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Officials in Battambang province have found artifacts and ancient coins under a 300-year-old Buddhist temple in Mong Russei district. They said the artifacts were found on Wednesday when a dilapidated temple was dismantled to be replaced with a new one in Talos commune. Battambang provincial deputy governor Soeum Bunrithy told Khmer Times that at about 10 am the pagoda committee dismantled the 17th century Buddhist temple Sovannphoumi Thmey because it was in a state of ruin. Bunrithy explained that the artifacts were discovered while excavators started digging through a hole found inside the temple. He said the artifacts included 20 different potteries made of baked clay, copper and bronze articles, two dozen Siamese bronze and copper coins, copper bells and over 3000 other silver coins. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501078736/ancient-artifacts-found-buried-inside-17th-century-battambang-province-buddhist-temple/

The consumption of electricity in the country has dropped to just over 2,000 megawatts in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, causing a huge loss to the government. Cambodia has a capacity to supply about 3,800 megawatts. Minister of Mines and Energy, Suy Sem said that the policy of the government of Cambodia is to distribute electricity to the people at an affordable price. He added that Cambodia has successfully electrified 98 percent of the total of 14,390 villages across the country. Meanwhile, 84 percent of the estimated two million households are already connected to the network. At a ceremony to announce Leng Lat as the Director of the Department of Mines and Energy for the Siem Reap province, Suy Sem said that the remaining two percent of the villages that have not yet received electricity transmission are remote villages in the forest with no access to road, or floating villages. However, the ministry will try to find other energy sources to supply power to these villages. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501077941/98-villages-electrified-but-power-used-drops/

The Ministry of Tourism puts a target of at least a million foreign tourists this year, outlining the main tourism markets as Asean, South East Asia countries, US, France and UK. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ministry said that the Kingdom would see arrivals of foreign tourists from 0.8 to 1 million this year and domestic tourists at eight million. The projection is based on the good performance trend of tourist movement in the first four months of this year, when the Kingdom recorded 241,485 tourists and five million domestic tourists, increasing by 191 percent and 161 percent, respectively. The ministry said the high impact of tourist numbers will be from August and the main markets for Cambodia’s tourism sector are Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, China, South Korea, Japan, US, France, and the UK. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501078728/cambodia-targets-one-million-tourists-this-year/

Authorities stopped environmentalists investigating sewage flows into Phnom Penh rivers a year ago, jailing them for plotting. But black, foul-smelling discharges are continuing even as city officials said this week that they were unaware of a problem. In the past week, reporters have observed apparent sewage flowing into the Tonle Sap river in central Phnom Penh, as well as cloudy discharge draining into the Mekong from underneath a Koh Pich cement plant. The first site, near Wat Ounalom, is where three Mother Nature environmentalists Sun Ratha, Ly Chandaravuth and Yim Leanghy were arrested last June while collecting water testing samples. They were later charged with plotting, as the Interior Ministry alleged their environmentalism was only a front for criticizing and trying to change the government. read more https://vodenglish.news/city-officials-dont-know-of-sewage-concerns-despite-arrests-over-issue/

With border reopenings after nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the General Department of Immigration (GDI) plans to address the issue of foreigners who had been stranded in the Kingdom and whose visas had long expired. During this period the government on humanitarian grounds had automatically allowed them to stay on without legal action. The GDI now expects foreigners whose countries have reopened their borders to leave Cambodia quickly. Those who do not do so will be rounded up and detained before deportation. According to the GDI, an estimated 400 foreigners have been stranded in the Kingdom over the past two years due to the pandemic. The Director General of the General Department of Immigration of the Ministry of Interior, General Kirth Chantharith said yesterday that the GDI on Tuesday held a meeting to deal with the issue of foreigners who persist in overstaying despite being able to return to their home countries. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501077935/time-to-leave-gdi-expects-overstaying-foreigners-to-head-back-home/

Cambodian economy will grow at 5.1 percent this year and 6.2 percent in 2023, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The forecast followed the preliminary assessment of the macroeconomic situation of Cambodia by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission here. Regarding the assessment of the economic and financial situation in the country, Alasdair Scott, the IMF’s mission chief for Cambodia said that the growth will be due to the socio-economic recovery, despite some risks such as high inflation, ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war, a slowdown of the Chinese economy, and faster-than-expected tightening monetary policy in developed countries. At the same time, the Cambodian economy in 2023 is expected to grow higher than the previous forecast at 6.2 percent, mainly due to the growth of the tourism sector. The IMF also urged the government of Cambodia to take timely steps to address the social and economic challenges and prevent the spread of Covid-19. In particular, Cambodia’s successful vaccination campaign should continue. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501077937/cambodias-economy-to-grow-5-1-in-2022/

