PHNOM PENH / BANGKOK / GENEVA (20 October 2016) – The time for the Government of Cambodia to blame the troubles of the last century for the situation today is surely over, United Nations Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith said at the end of her third visit to the country to assess progress on issues of discrimination against ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, vulnerable groups as well as the current human rights situation.
“Cambodia has earned its place on the international stage as an equal sovereign state and, as such, the Government must take responsibility for fully implementing at the national, provincial and commune/sangkat levels all those rights and freedoms in the treaties it has so willingly ratified,” stressed the independent expert mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and advise on the situation of human rights in Cambodia.
Read the full statement in English and Khmer.