Human Rights Dispatch Mar 23, 2026 Thailand silences dissent, Koet Saray detention ruled arbitrary, Moscow shows limited support to Iran. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has found that Cambodia’s detention of human rights defender Koet Saray is arbitrary and violates international human rights law.
Press Release Mar 23, 2026 HRF welcomes UN opinion condemning Cambodia’s detention of Koet Saray NEW YORK (March 23, 2026) — The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) welcomes the opinion issued by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) finding that Cambodia’s detention of activist Koet Saray violates international human rights law, following an HRF submission.
Blog Post Dec 22, 2025 The Lasting Impacts of Transnational Repression Transnational repression is a growing threat to global human rights. In 2025, authoritarian regimes continued to surveil and silence dissidents abroad, relying on physical, legal, and digital tactics to reach beyond their borders and clamp down on the fundamental freedoms of these courageous individuals.
Human Rights Dispatch Dec 8, 2025 Research on Chinese-backed AI labs, Cambodia detains five activists HRF expresses grave concern over the partnerships between leading Western universities and research institutions and China’s state-backed AI labs tied to surveillance, repression, and human rights violations, as revealed in a new joint report with @StrategyRisks .
Press Release Apr 24, 2025 HRF submits case of Cambodian activist Koet Saray to UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Earlier this month, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) submitted the case of Cambodian environmental and human rights activist Koet Saray to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD).
Blog Post Jul 21, 2023 The Road To Nowhere: Cambodia’s Bogus Election Cambodians are counting down to Sunday’s general election. Prime Minister Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest-serving dictators — 38 years and counting — is aiming to “win” yet another rigged election.
Press Release Oct 4, 2018 HRF to UN: Investigate Arbitrary Arrests in Cambodia and Iran NEW YORK (October 4, 2018) — Today, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) submitted two individual complaints to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) requesting that it initiate…
Press Release Sep 11, 2018 Cambodia: opposition leader Kem Sokha released from prison The leader of Cambodia’s main opposition partyhas been released on bail, one year after he was jailed on politically motivated treason charges. The sudden arrest last September of Kem Sokha…
Media Jul 31, 2018 In Cambodia, Dissenting Voters Find Ways to Say ‘None of the Above’ (The New York Times) – One Cambodian voter defaced his or her ballot with a lively reference to a dog’s anatomy. Others ticked every single box, or crossed out the…
Press Release Jul 27, 2018 Elections in Zimbabwe and Cambodia Violate Democratic Standards NEW YORK (July 27, 2018) — In the next few days, citizens of Cambodia and Zimbabwe — two authoritarian regimes — will head to the polls to vote in general…
Publication Feb 23, 2018 Cambodia’s ruling party set to sweep Senate election (Reuters) – The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of Hun Sen is poised to sweep a Senate election at the weekend, helping to consolidate the prime minister’s rule of more…
Publication Feb 14, 2018 Cambodia parliament adopts lese-majeste law, prompting rights concerns (Reuters) – Cambodia’s parliament on Wednesday unanimously adopted a law that forbids insulting the monarchy as rights groups expressed concern the legislation, in effect in neighboring Thailand, could be used…
Media Feb 2, 2018 Cambodian government criminalizes insult of monarchy PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s government adopted a lese majeste law on Friday that would make it a crime to insult the king and which rights groups said they feared could be…
News Dec 20, 2017 Cambodia is systematically squashing all forms of dissent (The Economist) – The scale of the crackdown is unprecedented, says Ou Virak, a political analyst who once worked at the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, which the government recently threatened to close. Gatherings of more than five people are banned.
News Dec 5, 2017 Cambodia urged to free opposition leader (The Australian) – More than 150 parliamentarians from 23 countries have sent an open letter to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, calling on him to “immediately and unconditionally” release opposition leader Kem Sokha from prison.
News Nov 28, 2017 Cambodian Rights Group Next in Firing Line (New Delhi Times) – Sokha’s Cambodia National Rescue Party has already been dissolved and its senior members banned from politics, but the premier’s assault on critics shows no sign of abating.
News Nov 21, 2017 Sweden stops some new aid for Cambodia in protest over crackdown (Reuters) – Sweden said on Tuesday it was stopping new aid for Cambodia, except in education and research, and would no longer support a reform programme after the main opposition party was outlawed by the Supreme Court at the government’s request.
News Nov 16, 2017 Cambodia’s Top Court Dissolves Main Opposition Party (The New York Times) – Cambodia’s highest court on Thursday dissolved the main opposition party, eliminating the most popular and viable challenger to the country’s authoritarian leader before elections next year.
News Oct 31, 2017 Cambodia Is Becoming ‘Openly Authoritarian’ in Its Crackdown on Opposition The leader of Cambodia’s political opposition sits in solitary confinement in Correctional Center 3, a maximum-security prison near the Vietnamese border.
News Oct 13, 2017 World must wake up to crackdown in Cambodia, says exiled opposition politician A senior Cambodian opposition figure has called for the world to wake up to a calculated campaign by long-time prime minister Hun Sen to batter the remnants of its democracy ahead of elections next year.