Prosecutors and government plaintiff lawyers declined to specify a country, organization or individual behind opposition leader Kem Sokha’s alleged “conspiracy with a foreign power” during his trial hearing on Wednesday. Sokha’s trial continued at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, and defense lawyers raised Prime Minister Hun Sen’s recent speech claiming that the government had not specified that Sokha colluded with the U.S. The opposition leader was arrested in September 2017 and charged with colluding with a foreign power to topple the government. A day after the arrest, Hun named the U.S. as the country behind an alleged coup plot with Sokha. “The Americans used to do it, this problem, with Lon Nol and now the American does this problem with Kem Sokha,” he said in September 2017. Defense lawyer Meng Sopheary and Ang Udom asked prosecutors and government lawyers on Wednesday to reveal the identities of individuals and countries that participated in Sokha’s alleged plot. Prosecutors and government lawyers, however, would not specify any country, organization or individual. read more https://vodenglish.news/no-clarification-on-whom-kem-sokha-allegedly-conspired-with/

Of the 13,000 lmportant Bird & Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) identified by BirdLife worldwide, 277 are most severely under threat. Vital sites, such as Cambodia’s Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary, are home to globally threatened birds such as Giant Ibis and other IBA ‘trigger species’. They face the most intense pressures and need our urgent help. Hulking past a seasonal waterhole – called trapaengs here in Cambodia – the shadowy form of a Giant Ibis probes soft mud with its immense, downcurved bill. Once this Critically Endangered waterbird has unearthed enough invertebrates, it will head deep into the forest to a treetop nest – one of 10 discovered last year at Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary. This vast site encompasses two Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) – including Lomphat, an ‘IBA in Danger’ where conservation action is now more urgent than ever. Established in 1993, Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary carries remarkable significance for wildlife. Its 250,000 hectares form part of the Lower Mekong Dry Forests, one of the world’s 200 most important ecoregions. Roughly the size of the island of Mauritius, Lomphat intersperses dry deciduous woodland with evergreen forest, and seasonally flooded grassland with farmland. It hosts populations of not one but three Critically Endangered birds. As well as around 50 Giant Ibises – perhaps one sixth of the global population, which is almost entirely confined to Cambodia – there are internationally important numbers of White-shouldered Ibis and Red-headed Vulture. read more https://www.birdlife.org/news/2022/05/18/why-this-wildlife-sanctuary-in-cambodia-is-in-danger-along-with-hundreds-more-worldwide/

The APSARA National Authority, in collaboration with the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, is in the process of restoring the platform of the Elephant Terrace. This restoration work is a part of a joint project between the APSARA National Authority and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation that was carried out at two different locations, the northern part is 23 meters long and the southern part is 8 meters long, it pointed out. In the process of restoring, the technicians focus on the implementation of several essential tasks, such as strengthening the foundations, consolidating the relevant structures inside and below as well as reassembling the walls of the original structure, the source added. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501077428/apsara-national-authority-restoring-elephant-terraces-platform/

Despite the hotel industry facing a labour shortage, members of the Cambodia Hotel Association (CHA) are ready to reopen during the second half of this year, officials told Khmer Times yesterday. They pointed out that the number of international visitors was still small. Hun Sophea, CHA manager, said that most of the hotels in Siem Reap that are members of the association have been planning to resume their operations between June and December this year. The number of inbound flights to Cambodia was still low, and the industry has been recruiting employees. “Currently, hotels that are our members have been ready to reopen their hotels since the day the Prime Minister announced that the country has been looking at the situation of international flights. The association has also been considering to be part of a job fair to recruit hospitality staff.” read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501077246/siem-reap-hotels-to-reopen-soon/

