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The Supreme Court on Friday heard the appeal of an American man jailed for raping an underage boy in Siem Reap two years ago. The Appeal Court had upheld his conviction of seven years in prison on charges of sexual harassment of a teenager in Siem Reap in 2019. Supreme Court Presiding Judge Nil Nonn identified the convict as Robinson Shaun Earl, 41. Judge Nonn said that Earl was found guilty by the Siem Reap Provincial Court on March 18, 2020, and was imprisoned for seven years. He was also ordered to pay the victim a compensation of nearly $5,000. The 14-year-old victim and the plaintiff in the case was present during the hearing. The perpetrator used to persuade young boys to take showers with him after buying them food and showed them pornographic material before seducing them, Judge Nonn said. Earl was charged with child sex abuse and producing pornographic images and materials to children, under Articles 23 and 34 of the Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501196315/supreme-court-hears-appeal-of-us-national-convicted-over-child-rape/

PHNOM PENH (The Phnom Penh/Asia News Network): Siem Reap province has seen an impressive increase in the number of tourists arriving. Up to 16 inbound flights arrive per day, bringing up to 1,400 passengers, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Tourism. The ministry said that in the January-October period, Siem Reap received a total of 1,792,549 visitors, more than eight times as many as the same period last year. 169,349 of the guests were international visitors, an increase of over twenty times. Cambodia, like most nations, applied strict measures against Covid-19, with strict border control and lockdowns in certain areas in the country during the peak of the pandemic. The government reopened the Kingdom in November last year. read more https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2022/12/04/siem-reap-sees-significant-growth-in-arrivals

Chheang Srey Oun was left in critical condition following an operation by an untrained midwife. A man in Cambodia has filed a criminal complaint against a private hospital in Kampong Speu province after a midwife removed part of his wife’s intestines while performing a procedure to remove her dead fetus, prompting a wider probe into illegal abortions in the country. On Nov. 2, Chheang Srey Oun, a 22-year-old factory worker, underwent an operation at the Doeum Angkorng Maternity Clinic to remove a five-month-old fetus that had died in her womb, leaving her lower intestine severely damaged. A preliminary investigation found that she had been operated on by a licensed midwife named Ung Thearin, who had never been trained to perform an abortion. Chheang Srey Oun is now being monitored at Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh, where she remains in critical condition. Cambodia’s Ministry of Health has temporarily closed the Doeum Angkorng Maternity Clinic pending further investigation. News of the case has received national attention after the woman used Facebook to appeal for help, saying she is in need of urgent treatment. Speaking to RFA Khmer from Calmette Hospital on Thursday, Chheang Srey Oun's husband Pheng Voeun confirmed that a criminal complaint had been filed in his wife’s case. He called on the courts and relevant institutions to help bring justice to his wife. He said he has been receiving assistance from the Red Cross to pay for his wife’s treatment. In a statement on Thursday, Health Minister Mam Bun Heng said that the Doeum Angkorng Maternity Clinic had acted recklessly for allowing an untrained midwife to perform an abortion on Chheang Srey Oun. The clinic must “face the consequences” of its actions according to the law, he said, adding that Ung Thearin’s license had been suspended for two years. The midwife has so far failed to cooperate with the investigation and is currently on the run from authorities. He also ordered a probe of all private clinics and other facilities, adding that those found to perform abortions illegally will be punished accordingly. The President of the Cambodian Trade Union Confederation, Rong Chhun, told RFA that the Ministry of Health needs to present a clear explanation for what happened to Chheang Srey Oun because it affects the lives of all Cambodians. "The midwife must be held responsible for the cost [of her treatment], according to the law,” he said. According to the latest figures from the World Bank, Cambodia’s maternal mortality rate was 160 for every 100,000 live births in 2017, a 4.76% decline from 2016. The mortality rate had declined for three consecutive years from 189 in 2014. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua LIpes. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/complaint-12022022173819.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

Authorities are investigating how a British man came to die, after he was found dead with his head encased in a trash bag in Battambang. Lim Puthyla, the deputy provincial commissioner, said that the dead foreigner – named as JONATHAN STOCK, a 34-year-old British man, was living with his Cambodian wife, Van Kanhna, 39, and children in Chrap Veal village, Anlong Vil commune, Sangke district. Mr Stock was found dead by his wife at home on November 30, 2022. Authorities are said to be closely looking at the case, due to the unusual mode of Mr Stock’s suicide – following widespread speculation about the death. Mr Stock, who came from Newcastle upon Tyne, had resided in Cambodia since 2011 read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501195431/mystery-of-british-mans-trash-bag-suicide/

