See UN document (without references)
Download UN document (pdf)
Full PDF version with references
Written Statement to the 42nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council by Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), NGO in Special Consultative Status, and Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), NGO in General Consultative Status
Item 10 – Technical assistance and capacity-building
The roots of Cambodia’s persistent rights violations: Impunity of the powerful[*]
- Introduction
Human rights in the Kingdom of Cambodia have remained a constant concern for decades, but recent years have seen marked deterioration of respect, protection and fulfilment of the international human rights obligations Cambodia has undertaken as a party to the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements (PPAs)[1] and numerous UN human rights treaties.[2] With increasing boldness, Cambodia systematically disregards its international human rights obligations and its Constitution. Instead, Cambodia misuses laws and institutions to shield the enrichment of powerful officials and government-connected business leaders at the expense of development measures that benefit the majority of Cambodians. Cambodia manipulates laws, courts, institutions, and electoral processes to silence critics, including human rights defenders (defenders) and opposition politicians. Continued support for the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of Cambodia and the United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Cambodia is critical to ensure Cambodia’s accountability to fulfil its multilateral international human rights obligations.
- Cambodia’s international obligations in light of its tragic history
Cambodia was among the 19 States that signed the 1991 PPAs to end Cambodia’s decades of bloodshed and pursue durable peace through free and fair elections, promotion of human rights, and reconstruction of the country in recognition and respect of the country’s sovereignty and independence. In February 1993, the UN Commission on Human Rights (CHR) adopted a resolution recognizing that Cambodia’s “tragic history” required “special measures to assure the protection of human rights and the non-return to the policies and practices of the past.”[3] The CHR resolution welcomed Cambodia’s ratification or accession to several human rights treaties and created a UN Centre for Human Rights and a Special Representative to assist Cambodia to fulfil the human rights obligations it had undertaken.[4]
After the May 1993 UN-supervised national election and the formation of a government in September 1993, Cambodia’s Constitution came into force confirming that Cambodia “shall recognize and respect human rights as stipulated in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the covenants and conventions related to human rights, women’s and children’s rights.”[5]
The UN established the Centre for Human Rights in Cambodia in October 1993 (merged with the OHCHR in 1998). The Secretary General (SG) appointed the first Special Representative on Human Rights in Cambodia (SGSR) in November 1993. The SGSR’s inaugural 1994 report recommended that Cambodia give priority to resolution of land disputes due to “[r]isks of oppression, abuse of power and favouritism in the allocation of land amongst competing claimants and local authorities” and to prevent the “rise of persisting conflict and lawlessness.”[6] The SGSR also made recommendations for the right to remedies through independent, impartial courts.[7] Later in 1994, the SGSR recommended urgent attention to laws for the administration of justice and a reformed land law.[8]
Twenty-five years later, land rights and the administration of justice remain among several intertwined concerns continually emphasized by the OHCHR in Cambodia and by all four UN Special Representatives and two Special Rapporteurs on the situation of Cambodia (collectively referred to as SRs). Other Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council (Council) including thematic SRs, as well as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) processes, have also conveyed these concerns, as have UN human rights treaty bodies. On the 20th anniversary of the PPAs in 2011, the SR on Cambodia stated:
Cambodia has undeniably progressed over the past twenty years, with peace and stability bringing enormous dividends in terms of wealth and development. Institutions have been established and laws written… However the challenge remains in the implementation of many of these laws and proper functioning of these institutions….The Agreements will remain relevant until their vision is a reality for all Cambodians…[9]
- Cambodia’s failure to implement UN human rights recommendations
A number of Cambodia’s laws violate international standards or are implemented in a discriminatory manner, favouring powerful persons or silencing dissent. Courts lack independence, impartiality, and integrity, and consistently provide influential persons with impunity for rights violations.
a. Land-grabbing and illegal logging
Cambodia adopted a land law in 2001,[10] but land titling remains incomplete,[11] including slow progress issuing communal land titles to indigenous peoples.[12] SRs have raised concerns about discriminatory implementation of the law.[13] There is reported corruption regarding land concessions and concern about widespread illegitimate land acquisition for agribusiness, economic development, and illegal logging,[14] resulting in devastation of forests,[15] natural resources, livelihoods, and indigenous peoples’ rights.
