Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 4th August. UN Human Rights Office on Wednesday published a new report after rising restrictions on civic space and press freedoms in Cambodia, journalists are being increasingly subjected to various forms of harassment, pressure, and violence.
OHCHR interviewed 65 journalists and they said there is some form of interference in the course of their work and over 80 per cent described being put under surveillance, facing disproportionate or unnecessary restrictions, including access to information.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet said that “The findings in this report are very concerning, and I urge the authorities to take on board our recommendations to ensure the media can carry out their vital work fairly and transparently for the benefit of all Cambodians,”.
OHCHR report outlined the country’s increasing lack of press freedom and freedom of expression, by examining the legal framework; the state of media ownership; and specific challenges faced by women media workers.
The report said that Cambodian authorities have actively adopted legislation restricting civic space generally, and press freedom in particular.
The laws and other instruments have been adopted to empower the authorities to censor and place journalists and others under surveillance and extend the government’s ability to curtail media work and freedom of expression through the courts.
Secretary General Antonio Guterres has observed more general deterioration of human rights.
According to the report, press freedom is of great importance in the context of elections, which took place not a long ago.
A free press plays a vital role in ensuring that voters can inform themselves of the issues at stake and allow candidates to convey their messages to the electorate.
The report stressed that “By ensuring that the press can report freely and safely, authorities are helping to create an environment for political participation and debate,”.
State of Press Freedom also shines a light on the plight of women journalists, who it said are hugely under-represented in Cambodia.
According to the Ministry of Information, only 470 women out of 5,000 journalists are female. This equals less than one in ten journalists.
The report highlighted that women journalists and media workers face gender-based attacks, including physical harassment by male police and authorities, gender-based discrimination and violence rooted in discriminatory practices and social norms.
UN Human Rights Office in Cambodia has documented cases involved 23 journalists who have faced criminal charges for disinformation, defamation or incitement as a result of their work.
It added that open-ended laws such as the law against the spread of COVID-19 and the 2022 Sub-Decree on the Establishment of the National Internet Gateway, give the Government wide-ranging powers to block information and punish unspecific crimes, and should be repealed.
OHCHR made 15 recommendations to provide a safer and more pluralistic and gender-sensitive operating space for media workers.
The agency added that it stands ready to provide the necessary support to the Government in implementing them.
One recommendation urged the number of women journalists be published, and another advocates for adopting proactive measures to increase those numbers, including through university programmes and scholarships.
OHCHR has called for cases against journalists and media workers to be dropped, where they are simply exercising their rights to freedom of expression.
Ms. Bachelet said that “A free, independent and pluralistic media plays a central role in every democratic society”. “When we defend media freedom, we defend justice, good governance and human rights,” she concluded.
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