Journalists, activists criticize unequal application of the law Journalists and environmental activists in Cambodia are criticizing authorities’ filing of charges against three reporters accused of taking bribes to cover up illegal logging in a northern province, saying the loggers themselves should also be charged. Mom Vibal, 44, Tin Try, 29, and Tin Sitha, 27 — reporters for online and television news outlets in Preah Vihear province — were taken into custody on Nov. 23 and charged with extortion following a lawsuit filed by Vietnamese logging company PNT. The three are accused of demanding that U.S.$4,000 be paid to a group of four, including the three now under arrest, in exchange for blocking information on illegal purchases of timber by PNT, according to local media accounts. Company representatives then offered the group U.S.$2,000 and invited the journalists to a meeting where they were taken into custody by provincial police, media reports said. The name of the fourth person suspected of involvement in the extortion attempt was not reported. Speaking to RFA, Tin Chamroeun — a brother-in-law of Tin Try and Tin Sitha — said that they had not committed the alleged crimes, and that they had never received the money offered to them in bribes. “The illegal trader was freed, but the journalists were put in jail,” he said. “I want to see equal justice granted by the court.” Attempt to deter reporting? Local journalists called the group’s arrest an attempt to deter other journalists from looking into the illegal logging trade. “Some journalists are afraid of being arrested if they report on illegal logging,” said Try Sophal, a reporter for Preah Vihear’s Hang Meas TV. The fact that the reporters were taken into custody while the timber traders escaped charges shows that Cambodia’s laws are unequally applied, he added. An illegally felled old-growth tree in Prey Lang forest, April 22, 2020. Credit: Lovers of the Environment Srey Thai, a member of Preah Vihear’s Prey Lang Forest protection network, said that provincial authorities have consistently failed to take action against forest crimes committed in Prey Lang, an officially protected area, by PNT and other companies. “The reporters were definitely in the wrong if they accepted bribes, but the loggers also broke the law, so both sides should be held equally accountable,” he said. Nop Vy, executive director for the Coalition of Cambodian Journalists, or CCJ, called on provincial and court authorities to carefully investigate the case. “The crimes that reporters have revealed have never been investigated, which has only encouraged further illegal logging,” he said. A CCJ report for 2021 says that nearly 100 journalists faced harassment during the year, including 49 cases of physical assault, threats of violence, arrests and torture. Others were hit with lawsuits, and 37 journalists were jailed on charges of “incitement,” “extortion” and other crimes. Attempts to reach Preah Vihear Provincial Prosecutor Ty Sovinthal and Sat Nak, a representative of the Vietnamese company PNT, were unsuccessful Thursday. ‘Traditions destroyed’ Illegal deforestation and government restrictions on forest access are undermining the spiritual practices, land rights, and livelihoods of one of Cambodia’s largest indigenous groups, according to a report by Amnesty International issued in early January. The report, “’Our Traditions Are Being Destroyed’: Illegal Logging, Repression, and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Violations in Cambodia’s Protected Forests,” says illegal logging has been particularly damaging to the Kuy people in the Prey Lang and Prey Preah Roka rainforests, which contain protected wildlife sanctuaries. The Prey Lang Forest runs through Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Kratie and Stung Treng provinces in northern Cambodia, while Prey Preah Roka is in Preah Vihear province. Cambodia’s rate of deforestation is among the world’s fastest, and a survey published in 2020 by U.S. and EU monitors showed that Prey Lang lost more than one football pitch, or 1.76 acres, of woodlands to illegal logging every hour of 2019. Translated by Samean Yun for RFA Khmer. Written in English by Richard Finney. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/cambodia-logging-12012022172651.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036