Since 1973, Cambodia’s forests have been dramatically reduced.[16] From 2000 to 2013, land-grabbing has adversely affected approximately 770,000 people through forced evictions and damage to land and environment without adequate redress or remedies.[17] Women defenders are often at the forefront of peaceful community advocacy for justice and fair compensation and frequently experience attacks, judicial harassment, and arbitrary detention.[18] Land disputes remain rife,[19] with no reliable access to independent, impartial dispute resolution or judicial remedies.
b. Laws and the legal system: Lack of independence and integrity
Executive influence over legal institutions precludes equal access to independent, impartial justice. After years of recommendations from SRs, in 2014 Cambodia passed laws on the judiciary[20] which failed to meet international standards by giving undue executive power over the judiciary and prosecutors.[21] Cambodia’s judiciary and legal profession have been weakened by extensive and persistent corruption.[22]
Cambodia passed an anti-corruption law in 2010, but implementation has been inadequate despite SRs’ recommendations.[23] Cambodia is among the world’s most corrupt countries.[24] Mistrust of police and courts is among the causes of extrajudicial reprisals against suspected criminals, including 73 recorded “mob justice” killings from 2000 to 2018.[25]
c. Electoral malfeasance
Irregularities have marred all Cambodian elections,[26] but in 2017 hopes for change plummeted when the long-ruling Cambodia People’s Party (CPP) created and deployed an overbroad law[27] to dissolve the only viable opposition, the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP). A May 2018 decree provided for surveillance and control of pre-election news.[28] These and other measures resulted in a July 2018 national election that denied Cambodians’ the right to vote in a genuine election.[29] The CPP gained 100 percent control of the legislature. The SR deemed Cambodia to be now “de facto a single party State.”[30]
d. Suppression of expression rights
News media are largely controlled by persons linked to high ranking officials,[31] and independent media are suppressed.[32] Persons who criticize public officials in news reports or social media are criminalized using Penal Code provisions such as criminal defamation, public insult, incitement, and a 2018 lèse majesté law, which fail to meet international standards.[33]
e. Attacks on defenders and political opposition
Lawyers, defenders,[34] journalists,[35] analysts, politicians, or activists who report concerns about illegitimate land acquisition,[36] environmental degradation,[37] labour rights violations,[38] corruption,[39] election irregularities,[40] or other rights violations are regularly subjected to official vilification, intimidation, criminalization, and arbitrary detention (e.g. lawyer Ny Chakrya,[41] defender Tep Vanny[42]), attacks, enforced disappearances,[43] or unlawful killings with impunity (e.g. Kem Ley in 2016,[44] Chut Wutty in 2012,[45] and Chea Vichea in 2004[46]). In 2015, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed concern about judicial corruption, and lack of accountability for extrajudicial killings[47] and disappearances allegedly perpetrated by police and military personnel since the 1991 PPAs, without adequate investigation, prosecution, or compensation to victims.[48]
In September 2017, CNRP leader Kem Sokha was detained and charged with plotting to overthrow the government because of a 2013 speech on nonviolent political change. The SR has been denied visits to Kem Sokha.[49] In October 2017, several CNRP leaders, including Deputy Leader Mu Sochua fled Cambodia after warnings of likely arrest.[50] In May 2019, the SR repeated her previous calls for “the release of Kem Sokha from detention and the swift conclusion of the investigation or for the charges to be dropped.”[51] In June 2019, the SR, along with the SR on Freedom of Expression, expressed concern that Cambodian authorities had detained and questioned 140 former-CNRP members about their gatherings or social media statements.[52]
In August 2015, Cambodia passed a Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO) despite concerns expressed by Cambodian and international NGOs and the OHCHR in Cambodia[53] that it falls short of international human rights standards. Its overbroad provisions enable officials to overreach their lawful authority in violation of freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. Despite the SR’s urging to implement the LANGO in compliance with Cambodia’s international human rights obligations,[54] government officials have invoked the LANGO unlawfully to break up meetings and trainings of NGOs and community associations, falsely stating that the LANGO forbids holding events without permission from local authorities.[55]
