By Sebastian Strangio
The Phnom Penh Post
Free speech, land rights high on list of Western concerns.
LAND rights and freedom of expression dominated discussions as Cambodia came before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva for its formal rights review on Tuesday.
During a three-hour session, the Council’s 47 members questioned Cambodia on rights-related issues after the presentation of a government report by Sun Suon, Cambodia’s ambassador to the UN.
“Cambodia fully shares the view that all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent,” Sun Suon told the Council, adding that rights promotion should take into account the “historical, political, economic, social and cultural reality of the country and its particularities”.
But in their questions to the Cambodian delegation, several Western nations highlighted the issue of freedom of expression, brought into question after a string of lawsuits against critics of the government.
“We note a number of concerns with regard to the use of justice in order to limit freedom of expression and political freedom,” said John Von Kaufman, representing Canada.
The German delegation pointed to reports of “the intimidation of human rights defenders, NGOs, the media and even in some cases, the lifting of the immunity of parliamentarians”.
No comments:
Post a Comment