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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Preah Vihear
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
On 26 July 2021, Preah Vihear provincial authorities arrested social media user Phon Kol Chamroeun in Svay Pat village, Siem Reap province, for publishing posts on a Facebook account named Slap Pakkar Tev Reach in which he criticized Chinese vaccines, the Government's vaccination plan as well as the Prime Minister's leadership. Phon Kol Chamroeun was questioned by the provincial police before being sent to court and charged with incitement and insult.
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Phnom Penh
Physical and judicial threats against journalists and or human rights defenders
The Phnom Penh Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to convict two former CNRP commune councilors, Kong Bunheang and Hang Seng of lèse-majesté (insulting the King), and confirmed their three-year prison sentence. Both were arrested in Battambang province in October 2019 after they allegedly insulted the King and Queen Mother on Facebook. They were convicted by the Phnom Penh Court on 3 March 2021, which also sentenced them to pay a fine of $1,500 each in addition to their prison sentence.
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Phnom Penh
Physical and judicial threats against journalists and or human rights defenders
On 28 July 2021, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted former CNRP commune councilor and activist Pen Chan Sangkream of incitement to commit a felony and sentenced him to a year and half in prison and to a fine of 3 million riel ($750) for comments posted in a video clip criticizing the government over border issues with Vietnam and Vietnamese minorities in the country, which were made during a rally for jailed unionist Rong Chhun in August 2020. He was arrested in December 2020 and sent to pre-trial detention in Prey Sar Prison soon after.
VOD | RFA | VOD | RFA | Thmey Thmey
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Oddar Meanchey
Land rights and forced evictions
On 14 July 2021, the Oddar Meanchey Provincial Court placed 13 residents of Sangkat Kov Kriel, Samrong City under supervision for land clearing without permission and summoned them to court on a case of illegal encroachment on state forest land in Srah Keo village, Pong commune, Chong Kal district, Oddar Meanchey province. In this land dispute, the concerned residents are claiming that they have lived and worked on the disputed land for years and have not committed any crimes.
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Phnom Penh
Physical and judicial threats against journalists and or human rights defenders
Three journalists who were attempting a live broadcast from a land protest at Phnom Penh’s Boeng Tompun lake area were taken to a commune police station, questioned for 4 hours (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and made to sign an agreement that they would not record again without permission. The land protest related to a reservoir-building project on land claimed by over 30 families.
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Kampong Speu
Physical and judicial threats against journalists and or human rights defenders
On 22 July 2021, Kim Tola, former opposition commune chief in Kampong Speu province, was arrested by provincial police at a grocery shop in Treng Trayoeng commune, Kampong Speu province and placed in detention by the provincial court for a crime of incitement dated back to 2019. Kim Tola fled the country in 2019 after being summoned to court over Facebook posts relating to CNRP leader Sam Rainsy's plan to return in November 2019. Kim Tola was tried in absentia by the Kampong Speu Provincial Court and convicted of incitement to disturb social security on 28 April 2021 for her alleged involvement in Sam Rainsy's plan.
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Phnom Penh
Physical and judicial threats against journalists and or human rights defenders
On 21 July 2021, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court added new charges of plotting and lèse-majesté against three jailed Mother Nature Cambodia activists Long Kunthea, Phuon Keoraksmey, and Thun Ratha. These new charges are connected with another case involving three other Mother Nature Cambodia activists (Sun Ratha, Yim Leanghy, and Ly Chandaravuth) arrested in June 2021 and charged for plotting and lèse-majesté. Long Kunthea, Phuon Keoraksmeay, and Thun Ratha were already convicted of incitement by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in May 2021 and sentenced to 18 to 20 months imprisonment. With the new plotting charges, they now face an additional sentence of up to 10 years in prison each if convicted.
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Phnom Penh
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
On 24 July 2021, the Prime Minister rejected the political rehabilitation requests made to the Ministry of Interior on 24 June 2021 by former CNRP officials Choung Choungy and Kim Nhol. The Prime Minister declared that they could not benefit from the political rehabilitation scheme due to the serious law violations committed by the two ex-CNRP officials. Both were banned, along with many other CNRP members, from partaking in political activities by the Supreme Court in 2017 following the dissolution of the CNRP and were later charged with incitement. Their cases are currently still pending before the court. It is the first time since the rehabilitation scheme has been set up by the Government that ex-CNRP members have their requests denied.
Fresh News Asia | VOD | KhmerTimes | VOA | Thmey Thmey
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Battambang
Physical and judicial threats against journalists and or human rights defenders
On 14 July 2021, Siem Reap Breaking News reporter Kouv Piseth was arrested by provincial military police in Battambang over Facebook posts criticizing Prime Minister Hun Sen, the ruling CPP and the Chinese COVID-19 vaccinations. Military police also confiscated three mobile phones, one car and one press card. On 16 July 2021, Piseth was officially charged with incitement under Article 495 of the Criminal Code and for obstructing COVID-19 measures under Article 11 of the COVID-19 Law.
