The timeline below offers a visual representation of some of the key human rights violations and restrictions which have occurred in the Kingdom of Cambodia from 2013-2023, and follows our previous timeline covering 1993-2012 which can still be accessed here. The incidents recorded on the timeline from 2013-2023 represent human rights violations by the Royal Government of Cambodia as well as third parties, cover a wide range of issues including extrajudicial killings, convictions of human rights defenders, land grabs, forced evictions, restrictions of the rights to peaceful assembly, association and expression, torture, arrests, arbitrary detention and legislative and institutional developments relevant to human rights. The information is gathered from the Khmer and English media, CCHR’s own Fundamental Freedoms Monitoring Project, and from the commentary and analysis of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working on these issues. Each entry is accompanied by a short description and provides links to media articles reporting on the event or to the work of CSOs active in the field. It should not be forgotten that the cases included in the timeline are those that have garnered the attention of the media or CSOs, and are as such particularly emblematic or high-profile. The timeline is therefore only representative of a small fraction of the actual number of human rights violations occurring in Cambodia.
-
Kampong Thom
Torture, arrests and illegal detentions
Suong Dorn, deputy chief of Kampong Thom's Run Village, died on the way to the provincial military police headquarters after being arrested during a crackdown on an online cockfight cafe. His family has claimed that his death resulted from the excessive use of force by military police officers during the arrest. Witnesses stated that Dorn was handcuffed and brutally pushed into a police car, despite having difficulty breathing, choking him to death. At the hospital, one of Dorn's children was told by a doctor that he had died of a heart attack, but she was not given a chance to see her father's body properly, nor was she shown the autopsy report. She further stated that when the family brought Don's body home to prepare him for the funerals, she saw bruises on his neck and shoulder. The National Military police chief ordered an investigation into Dorn's death to see whether the victim died due to police abuse and the detention of 11 military officers.
Khmer Times | RFA | CamboJA News | VOD
-
Battambang
Acts of Discrimination
In a letter dated 29 July 2022, the commune chief of Battambang's Kors Kralor commune nominated a woman from the outside instead of second deputy chief Roeurn Srey Noy, a newly elected opposition commune councilor, to chair a commune's committee. Srey Noy has claimed that running the commune's women's and children's affairs committee was part of her new responsibilities as the second deputy commune chief and not that of a woman who was not elected in any council position in the June commune elections. Srey Noy has also stated that the commune chief, a member of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), had been leading local officials to circumvent her. According to the deputy of the Candlelight Party's women's movement, it appears to be a common practice for ruling party leaders to bypass female opposition members in the second deputy position.
-
Phnom Penh
Convictions of HRDs
The Supreme Court rejected the appeals and upheld the convictions and sentences of Mother Nature Cambodia activists Phuon Keoreaksmey, Long Kunthea, and Thun Ratha. The three were convicted of incitement and given a prison sentence of between 18 and 20 months in prison in May 2021, of which the remainder was suspended by the Appeal Court in late 2021. On the same day, the Supreme Court also upheld the convictions of prominent trade union leader Rong Chhun and activists Ton Nimol and Sar Kanika. Rong Chhun was convicted of incitement for comments made about Cambodia-Vietnam Border issues in 2021 and Ton Nimol and Sar Kanika for peacefully protesting against Chhun's arrest at the time. In a third decision, seven CNRP activists (Ton Nimol, Lim San, Yoy Srey Mom, Sat Pha, Pai Ren, San Srey Neat, and Hong An) saw their convictions of incitement for peacefully protesting outside the Chinese Embassy on Paris Peace Agreements Day in 2020 and their prison sentences upheld by the Supreme Court.
-
Phnom Penh
Physical or judicial harassment or threats against journalists HRDs or opposition members
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted Sam Serey, the president of the opposition Khmer National Liberation Front (KNLF), of conspiracy and incitement and sentenced him to nine years and six months in prison and a three million riel fine. The charges were brought after Sam Serey allegedly called the public to oppose and overthrow the government on social media. The judgment was rendered in absentia as Sam Serey lives abroad.
-
Phnom Penh
Physical or judicial harassment or threats against journalists HRDs or opposition members
The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Pen Mom, a former CNRP official in Kampot's Kandorl commune. In September 2020, Pen Mom was convicted of plotting by the Kampot Provincial Court for her alleged involvement in ex-CNRP leader Sam Rainsy's plan to return in November 2019. In August 2021, the Preah Sihanouk Municipal Court upheld the first verdict but suspended two of the five years imprisonment sentence, leaving her to serve three years in prison.
