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 be ended by royal decree. It also includes restrictions on Cambodians’ freedom of association and assembly, freedom of expression, and their right to privacy, which violate both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Cambodian constitution.

To read their full statement, click here.

To read a larger analysis of Cambodia’s proposed law, click here.