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.
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Phnom Penh
Restrictions on freedom of expression assembly or association
The NagaWorld strike continued throughout April 2022, with several attempts by the strikers to resume their peaceful strike in front of the casino. Authorities continued their tactic of rounding up the strikers, shoving them into city buses, and driving them to the city's outskirts to keep them away from NagaWorld. Violence was used by authorities. On 21 April 2022, the union said one female striker was brutally kicked by authorities.
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Phnom Penh
Physical and judicial threats against journalists and or human rights defenders
The Supreme Court upheld the guilty verdicts against Phon Sophal, Mak Sam An, Prov Chanthoeun, Khorn Torn, Um Yet, Su Yean and Sean Chamnan. These seven individuals are a mix of land and political opposition activists who were convicted for attempting to join a protest outside of the Chinese Embassy on Paris Peace Agreements Day in 2020 in Phnom Penh.
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Preah Vihear
Land rights and forced evictions
On 16 March 2022, authorites in Preah Vihear forcibly evicted around 300 families, many of whom are Kuy indigenous people, in Preah Vihear's Kulen district, claiming that the residents were living on state land. The familes have been embroiled in a land dispute since 2012 with a Chinese sugar company, who encroached upon their land to cultivate sugar cane. The families have attempted to seek a resolution in their case but have been ignored by authorities. They now moved to another part of the forest because they have no where else to live.
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Phnom Penh / Pursat / Kampong Cham
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
On 28 and 29 March, and in the days that followed, the NEC ordered the removal of more commune election candidates from the Candlelight Party, the Beehive Party and the Khmer Will Party. On 6 April, the Candlelight Party accused the NEC of removing up to 200 of their commune candidates, citing only irregularities but not having examined each case closely. The NEC has this year deleted entire commune candidate lists, as opposed to only eliminating non-compliant candidates on an individual basis. This move has been deemed by the party as politically motivated. The Candlelight Party's vice-president told reporters that local authorities have been creating obstacles for opposition parties, infringing on their political rights. The NEC also removed 10 people from the Beehive Social Democratic Party after a complaint that the candidates did not fill the documentation themselves.
VOD | Cambodianess | Camboja | RFA | VOD
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Kandal
Land rights and forced evictions
The Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) began clearing farmland without notice in Kandal's Takhmao city despite the ongoing unresolved land dispute with villagers over the construction of the new Phnom Penh new international airport. There are still several villagers who have not agreed to the $8 per square meter compensation offered by the company or the choice to relocate to land set aside from them and who are waiting for appropriate compensation. The clearing was paused after the local authorities intervened and gave residents a few more days for negotiations. Other villagers also reported that the company bulldozed their land in the preceding weeks. Police and military were deployed around the construction site to prevent them from getting to their land set to be cleared.
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Preah Vihear
Land rights and forced evictions
The Preah Vihear provincial authorities banned residents involved in a land dispute with a Chinese sugar company from entering the disputed land, threatening them with legal action should they not comply with the ban. The ban decision was made after about 200 affected community members filed a petition with the Preah Vihear Provincial Hall on 15 March 2022 to seek the intervention of the Provincial Governor to resolve the land dispute. The company Hengfy Group Sugar Industry was granted an economic land concession of over 40,000 hectares in several districts of Preah Vihear province in 2011 and has encroached on the land of various communities, including indigenous peoples, to conduct its operations.
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Phnom Penh
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
After receiving complaints, the NEC issued a notice on 18 March 2022 disqualifying several commune election candidates from two small parties - the Candlelight Party and the Khmer Will Party - due to their illiteracy. The NEC cited the law on commune council elections as the basis of its decision, which requires commune council candidates to be able to read and write Khmer and to fill out the candidacy form by themselves and by hand. A few days later, on 22 March 2022, the NEC removed an entire list of 18 commune council candidates from the Candlelight Party in Tuol Svay Prat I commune, Boeng Keng Kang district, in Phnom Penh, preventing the party to stand as a candidate for the next elections in this commune. The NEC stated that the decision was made after receiving a complaint claiming irregularities in the candidates' applications and finding out that four candidates in the list had not filled out their candidacy form by themselves. On 24 March 2022, the NEC removed two more lists of the Candlelight Party in Sangkat Speu and Sangkat Boeung Kok commune, in Kampong Cham province, over similar irregularities.