Six sub-decrees signed in the span of a week privatized nearly 10,000 hectares across four provinces, with thousands of hectares going to unspecified families in northeastern provinces and a plot in Ream National Park adding to land tycoon Khun Sea’s property empire. The land change documents were released in the latest tranche of royal gazette updates published last week, showing forested and sparsely populated land in Preah Sihanouk, Stung Treng, Mondulkiri and Kampong Thom provinces privatized — all approved by Prime Minister Hun Sen. The first among the sub-decrees, signed January 4, granted five pieces of “sustainable use zone” land within Ream National Park totaling 93 hectares to tycoon Khun Sea. Sea is a frequent recipient of state land: In April 2019 he received a grant for the shores of Kandal’s Akrei Khsat commune that he has been filling with sand for a satellite city; in December 2020 he received 340 hectares of Koh Meas island in Phnom Penh. read more https://vodenglish.news/10000-hectares-privatized-for-khun-sea-families/

PHNOM PENH, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said here on Tuesday that he has decided to change his official date of birth to the true date when he was born. Speaking at a meeting with a group of anti-COVID-19 volunteer doctors, Hun Sen said his current official birth date was April 4, 1951, but his actual birth date was August 5, 1952, which was in a zodiac year of the dragon. He said an administrative error was to blame for his using a wrong date of birth for several decades. "I have discussed with Justice Minister Koeut Rith already and I will return to use my actual birth date," he said. He added that when the process of changing his date of birth is completed, he will announce it to the public and notify it to friendly countries in a diplomatic note https://english.news.cn/20220517/742a41b3a1614eaeb4928badad2b9adf/c.html

‘We can also throw shoes at opposition party leaders’ heads in Cambodia,’ he said. Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen blasted a man who threw a shoe at him last week in Washington, saying that if the U.S. fails to condemn him, then similar attacks against his political opponents in Cambodia would be justified. “If the U.S considers shoe-throwing as freedom of expression, it is encouraging [the practice] in other countries,” said Hun Sen, a strongman who has ruled Cambodia since 1985 and who allows little opposition or criticism. “Now I am concerned for the safety of the opposition party leaders,” he said. “We can also throw shoes at opposition party leaders’ heads in Cambodia,” he said. As the 69-year-old Hun Sen prepared to meet supporters in Washington last week on the eve of a summit of U.S.-Southeast Asian leaders, a retired Cambodian soldier, Ouk Touch, flung a shoe that whizzed by his head and missed him. The incident at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel on May 11 was caught on video and went viral on social media. Ouk Touch, 72, a resident of California, last week told RFA that he had been planning the attack for quite some time and he hoped that Hun Sen would be humiliated. He said family members died in a 1997 grenade attack on rival politicians in Hun Sen’s governing coalition that has been widely attributed to the prime minister’s supporters. He was able to talk his way into the group of Hun Sen supporters outside the hotel. He said Hun Sen’s bodyguards jumped toward him and attempted to beat him, but U.S. security officials intervened and urged him to leave the scene. Scene of an incident in which former Cambodian soldier Ouk Touch threw a shoe at visiting Prime Minister Hun Sen in Washington, D.C., May 11, 2022. Credit: Screengrab of official TV. Upon his return to Cambodia from the U.S. summit with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Hun Sen lashed out at Ouk Touch, saying the attack was premeditated. He said he would not be sending a diplomatic note to the U.S. over the issue, but promised that Ouk Touch would be prosecuted if he were to return to Cambodia. In February opposition activist Sam Sokha was released after serving a four-year prison term for throwing her shoe at a poster of Hun Sen and sharing it on social media. She is among scores of activist jailed in a sweeping crackdown on opponents of Hun Sen, the media and civic society groups that begin in 2017. Sam Sokha told RFA’s Khmer Service that Hun Sen “should be more patient and should not imprison people without finding out the reason” they protest, she said. “Pertaining to my case, [he] should have asked me why I did it. He should have tried to find out what the cause of the dissatisfaction is.” Throwing a shoe is nothing compared to the suffering of innocent people under Hun Sen’s rule, Khmer-American human rights lawyer Seng Theary told RFA’s Khmer Service. “It is an individual’s frustration, but the incident represents many people’s feelings,” she said. Exiled political analyst Kim Sok told RFA he is saddened that Hun Sen is taking the incident seriously and has allowed it to incite hatred among people and dilute Cambodia’s diplomatic relationships. The analyst, who took asylum in Finland to avoid arrest in the 2017 crackdown, said he feared concern Hun Sen’s supporters would start attacking opposition leaders. Many opposition figures are in hiding, exile or prison. “Any comment from Hun Sen should not be taken for granted. It is incitement. It will happen because Hun Sen is an influential figure managing all issues in the country,” he said. Translate by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/hunsen-shoe-05172022164155.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

