Rights Envoy Facing Myriad Issues in Upcoming Visit

U.N. special rapporteur Surya Subedi walks through a Cambodian national flag upon his arrival in a conference room at the U.N. headquarter in Phnom Penh, (File photo). Photo: AP

Friday, 27 May 2011
Kong Sothanarith,
VOA Khmer, Phnom Penh

“The NGO draft law must be discussed with Subedi, so he gets ideas to discuss with the government.”

The UN special envoy for human rights is expected to arrive in Cambodia Monday for a five-day visit, where he is expected to look into a controversial law to regulate NGOs and a bevy of other competing issues.

Suriya Subedi, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, is also expected to look into the issues of land grabbing, forest conservation and freedom of expression, among others.

“I will meet with a wide range of interlocutors,” Subedi said in a statement released by the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Those will include government officials, parliamentarians, civil society, donors, UN representatives and diplomats, he said.

Subedi said he will also continue an ongoing assessment of the work of the National Assembly and the Senate “with a view to exploring how their role in the promotion and protection of human rights could be strengthened.”

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