- Slow implementation of recommendations of Special Procedures and the UPR
Cambodia’s responses to SR and OHCHR recommendations for the past twenty-five years have been characterized by disregard, neglect, delay, resistance, or hostility. Cambodia has demonstrated overt disrespect for SRs, including personalized verbal attacks.[56] The current SR has been denied visits to persons in detention or under house arrest,[57] contrary to the terms of reference for country visits of Special Procedures.[58]
During its 3rd UPR in April 2019,[59] States made 198 recommendations. Cambodia confirmed its acceptance of 173, including recommendations for:
- development that benefits all strata of society;[60]
- fair resolution of land disputes including evictions, relocations and compensation;[61]
- judicial independence;[62]
- compliance with the ICCPR;[63]
- accountability for rights violations through independent investigations and prosecution of perpetrators;[64]
- freedom of expression for all citizens and journalists including on the internet;[65]
- a safe and enabling environment for civil society, including respect and protection of rights of journalists, defenders, trade union workers, land and environmental activists, and political opposition members;[66]
- revision of laws to align them with international human rights obligations;[67]
- participation of opposition parties in political life;[68]
- fair elections including independence of the National Election Commission;[69]
- implementation of recommendations of the SR on Cambodia;[70]
- acceptance of visits by Special Procedures mandate holders;[71] and
- constructive engagement with all Special Procedures.[72]
It is not known what if any measures have been taken have been taken to implement these recommendations.
- Recommendations
LRWC requests that the Council extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia and strongly urge Cambodia to:
a. Promptly and effectively implement in good faith all the recommendations Cambodia accepted during its third UPR.[73]
b. Cooperate with Council Special Procedures,[74] the OHCHR, and UN human rights treaty bodies, and promptly implement all their recommendations in good faith;
c. Respect the mandate and person of the SR on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, including facilitating visits with all persons detained or subjected to house arrest, as required by the 2016 terms of reference for country visits of Special Procedures.[75]
d. Release Kem Sokha from detention, promptly conclude the investigation of allegations against him and drop the charges.
e. Issue a standing invitation to all Special Procedures, and immediately accept all pending requests for country visits;[76]
f. Review and repeal or amend all laws, including but not limited to the LANGO, the Law on Political Parties, and Criminal Code provisions on criminal defamation, public insult, incitement, and lèse majesté, to ensure compliance with international human rights obligations,
g. Invite independent experts to investigate, under UN auspices, all unlawful killings, including murders of defenders Kem Ley, Chut Wutty, and Chea Vichea, in accordance with the 2016 UN Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death;[77]
h. Adopt a law to protect defenders based on the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders[78] and the International Service for Human Rights Model National Law on the Recognition and Protection of Human Rights Defenders.[79]
[*] See the fully footnoted version of this statement at https://www.lrwc.org/cambodias-persistent-rights-violations-impunity-of-the-powerful-un-statement/.
[1] UN General Assembly, Agreements on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict: Paris, 23 October 1991, A/46/608 S/23177, https://peacemaker.un.org/cambodiaparisagreement91.
[2] Included are the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED), Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
[3] Situation of human rights in Cambodia, Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/6, E/CN.4/RES/1993/619/02/1993, http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/E/CHR/resolutions/E-CN_4-RES-1993-6.doc.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, September 21, 1993, http://cambodia.ohchr.org/~cambodiaohchr/sites/default/files/Constitution_ENG.pdf.
[6] Report of the Special Representative on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, E/CN. 4/1994/73, paras 18-25, 242ff, http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=E/CN.4/1994/73&Lang=E.
[7] Ibid, paras. 136, 137, 242, 252.
[8] Report of the Special Representative on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, Addendum, para 12; E/CN.4/1994/73/Add.1, 1994, http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=E/CN.4/1994/73/Add.1&Lang=E.
