A Cambodian woman takes a photo of riot police standing behind bard
wire at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, May 1, 2014.
United Nations officials and other groups are voicing concern about
months of heavy-handed security measures against journalists and
photographers in Cambodia's capital.
The government has enforced a ban on public assemblies in Phnom Penh
since January. For months now, security guards hired by the municipality
of Phnom Penh have attacked journalists and photographers covering
protests and rallies and damaged or stolen their equipment.
The guards are enforcing the government's January 4 ban on public
gatherings, a measure aimed at preventing the political opposition and
labor groups from protesting the ruling party. But under Cambodian law,
the crackdown against journalists covering the rallies is illegal.
On Friday, security guards, backed by police, used sticks and batons
against members of the news media covering a gathering by opposition
activists that was banned by the government. A Cambodian reporter was
injured in the attack.
The head of the U.N. rights office in Cambodia, Wan Hea Lee, condemned
the violence on Saturday. She said the government has an obligation to
investigate the attacks its personnel have made on the media in recent
months and prosecute those responsible.
She said any attack on the media has broad consequences for democracy in Cambodia.
“[It] affects the ability of the entire society to obtain the
information it needs in order to keep alive the notion of democracy and
participation, the inclusive society that Cambodia aspires to become.
Impunity does not take place in a vacuum - impunity, in cases of attacks
against journalists, occurs in a situation where impunity is possible,
period,” said Wan Hea Lee.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Information released a statement in which it effectively admitted that matters had gone too far.
The ministry statement condemned “all forms of threatening,
intimidation, seizing of material and insulting of journalists," and
said it considers these actions as "serious violations of Cambodia’s
press freedom.”
The ministry called on state security agents to respect the right of
journalists to carry out their job. However it made no mention of
prosecuting those who have inflicted violence in the past.
Sebastian Strangio, vice-president of the Overseas Press Club of
Cambodia, which represents foreign journalists and photographers as well
as some Cambodians, welcomed the government statement, but questioned
its effectiveness at stemming future acts of violence.
“Well, we welcome the statement. We welcome the condemnation of these
attacks on journalists. The question now is whether this order is going
to filter down to the district level authorities, who are thought to be
behind a lot of these attacks. That remains to be seen,” said Strangio.
The actions come at a time of heightened political tension in Cambodia.
The country's political opposition has refused to take its seats in
parliament in protest of a general election last July that it claims was
marred by fraud but that official results indicated the ruling party
won by a narrow margin.
Although the two parties came close to a deal last month that would have
resolved their differences, that now appears to have collapsed.
Campaigning has begun for a May 18 ballot in which local councilors will
vote to appoint the members of two tiers of higher-level councils.
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