Cambodia has denied lifting the mandatory quarantine mandatory for unvaccinated travallers. Premier Hun Sen said that the Minister of Tourism Thong Khon requested him for considering to lift the mandatory quarantine for unvaccinated travellers, the same as Vietnam is planning to do so, but he said that the request has been denied. “Because we are pushing people to get vaccinated against Covid-19, if we lift the mandatory quarantine for unvaccinated people, people might be thinking that being vaccinated is less important, and we can’t let unvaccinated travellers move freely as this will affect the herd immunity goal in our community,” he said. Speaking at the meeting with more than 800 Samdech Techo Volunteer Youth Doctor Association at the peace palace today, he added “We already reduced the quarantine period from 14 days to 7 days for unvaccinated travellers. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501077004/cambodia-denies-lifting-mandatory-quarantine-for-unvaccinated-travellers/

For the last two years, most talks over the South China Sea have been conducted online because of the pandemic. China and countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will conduct face-to-face consultations on a Code of Conduct (COC) in the disputed South China Sea later this month in Cambodia, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing that the consultations will be done in person “in the latter half of this month… despite the impact of COVID-19.” For the last two years, most of the negotiations over the South China Sea, the thorniest issue between China and ASEAN, have been conducted online because of the pandemic. China and ASEAN agreed on a Declaration of Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea in 2003, but progress on a COC has been slow going amid an increasing risk of conflict. China’s diplomats are believed to be making fresh efforts to speed up COC negotiations with ASEAN, especially as China’s close ally Cambodia is holding the bloc’s chairmanship this year. “Establishing a COC is clearly stipulated in the DOC, and represents the common aspiration and need of China and ASEAN countries,” said spokesman Zhao. He said that China “is fully confident in reaching a COC,” which would provide a “more solid guarantee of rules for lasting tranquility of the South China Sea.” Yet analysts say there are still major stumbling blocks to be addressed, such as China’s self-proclaimed historical rights over 90 percent of the South China Sea and the long-standing division within ASEAN over maritime disputes. China and five other parties including four ASEAN member states –Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – hold competing claims in the South China Sea but the Chinese claims are the most expansive and a 2016 international arbitration tribunal ruled that they had no legal basis. “If the idea is to produce a comprehensive COC that addresses all of the different concerns of the claimant countries, I do not think it is achievable,” Jay Batongbacal, director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines, told RFA in an earlier interview. Credit: RFA U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit The South China Sea was high on the agenda at last week’s Special Summit between ASEAN countries and the United States. The Joint Vision Statement issued at the end of the summit said that parties “recognize the benefits of having the South China Sea as a sea of peace, stability, and prosperity.” “We emphasize the importance of practical measures that could reduce tensions and the risk of accidents, misunderstandings, and miscalculation,” the statement said. Without mentioning China, the signatories of the joint vision statement “emphasized the need to maintain and promote an environment conducive to the COC negotiations” and said they welcomed further progress “towards the early conclusion of an effective and substantive COC.” Some analysts, however, think that the U.S. involvement may not be beneficial to the COC negotiation process. “I don’t think it will help improve the South China Sea situation,” said Kimkong Heng, a senior research fellow at the Cambodia Development Center. “The U.S. has its own agendas that might exacerbate rather than facilitate the South China Sea negotiation,” he said. Cambodia is not a claimant in the South China Sea. From Phnom Penh’s standpoint, the U.S. will likely “continue to pressure Cambodia on the potential Chinese military base in the kingdom,” added Heng “This will serve as a barrier for any meaningful negotiations between the U.S. and Cambodia on national and regional issues,” Heng said. ASEAN comprises ten members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. read more https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/asean-southchinasea-05162022091755.html

Richard Kiddle was rushed to a hospital in the capital Phnom Penh after suffering a stroke which left him paralysed in half of his body The family of a British pensioner struck down with a brain haemorrhage are in a state of desperation as they battle to bring him home from Cambodia. Richard Kiddle, 69, suffered a stroke on May 1 which left him paralysed in half of his body. The ex-pat, a retired electrician from Norfolk, England, was rushed to a hospital in the capital Phnom Penh - where he has been living for the past two weeks. However, his family have been told that his insurance company will not cover his treatment in the Southeast Asian country. Richard's relatives decided to take him home instead through a subsidised medical program at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital - which would cost at least 16,000 GBP. Richard's family have been told that his insurance company will not cover his treatment in the Southeast Asian country (Image: ViralPress) But when the money was ready and he was about to fly home on May 15, Richard unexpectedly developed pneumonia. His unstable medical condition meant he could not be given medical clearance for the flight and remained unconscious in the ICU after a septic shock. read more https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/family-brit-struck-down-brain-26979340