[9] Special Rapporteur on Cambodia, Cambodia: “Paris Peace Agreements still relevant 20 years on,” Press release for Sunday 23 October 2011, on the 20th anniversary of the Paris Peace Agreements, https://cambodia.ohchr.org/~cambodiaohchr/sites/default/files/news/WebDOCs/2011/SR_news_release_on_Paris_Peace_Agreements_anniversary_23_October_2011.pdf.
[10] Open Development Cambodia, Land tenure and land titling, updated 31 May 2019, https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/topics/land-tenure-and-titling/.
[11] Ibid.
[12] OHCHR, End of Mission Statement by United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Professor Rhona Smith, Phnom Penh, 9 May 2019, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24579&LangID=E.
[13] OHCHR, Eviction and resettlement in Cambodia: Human costs, impacts and solutions, 2012, http://cambodia.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Thematic-reports/Resettlement_Study-28_Feb_2012_Eng.pdf; A Human Rights Analysis of Economic and Other Land Concessions in Cambodia, Addendum to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, A/HRC/21/63/Add.1/Rev.1, 11 October 2012; Special Representative on Human Rights in Cambodia, Economic Land Concessions in Cambodia: A Human Rights Perspective , 2007. Also see the Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, A/67/278, 9 August 2012.
[14] David Boyle and Shaun Turton, Plundering Cambodia’s Forests, Aljazeera, 5 August 2019, https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2019/plundering-cambodias-forests/index.html.
[15] NASA Earth Observatory, Cambodia’s Forests Are Disappearing, 2017, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/89413/cambodias-forests-are-disappearing; Tyler Roney, The Difficult Discussion on Cambodia’s Forests, The Diplomat, 30 October 2017, https://thediplomat.com/2017/10/the-difficult-discussion-on-cambodias-forests/; Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), Land situation in Cambodia 2013, Phnom Penh, 2014, p.3, https://data.opendevelopmentmekong.net/dataset/3c557e19-527d-406a-97cc-8b06940bdd90/resource/646574be-25e7-45dd-9219-aa53af7defe7/download/adhoclandreport2013.pdf.
[16] Ibid, ADHOC, p. 34, f.n. 125.
[17] Ibid, ADHOC, p. 36.
[18] LICADHO, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence: Sor Sorn, 7 December 2018, http://www.licadho-cambodia.org/articles/20181207/154/index.html; Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Concluding observations on the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Cambodia, CEDAW/C/KHM/CO/4-5, October 2013, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CEDAW/C/KHM/CO/4-5&Lang=En.
[19] SR, End of Mission Statement, 9 May 2019, see note 12; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Rhona Smith, A/HRC/30/58, 20 August 2015, Paras 8-10, http://cambodia.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Annual-reports/A_HRC_30_58_Eng.pdf; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, A/HRC/27/70, 15 August 2014, http://cambodia.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Annual-reports/A_HRC_30_58_Eng.pdf; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi: Addendum: A human rights analysis of economic and other land concessions in Cambodia, A/HRC/21/63/Add.1, 11 October 2012,
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/736486/files/A_HRC_21_63_Add-1_Rev-1-EN.pdf.
[20] Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Supreme Council of Magistracy (Unofficial Translation by CCHR), 2014, http://www.sithi.org/admin/upload/law/03_Draft_Law_on_the_Organization_and_Functioning_of_the_Supreme_Council_of_Magistracy_English.pdf; Law on the Organization of the Courts, 2014, https://www.arbitrationcouncil.org/uploads/433e3-01.-law-on-the-org-of-the-courts-english.pdf; Law on the Status of Judges and Prosecutors of the Kingdom of Cambodia (unofficial translation by CCHR), 2014, http://www.sithi.org/judicial/docs/Judicial_Laws/Draft_Law_on_the_Statute_of_Judges_and_Prosecutors_NA_Eng.pdf.