In founding the first all-male, gay classical dance company in Cambodia, U.S.-born artist Prumsodun Ok simultaneously preserves traditions and empowers diversity. Merging two cultural streams — the progressive and the conservative — that many see as mutually exclusive, Ok presents a new outlook on Khmer culture. “In the Khmer tradition, there is space for people who don’t fit into male or female. For example, in one of our most sacred classical dances, a Brahman who comes to act as a messenger between heaven and earth is depicted. And this Brahman is half male, half female. So in our culture we already have what people in the world today call ‘queer.’” Born to Cambodian refugees in the U.S., Ok has pursued a career in Khmer classical dance, experimental filmmaking and photography. Moving back to Cambodia in 2015, he founded Cambodia’s first Khmer-classical gay dance company Natyarasa, which now consists of 10 professional dancers. What seems contradictory at first is actually well-connected, says Ok: “In Khmer, when we use the word ‘perform,’ we say ‘samdeng.’ read more https://vodenglish.news/classical-dance-pushes-the-bounds-of-traditional-gender-identities/

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has produced 4.82 tons of dore bars with 90 percent pure gold solution since commercial mining started in June last year, Mines and Energy Minister Suy Sem said on Wednesday. During a meeting, Sem said the country currently has four gold mining companies, namely Renaissance Minerals, Delcom Kampuchea, Xinshan Industrial (Cambodia), and Xing Yuan Kanng Yeak. According to Sem, Renaissance Minerals has so far refined 4,598 kg of dore bars, the Delcom Kampuchea 160 kg, the Xinshan Industrial Cambodia 45 kg, and the Xing Yuan Kanng Yeak 22 kg. The Southeast Asian nation commenced extracting gold for the first time at a gold mining site in Keo Seima district in northeastern Mondulkiri province in June 2021. Renaissance Minerals, a subsidiary of Australia-listed Emerald Resources NL, is the developer of the mining site. Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said that the government is expected to make about 40 million U.S. dollars in taxes and royalties per year from those mining projects. https://english.news.cn/20221201/ea1deb1265574fb5af75b61c5132e758/c.html

In a tragic incident, four children, two girls and two boys, drowned in a five-metre deep open pit in Ta Nget area of Prey Samraong village in Kandal province, while they were collecting clams and snails. While rescuers found the bodies of twin girls aged 13 – Ny Sreynak and Ny Nyna – on Tuesday, bodies of siblings 11-year-old Than Kim Yang and 9-year-old Than Thanok, were found yesterday. Damnak Ampil commune police said that the four children went together to collect clams from the open pit in Prey Samraong village, Damnak Ampil commune, Ang Snuol district, Kandal province, on Tuesday evening and went missing. After receiving information about child drowning, a rescue team was sent to the area and the search continued throughout Tuesday night. The bodies of the girls were found the next day at about 4:30am. Authorities handed over the bodies of the children to their respective families and expressed their condolences. Phach Phalla, deputy Ang Snuol district police chief, said that children in the area like to play around and go for swimming in the open pits in search of clams. However, the depth of the open pits varies, and in some locations the pits are up to five to six metres deep. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501194180/four-children-drown-in-open-pit-while-collecting-clams/

Hun Sen’s dynastic succession plan is being expedited with his eldest son now widely expected to become premier after next July’s polls PHNOM PENH — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen could step down in the middle of next year as succession plans to hand power to his eldest son are seemingly on a new fast track. After eliminating any meaningful political opposition and thus assured victory at next July’s general election, Hun Sen now plans to step down as prime minister and assume a more overarching role, making way for Hun Manet, 44, the de facto military chief, to replace him as premier, authoritative sources told Asia Times. The long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has already confirmed Manet as the prime minister-in-waiting and his younger acolytes are quickly rising through the ranks. Hun Sen probably likely reckons there are now few succession risks while the 70-year-old is increasingly conscious about his own health, analysts say. read more https://asiatimes.com/2022/11/hun-manet-to-rule-cambodia-way-ahead-of-schedule/

Conservation efforts for the Kingdom’s wild elephants continues and experts have recorded between 400 to 600 wild elephants and 70 domestic elephants. The Ministry of Environment has actively supported the district elephant conservation project and has collaborated with partners to develop a long-term strategic plan for wild elephant conservation. The Elephant Valley Project is an ecotourism project of the Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment (E.L.I.E.) that aims to improve the health and well-being of domesticated elephants, conserve wildlife sanctuaries and support local communities working closely with them. The project in Mondulkiri has a veterinary team looking after the health of Asian elephants living in their 1,500 hectares-habitat, including forests, rivers and grasslands. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501194133/between-400-and-600-wild-elephants-recorded-in-cambodia/