Cambodia exported goods for a total of $7,606 million in the first four months this year, a 32 percent increase over the same period last year, data from the General Department of Customs and Excises showed. From the January to April period, the US was the biggest market for Cambodia’s exports with a total of $2,923 million, followed by Vietnam and China with $977 million and $423 million, respectively. The data stated the bilateral trade between Cambodia and its trade partners amounted to $17,649 million during the January-April period, a 15.5 percent increase compared to last year. The trade figures increase showed a positive sign in the Kingdom’s economic growth, which was hit hard by the Covid-19. The Cambodian government fully resumed its socio-economic activities last November, mainly contributing to the economic recovery. Penn Sovicheat, undersecretary of state of the Ministry of Commerce, said that the implementation of the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership added momentum to the country’s export growth. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501076534/cambodias-exports-jump-32-percent-in-first-four-months/

PHNOM PENH — Sann Khin’s confidence was swelling ahead of Cambodia’s commune elections on June 4, 2017. As the opposition’s top candidate in Siem Reap province’s Kouk Thlork Leu commune, the 51-year-old rice farmer had expected about 100 people to turn out for the campaign rallies. “But it increased up to 200 or 300. We didn’t give them money for gasoline. But they spent it on their own,” he said. “There was a lot of support,” he added. “We knew that we were going to win.” Less predictable was how the ruling Cambodian People’s Party would react to those local elections five years ago, and how drastically the country’s political landscape would be transformed in the ensuing years. As Cambodia now prepares for the next round of commune elections on June 5, VOA Khmer spoke to commune chiefs and political observers about why the 2017 vote was such a watershed event in the country’s experiment with democracy. Sann Khin’s victory in Kouk Thlork Leu commune was one of nearly 500 wins for the CNRP across the country that day, less than half the CPP, which won more than 1,100 communes, but a tremendous gain from the combined 40 communes controlled by the two leading opposition parties — headed by Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha — before they united. In Siem Reap province, the CNRP crushed the CPP, winning 50% of the votes to the ruling party’s 41%, and 56 commune chief posts to the ruling party’s 44, according to National Election Committee’s data. Sann Khin and his victorious colleagues would not remain in their positions long. FILE - Locals look at a registration list before voting at a polling station in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, July 29, 2018. With the main opposition silenced, Cambodians were voting in an election Sunday virtually certain to return to office Prime Minister Hun Sen and his party who have been in power for more than three decades. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) On November 16, the Supreme Court announced that the CNRP was being dissolved amid accusations that its leaders were plotting to topple Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government. Opposition officials and political observers said the move was engineered to remove the CPP’s only legitimate rival because it feared losing the national election in 2018. “They are afraid. That is why they dissolved us,” said Khin. “If [the CNRP] still existed, the ruling party would lose the election. People were ready to win. We would have completely won in the 2018 election.” He heard the news of the CNRP’s dissolution over the radio, then came the calls from party officials. There were no mass protests, as the party’s president, Sam Rainsy, and other opposition leaders had already fled the country, fearing the same fate as Kem Sokha, the deputy president arrested for allegedly conspiring with the United States to wage a color revolution. First, the ruling party tried to convince Khin to defect to the CPP. When he refused, police and military police removed party placards from in front of his home and then began intimidating his family, forcing them to go to Thailand for three months. “It was very cruel,” said the father of five. According to Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, Hun Sen and his ruling party “decided to destroy Cambodian democracy by fabricating a bogus, politically motivated case to ban the CNRP…and returning to their tried and true methods of intimidation and violence to hold on to power.” It was a stark shift after an election that many agree may have been the most free and fair in Cambodia’s modern history. Robertson noted there was far less violence and intimidation from the ruling party than usual, an assessment shared by commune chiefs who spoke with VOA Khmer. And when problems did arise, they were resolved by a bipartisan National Election Committee that formed during power-sharing negotiations that followed the 2013 national election, said Koul Panha, former executive director of the Committee of Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia and now the advisor to that organization. That meant the election was also more open and transparent than past elections, leading both parties to ultimately accept the results. And it left little doubt that the CNRP was an existential threat to the CPP’s stranglehold on power since peace accords returned relative stability to Cambodia in the early 1990s. “The voters had confidence in the opposition party since they were merged,” said Koul Panha. “Due to the increasing support for the opposition party, the ruling party amended the election law to target the opposition party.” FILE - Sam Rainsy, center, president of Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) greets his supporters together with his party's Vice President Kem Sokha, on Rainsy's left, on his arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 19, 2013. Those changes, in the works prior to the 2017 elections, allowed the CPP-controlled courts to eliminate political parties or leaders convicted of criminal offenses, along with other changes empowering the courts and ruling party to sideline or silence the opposition. Sok Eysan, a CPP senator and spokesman, rejected claims that the ruling party intentionally sought to dissolve the opposition party to secure the party’s power, adding that “the opposition party has acted illegally.” Mann Champa, a 40-year-old woman who joined the opposition party in her teens, was another CNRP commune chief who came to power in Siem Reap province in 2017. She said her campaign and brief time in office went fairly smooth, even in relations with ruling party colleagues on the commune council. She heard of the party’s dissolution via Facebook, and said she stayed on for a few days to pass on her work. “We know the law,” she told VOA Khmer. “We can’t protest since it is the state’s law. We just finished up work and then stopped.” “I also felt regret since we were elected by villagers to serve them for a term,” she added. Mann Champa is among the many opposition officials and members who have joined the new Candlelight Party, an overt allusion to the Sam Rainsy Party symbol made popular through grassroots work and elections during the 1990s and 2000s. The party united with Kem Sokha’s Human Rights Party ahead of the 2013 national election, when the CNRP first emerged as a major challenger to the CPP. Mann Champa, a mother of two, predicted the party might be dissolved again, but hoped the CNRP would be prepared with lawyers and public protests this time to challenge the move. “We should not be silent,” she said. Robertson of Human Rights Watch said, “it’s likely that the 2022 election will be a charade of democracy without the real possibility of the ruling power having their power challenged in any way.” However, Astrid Norén Nilsson, a scholar of Cambodian politics at Lund University in Sweden, said that all things considered, the Candlelight Party “is in quite a good place” compared to other opposition parties, several of which are led by former CNRP officials. “There are several credible opposition parties taking part, but they constantly have to navigate the fear of dissolution and operate in a political space that has radically shrunk,” she said. “So, I would say these elections are much more ambiguous in terms of how competitive they will be.” read more https://www.voacambodia.com/a/how-cambodia-s-2017-commune-elections-were-a-turning-point-for-democracy/6575035.html

