Open letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon from the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (repost)

Dear Secretary-General

CHRAC/AHRC (26.10.2010) - HRWF (27.10.2010) The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) would like to welcome you and your traveling party to Cambodia. We encourage you to use your visit to publicly address pressing human rights issues in Cambodia. In particular, we would like to draw your attention to the following human rights concerns:

Fundamental Freedoms

The fundamental freedoms of Cambodian people -- recognized in both national and international law -- continue to be eroded and undermined. Freedom of expression has been stifled through what a recent resolution of the European Parliament termed "the strategy of Cambodia's ruling party... to use a politically subservient judiciary to crack down on all government critics." The new Penal Code which is due to come into force in November maintains the crimes of disinformation and defamation, and extends the latter to comments which undermine the reputation of institutions. These charges are regularly used to intimidate and imprison those opposing land evictions, holding labour strikes, or criticizing government actions. Recent union-led strikes by garment-sector workers seeking an increase in the minimum wage led to dismissals of union representatives from factories, and threats of legal action against union leaders.