PHNOM PENH (18 August 2017) - The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia concluded her fourth mission to the country and presented her end of mission statement to the media. She was pleased with the high number of voters registered to vote in the June 2017 elections, but remains concerned at the atmosphere of intimidation and threats of violence, including by high level officials, in the lead up to the communal elections and the following weeks since then. As she focused her mission on children's rights, she encouraged the Royal Government to adopt and implement an effective child protection system and to fully resource the new juvenile justice system. While the anti-drug campaign of the government has been extended, Ms. Smith exhorted the government to ensure that drop-in and rehabilitation centres are not used as detention centres, but offer the necessary care, services and assistance to drug and substance users with dependency problems on a truly voluntary basis. People in street situations should not be arbitrarily detained either. The Special Rapporteur remains very concerned that pre-trial detention is still used in almost all cases, not least when the prison system is dangerously overcrowded. She stated that many human rights defenders were still being excessively targeted and insisted that Cambodia should be a vibrant pluralist democracy, as provided in the Constitution, where all reasonable debate and opinions are encouraged, not punished, and productive political discussions pave the way for full and free elections next year. Read her full statement in English and Khmer.