Mech Dara, charged with incitement, freed on bail after video of him apologising to country’s leaders appears
Mech Dara, one of Cambodia’s most prominent journalists, known for exposing the country’s billion-dollar scam industry, has been released on bail after a video of him apologising to the country’s leaders appeared in pro-government media.
Dara was arrested last month while travelling with his family, and charged with incitement over social media posts.
Continue reading...Activists from the award-winning Mother Nature found guilty on charges of plotting against government
Ten activists from a prominent youth-led environmental group in Cambodia have been sentenced to between six and eight years in jail in a case human rights experts have widely condemned.
The activists from Mother Nature, an award-winning group of environmental campaigners, were found guilty on charges of plotting against the government, while three were also convicted of insulting the king. They denied the charges.
Continue reading...Four buildings destroyed in blast that also damaged homes in nearby villages
An ammunition explosion at a base in south-western Cambodia has killed 20 soldiers and wounded several others, the prime minister has said.
Hun Manet said in a Facebook post that he was “deeply shocked” when he received the news of Saturday afternoon’s blast at the base in Kampong Speu province. The cause was not immediately clear.
Continue reading...Hairy-nosed otters and cats that catch fish are among the startling diversity of creatures making their home in threatened habitats
One of the most comprehensive biodiversity surveys ever carried out in a mangrove forest has revealed that an astonishing array of wildlife makes its home in these key, threatened habitats.
Hundreds of species – from bats to birds and fish to insects – were identified during the study of the Peam Krasop sanctuary and the adjacent Koh Kapik Ramsar reserve in Cambodia. Hairy-nosed otters, smooth-coated otters, large-spotted civets, long-tailed macaques and fishing cats, as well a wide range of bat species, were among the residents recorded by the survey, which was funded by the conservation group Fauna & Flora International. The variety of wildlife has staggered biologists.
Continue reading...Police told to rip out tune-playing horns and replace them with standard ones after young people seen dancing to passing lorries
The Cambodian prime minister, Hun Manet, has ordered a ban on musical vehicle horns after videos posted on social media showed people dancing on roads and roadsides as passing lorries blasted rhythmic little tunes.
Hun Manet, who last year took over from his father, Hun Sen – who led Cambodia for 38 years, called on the ministry of public works and transportation and police across the country to immediately take action against any vehicle whose normal horn has been replaced by a tune-playing one by ripping it out and restoring the standard honking type.
Continue reading...Amnesty says heritage body has ‘fallen short’ in its responsibility to thousands of families thrown off the complex in Cambodia
Unesco has “fallen short of its responsibility to uphold and promote human rights” amid mass evictions at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple complex, Amnesty International has claimed in a new investigation.
The Cambodian government has used “intimidation, harassment, threats and acts of violence” to remove about 10,000 families from the world heritage site, the report said. In an unusual move, Amnesty also named Unesco as a “responsible actor”, arguing that the UN body was made aware of alleged human rights abuses for months but did not investigate or acknowledge them.
Additional reporting by Keat Soriththeavy
Continue reading...Country, estimated to be owed up to $1.5trn, is increasing penalties for late payments and cutting back on infrastructure projects
China has become the world’s biggest debt collector, as the money it is owed from developing countries has surged to between $1.1tn (£889bn) and $1.5tn, according to a new report. An estimated 80% of China’s overseas lending portfolio in the global south is now supporting countries in financial distress.
Since 2017, China has been the world’s biggest bilateral lender; its main development banks issued nearly $500bn between 2008 and 2021. While some of this predates the belt and road initiative (BRI), Beijing’s flagship development programme has mobilised much of the investment in developing countries.
Continue reading...Tributes flow for ‘incredibly generous’ Australian Canadian researcher, who used space laser technology to uncover landscapes in south-east Asia
The world-leading Australian Canadian archaeologist Dr Damian Evans, who played a critical role in discovering previously undocumented medieval cities near Angkor Wat, has died from brain lymphoma.
Close friends confirmed Evans passed away on 12 September in Paris, where he was based working for the city’s École Française d’Extrême-Orient.
Continue reading...Organised criminals use threats, torture and sexual violence to coerce victims to work in international scamming operations
Hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked and forced to work for online scamming operations in south-east Asia run by criminal gangs, according to a UN report.
Billions of dollars are being generated each year by gangs who coerce victims into cybercrime, where they are subject to threats, torture and sometimes sexual violence, said the report, published by the UN human rights office on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Major powers will be watching to see if Hun Manet adopts his father’s authoritarian approach to governing
Cambodia’s newly elected parliament has endorsed military general Hun Manet as prime minister, completing a historic transfer of power in a fast-changing country led by his father for nearly four decades.
