Cambodia

Elections are a sham, to the point where the real, mainstream political opposition does not have a realistic chance to meaningfully compete and possibly win. The regime has imprisoned and forced into exile most opposition figures, leaving the mainstream opposition entirely defunct. It has passed laws that substantially restrict the opposition’s ability to organize. The regime also exerts tight control over the election management body and employs large numbers of bogus election monitors to endorse the results of its undemocratic elections.

Independent media, political leaders, civil society, and regular people face overt and systematic retaliation if they openly criticize the regime. The regime resorts to a slew of tactics to silence dissent, including verbal threats, forced shutdowns, spurious prosecutions, extrajudicial killings, and transnational repression. Independent media is rapidly dwindling in the wake of the regime’s decisions to close several well-known outlets. The regime has taken drastic measures to respond to dissenting protests and obstructed the work of civil society through overbroad laws and Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) cases.

Institutions largely or completely fail to serve as independent checks on the regime. Courts rubber-stamped regime decisions to disqualify the regime’s main opponents from contesting elections and delivered stiff punishments in mass trials of opposition leaders and activists. The executive and CPP-dominated legislature enjoy sweeping powers to control judicial appointments, removals, and disciplinary actions against judges. The domestic law limits the ability of the general populace to directly challenge the regime’s most controversial laws through the courts. The regime has leveraged its uninterrupted control over the legislature to pass constitutional amendments undermining checks and balances in the formation of government.