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Introduction to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
The purpose of the leaflet is to provide readers with an overview of SOGI rights in Cambodia. The leaflet includes useful information on key terminology, as well as an introduction to SOGI rights and a timeline identifying important milestones in their development in Cambodia. CCHR hope the leaflet will raise awareness of what daily life is like for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender ("LGBT") people and contribute to reducing SOGI-based discrimination.
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Joint UN statement on Ending violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people
On 29 September 2015, 12 UN entities (ILO, OHCHR, UNAIDS Secretariat, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNODC, UN Women, WFP and WHO) released an unprecedented joint statement calling for an end to violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. The statement is a powerful call to action to Governments to do more to tackle homophobic and transphobic violence and discrimination and abuses against intersex people, and an expression of the commitment on the part of UN entities to support Member States to do so.
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“The World Bank is a Human Rights-Free Zone” – UN expert on extreme poverty expresses deep concern
GENEVA (29 September 2015) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, has called on the World Bank and its member States to adopt a new and consistent approach to human rights. “For most purposes, the World Bank is currently a human rights-free zone. In its operational policies, in particular, it treats human rights more like an infectious disease than universal values and obligations,” Alston says in a new report* published online on the approach to human rights by the World Bank, the most important international actor on poverty alleviation. The report, which will be officially presented to the UN General Assembly on 23 October, explains that the biggest single obstacle to better integrate human rights into the work of the World Bank is “the anachronistic and inconsistent interpretation of the ‘political prohibition’ contained in the Bank’s Articles of Agreement.” “They invoke the Articles of Agreement, which were adopted in 1945, and argue that this clause not to interfere in States’ political affairs effectively prohibits the Bank from engaging with issues of human rights,” the expert says. However, he stresses, “these Articles were written more than 70 years ago, when there was no international catalogue of human rights, no specific treaty obligations upon States, and not a single international institution addressing these issues.”
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CSOs and Businesses welcome Government support for LGBT rights and call for clarity in Cambodian law
We, the undersigned civil society organizations (“CSOs”) and businesses, warmly welcome the words of Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) spokesman Phay Siphan, who on Friday, 25 September expressed support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (“LGBT”) people in the Kingdom of Cambodia (“Cambodia”) and stated that same-sex marriages are already legally available in the Kingdom.
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New Sustainable Development Goals: UN expert urges Governments to announce plans on education
GENEVA (28 September 2015) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Kishore Singh, today called on all UN Member States to announce without delay their plans to realize the right to education in line with the new Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims to end poverty by 2030 and universally promote shared economic prosperity, social development and environmental protection. Welcoming the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals -the successor to the Millennium Development Goals- in New York on Sunday, he noted that “political commitments made by governments to education goals in future development agenda will remain hollow unless governments take real action to expand educational opportunities and restore public confidence in good quality public education.” “This is all the more important as education is a key instrument to eradicate poverty, and for achieving any of the new development goals,” the human rights expert stressed. The Special Raporteur emphasized that achieving free, universal secondary education of good quality, to which international community is committed, cannot happen unless governments’ investment in education is significantly enhanced. “This will require new investments, as well as ensuring existing funds are well spent,” he said. “These goals expand free, universal education to the secondary level, and call for full equality between boys and girls. These commitments require not just financial support, but bold political actions to address the barriers which have kept many children out of school,” Mr. Singh added. - See more at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16512&LangID=E#sthash.2icU6LdE.dpuf
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States and businesses must prevent harm from highly hazardous pesticides – UN experts
GENEVA (28 September 2015) – Two United Nations experts on hazardous substance and waste and right to food have called today for an immediate worldwide phase-out on use of highly hazardous pesticides that are inflicting significant damage on human health and the environment. The experts’ appeal comes as States, businesses and other parties from around the world gather in Geneva, Switzerland, for the fourth meeting of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (28 September to 2 October 2015). This is the last gathering of its kind before 2020, the year by which States pledged to achieve sound management of chemicals following the 2002 Earth Summit. “Workers, children and others at risk continue to suffer severe impacts from hazardous pesticides,” the UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights and hazardous substance and waste, Baskut Tuncak, said. “Those living in danger cannot wait several years for the next opportunity. It is imperative that States take collective action now.” Mr. Tuncak noted that, since the 2002 Earth Summit, coordinated global action to reduce highly hazardous pesticide use has not materialized. “Risks are particularly grave in developing countries, many of who import these highly hazardous pesticides despite having inadequate systems to reduce risks,” he said. “There are still a significant proportion of pesticides being used around the world which can be considered as highly hazardous,” the expert warned, “despite international pesticide experts’ claim that there are almost always safer alternatives to highly hazardous pesticides.”