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Kandal
Physical and judicial threats against journalists and or human rights defenders
Los Seng, a news publisher of Los Seng News and owner of the online LSN TV 24 news said that he was experiencing pressure from authorities to stop his coverage of the land dispute related to the development project of the new Phnom Penh International Airport in Kandal province. Los Seng said he was warned to stop his reporting by the Kandal authorities and was told a case against him was headed to court.
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Preah Vihear
Land rights and forced evictions
On 6 July 2021, more than 100 families in four villages in Romtom commune, Rovieng district, reported that they had demanded that Preah Vihear provincial authorities provide justice in their ongoing conflict with Delcom Cambodia and Shi Shan. Villagers said that in the last two months, the two companies have used bulldozers to encroach on their farmland in order to expand their gold mining business near Phnom Long. More than 200 families have accused the two companies of regular encroachment of their land.
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Phnom Penh
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
Four union leaders and 13 union activists working for the garbage collection company Cintri had their employment contracts terminated along with more than 1,000 other workers after the Cintri company transferred its waste management operations to two new companies in early July 2021. The laid-off workers did not receive the salaries and benefits owed to them. The union members sought intervention from the Phnom Penh city hall, to no avail.
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Kratie
Land rights and forced evictions
On 5 July 2021, hundreds of villagers in Sang village, Changkrang commune, Chit Borei district, protested and prevented a private company from clearing their land. Community members stated that the land dispute with the company called “Mikastat” began in 2020 and involves 8,000 hectares of land belonging to more than 600 Cambodian families, with around 60% of those affected belonging to Pu Nong indigenous communities. A villager also reported that the company used security to open fire, threatening residents not to protest and threatening to sue them in court.
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Phnom Penh
Legislative and institutional developments relevant to human rights
The Ministry of Information has given local authorities the green light to take legal action against journalists that they deem are unprofessional or spreading false information that obstructs law enforcement. The ministry made its decision after Kandal provincial authorities wrote to the ministry in June asking it to take legal action against a number of journalists who livestreamed a protest against a new airport development in Kandal Stung district. In its response, the ministry gave the provincial administration permission to pursue legal action independently without first going through the ministry.
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Kandal
Land rights and forced evictions
Three representatives of an ongoing land dispute between 150 families and a private landowner in Sa’ang district’s Prasat commune were arrested after a complaint against them was filed by a landowner who accused them of occupying private land. The villagers have been living on and cultivating the land since 1980 until 2019 when the land became disputed and villagers were told to stop cultivating the land. The conflict reignited when the villagers returned to their farmlands after the factories they worked at closed due to COVID-19 in 2020. On 4 July 2021, the Kandal Provincial Court charged them with incitement to commit a felony, leading around 50 villagers to gather at the Ministry of Justice on the next day to demand their release
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Tboung Khmum
Physical and judicial threats against journalists and or human rights defenders
On 2 July 2021, the Tbong Khmum Provincial Court convicted 14 opposition supporters and land activists for incitement and sentenced them to one year in prison and fines ranging from $500 to $1,000. The 12 opposition activists were arrested over their plans to protest outside the Chinese Embassy in October 2020 to demand that the Chinese Government honor the Paris Peace Agreements. The two land activists were arrested over their involvement in land disputes in Tboung Khmum province. Six defendants were absent at the trial held on 17 June 2021 and convicted in absentia after they fled the country to avoid arrest.
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Phnom Penh
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
After prominent veteran politician Pol Ham, the potential new president of the newly created Cambodian Reform Party (CRP), a former opposition lawmaker and ex-CNRP senior officials were seen visiting several provinces, the Ministry of Interior sent a letter to the CRP to warn them that they were violating the Law on Political Parties by conducting political activities at the local level without being officially registered.
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Phnom Penh
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
On 1 July 2021, the Friday Women were impeded from protesting in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in support of their relatives, ex-CNRP members, facing trial. Several police officers and district security guards used violence to prevent the protesters from showing their banners and posters with pictures of their imprisoned relatives, causing three protesters to suffer injuries. The spokesman of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police declared that the Friday Women did not ask permission to gather, thus the intervention of the police to disband the protest.
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Mondulkiri
Acts of Discrimination
On 16 June 2021, Nhas Peung - deputy chief of a village in Mondulkiri province and member of the Indigenous Community Committee - claimed that he was fired from his post by the commune administration for actively promoting collective land registration for the Punong indigenous community. While the commune chief justified the termination by the need for more women in the administration, Peung said commune leaders had shown their dissatisfaction since the identification and measurement of the concerned land and his efforts to promote collective land registration because it was affecting the land and their interests. On 21 June 2021, a CPP representative in the commune submitted a letter to the commune chief, refusing to remove Nhas Peung from his position because he was satisfied with his work.
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Phnom Penh
Restrictions on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association
On 11 June 2021, a VOD reporter and a videographer were banned from taking photos and videos by Daun Penh district authorities as well as 60 guards and officials, when reporting on the delivery of a petition by 10 women - all wives of former CNRP activists and also called the Friday women - to the European Union Embassy. The reporters were also warned that their equipment would be confiscated and that they would be sent to the district all if they dared to report on the event.