Nearly 300 people living near Prey Lang forest, in the north of the country, have formed a community policing effort to stop what they believe is illegal deforestation, an environmental activist said Thursday.
Sen Simon, 36, gazed at her flooded rice field and home from high ground in Kampong Thom province’s Baray commune. Her daily food and other necessities were taken care of by the government, but she saw little hope for her future, after severe flooding inundated the area last month.
An activist organization in Malaysia said Wednesday that the governments of Phnom Penh and Kuala Lumpur need to work actively to strengthen protections for domestic workers traveling from Cambodia.
Cambodian-Americans in Long Beach, Calif., held a fundraiser late last month to help Cambodians still struggling with monsoon flooding. About 400 residents gathered at the New Paradise Restaurant on Oct. 28, in the Cambodia Town neighborhood of the city, raising nearly $16,000 in donations
With the Khmer Rouge tribunal facing its second case and continued criticism over its handling of two more, a leading court monitor says the UN needs to consider itself a partner and “set an example.” “Since its inception, there has been no one on the UN side to take full responsibility for the success or failure of the court,” Long Panhavuth, a monitor for the Cambodia Justice Initiative, told “Hello VOA” Monday.
Dozens of land protesters have been detained and hundreds were charged in the courts in the first nine months of this year, indicating an increase in pressure by the judiciary in land disputes, rights groups said Wednesday. In separate calculations on cases related to land disputes, Adhoc said it recorded 46 detentions and 173 court charges, Licadho said it counted 35 detentions and 163 charges and the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said it counted 26 court charges, all from January to September.
Andrew Cayley, the international prosecutor for the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal, says he is confident ample evidence exists to prosecute four former regime leaders when their case goes to trial later this month. Cayley spoke to VOA Khmer after a talk he gave at Rutgers University on Oct. 26, while the tribunal prepares for the trial of leaders Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith for atrocity crimes.
The Paris Peace Accords, signed 20 years ago and ending decades of war, are the key to the continued survival of Cambodia, a leading political analyst says. Speaking near the anniversary of the accords, sign on Oct. 23, 1991, Lao Monghay told VOA Khmer the accords ended the conflict and put in place democracy and human rights
The Cambodian Embassy in Washington is helping to raise funds for floods victims in Cambodia, following weeks of inundation that has left thousands of families stranded. At a gathering in Washington Sunday, the embassy collected around $6,500 from some 200 Cambodian-Americans, the ambassador, Hem Heng, told VOA Khmer. At least 250 people have died in the floods, which began in August and continued through September
The National Assembly passed a law to reform prisons on Monday, but critics say its wording remains unclear and that one section that allows prisoners to work for private companies should not have been included. Cambodia has around 15,000 prisoners in 28 prisons across the country, creating severe overcrowding and unrest. Other problems within the system include corruption within the judiciary and the prison system, and arbitrary detention and releases