We, the following 32 human rights organizations, call on the Cambodian authorities to revoke the Sub-Decree on the Establishment of the National Internet Gateway (NIG). Since passage of the sub-decree on February 16, 2021, the government has yet to address the serious human rights concerns raised by civil society groups and tech companies. At the same time, the government has been wholly non-transparent regarding the infrastructure, implementation, financing, and cooperating companies, agencies, and organizations involved in supporting the NIG. The NIG sub-decree paves the way for the establishment of a digital gateway to manage all internet traffic into and out of Cambodia. Provisions in the sub-decree allow government-appointed NIG operators to block or disconnect any online connections (article 6), retain traffic data for a year and provide other network information as requested by authorities (article 14), and issue overbroad penalties for non-compliant telecommunications operators (article 16). The sub-decree states that the purpose of the NIG is to facilitate and manage internet connections to strengthen revenue collection, protect national security, and -- in terms that are overbroad, ambiguous, and prone to misuse -- to “preserve social order, culture, and national tradition” (article 1). read more https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/05/16/cambodia-should-scrap-rights-abusing-national-internet-gateway

Police are investigating what led to a foreign woman falling to her death from the 6th floor of a Phnom Penh condominium – after witnesses reported hearing a loud argument and screams immediately before. The incident took place at at 10:27 pm on May 13, 2022 at Provecie Condo, House 24, Street 302 In Sangkat Boeung Keng Kang I, Khan Boeung Keng Kang. A woman – reported to be Chinese – died immediately at the scene after her fall. According to security guards in front of the building, screams and a loud argument were heard issuing from the window of the apartment immediately before the fall. Police are now investigating whether the incident was a suicide, murder of an accident. red more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501075792/foreign-woman-dies-in-phnom-penh-condo-fall-after-argument/

