Background

Hun Manet, the prime minister, leader of the ruling political party and the Cambodian People’s Party, continued the same policies as his predecessor and father, Hun Sen.

Economic, social and cultural rights

People continued to live under the threat of forced evictions at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Angkor. Previous mass forced evictions had occurred in violation of international human rights law, and authorities failed to adequately inform people or meaningfully consult with them prior to the evictions. Authorities also intimidated and threatened many into not questioning the evictions, which resulted in relocation to places that did not have housing, adequate water, sanitation facilities, or access to livelihoods.

UNESCO requested Cambodia submit a report that addressed “possible forced population displacements” and included “a response to the Amnesty International allegations”. In February, the government published a State of Conservation report that failed to provide any verifiable information on how families were selected for relocation. It asserted, without evidence, that only “squatters” were relocated. The report also failed to provide accessible links to previous research, maps or land surveys to indicate how the government undertook its assessment of the “illegality” of households within Angkor.

The Run Ta Ek resettlement site for evicted families continued to lack basic infrastructure, such as roads and drainage, and many houses did not have access to piped water. Many residents were heavily indebted to predatory microfinance institutions and reported using their social welfare cards and land titles as collateral for the loans.

A decision approved by the World Heritage Committee fell short of calling on the government to make an explicit commitment not to engage in forced evictions in Angkor, but a monitoring mission was requested.¹

Freedom of expression and assembly

Arbitrary arrests and detentions

Authorities arbitrarily arrested at least 94 people, including several children, between July and October, for publicly criticizing the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV). The CLV is a development plan between the governments of Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam established in 2004 to facilitate cooperation on trade and migration. At least 59 of those arrested, including environmental, human rights and other activists, were unlawfully detained and charged for peacefully expressing their views. Authorities charged at least 21 people with incitement to commit a felony, a charge often spuriously brought against human rights activists. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia previously expressed concern about the improper use of such incitement charges. At least 33 people faced charges of plotting against the state, including four members from the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association. Incitement carries a penalty of up to two years in prison, while plotting carries a punishment of up to 10 years.

In a speech on 12 August, former prime minister and current senate president Hun Sen made public threats against CLV critics, including Hay Vanna, an opposition activist living in Japan. On 16 August, Cambodian authorities arrested Hay Vannith, Vanna’s brother, a Health Ministry civil servant. They did not provide information about his whereabouts until 20 August, raising concerns that he had been forcibly disappeared. His family only learned he was in custody after an audio recording of a supposed confession by Hay Vannith to overthrow the government was posted on 21 August on the government spokesperson’s Facebook page.

On 20 September, Hun Sen revealed Cambodia would withdraw from the CLV, but charges against many of those charged with crimes relating to the CLV had not been dropped by the end of the year.²

Thirty-nine political activists or members of opposition parties remained imprisoned, often on spurious charges and unfair convictions for crimes such as incitement to commit a felony, plotting, and insulting the king. Most had spent months in pretrial detention. Prisoner of conscience and leader of the former main opposition party, Kem Sokha, was charged with conspiracy with a foreign power and sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Environmental defenders and the right to a healthy environment

On 5 June, five environmental activists from the Mother Nature movement refused to enter the courtroom because authorities arbitrarily prevented some media and supporters from monitoring their public hearing. The hearing proceeded despite the absence of all charged activists.³

On 2 July, 10 activists associated with the movement were convicted of plotting and insulting the king. The charges related to Mother Nature’s public activism since 2012.

Journalists

Award-winning journalist Mech Dara was arrested by military police on 30 September. On 1 October he was charged with incitement under articles 494 and 495 of the Cambodian Criminal Code. Dara is known for his journalism with numerous leading Cambodian news outlets which have since been closed by the government, or its allies, essentially silencing all domestic independent media. He had won awards for his investigative reporting on corruption and Cambodia’s scam compounds, locations where human trafficking and torture were regularly reported.⁴

Human trafficking and forced labour

Human trafficking, forced labour, slavery, torture and child labour continued to occur across the country, particularly in compounds where online cryptocurrency, gambling and gaming scams were run.⁵

1. “Cambodia: World Heritage Committee must ensure UNESCO decision addresses Angkor forced evictions”, 19 July ↩︎
2. “Cambodia: Arrests target critics of regional development zone”, 28 August ↩︎
3. “Cambodia: Conviction of youth activists a further blow to Cambodia’s environmental movement”, 2 July ↩︎
4. “Cambodia: Charges against journalist highlight clampdown on press freedom”, 2 October ↩︎
5. “Cambodia: Review of the Universal Periodic Review at 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council”, 1 October ↩︎