Rights groups fight to keep UN office in Cambodia

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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. [Reuters]

Robert Carmichael, Phnom Penh, Radio Australia

Human rights bodies in Cambodian are protesting against a move to shut the UN rights office in the country.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International on Friday condemned the Cambodian government's demand that the United Nations close its human rights office in Phnom Penh and sack that office's country head.

They described as "baseless" Phnom Penh's claim that the UN rights office was acting as a mouthpiece for the political opposition.

And they said the government's demand was "a direct assault on the UN's human rights mandate".

Prime Minister Hun Sen told visiting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of his decision during their meeting on Wednesday.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said donor nations must tell the government its interference was unacceptable, and called on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is due here this weekend, to speak out on the topic.