UN rights expert urges key reforms in Cambodia

[geovalin]

A UN independent human rights expert on Monday called for urgent structural reforms in Cambodia following the “restricted” general elections earlier this year.

 

 

Vitit Muntarbhorn, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, also said that the hereditary succession to power raised serious concerns with respect to human rights, democratic principles and the international rule of law.

 

Mr. Muntarbhorn and other rights experts had previously described the lead-up to and the outcome of the July polls as “extremely disconcerting”, amid restrictions and harassment targeting political opponents and the media.

 

In August, Hun Manet became the country’s new Prime Minister, taking over from his father, Hun Sen, who led the country for more than three decades.

Human rights benchmarks

The call by Mr. Muntarbhorn coincided with the presentation of his report to the UN Human Rights Council, in which he assessed progress towards 20 key human rights benchmarks.

 

“A key challenge for implementing human rights benchmarks lies in the intergenerational power shift in the country, which is intertwined with the political and electoral processes and coupled with the restricted civic-political space,” he said.

 

read more https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142087