In the 10 months of 2022, Cambodia received more than 1.57 million international tourists, an increase of nearly 1,000 percent, compared to the same period last year. This is according to the report of the Ministry of Tourism, which was released today. According to the report: “International tourists who visited Cambodia in the 10 months from January to October 2022 totalled 1,575,954, an increase of 991.1 percent compared to the same period last year.” “In the first 10 months, 559,918 international tourists came by air; an increase of 706.6 percent, 1,005,549 by land, an increase of 1240.4 percent and 10,487 by waterways,” it continued. The highest number of tourists are from the following countries: 590,984 from Thailand; 341,953 from Vietnam; 75,915 from China; 60,903 from the United States; 59,368 from Laos; 59,122 from Indonesia; 43,178 from South Korea; 40,184 from Malaysia; 37,153 from France and 28,505 from the United Kingdom. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501194121/more-than-1-57-million-international-tourists-recorded-in-cambodia-over-last-10-months/

A senior health official has confirmed that Cambodia is currently among the seven countries in the world that have effectively reduced the prevalence rate of HIV / AIDS. According to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Cambodia which was one among the seven countries with the highest HIV prevalence rate in Asia in 2003 – has managed to bring down its rate from 11% to 6% in 2021. Sea Huong, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Health, said that the health ministry has launched a series of strategies to improve the quality of life, and reduce mortality rate of people living with HIV and people who are at risk of HIV infection in the Kingdom. “The next three-year budget plan under the Global Fund to invest in HIV/AIDS in the health sector focuses on prevention of HIV cases, mother-to-child transmission, and mental health services for people living with HIV/AIDs,” he added. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501193650/cambodia-among-top-nations-which-effectively-cut-hiv-aids-rate/

Unesco has put Cambodia’s Lbokator martial art on its cultural world heritage list, as elated local officials and practitioners say they hope it will spur efforts to preserve the tradition. Vath Chamroeun, secretary-general of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, told VOD on Wednesday that Unesco had inscribed the ancient martial art of Kun Lbokator on its list of intangible cultural heritage following a presentation by the Cambodian culture minister at a meeting in Morocco. A Unesco announcement shows that the listing came alongside traditional Chinese tea techniques, bear festivities in the Pyrenees, Ukrainian borscht and other traditions from around the world. Unesco notes that Lbokator includes elements of dance, music, traditional medicine, amulets, tattoos and weapons. read more https://vodenglish.news/pride-as-lbokator-martial-art-recognized-by-unesco/

The U.S. government has expressed "deep concern" over the recent arrest of Chhim Sithar, the union president of Cambodia's NagaWorld Casino company, after she returned to Cambodia from attending a labor conference in Australia. As reported by the U.S. State Department, Cambodian authorities have previously interfered with the exercise of workers' rights by arresting union leaders and workers protesting the "wrongful dismissal" of NagaWorld employees. "We urge Cambodian authorities to release Chhim Sithar and all detained trade unionists exercising their right to freedom of association and peaceful assembly, to drop the charges against them, and to work to constructively resolve their disputes," the Biden Administration has asserted, reiterating its call on Cambodia to release U.S. citizen Theary Seng. read more https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/world/united-states-expresses-concern-following-arrest-of-trade-union-leader-in-cambodia/ar-AA14ICPJ

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's National Assembly on Tuesday approved a draft budget of 9.64 billion U.S. dollars for the government spending in 2023, up 13 percent from about 8.5 billion dollars in 2022. Eighty-nine lawmakers present at the parliamentary session unanimously passed the draft bill. Speaking during the assembly session, Cambodia's economy and finance minister Aun Pornmoniroth said the budget is equal to 29.87 percent of the Southeast Asian nation's gross domestic product (GDP). He said that the proposed budget is to ensure the success of general elections and the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in 2023 when Cambodia will be the host. Pornmoniroth, who is also a deputy prime minister, said the kingdom's economy is predicted to grow by 6.6 percent in 2023 from 5.4 percent in 2022. To meet the expenditure, the government is expected to make a total revenue of 7.21 billion U.S. dollars next year, up 14.5 percent from this year, according to the draft budget law. It added that the government has also planned to borrow another 1.7 billion SDR (Special Drawing Rights), nearly 2.2 billion dollars, from friendly countries and development partners as well as to raise more funds from sovereign bond issuance. Chheang Vun, chairman of the parliament's committee on economy, finance, banking and audit, said the budget next year would be focused on general administration, public health, education, economy-driven sector, social sector, national defense, security and public order among others. The draft bill will need to be finally reviewed by the country's senate before being submitted to the king for endorsement. ■ https://english.news.cn/20221129/494b107953ac4689bb6c6e83a1e61d97/c.html