Phnom Penh Post | VOD/VOD | Camboja News | Camboja News | VOD
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Mondulkiri
Land rights and forced evictions
On 15 March 2022, Bunong indigenous villagers blocked an unidentified private company's attempt to clear their community forest in Sen Monorom city's Lao Ka village in Mondulkiri province. The villagers reported that the company had already cleared more than 60 hectares of their 300-hectare ancestral land and that when they went to stop them from clearing more land on that day, several public officials were present to oversee the company's clearing and boundary marking activities on their communal land. This new land clearing attempt led about 50 Bunong indigenous villagers to organize a protest against the company on 18 March 2022. While the company suspended its land clearing activities following the protest, it did not remove the machinery from the area. Indigenous community representative Phloek Phirum reported that the Bunong community had suffered various encroachments on their land since 2012.
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Phnom Penh
Physical and judicial threats against journalists and or human rights defenders
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted 21 CNRP members, councillors and activists of incitement and conspiracy. The seven defendants who are former members of the CNRP are Sam Rainsy, Tioulong Saumura, Mu Sochua, Eng Chhay Eang, Top Vanchan, Nuth Ramduol, and Ho Vann. They were convicted of incitement and plotting to cause social unrest and civil disobedience under Articles 453, 471, 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code. All seven live in exile and all were sentenced to ten years in prison. The other 14 defendants are Long Phary, Khuth Chroek, Ngin Kheang, Chhum Bunchhath, Yim Sareth, Khim Pheana, Keo Thai, Nhem Van, Choum Chan, Sok Chantha, Thai Sokunthea, Pieth Mab, Hin Chhan and Srun Thun. They were convicted of conspiracy and incitement, and sentenced to five years in prison. Multiple rights organizations have called the trial politically-motivated.
RFA | Khmer Times | Khmer Times | VOD | VOA
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Siem Reap
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
As the Candlelight Party was attempting to install a party banner in Siem Reap, a commune chief arrived on the scene and prevented the banner from being raised, arguing that it was in the wrong location. The commune chief later said the two parties had found a solution and settled their dispute.
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Phnom Penh
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
The Phnom Penh Appeal Court announced its verdict in the case of Kak Sovannchhay, a teenager with autism who was arrested on 24 June 2021 for criticizing government leaders via private communications and social media posts. The Phnom Penh Appeal Court upheld the verdict of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court which found Kak Sovannchhay guilty of incitement to cause social unrest and insult of public officials, and confirmed his sentence of eight months in prison, with three months and 15 days suspended.
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Tbung Khmum & Nationwide
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
On 4 March 2022, a member of the Cambodia Reform Party in Tboung Khmum province reported that Kep Saveth and Rang Vuth, two commune election candidates from the party in the province's Chup commune, had withdrawn from the commune elections after being threatened by local authorities. A local security guard warned them that they would stop being issued ID cards and other documentation and be treated as immigrants by local authorities if they kept running for commune councilors. On the same day, the National Election Committee (NEC) launched the three-day registration process for political parties to nominate their candidates for the commune election. Smaller parties - such as the Cambodia National Love Party, the Cambodia Reform Party or the Khmer Will Party - reported facing difficulties in their candidate nomination efforts as various candidates were facing threats and intimidation to not run.
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Phnom Penh
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
The Ministry of Interior announced the removal of the National Heart Party from the list of political parties over allegations of irregularities in collecting fingerprints to apply for registration. National Heart Party founder Siam Phluk decried this decision, stating that it violated the right to form parties and run for elections guaranteed by the Constitution. Siam Phluk also reported that over 20 party members were being sued by the Phnom Penh Court, amounting to political harassment in addition to the removal decision. The Interior Ministry’s decision came after the Ministry of Interior rejected the registration request of the party - formed by ex-CNRP members - in November 2021 over accusations of forging fingerprints and falsifying identities. National Heart Party denied the allegations and filed a complaint to the Supreme Court in December 2021, which ruled in favor of the Ministry of Interior.
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Preah Sihanouk
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
Chen Baorong, a Chinese human-trafficking rescuer and leader of the Cambodia-China Charity group, was charged with incitement to discriminate and false declaration by the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court for reporting various instances of blood harvesting of trafficked victims in the province. The police investigation into Chen Baorong and the charges brought against him came after national and international media had widely reported the story of a Chinese worker whose blood was forcibly harvested after refusing to work in scam operations in Preah Sihanouk province.
