The extreme restrictions on civil and political rights implemented since 2017 intensified, with the new State of Emergency Law adding to a legal framework which severely impinges upon human rights. Human rights defenders, peaceful demonstrators and members of the banned opposition party continued...

Chhim Sithar, the leader of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees (LRSU) of NagaWorld , has been rearrested for allegedly violating her bail terms, which arise from bogus charges of ‘incitement’, after returning to Cambodia from Australia. LRSU members have been striking since...

Six youth activists from Mother Nature Cambodia, a well-known environmental group that campaigns against environmental destruction and related human rights abuses, continue to face ongoing persecution. Three of the activists, already sentenced to 18-20 months imprisonment for trumped up charges of...

Six youth environmental activists have been wrongfully imprisoned in retaliation for their peaceful environmental activism. The activists are members of Mother Nature Cambodia, a well-known environmental group that campaigns against environmental destruction and related human rights abuses. In...

Wanchalearm Satsaksit, a Thai activist in exile, was reportedly abducted by unknown persons from outside his apartment building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A known dissident in Thailand, who often exercised his right to freedom of expression online in exile, Thai authorities issued a warrant for his...

Cambodia’s Prey Lang rainforest – one of Southeast Asia’s most important ecosystems – is under threat. In recent weeks, Prey Lang’s defenders have been threatened, arrested, and attacked. The harassment of Prey Lang’s defenders is a threat not only to the rainforest and the Indigenous peoples who...

Two environmental activists and prisoners of conscience, convicted of and sentenced on trumped-up charges based on their peaceful activism, were released after serving five months out of their 1-year prison sentences, as seven months of their sentences had been suspended.

Sam Sokha, a UNHCR recognised refugee, was arrested and detained by Cambodian authorities when forcibly returned from Thailand on 8 February. She had been convicted in absentia of “incitement” for her peaceful political activism and sentenced to over two years imprisonment plus a fine. Amnesty...

Kem Sokha, president of the dissolved main opposition party, was denied bail on appeal on 1 February, despite his seriously deteriorating health. Held in isolated pre-trial detention since his arrest on 3 September 2017, he faces up to 30 years imprisonment if convicted of politically motivated...

On 11 September 2017, environmental activists Hun Vannak and Doem Kundy were arrested in Cambodia while filming two large vessels they suspected of illegally carrying sand for export. They face up to three years in prison for incitement and violation of privacy. Both men are prisoners of conscience.

On 3 September, Kem Sokha, president of the dissolved main opposition party, was arrested at his house in Tuol Kork district in Phnom Penh, on politically motivated accusations of treason. If convicted he faces up to 30 years in prison. He has been denied bail.

Two former journalists for US-based Radio Free Asia in Cambodia were detained in the capital, Phnom Penh in November 2017 on trumped-up charges of espionage. They have been denied bail. If convicted, they face up to 15 years’ imprisonment. Amnesty International considers them prisoners of...

Two Cambodian housing rights defenders were tried and convicted on 22 August for “insult of a public official”. While Bov Sophea has been released, Tep Vanny remains in detention, serving a six-month sentence for charges related to a 2011 protest, and under investigation for separate charges linked...