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Some 460,000 people in Cambodia have fallen below poverty income thresholds since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, said a World Bank report released on Monday. Titled Poverty Assessment Report for Cambodia, Toward a More Inclusive and Resilient Cambodia, the report said Cambodia's poverty rate dropped from 33.8 percent to 17.8 percent over the 10-year period between 2009 and 2019, with almost 2 million Cambodians escaping poverty. "Since 2020, the rate has increased by 2.8 percentage points, indicating that around 460,000 people have fallen below poverty income thresholds," the report said. Maryam Salim, World Bank country manager for Cambodia, said despite the impressive success in poverty reduction from 2009 to 2019, many households remained vulnerable, with few savings or safety nets. "This meant COVID-19 dealt a setback to the country's progress in combating poverty as employment and wages diminished," she said in a news release while launching the report. To support a more inclusive and resilient recovery from the pandemic and the economic shocks that came with it, Cambodia could consider a range of policy actions, the report said, adding that these included targeted cash transfers, steps to strengthening social protection and investments in health and education. The Southeast Asian nation has a population of 16 million people. The World Bank said the national poverty line in the kingdom is 10,951 riel or 2.7 U.S. dollars per person a day. https://english.news.cn/20221128/8a1970670f654e5c99b9bcb1c2022c8c/c.html

NagaWorld union leader Chhim Sithar was questioned at the Phnom Penh International Airport today and has been sent to prison, with a police official saying she violated her bail conditions. Phnom Penh Police spokesperson San Sokseyha said the immigration police had arrested Sithar at the airport because the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant for the union leader. He said this was because she had traveled overseas, which was against her bail conditions. He added that she had been taken to court. “This morning the Phnom Penh police cooperated with [immigration at] the airport because of an arrest warrant of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for failure to comply with the court decision on March 14, 2022,” he said, referring to the day Sithar was released on bail. “Sithar doesn’t have a right to leave Cambodia unless the court decides for her.” Sithar and 10 others are on bail, but it was unclear whether they were prevented from traveling overseas, and whether there were restrictions on reasons she could leave the country. Licadho, which represents some of the charged NagaWorld workers, said Sithar had been moved to Prey Sar prison this afternoon. read more https://vodenglish.news/nagaworld-union-leader-detained-at-phnom-penh-airport/

SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Yonhap) — A Cambodian child with a congenital heart defect who recently met South Korean First Lady Kim Gun-hee will undergo surgery in Seoul, the Blue House said Sunday. Earlier this month, Kim accompanied President Yoon Seok-yeol on a visit to Cambodia and visited the 14-year-old in Phnom Penh. At the hospital there, Kim discussed how to provide treatment for a child who underwent heart surgery in 2018 but could not afford follow-up surgery due to the family’s poor financial circumstances. A Blue House official told Yonhap that the child is expected to be brought to South Korea for surgery. Officials said Seoul Asan Medical Center will be in charge of the operation. An official said, “All the expenses required for the trip to Korea and surgery have already been prepared through donations.” read more https://worldakkam.com/sick-cambodian-child-who-met-south-korean-first-lady-undergoes-surgery-in-seoul-official/1057463/

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday threatened to seize the property of opposition leader Sam Rainsy and sell the party’s headquarters if he wins a defamation case against the exiled politician. The $1mn lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal cases targeting Cambodian opposition leaders trying to break Hun Sen’s 32-year grip on power. Rights groups say the strongman is trying to keep his opponents under pressure ahead of local elections this year and a general election in 2018. Hun Sen filed the latest defamation case against top foe Rainsy for accusing him of bribery in a speech several weeks ago. “I am waiting for the verdict to be finalised. “This time, I will take money ... I am demanding $1,000,000,” the premier said during a parliamentary session yesterday. “I heard the party’s headquarters is registered under the name of Sam Rainsy, so the party’s headquarters will be auctioned,” he told the assembly, adding that the politician’s personal property would also be “frozen ...and sold”. The money would be used to build houses for handicapped people, he added. read more https://www.gulf-times.com/story/531198/cambodian-pm-threatens-to-sell-opposition-hq

