Sweden Stops Some New Aid for Cambodia in Protest Over Crackdown
Tue 3rd Waxing Moon of Māgasira B.E.2561, November 21, A.D.2017 Year of the Rooster
Sweden said on Tuesday it was stopping new aid for Cambodia, except in education and research, and would no longer support a reform programme after the main opposition party was outlawed by the Supreme Court at the government’s request.
The announcement marked the first concrete action by a European Union country in protest at a political crackdown in which veteran Prime Minister Hun Sen’s main rival has also been arrested and civil rights groups and independent media attacked.
The United States cut election funding and said it would take more punitive steps after last week’s ban on the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). The European Union has also threatened action.
US Pulls Cambodia’s Election Funding; Hun Sen Says Cut It All
image the Phnom Penh Post
Mon 2nd Waxing Moon of Māgasira B.E.2561, November 20, A.D.2017 Year of the Rooster
Reuters
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen challenged the United States on Sunday to cut all aid after it announced it was ending funding for a general election next year in response to the dissolution of the main opposition party, media reported.
Hun Sen, the strongman who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades, has taken a strident anti-American line in an increasingly tense run-up to a 2018 election that has included a crackdown on critics, rights groups and independent media.
The United States announced on Friday it was ending funding for the election, and promised more “concrete steps,” after the Supreme Court dissolved the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) at the request of the government, on the grounds it was plotting to seize power.
The White House Statement on Setbacks to Democracy in Cambodia
The U.S. White House in Washington, D.C.
The United States expresses grave concern about the Cambodian government’s dissolution of the country’s main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), based on meritless and politicized allegations that it participated in a conspiracy to overthrow the government. It is becoming increasingly evident to the world that the Cambodian government’s restrictions on civil society, suppression of the press, and banning of more than 100 opposition leaders from political activities have significantly set back Cambodia’s democratic development and placed its economic growth and international standing at risk.
The United States will take concrete steps to respond to the Cambodian government’s deeply regrettable actions. As a first step, we will terminate support for the Cambodian National Election Committee and its administration of the upcoming 2018 national election. On current course next year’s election will not be legitimate, free, or fair.
The Cambodian government still has time to reverse course. We call on the Royal Government of Cambodia to undo its recent actions against the CNRP, release imprisoned CNRP leader Kem Sokha, and allow opposition parties, civil society, and the media to maintain their legitimate activities.
Statement of EU Foreign Affairs on the dissolution of CNRP
សេចក្តីសម្រេចរបស់សហគមអឺរ៉ុបស្តីអំពីករណីរំលាយគណបក្សសង្គ្រោះជាតិនៅចម្ពុជា
Statement of EU Foreign Affairs on the dissolution of Cambodia National Rescue Party
Fri 14th Waning Moon of Kattikā B.E.2561, November 17, A.D.2017 Year of the Rooster
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Cambodia faces international action after banning opposition
Fri 14th Waning Moon of Kattikā B.E.2561, November 17, A.D.2017 Year of the Rooster
Reuters
Flag of Cambodia
The United States promised “concrete steps” against Cambodia and the European Union raised a threat to vital trade preferences after the main opposition party was banned ahead of elections.
The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by the Supreme Court on Thursday at the request of the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose rule of more than three decades faces a major challenge at next year’s general election.
The ban on the CNRP followed the arrest of its leader, Kem Sokha, for treason. He is accused of plotting to take power with American help.
Hun Sen’s critics called the CNRP dissolution an attempt to steal the election and the death knell for democracy after Western donors have spent billions of dollars since 1993 trying to build a multiparty system following decades of war.
Video: The 68th Annual Kampuchea Krom Loss Commemoration
OHCHR produced a short video on peaceful assembly
Statement to Strengthen a National and International Legitimacy of Free and Fair Election of Democratic Process
Wed 6th Waxing Moon of Kattikā B.E.2561, October 25, A.D.2017 Year of the Rooster
King Norodom Sihamoni pardoned Hong Sok Hour
ព្រះមហាក្សត្រចេញព្រះរាជក្រឹត្យលើកលែងទោសលោក ហុង សុខហួ
Wed 6th Waxing Moon of Kattikā B.E.2561, October 25, A.D.2017 Year of the Rooster
Rule of law ‘virtually absent’: Court manipulation part of ruling party’s master plan, report argues
Panelists from human right organisations speak about the political situation in Cambodia at a press conference yesterday in Bangkok. Facebook
Thu 14th Waning Moon of Assayuja B.E.2561, October 19, A.D.2017 Year of the Rooster
The Phnom Penh Post
Cambodia’s judiciary remains in the iron grip of Prime Minister Hun Sen and his government, according to an extensive new International Commission of Jurists report, which found that “the rule of law is virtually absent from the Cambodian justice system”.
“[The] single largest problem facing the Cambodian justice system is the lack of independent and impartial judges and prosecutors,” the authors write.
The report argues that Cambodia has a range of international and domestic legal obligations, which are often wilfully ignored by the court system. This, they write, includes the misuse of the judiciary to strengthen the rule of the governing CPP. One example given is of a ruling party meeting in which a strategy is discussed to sway the legal system in the CPP’s favour. (more…)
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