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Phnom Penh
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
Throughout March 2022, the NagaWorld strike continued almost daily with several notable violations. On 7 March 2022, around 200 NagaWorld strikers attempted to resume their peaceful strike outside of the NagaWorld Casino after a week-long break they took to self-isolate in accordance with the Ministry of Health guidelines. However, authorities were waiting for them at the protest site and loaded them into buses again by pushing and dragging them and taking them to the Prek Pnov quarantine facility. On 10 March 2022, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court denied the bail application of eight jailed NagaWorld union leaders, including LRSU president, Chhim Sithar, citing the risk of "causing social unrest" if they were released. On 11 March 2022, about 155 strikers were forced onto buses by authorities after attempting to strike outside the casino and taken to the same quarantine center. Authorities told NGO observers and journalists they were not allowed to take pictures of the events, and some were threatened to delete their photos and hand over their phones. One journalist, who was mistaken for a protester, was pushed into a bus and also taken to the quarantine center. The Government later denied that journalists were threatened while reporting on the strike. On 18 March 2022, more than 100 NagaWorld strikers were rounded up by the authorities in a new attempt to resume their peaceful strike in front of the NagaWorld building while the negotiations resumed after the LRSU leaders' release in the same week. They were once again forced into city buses and taken to Freedom Park on the city's outskirts. They were kept on the buses for several hours without being allowed to get off the buses. From 20 to 31 March 2022, over a hundred NagaWorld strikers continued to gather almost day to resume their peaceful strike but kept being rounded up by authorities, shoved into city buses, driven around the city for several hours before being allowed to disembark on the city's outskirts in the late afternoon. The strikers reported excessive use of force by the authorities when pushed into the buses, causing injuries to several strikers. Videos uploaded on social media show the strikers being shoved and pushed against security personnel on 29 March 2022. One official was seen slapping a striker on the head and then attempting to drag the same striker away. See CCHR's Nagaworld timeline for more details.
VOD / VOD / VOD Khmer | VOD / Camboja | VOD / VOD | RFA / VOD / VOD / VOD | VOD / VOD
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Phnom Penh
Land rights and forced evictions
On the morning of 28 February 2022, the Phnom Penh's Prek Pnov district authorities dismantled the houses of 11 families residing in Phnom Penh's Prek Pnove district located on the northern side of the Boeung Tamok lake with knives, axes, and cutting machines. The families were evicted with prior notice to make way for planned private and government developments in the area despite the 11 families having refused the compensation offered by the government. They stated that the $500 and the small plot of land proposed in another area were inadequate and that they did not want to move out as they had been living in the area for 20 years. They also reported that 12 other families had accepted the compensation package by fear and intimidation from the authorities.
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Kandal
Physical and judicial threats against journalists and or human rights defenders
On the evening of 27 February 2022, Mey Sophorn, Savay Rolum commune council candidate from the Candlelight party, was attacked by a group of four unknown assailants on motorbikes in Svay Rolum Krong Sangkat, Takhmao commune, Kandal province commune, while riding his motorbike. Mey Sophorn was beaten on the head with a stick, breaking his helmet but not causing any injuries. After the incident, Sophorn went to the commune police station to file a complaint but reported that the station was closed. Mey Sophorn is also a former CNRP activist who spent six months in prison in the past over Facebook posts criticizing the government.
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Kampong Speu
Land rights and forced evictions
Members of the military fired warning shots and physically assaulted villagers who were trying to prevent the clearing and deforestation of a disputed forest in Aoral district on 22 February. Villagers had gathered to confront a group comprised of soldiers, environmental officials, and four hired workers as they were cutting down and clearing trees. After a verbal altercation, the situation escalated and soldiers fired their guns into the air and into the ground to disperse the villagers. One of the villagers reported that an official said they would be shot: "One come, one gets shot, two come, two get shot". A villager, Kak Soeun, said that the following day, he was one of two men beaten by six soldiers in the forest. He added that soldiers threatened to shoot him in the head if he tried to prevent them from clearing again.
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Svay Rieng
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
The Executive Chairman of the Grassroots Democratic Party ("GDP") in Svay Rieng province, Khoeun Sophoan, said on 14 February the party has been prevented from putting up party banners and holding rallies and gatherings by the CPP commune chief, Sok Sam On. According to Facebook posts made by the GDP, party members had made plans to put up billboards at three locations and to hold a rally on 13 February. Party representatives met with the commune chief who said that they were only allowed to put up a billboard in one location and that they were not allowed to meet because their party did not have a headquarter in the province. The GDP's working group considers the commune chief's actions to be against the law and intended to obstruct political activities from opposition parties.
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Battambang
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
Khleng Chhok, a resident of Battambang's Thma Kuol district, was summoned by the police and forced to apologize for comments on Facebook criticizing the government for demolishing a road in his commune which functioned as a levee and where residents in the area use in order to go fishing in the nearby Tonle Sap flooded forest.