In Cambodia's weak legal system, surrogacy exists in a grey market, endangering all involved when political conditions suddenly shift and criminal charges follow. The baby was not hers, not really. Hun Daneth felt that, counted on that. When she gave birth to the boy, who didn’t look like her, she knew it even more. But four years after acting as a surrogate for a Chinese businessman, who said he had used a Russian egg donor, Hun Daneth is being forced by the Cambodian courts to raise the little boy or risk going to jail. The businessman is in prison over the surrogacy, his appeal denied in June. Even as she dealt with the shock of raising the baby, Hun Daneth dutifully changed his diapers. Over the months and years, she found herself hugging and kissing him, cajoling him to eat more rice so he could grow big and strong. She has come to see this child as her own. “I love him so much,” said Hun Daneth, who is looking after the boy with her husband. read more https://indianexpress.com/article/world/surrogacy-cambodia-weak-legal-system-grey-market-political-conditions-8292449/

A forest defender group in Prey Lang forest say they have documented unchecked monkey poaching in the fast-disappearing forest, adding that live primates can sell for up to $250 a head. The U.S. arrested an Agriculture Ministry official last week, who along with seven others was charged with smuggling and conspiracy. The U.S. Justice Department indictment alleges they were involved in exporting wild-caught long-tailed macaques and mixed them in consignments of farm-bred primates headed to the U.S. Forest patrollers from the Prey Lang Community Network in Stung Treng province told VOD last month that they had documented monkey poaching in the forest, with the group’s chapters in Preah Vihear and Kampong Thom reporting similar activity. While the eight people — including Forestry Administration head Keo Omaliss — are accused of smuggling long tailed monkeys, also called crab monkeys in Khmer, PLCN says poachers in the forest are after the lucrative rice monkeys or “white monkeys.” Lay Phally, a member of PLCN in Stung Treng, walks through the forest in late October looking for signs of fresh deforestation. read more https://vodenglish.news/forest-patrollers-recount-monkey-poaching-in-prey-lang/

Over 370 Indians, who were victims of job rackets, have been rescued from Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the Indian mission in Yangon, Bangkok, and Consulate in Chiang Mai has been actively pursuing these cases of Indians trapped in fake job rackets in Myanmar. Bagchi said about 108 people from Cambodia have also been rescued. “People from India and other places have got lured, got stuck in Myanmar and some in Laos and Cambodia also,” Bagchi said at a media briefing. “We have managed to rescue over 200 people (from Myanmar) of which 153 have been repatriated to India. The remaining 50-odd people are in the process of repatriation. They are in Thailand, we are in touch with the Thai authorities regarding completing of legal formalities that will allow them to be repatriated to India,” he said. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501191274/india-rescues-108-of-their-nationals-who-fell-victims-to-job-rackets-in-cambodia/

In the third quarter of 2022, average inflation fell to 4.9 percent compared to the previous quarter’s inflation rate, which was at 7.4 percent. This is according to the Economic and Financial Statistics Bulletin for the third quarter of 2022. The third quarter economic and financial statistics bulletin was released by the Ministry of Economy today. The report of the price index shows that increase of diesel is at 38.5 percent, regular gasoline at 13.6 percent and gas at 16.7 percent. In the third quarter of 2022, the average price of crude oil was $96.6 per barrel, up 34.6 percent, and the price of rice was $429.3 per tonne. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501191479/inflation-rate-drops-to-4-9-pct-says-ministry-of-economy/

