UN official says economic development should be in line with human rights

Saturday, 10 December 2011
Posted by Serath

PHNOM PENH, December 10, 2011 (Cambodia Herald) - A senior UN official on Saturday hailed Cambodia's economic development but warned that growth should respect human rights.

"Cambodia makes a lot of progress since the 1991 Paris Agreement. However, the challenge is that the respect of human rights shall be upheld along with economic development," said Surya Subedi (pictured), the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Cambodia as he attended a celebration of the 63rd anniversary of Human Rights Day.

In a statement released Saturday, a group of non-governmental organizations said Cambodian civil society had noted a number of positive developments with human rights in the country.

But there are also serious concerns such as the slow progress of legal and judicial reform, the development of fundamental laws and effective implementation of existing laws, land grabbing, forced evictions, threats against human rights activists and restrictions on freedom of peaceful assembly and expression in public areas, it said.

"Furthermore, there are ongoing human rights violations, including trafficking in and exploitation of women and children, violations against indigenous people with regards to property rights over community land, discrimination against persons with disabilities and violations of labor rights relating to peaceful assemblies and strikes."

The statement urged the government to open more spaces for freedom of expression and assembly in public places to enhance governance activities to promote and defend human rights, the rule of law and democracy while avoiding restrictions through a newly introduced law on non-governmental associations.

On Friday, the UN official urged the government to release the latest draft of the law to allow enough time and as broad representation as possible to achieve meaningful consultations.