[21] Gabriela Knaul, ‘Intervention by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers’, at the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) Press Conference on Cambodia’s Draft Judicial Laws, Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 15 July 2014, available at
www.ibanet.org/Document/Default.aspx?DocumentUid=6499E34F-B76A-4CF5-89D8-3E798D8461EE; OHCHR in Cambodia, Comments on certain provisions of the draft Law on the organisation of courts in relation to international human rights standards, May 2014, http://cambodia.ohchr.org/~cambodiaohchr/sites/default/files/OHCHR%20comments%20on%20draft%20Law%20on%20org%20of%20courts%2C%20ENG%20May%202014%20final.pdf. Also see International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Achieving Justice for Gross Human Rights Violations in Cambodia: Baseline Study, October 2017, https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Cambodia-GRA-Baseline-Study-Publications-Reports-Thematic-reports-2017-ENG.pdf;
[22] Ibid, ICJ 2017, p. 4; SR, End of Mission Statement, 9 May 2019, see note 12.
[23] SR, End of Mission Statement, 9 May 2019, see note 12; Statement by SR on Cambodia to 39th session of the Human Rights Council, 26 September 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23639&LangID=E; OHCHR, UN rights experts urge Cambodia to stop attacks against civil society and human rights defenders, 12 May 2016, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=19954&LangID=E.
[24] Transparency International, Cambodia: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption, 2016, https://knowledgehub.transparency.org/assets/uploads/helpdesk/Country-profile-Cambodia-2016.pdf; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, A/HRC/27/70, 15 August 2014, see note 19.
[25] OHCHR, “People’s Court”, Preventing and responding to “popular justice” in Cambodia, 18 July 2019, http://cambodia.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/report/other-report/OHCHR%20Report%20EN.pdf. Also see OHCHR, Street Retribution In Cambodia, 2002 http://cambodia.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Thematic-reports/Thematic_CMB06062002E.pdf.
[26] Report of the SR on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Addendum, A/HRC/39/73/Add.1, 7 September 2018, http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/39/73/Add.1; Report of the SR on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, A/HRC/27/70, 15 August 2014, see note 19; for history see Lee Morgenbesser, The failure of democratisation by elections in Cambodia, Contemporary Politics, 23:2(2017): 135-155.
[27] Cambodia OHCHR, A Human Rights Analysis of the Amended Law on Political Parties (2017), 28 March 2017, https://cambodia.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Analysis%20on%20the%20Amended%20Law%20on%20Political%20Parties%2028%2003%202017%20FINAL%20no%20TC.pdf.
[28] Report of the SR on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Addendum, A/HRC/39/73/Add.1, 7 September 2018, see note 26; OHRHC, Cambodia: UN experts express concerns about media freedoms ahead of vote, 15 June 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23205&LangID=E; Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Press briefing notes on Cambodia elections, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Libya attacks, 17 August 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23462&LangID=E; Human Rights Watch, Cambodia: Holding a Media Summit Without Media Freedom, 9 June 2019, https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/06/09/cambodia-holding-media-summit-without-media-freedom
[29] ICCPR, Article 25.
[30] Statement by SR on Cambodia to 39th session of the Human Rights Council, 26 September 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23639&LangID=E.
[31] Sebastian Strangio, The Media in Cambodia, in The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia, ed. Katherine Brickell and Simon Springer, 76-86. Abingdon: Routledge, 2016.
[32] Human Rights Watch, 9 June 2019, see note 28; SR, End of Mission Statement, 9 May 2019, see note 12;
[33] Kingdom of Cambodia, Criminal Code, 2009 (Translated by Bunleng Cheung), http://sithi.org/admin/upload/law/Criminal_Code_Book_with_cover_Jan_2014.pdf; Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), The Third Annual Report of Cambodia Fundamental Freedoms Monitor, 18 July 2019, https://cchrcambodia.org/index.php?url=media/media.php&p=report_detail.php&reid=130&id=5
[34] Oral update of the Special Rapporteur on her report to the Human Rights Council A/HRC/33/62, September 2016, https://cambodia.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/SR%20Rhona%20Smith%20statement%20Cambodia.pdf; CEDAW 2013, para 42, see note 18.
