Strongman pointing aand barking at reporters |
Washington, DC Monday, 25 April 2011
“People remain in fear, and journalists in particular can be threatened and are working in fear."
As Washington prepares for a series of events to mark World Press Freedom Day next month, Cambodian journalists and media analysts say heavy restrictions on media remain.
The US will host the Unesco-supported event from May 1 to May 3, in a number of functions that focus on 21st Century media and its challenges, especially in social media.
Cambodia, meanwhile, continues to struggle with traditional media rights.
Cambodia’s law provides for a free press, among other constitutional freedoms, but journalists here contend with threats, criminalized lawsuits, bans and self-censorship, analysts said.
“When journalists commit self-censorship, by not daring to publish information that is strongly critical of the government, or information that is negative about society, then this causes the democratic process to not only stand in place, but to go backward,” Moeun Chhean Narridh, director of the Cambodian Institute for Media Studies, said.
Twelve journalists were killed in Cambodia between 1995 and 2008, but no perpetrators have been arrested in any of those cases. Other journalists have been jailed under criminal defamation or disinformation laws, especially those affiliated with the opposition.
Boy Roeuy, publisher of the Khmer Nation paper, which is sympathetic to the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said fear among journalists is at an all-time high.
“There’s a strong surge [in fear] when we see corrupt officials,” he said. “Before, we could write about it, but now if we write they use methods of threaten us, directly or indirectly, through those that know us. This causes us to pay attention, to be afraid, and is, especially, frustrating us from writing the story, literally.”
It is also getting harder to seek balancing comments from government officials, he said, opening up more lawsuits. All of this adds up to a weakened opposition press, which has a vital role, he said.
“Without the opposition, they freely mistreat our citizens,” he said.
Meanwhile, even supporters of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party have been poorly treated, he said, citing the example of Boeung Kak lake, whose residents have protested an impending real estate development that will push them from their homes.