The western-educated Hun Manet, 45, had the backing of most of the National Assembly in proceedings screened live on television on Tuesday. He became eligible for the job after winning a seat in last month’s parliamentary elections, widely criticised as a sham.
Continue reading...Hardline leader announces end of four-decade rule after his party’s landslide victory in election
Cambodia’s authoritarian leader, Hun Sen, has said that he will resign and hand power to his eldest son, after ruling the country for almost four decades.
Under Hun Sen, political opponents have been imprisoned, forced into exile and their parties banned. Just days ago his party claimed a landslide victory after running virtually unopposed in an election that was widely expected to be his last before the succession.
Continue reading...Authoritarian ruler said voters who destroyed ballot papers will face legal action
Cambodia’s authoritarian leader has warned voters who destroyed their ballots to turn themselves in or face legal consequences, as he claimed victory after running virtually uncontested in a one-sided election.
Hun Sen, 70, who has governed for almost four decades, said in a Telegram post on Sunday night that unofficial results showed his party had won 120 seats and a royalist party had won five.
Continue reading...Long-time ruler, who has ruthlessly oppressed critics, has indicated he will soon hand power to his son
Cambodians have begun voting in a one-sided general election in which the country’s strongman leader will run virtually uncontested.
It’s expected that Hun Sen, 70, who has ruled the country for almost four decades, will claim a landslide victory in Sunday’s vote. The country’s main opposition party, the Candlelight Party, was banned from running after it was accused of not providing the right paperwork.
Continue reading...Hun Manet, eldest son of strongman who has ruled for four decades, faces balancing act when he inherits patronage system
When Cambodians go to the polls on Sunday, there is little doubt about who will be declared the winner. The only major opposition party has been banned from running, its members arrested and activists beaten in the streets. Independent media outlets have been closed down or their websites blocked.
With no viable opposition, Hun Sen, the strongman prime minister who has held power for almost four decades, is expected to again sweep to victory. His intense crackdown – which rights groups say is a deterioration even on the repression that preceded elections in 2018 – comes as he prepares to hand over to his eldest son, Hun Manet, 45.
Continue reading...‘Landmark’ resolution in Geneva seeks to boost neglected service in all healthcare sectors, from prosthetics to physical therapy
Rehabilitation needs are “largely unmet globally” and in many countries less than 50% of people receive the services they require, according to a “landmark” resolution adopted by the World Health Assembly in Geneva on Friday.
At the 76th World Health Assembly, World Health Organization (WHO) member states made a non-binding commitment to expand rehabilitation services to all levels of healthcare and to strengthen their financing mechanisms. Demand for the services is expected to grow as the burden of non-communicable diseases rises globally, says the document.
Continue reading...Long-tailed macaques at risk of being killed, or laundered or re-trafficked if returned to Cambodia, animal welfare groups say
More than a thousand Cambodian monkeys at the center of a US government investigation into wildlife trafficking are at risk of being killed or returned to their country of origin, laundered and re-trafficked, animal welfare groups say.
The monkeys’ plight first came to light last year when the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) asked the animal rights organization Peta about finding a sanctuary for 360 monkeys. Born Free USA, and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) later joined the discussions and the number of monkeys increased to over 1,000 as talks progressed.
Continue reading...Kem Sokha, an opponent of Cambodian dictator Hun Sen, sentenced after treason trial widely seen as politically driven
Prominent Cambodian opposition politician Kem Sokha has been sentenced to 27 years in prison after being found guilty of treason, in a case widely condemned as politically motivated.
The former leader of the dissolved opposition party the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was arrested in 2017 and accused of conspiring with the US to oust Cambodia’s authoritarian leader, Hun Sen, who has ruled for almost four decades.
Continue reading...Child died and father tested positive for H5N1, prompting fears of possible person-to-person transmission
The discovery of two cases of bird flu within the same family in Cambodia has highlighted the concern over potential human-to-human spread of the virus, although experts have stressed the risk remains low.
On Thursday, Cambodian authorities reported an 11-year-old girl from Prey Veng province had died from H5N1, with subsequent testing of 12 of her contacts revealing that her father also had the virus.
Continue reading...Case is the country’s first known human infection with H5N1 strain since 2014, health minister says
An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia has died after being infected by a strain of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, the government says.
It was the first known human infection with the H5N1 strain in the country since 2014, the health minister, Mam Bunheng, said in a statement on Thursday.
Continue reading...Family of British antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford, who died in 2020 while awaiting trial for art trafficking, returns 77 Khmer artefacts
Dozens of pieces of Angkorian crown jewellery stolen from Cambodia, many never seen by the public, have been returned after resurfacing in London, the Cambodian culture ministry said on Monday.
The trove includes crowns, necklaces, amulets and other treasures from the Angkor period, which ran from the ninth to the 14th century AD, when the Khmer empire was a dominant force in south-east Asia.
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