[35] Human Rights Watch, Cambodia, Drop Case Against Journalists, Bogus Espionage Charges to Silence Independent Voices, 24 July 2019, https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/24/cambodia-drop-case-against-journalists; CPJ, 9 Journalists Killed in Cambodia between 1992 and 2019 (Corruption, human rights, politics).
https://cpj.org/data/killed/asia/cambodia/?status=Killed&motiveConfirmed%5B%5D=Confirmed&type%5B%5D=Journalist&coverages%5B%5D=Corruption&coverages%5B%5D=Human%20Rights&coverages%5B%5D=Politics&cc_fips%5B%5D=CB&start_year=1992&end_year=2019&group_by=location; CPJ, Journalists charged with incitement for live-streaming land protest in Cambodia, 26 July 2019, https://cpj.org/2019/07/journalists-charged-with-incitement-for-live-strea.php.
[36] Coalition Calls on UN Expert to Investigate Claims of State-Backed Land Grabs in Cambodia, RFA, 12 November 2018, https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/coalition-11122018171045.html.
[37] Global Witness, Enemies of the State? How governments and businesses silence land and environmental defenders, 30 July 2019, https://www.globalwitness.org/en-gb/campaigns/environmental-activists/enemies-state/.
[38] UN Human Rights Committee, Concluding observations on the second periodic report of Cambodia, CCPR/C/KHM/CO/2, 27 April 2015, para 12,
[39] Cambodia: Three Years and Still No Effective Investigation into Dr. Kem Ley’s Killing, Joint Statement of 24 civil society organizations, 9 July 2019, https://www.lrwc.org/cambodia-three-years-and-still-no-effective-investigation-into-dr-kem-leys-killing-joint-statement/.
[40] Report of the Special Rapporteur, A/HRC/39/73/Add.1, 7 September 2018, paras 17, 76-78, see note 26.
[41] Oral update of the Special Rapporteur, A/HRC/33/62, September 2016, see note 34.
[42] End of Mission Statement, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Professor Rhona Smith, Phnom Penh, 8 November 2018, https://cambodia.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/pressstatementsource/181108%20ENG_END%20OF%20MISSION%20STATEMENT.pdf.
[43] UN Human Rights Committee, 2015, para 12, see note 38.
[44] Cambodia: UN experts concerned by arrests around Kem Ley memorial service, 26 July 2019, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24850&LangID=E.
[45] Andrew Nachemson and Yon Sineat, 15 years on, justice elusive in Cambodia union leader’s murder, Aljazeera, 21 January 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/15-years-justice-elusive-cambodia-union-leader-murder-190121010702953.html.
[46] Human Rights Watch, “Tell Them That I Want to Kill Them”: Two Decades of Impunity in Hun Sen’s Cambodia, November 13, 2012, https://www.hrw.org/report/2012/11/13/tell-them-i-want-kill-them/two-decades-impunity-hun-sens-cambodia.
[47] Note that the international law definition of the term “extrajudicial killings” extends to any unlawful death committed by a state or non-state actor which a government fails to investigate, prosecute and hold perpetrators accountable. See the Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on a gender-sensitive approach to arbitrary killings, A/HRC/35/23, 15 May 2017, para 35, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session35/Documents/A_HRC_35_23_AUV.docx.
[48] UN Human Rights Committee, 2015, para 11, 12, 20, see note 38.
[49] End of Mission Statement, 9 May 2019, see note 12.
[50] Andrew Nachemson, Cambodian court issues arrest warrants for top opposition leaders: Exiled politicians accused of incitement to commit felony and plotting treason after announcing plans to return, Aljazeera, 17 March 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/cambodian-court-issues-arrest-warrants-top-opposition-leaders-190318020938567.html.
[51] SR, End of Mission Statement, 9 May 2019, see note 12.
[52] Cambodia: UN experts concerned at Government moves to silence political opponents, 19 June 2019, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24711&LangID=E
[53] OHCHR, A Human Rights Analysis of the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (adopted by the National Assembly on 13 July 2015 and by the Senate on 24 July 2015), OHCHR in Cambodia, 4 August 2015, https://cambodia.ohchr.org/en/news/ohchr-issues-its-analysis-lango.
[54] Statement of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, Professor Rhona Smith, 29 September 2015, https://kh.boell.org/sites/default/files/uploads/2015/10/statement_sr_-_hrc_sept_2015.pdf.
