An example of worrisome COVID-19 laws can be found in Cambodia. Civil Rights Defenders, CIVICUS, FORUM-ASIA, and Frontline Defenders have issued a joint statement to express their concerns over the Cambodian government’s “draconian” proposed emergency response to the pandemic. This proposed law would extend “unfettered power to the executive” with “no defined endpoint” and can only…
On October 23, 2017, 55 international civil society organizations (CSOs) issued an open letter about the government’s extreme crackdown on Cambodia’s independent media, political opposition, and members of civil society over the past year. In addition to the Cambodian National Assembly’s recent attempt to pass legislation that allows the government to dissolve political parties, the letter notes that independent…
The Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), also known as the Action Committee, was established in 1994 by a group of local NGOs in order to promote human rights, rule of law, peace and democracy. CHRAC is a coalition of currently 21 local neutral, non‐partisan, non‐governmental organizations in Cambodia. CHRAC is envisioning Cambodia as a…
On July 10, 2016, human rights defender and independent political analyst, Kem Ley, was murdered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ley is the founder of the grassroots organization Khmer for Khmer, and was murdered days after speaking with Radio Free Asia about a recent Global Witness report that documented the corruption of the Prime Minister of…