-
Phnom Penh
Land rights and forced evictions
Phnom Penh's Russei district authorities dismantled four houses of residents of the Tonle Sap river to make way for a city-improvement project. They threatened they would return to dismantle more homes in the coming weeks if they didn't move out. The Tonle Sap residents reported that local authorities had warned them in the past that they were living on state land illegally. The residents said they couldn't afford to move as the city's compensation offer was too low. So far, only ten of the 400 families living in the area have accepted the government's offer. The others have asked the authorities for adequate compensation to relocate elsewhere.
-
Koh Kong
Land rights and forced evictions
Deth Huor, a community representative of Koh Kong province's Chi Khor Loeu commune, was convicted of malicious denunciation and defamation by the Koh Kong Provincial Court and sentenced to a year in prison and a two million riel ($500) fine. However, the Court did not issue any arrest warrant against her. The complaint that led to Huor's conviction was filed by tycoon Heng Huy. Huor reported that the defamation complaint came after Huor posted a photo of the tycoon and a message criticizing him for encroaching on her community's land. Heng Huy reportedly filed complaints against other community members for protesting against his company for encroaching on their land. Hundreds of families from Chi Khor Loeu and Chi Kor Krom communes have been involved in a land dispute with Heng Huy since 2007. The affected families traveled to Phnom Penh to protest and seek the Land Ministry's intervention on various occasions in the past. However, in 2019, the Land Ministry rejected their appeal and called for legal action against the community representatives for inciting the families to protest.
-
Phnom Penh
Physical or judicial harassment or threats against journalists HRDs or opposition members
The Supreme Court upheld the guilty verdict of ex-CNRP activist Tum Bunthorn, thus rejecting his appeal. Tum Bunthorn was convicted of incitement by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in December 2020 and sentenced to 20 months in prison based on a social media post. He was also convicted of plotting and handed a sentence of six years in prison in the mass trials held in July 2022 for his involvement in ex-CNRP leader Sam Rainsy's attempt to return to Cambodia in 2019.
-
Phnom Penh
Physical or judicial harassment or threats against journalists HRDs or opposition members
Nol Pongthearith, a Candlelight Party official in Phnom Penh's Pur Senchey district, was attacked by six assailants on three motorbikes near the party's headquarters, according to a CCTV camera that recorded the incident. The party's president reported that one jumped off his motorcycle and struck Pongthearith with a knife, causing him a severe head injury for which he had to get 12 stitches. He also suffered injuries to his neck and right shoulder. Ponghtearith has filed a complaint to the commune police and claimed that the physical assault was politically motivated. The commune police said they would investigate, while Interior Ministry stated that the case was unlikely to be solved if it was political, blaming the Candlelight Party for not giving real information and for publicizing the attack through the media.
-
Preah Vihear
Land rights and forced evictions
Around 40 residents of Preah Vihear province's Kulen district protested after the provincial authorities warned them that they would come to clear their houses and farms again. The residents also reported that in March 2022, local authorities razed 60 homes and over 400 hectares of crops, forcing the concerned families to move into tents. The land they have been living on was granted as an economic land concession to Seladamex, a rubber plantation company, in Srayong and Phnom Tbeng II communes, affecting 131 families.
-
Battambang
Restrictions on freedom of expression assembly or association
Four people, of whom one is the Battambang Post's publisher, were arrested, charged with obstruction and incitement, and placed under pre-trial detention for protesting against the authorities' decision to seize two overloaded Thai grain trucks in Battambang province. The protest started the previous day and gathered around 500 farmers, all concerned that the authorities' decision would cause a drop-off in trade with Thai traders, on which they rely in order to survive.
-
Ratanakiri
Convictions of human rights defenders
Environmental activist Chhorn Phalla and four Tampuon indigenous people were convicted of instigating damage to forest land (under the Law on Natural Protected Areas and the Criminal Code) in Ratanakiri's Lumphat district and sentenced to six years in prison for a meeting they held in 2017 to discuss forest protection and awareness-raising about illegal logging. Chhorn Phalla is a well-known environmentalist in Ratanakiri province. He was also convicted of illegal land clearing and sentenced to five years in prison in December 2021, a conviction that the Tboung Khmum Appeal Court overturned on 13 July 2022. Despite being acquitted of the illegal land clearing charges, Phalla remains in detention due to this second conviction.