[55] CCHR, 18 July 2019, see note 33; SR, End of Mission Statement, 9 May 2019, see note 12.
[56] See Michael Kirby, United Nations Special Procedures, Australian Year Book of International Law 2 (2010): 17-25, http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AUYrBkIntLaw/2010/2.pdf; Kuch Naren and Simon Lewis, Subedi Protest Linked to CPP-Aligned Youth Group, Cambodia Daily, 23 May 2013, https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/subedi-protest-linked-to-cpp-aligned-youth-group-26156/; Niem Chheng, Government hits back at Rhona Smith’s UN comments, 28 September 2018, https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-hits-back-rhona-smiths-un-comments; Rhona Smith’s statement raises questions, Khmer Times, 24 July 2018, https://www.khmertimeskh.com/514865/rhona-smiths-statement-raises-questions/.
[57] OHCHR, End of mission statement by United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia Professor Rhona Smith, 14 March 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22819&LangID=E.
[58] Human Rights Council, Revised Terms of Reference for country visits by Special Procedures mandate holders of the United Nations Human Rights Council (based on Appendix V, E/CN.4/1998/45), 2016, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/SP/ToRs2016.pdf.
[59] Report of the Working Group on the UPR – Cambodia, A/HRC/41/17, 5 April 2019, http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/41/17, and Addendum: Views on conclusions and/or recommendations, voluntary commitments and replies presented by the State under review, A/HRC/41/17/Add.1, 18 April 2019, http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/41/17/Add.1.
[60] Ibid, accepted recommendations 110.60, 110.143.
[61] Ibid, accepted recommendations 110.23, 110.130, 110.131, 110.148.
[62] Ibid, accepted recommendations 110.22, 110.23, 110.124, 110.125, 110.127.
[63] Ibid, accepted recommendations 110.1, 110.12;110.105.
[64] Ibid, accepted recommendation 110.133.
[65] Ibid, accepted recommendations 110.81, 110.83, 110.86, 110.87, 110,91, 110.93, 110.94, 110.95, 110.96.
[66] Ibid, accepted recommendations 110.85, 110.94, 110.98, 110.99, 110.101, 110.102, 110.103, 110.110, 110.112, 110.114, 110.115, 110.116.
[67] Ibid, accepted recommendations 110.12, 110.24, 110.25, 110.26, 110.27, 110.28, 110.28, 110.29, 110.31, 110.105, 110.109.
[68] Ibid, accepted recommendations 110.80, 110.88, 110.102.
[69] Ibid, accepted recommendation 110.123.
[70] Ibid, accepted recommendation 110.14.
[71] Ibid, accepted recommendation 110.13.
[72] Ibid, accepted recommendation 110.19.
[73] Report of the Working Group on the UPR – Cambodia, A/HRC/41/17, 5 April 2019, http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/41/17, and Addendum: Views on conclusions and/or recommendations, voluntary commitments and replies presented by the State under review, A/HRC/41/17/Add.1, 18 April 2019, http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/41/17/Add.1.
[74] Including the Cambodia UPR; see the 2019 UPR report, http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/HRC/41/17&Lang=E, and addendum, http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/HRC/41/17/Add.1&Lang=E.
[75] Human Rights Council, Revised Terms of Reference for country visits by Special Procedures mandate holders of the United Nations Human Rights Council (based on Appendix V, E/CN.4/1998/45), 2016, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/SP/ToRs2016.pdf.
[76] View the list of outstanding requests for visits of Special Procedures of the Council at: https://spinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/SpecialProceduresInternet/ViewCountryVisits.aspx?Lang=en&country=KHM.
[77] The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016), OHCHR,, New York/Geneva, 2017, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/MinnesotaProtocol.pdf.
[78] Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly, 8 March 1999, A/RES/53/144, https://www.refworld.org/docid/3b00f54c14.html.
[79] International Service for Human Rights, Model National Law on the Recognition and Protection of Human Rights Defenders, 2016, https://academy.ishr.ch/upload/resources_and_tools/ishr_Model_Law_for_the_recognition_and_protection_of_human_rights_defenders_en.pdf.
