Prime Minister Renews Attacks on US Broadcasters

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer, Monday, 28 November 2011

In recent month, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has made a number of public speeches against broadcasters VOA Khmer and Radio Free Asia for critical coverage of his government.

“Go ahead, broadcast my speeches,” he said at a ceremony to inaugurate a bridge in Kampot province earlier this month.

He asked the crowd to point out the RFA reporter present. “Go ahead, insult me,” he said. “I won because you insulted me. The more you insult, the more you make a mistake.” (more…)

With Similar Mandates, Media, NGOs Should Be Natural Allies

Letter to The Cambodia Daily, August 13, 2011

 It is very disturbing to read about the threat of a lawsuit by a local NGO against journalists for their perceived intention to report on the story behind its closure in Thursday’s front page article, “Government Suspends Land Rights NGO.”

First, as human rights advocates, we feel disappointed at the closure of this land rights NGO regardless of its alleged “wrongdoing” that prompted the government to shut it down.

Second, we are surprised that this threat has come from a human rights organization that is deemed to be a friend of the media.

In a sense, the media and human rights organizations are doing a similar job to promote the rights of victims and other vulnerable groups.

Apart from acting as a bridge between the government and the people, the media also represents the voice of the voiceless and, in some cases, are seen as “the court of the last resort” for the victims who try to seek redress of their grievances. (more…)

Information Ministry Repeals Newspapers’ Licenses 

(CCHR/IFEX) – Phnom Penh, 4 August 2011 – The Cambodian Ministry of Information has rescinded the licenses of two newspapers owned by the same publisher – “The Water and Fire News” and “The World News” – and has ordered the two papers to cease publication. A notice outlining the decision was signed by Minister of Information Khieu Kannharith, and stated that the order was effective as of 3 August 2011.

According to ministry spokesperson (more…)

Authorities order popular blog blocked

The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that Cambodian authorities have ordered local Internet service providers to block a number of websites, including the popular KI Media news aggregator and commentary blog ( http://ki-media.blogspot.com/ ), considered critical of the government.

Voice of America’s Khmer-language service reported on February 17 that it had been forwarded e-mail correspondence from a senior official in Cambodia’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPT) telling local ISPs – WiCam, Telesurf, and Hello – to censor websites that contained anti-government content. (more…)

Comment

Cambodia Lost a Once-Good Reputation

for Press Freedom

by Moeun Chhean Nariddh

The Cambodia Daily, Monday, July 21, 2008

arly this year, Cambodia had a piece of good news to impress the world. Reporters Without Borders released a new press freedom index ranking Cambodia at 85 among 169 countries in the world.

Though this figure seemed low regarding the respect for press freedom in a democracy, Cambodia’s ranking far surpassed that of senior democracies in the region such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines – let alone authoritarian and communist regimes such as Burma, Laos and Vietnam.

Both the Cambodian government and journalists have proudly boasted that Cambodia’s press was “the freest” among all ASEAN member countries. With this better level of freedom, we greatly sympathized with media colleagues in neighboring countries like Burma, where many journalists were killed or thrown into jail. (more…)

Slain reporter, son cremated

By Eath Daravuth
The Mekong Times, Monday, July 14, 2008

he bodies of Moneaksekar Khmer reporter Khim Sambo and his son, Khat Sarinpheata, shot dead by unidentified assailants Friday evening, were cremated Saturday in Phnom Penh’s Toul Tompoung pagoda. Around 300 government officials, civil servants, media and relatives attended the ceremony.

The murderers are still at large, with authorities claiming to be mystified by the assassination, with less than a fortnight before the July 27 national election.

Khim Sambo and his son were killed as they left Olympic stadium at about 7 pm Friday. Khim Sambo was killed instantly by two gunshot wounds to the abdomen. His son, Khat Sarinpheata, was shot once in the back, dying in Calmette hospital about five hours later. (more…)

Newspaper’s supplement on Burma

seized by police, paper threatened with suspension

A newspaper in Cambodia has had to stop publishing a pullout on Burma after authorities confiscated that section for two consecutive days, warning that a suspension would soon follow.

The English-Khmer “Cambodia Daily” started the pullout, called the “Burma Daily”, on 16 May 2008, “to introduce to the Burmese people what a free and responsible newspaper looks like”, its publisher Bernard Krisher was quoted as saying by the press.

However, the Information Ministry said the pullout, which had the same masthead as the main paper except for the title, required a separate licence and ordered its confiscation on 19 May. (more…)

Opinion, The Mekong Times, 18 March 2008

Suspended Opposition Newspaper Needed

t’s very disappointing to hear the news of the abrupt suspension of Sralanh Khmer newspaper’s publication after its editor-in-chief was reportedly threatened by an anonymous source.

         First, the intimidation of the editor is a serious violation of freedom of the press as enshrined in the Cambodian constitution and international democratic principles.

         Second, regardless of its professional standards, we need this opposition party-affiliated newspaper to present a dissident voice to counterbalance the dominating coverage of the ruling party by many other media. (more…)