-
Phnom Penh
Physical or judicial harassment or threats against journalists HRDs or opposition members
A lawyer representing nearly ten jailed ex-CNRP opposition activists urged the judiciary to resolve their cases as soon as possible. Most of his clients have been held in pre-trial detention longer than the 18-month legal limit without being brought to trial or receiving a trial date.
-
Kandal
Land rights and forced evictions
Around 40 families from three villages in Kandal province's Svay Romiet commune stated that local authorities began clearing their farmland on 25 June 2022 without prior notice. Svay Romiet's commune chief said the land was cleared because the Ministry of Water Resources was planning to build a canal and dirt road. Furthermore, the families were offered no compensation for losing their land as the Ministry of Water Resources did not have any policy to provide such compensation, according to the commune chief.
-
Battambang
Physical or judicial harassment or threats against journalists HRDs or opposition members
The Battambang Appeal Court upheld the guilty verdict of Kao Piseth, a journalist for the online media outlet Siem Reap Breaking News. Piseth was convicted of incitement and obstruction of the implementation of measures to prevent COVID-19 and sentenced to two years in prison and a three million riel ($750) fine by the Battambang Provincial Court in December 2021 after he wrote an article criticizing the government's use of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines.
-
Koh Kong
Land rights and forced evictions
Seven residents of Kok Kong's Borum Sakor district were summoned and placed under court supervision by the Koh Kong Provincial Court for alleged incitement and infringement of state land. The disputed land was granted to a sugar plantation owned by a powerful tycoon in 2006. The seven residents recently returned to it, claiming that they had never received compensation for the land they lost at the time and were reclaiming it by building small shelters. They further stated that their placement under court supervision was meant to stifle their protests and was biased as favoring the powerful and wealthy. The Botum Sakor district governor said that local officials had tried to support them in finding a solution. Another of the involved residents, however, stated that the authorities had so far not helped them but only threatened them with violence for protesting.
-
Banteay Meanchey
Restrictions on freedom of expression assembly or association
During a speech in Banteay Meanchey province, the Prime Minister declared that he had requested the authorities to arrest a TikTok user for intending to create public confusion after he posted a video in which he claimed that there was a new death related to COVID-19 in Cambodia. The Prime Minister then warned citizens that anyone publishing “disinformation” about the pandemic would face prison.
-
Phnom Penh
Restrictions on freedom of expression assembly or association
The Friday Women were blocked by Daun Penh district police when attempting to submit a petition to the European Union delegation building. The authorities pulled their banners, one featuring jailed Cambodian-American lawyer Seng Theary, telling them they were here to submit a petition and not to hold up banners. The Friday Women have been gathering regularly in Phnom Penh to demand justice for their jailed relatives, most of whom are opposition political activists.
-
Phnom Penh
Restrictions on freedom of expression assembly or association
The NagaWorld strike continued on a regular basis throughout July, with several incidents reported. For instance, on 1 July 2022, the authorities tried to block around 100 strikers from walking to the National Assembly from the Prime Minister's office to submit a petition. Similarly, on 5 July 2022, about 100 strikers were met with barricades put up by the authorities to prevent them from gathering in front of the NagaWorld building. On 12 July 2022, the strikers were again blocked by barricades and surrounded by security guards attempting to keep them away from the casino. The authorities also tried to prevent journalists and human rights monitors from monitoring and covering the strike. On 22 July 2022, the strike turned violent again when a striker was hit in the face and fell as she and other strikers were heading to the NagaWorld building. The next day, the Phnom Penh City Hall released a statement accusing two outside unionists of inciting the strikers and recalled that the strike remained illegal and was disrupting public order and the city's image.
-
Phnom Penh
Physical or judicial harassment or threats against journalists HRDs or opposition members
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court upheld the decision of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court not to return his passport to ex-RFA journalist Yeang Sothearin, citing the ongoing investigation into his case. Sothearin and another former RFA report, Uon Chhin, were charged with illegally collecting information for a foreign source (i.e., espionage) in November 2017 and with additional crimes in March 2018. They have since been kept in legal limbo. Yeang Sothearin said that the retention of his passport by the court was preventing him from visiting his sick father, an ethnic Cambodian living in Vietnam, and participating in NGO activities abroad.