Prime Minister Hun Sen, the chair of ASEAN, in a social media message, has said that the two-day ASEAN-US Special Summit 2022 held in Washington co-chaired by him and US President Joe Biden concluded successfully. In a joint statement, ASEAN and US expressed their commitment to establish Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in November at the end of the two-day long ASEAN-US Special Summit 2022 held in Washington, DC. “As we celebrate the 45th anniversary of ASEAN-US Dialogue Relations in 2022, we commit to establish an ASEAN-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that is meaningful, substantive, and mutually beneficial at the 10th ASEAN-US Summit in November 2022. We look forward to the early completion of the necessary process,” the joint statement said. They are also emphasising the importance of creating a peaceful environment for further enhancing cooperation and strengthening the existing bonds of friendship between the ASEAN Member States and the United States. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501075828/positive-outcome-us-and-asean-to-establish-comprehensive-strategic-partnership-in-november/

Villagers gathered in the Chhoeu Teal commune in Kandal province’s Kean Svay district yesterday in a show of respect and offer prayers to a 500-year-old tree. The massive tree, which has a trunk diameter of about 7 metres and is 30 metres high, was hauled from the Mekong River on Friday after the riverbank it grew on collapsed and the tree toppled into the water. When word spread that the tree had been placed in the grounds of the Chhoeu Teal commune hall for preservation, villagers from near and far made a beeline for it. Kean Svay district police Deputy Chief Lieutenant Colonel Se Vong said: “Villagers have been coming to offer prayers to the giant teak tree because it is the name of this village and the commune. The tree represents their village.” “They see the tree as a precious and powerful object. They say it is the owner of the land and water here,” he said. “When word spread, people started to come from all over the place.” read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501075901/500-year-old-tree-draws-big-crowd/

The Ministry of Health launched a hotline as parents raised concerns about a mysterious hepatitis that affects only children. Allaying fears over the severe ailment, the ministry said, however, no cases have been reported in the country so far. The acute liver disease among children has already hit the Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. Accordance to the World Health Organization report published on April 23, at least 169 cases were confirmed worldwide as of April 21. The affected children are aged between 1 and 16 years. Health Ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine said on Friday that the ministry has set up a hotline number 115 for parents to reach out to the authorities in case of emergency. “This is a very new and strange acute disease, that we have never met before. We all must be alert against the disease, be careful of the food that we choose to eat every day, and report to the hospital immediately if found any symptoms: and this is the hotline 115,” Vandine said. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501075910/115-hotline-to-report-mysterious-hepatitis-in-children/

Yan Sam En is a farmer in northeast Cambodia’s Chetr Borei district. One day, almost 20 years ago, the father of five was working in the forest close to his home when he found four cluster bombs, unexploded remnants of the U.S. carpet bombing that devastated the area in the 1960s. “I didn’t want my children to play with the bombs, so I collected them, and as I did, one exploded. It blew off both my arms, and left me totally blind,” Sam En told Xinhua on Friday. “I was 43 years old. I’m almost 61 now, but time has not healed." Sam En says he has been nothing but a burden to his family since the blast. He cannot do anything. He just sits at home all day. “The U.S. deprived me of everything. In a few seconds, I went from breadwinner to useless person.” The cluster bombs that claimed Sam En’s eyes and arms are just a reminder of countless bombs that the U.S. dropped on Cambodia during the U.S.-Vietnam War, claiming countless other arms, legs and eyes, and thousands of lives. Between 1965 and 1973, the U.S. dropped 230,516 bombs in Cambodia. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501075624/50-years-on-u-s-bombings-still-terrorize-cambodia/

Searchers are continuing to look for 2 young schoolchildren who disappeared after the collapse of a riverbank in Kandal province. The 2 children have been named as Vannak Siman, a 12-year-old female and Bun Thoeun Srey Leak, female, 12 years old, both of Prek Dach Village, Prek Dach Commune, Leuk Dek District. They disappeared after a river bank collapsed in Prek Dach Village, Prek Dach Commune, Leuk Dek District, Kandal Province on the evening of May 13, 2022. It appears that the 2 girls were playing on the bank – which is a sand dredging site – yesterday. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501075406/search-continues-for-missing-schoolgirls-after-riverbank-collapse/