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CCHR publishes briefing note entitled “Cambodia: Democracy Under Threat” to mark Constitution Day and visit of Special Rapporteur
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (“CCHR”) has today published a briefing note entitled “Cambodia: Democracy Under Threat”, on the occasion of 22nd Anniversary of Constitution Day and the first visit of Ms. Rhona Smith, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Cambodia.rn rnConstitution Day marks the anniversary of the formal adoption of the Constitution of Cambodia in 1993, a moment that formally established Cambodia as a democratic state. On the occasion of Constitution Day 2015, and coinciding with the visit of the new Special Rapporteur, CCHR calls upon the Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) to revitalize democracy in Cambodia by respecting the Constitution and international human rights law, repealing all oppressive legislation, depoliticizing the judiciary and military, and putting an end to politically motivated arrests, detention and convictions of critical voices. CCHR further calls on the Special Rapporteur to pinpoint key human rights concerns and to urge the RGC to implement the recommendations which it accepted during the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review in 2014, along with further recommendations included in CCHR’s briefing note.
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CCHR welcomes new LGBT anti-discrimination provisions in Nepal’s new constitution
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (“CCHR”) expresses its delight at the adoption of provisions in the new constitution in Nepal which afford protection to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (“LGBT”) people by providing for equal rights and importing measures combating discrimination on the basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (“SOGI”). In doing so, Nepal becomes the first ever country in Asia to adopt express laws recognizing equal rights for LGBT people. The CCHR congratulates the people of Nepal and the LGBT community in particular on this milestone achievement.
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Cambodia: Democracy Under Threat
In recent months, the Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) has severely restricted fundamental freedoms and attempted to stifle dissenting voices, gravely threatening the future prospects for a peaceful and democratic Cambodia in which human rights are respected.
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IBAHRI report highlights extent of corruption in the Cambodian judiciary
In a report released today, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) exposes the extent of corrupt influence – both political and financial – which is exerted over the judiciary of Cambodia and its impact on human rights cases. The IBAHRI calls on the Cambodian government to rectify, both in law and practice, the situation that allows the authorities to place political pressure on the judiciary and to address the endemic corruption within the Cambodian legal system. The report, Justice versus corruption: Challenges to the independence of the judiciary in Cambodia, documents the findings of an IBAHRI delegation that visited Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in April 2015. The delegation was convened to undertake an in-depth examination of the Cambodian judiciary in light of three newly passed judicial laws. The IBAHRI has previously expressed concern at the negative effect these laws will have on the independence of the judiciary and the excessive transfer of power from the judiciary to the executive that they allow.
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Statement of Principles for Cambodian Internet Freedom
The Internet plays a key role in promoting and protecting human rights online. As stated by the United Nations Human Rights Commission by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right of freedom of opinion in June 2011: “Given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating inequality, and accelerating development and human progress, ensuring universal access to the Internet should be a priority for all States."
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CCHR Recalls the Link Between Civil Society, Human Rights and Democracy
Today, 15 September 2015, marks the occasion of the International Day of Democracy. On this day, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (“CCHR”) wishes to recall the vital relation between civil society, respect for human rights and democracy. Today also marks the second anniversary of the death of Mao Sok Chan, who was killed by a bullet while protesting the results of the 2013 elections in Phnom Penh. His killer remained unidentified and was never brought to justice.
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