Cambodia’s continued attempts to minimize the extent of cyber-slavery on its territory reflect official complicity, as well as the need to embark on a learning curve that many other countries have yet to master, experts say. A huge volume of media reports concur that trafficking victims are recruited to work in cyber-slavery from China, and … Read more
It is not quite time for the aging leaders of Cambodia’s opposition to shuffle off the stage, as proposed by David Hutt in his article “Cambodia’s Opposition Needs to Take a Sabbatical” in The Diplomat on February 27. The choice of the word “sabbatical” is odd. A sabbatical is usually a period of paid leave … Read more
The death of Alexei Navalny in Russia serves as a reminder of the constant risks faced by Cambodian political prisoners and dissidents who have survived assassination attempts and other physical attacks. Navalny, the most prominent critic of the brutal dictatorship of Vladimir Putin, died in an Arctic prison where he was serving jail terms totaling 29 … Read more
The responses to my article “US Sanctions and Rallying Around the Flag in North Korea and Cambodia,” published in The Diplomat on February 16 merit further elaboration. The article was the result of a discussion between myself and the U.S. economist Steve Hanke over whether there should be any exceptions to his blanket position of … Read more
Tep Vong, the senior monk who headed Cambodia’s Buddhist hierarchy and played an important role in its revival of Buddhism in the aftermath of the rule of the murderous Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s, has died. He was 92. In a statement yesterday, The Associated Press reported that Cambodia’s Ministry of Cults and Religions said … Read more
In April, Cambodia’s former Prime Minister Hun Sen will end his eight-month sabbatical. After resigning from his position as prime minister last year, after almost four decades in the job, to make way for his eldest son, he will return to frontline politics as the new president of the Senate. His ruling Cambodian People’s Party … Read more
Cambodia’s ruling party has unsurprisingly claimed victory in yesterday’s Senate elections, claiming to have won an overwhelming majority of the seats in the upper house. “The CPP won at least 50 of the 58 Senate seats up for grabs, or more than 80 percent of the total votes,” Sok Eysan, a spokesperson for the Cambodian … Read more
On Sunday, Cambodia will vote to elect a new Senate – and among those putting themselves forward for a seat is none other than former Prime Minister Hun Sen, who handed the reins of power to his son last year after nearly four decades in office. Hun Sen has previously announced that he will stand … Read more
On Monday, lawyers for Cambodia’s ruling party filed a lawsuit accusing a leading rights activist of defamation and seeking $500,000 in damages, the latest development in the country’s rolling political crackdown. The complaint was filed in Phnom Penh Municipal Court against Soeng Senkaruna, the deputy head of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), … Read more
There’s a polite warning about throwing stones in glass houses. There’s a more impolite instruction to know the extent of one’s own ignorance. In perusing the Phnom Penh Post’s recent piece (“PM calls for ‘ethical fourth estate’,” January 23), one is compelled to scrutinize what emanated from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. The scene? The … Read more