PHNOM PENH, Dec 10 (AFP) - Rising land disputes and crackdowns on government critics are "worrying trends" in Cambodia, a UN representative said Thursday in a speech marking international human rights day.
Christophe Peschoux, head of the UN's office of the high commissioner for human rights in Cambodia, said there had been some improvement in human rights but urged the government to behave in a "tolerant manner" towards the issue.
"We have also observed some worrying trends in recent years," he said in his speech at a rally where thousands of people gathered to mark international human rights day.
He mentioned people being forcibly evicted from their property in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh as well as ethnic minorities who have been robbed of their land in northeastern areas of the country.
"As land has become a new source of wealth, they (minority people) are being dispossessed of their lands," Peschoux said.
"And day after day villagers are robbed of their land by powerful economic interests, often with the support of the authorities," he added.
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