Choung Chou Ngy says he’ll continue to fight injustice as a candidate challenging Prime Minister Hun Sen’s rule. Choung Chou Ngy hopes his political career is more successful than his legal one has been. As an attorney, Choung Chou Ngy was given some of the hardest cases in Cambodia, a country that under strongman Hun Sen routinely stifles dissent. Courts appointed him to represent opposition political leaders, social activists and poor landholders who had run afoul of the autocratic government. It was a tough job. So much so, that Chou Ngy jokingly refers to himself as the “lawyer who never won a political case” — a self-deprecating moniker that says more about the state of civil society in Cambodia than his qualities as an attorney. Now, Choung Chou Ngy, who says he is in his 50s, is trying to fight his country’s antagonism to human rights from another angle: He announced he will run for Parliament as a member of the opposition Candlelight Party, which has emerged as the main challenger to Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party. "As a lawyer, there are restrictions by profession, but as a politician, I am free to see people," he said, meaning he gets to make his case before prospective constituents rather than a judge. What won’t change, Choung Chou Ngy said, is his focus on Cambodia’s courts, which ruled against his clients in almost every trial, although he said his record as an attorney improved in cases that didn’t involve bribes. "I clearly see that I have a very important role to play in protecting activists, protecting those who dare to protest for justice, for democracy in Cambodia, so my role is important in helping to promote Cambodia to respect the law or the rule of law,” he said. Court challenges Choung Chou Ngy said he faced a number of difficulties in his legal career. He often had to dip into his own bank account to help present a client’s case. And he said he sometimes faced personal threats as he defended social activists and Cambodians fighting to retain their land against politically connected developers. He himself was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 3 million riel (U.S. $725) by the Kandal Provincial Court for his defense of a group of villagers locked in a land dispute. He is accused of taking his clients out of detention in a local police station. He denies the allegation, saying the villagers were free to leave. The case is pending. Choung Chou Ngy has also defended some of Cambodia’s most prominent opponents to one-party rule, including Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha, the former co-founders of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was disbanded by the Cambodian Supreme Court in 2017 at Hun Sen’s request. The decision allowed the CPP to fill every seat in the National Assembly in the 2018 election. Sam Rainsy now lives in exile in France, while Kem Sokha remains on trial for “treason,” a charge widely viewed as politically motivated. In 2021, the U.S. State Department said Cambodia faces “significant” human rights issues, citing credible reports of arbitrary detentions, severe restrictions on free expression, and “serious problems with the independence of the judiciary.” ‘That is his heart’ Lao Mong Hay, a political activist and director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy, praised Choung Chou-Ngy 's courage and generosity. "He took his profession as a lawyer to help those in need. That is his heart,” Lao Mong Hay said. Choung Chou Ngy was born in Preah Prosop village in Kandal province, which surrounds the capital Phnom Penh in Cambodia’s southeast. His parents are farmers. He worked as a teacher for two years after graduating with a bachelor's degree in physics from the Royal University of Phnom Penh. Choung Chou Ngy then studied law and received a master's degree in public administration before becoming an attorney in 2004. He said his mother told him to be responsible, to not abuse his position, and to fight for justice. "It is necessary to have people who dare to sacrifice themselves, sacrifice for the sake of peace,” he said. A need to meditate He has been involved in politics previously, though not as a candidate. Before he worked as an attorney, Choung Chou Ngy was a member of CNRP’s board. In addition to the ban on the party, 118 of its members were blocked from participating in politics for five years. That prohibition was lifted on Nov. 16, allowing Choung Chou Ngy to run. It has always been risky to challenge Hun Sen’s rule, but Choung Chou Ngy is re-entering politics at a particularly fraught time. The CNRP ban precipitated a crackdown on dissent that continues. The prime minister, who has ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades, seems intent on having his son, Hun Mamet, succeed him. With the 2023 election eight months away, Hun Sen already has threatened to ban Candlelight over comments Rainsy made to RFA disparaging King Norodom Sihamoni. Choung Chou Ngy said he coped with his disappointments as an attorney by meditating with his wife, who is also a lawyer, in their rented home in Phnom Penh. The practice helped the couple maintain a level of serenity in the face of the injustices they witness, he said. As a member of Parliament, he says he would have more tools with which to fight back. One goal, he said, is to promote a legislative mechanism to punish corrupt judges and prosecutors like the ones he and his clients faced in court. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/khmer-lawyer-politician-11242022105451.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. 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The Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) has launched a 16-day campaign to eradicate gender-based violence and raise awareness of women’s rights. The campaign, scheduled to start on November 25 to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, calls on the government to take further action to end gender-based violence and promote gender equality in Cambodia, according to a CCHR press release dated November 21. Lim Borin, the CCHR’s project coordinator for gender equality, said the main purposes of the campaign are to reflect on the demands of women activists in the past and to address the challenges of women in the present. The other is to encourage stakeholders have effective strategies in place to protect women and girls. read more https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/celebration-womens-rights-rolled-out-nov-25