wr2014_web_0

ASIACambodiaCambodia became engulfed in a human rights crisis after national assemblyelections on July 28, 2013. Final results announced by the National ElectionCommittee (NEC), a body controlled by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party(CPP), returned the CPP, in power since 1979, to a majority in the NationalAssembly. The assembly then chose Hun Sen as prime minister, a post he hasheld since 1985. Large-scale demonstrations ensued amidst credible allegationsthat electoral irregularities and CPP control over election bodies affectedthe final outcome. Security forces repeatedly used excessive force to suppresspost-election protests and social unrest, resulting in two deaths and manyinjuries.Although Cambodia’s rapidly growing social media sector remains largely unrestricted,almost all state and private television stations and almost all printmedia, domestic radio stations, and news websites are controlled by or areloyal to the CPP. While many labor unions exist, strikes are often violently brokenup by the security forces.National ElectionsCambodian King Norodom Sihamoni amnestied the leader of the oppositionCambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Sam Rainsy, on July 14, 2013, makingit possible for Rainsy to return to Cambodia without facing imprisonment forprevious convictions on trumped-up charges. However, his right to vote and runin the July 28 elections was not restored.The CPP controls the media, security forces, and all election management bodies,including the NEC and its provincial and local affiliates, and theConstitutional Council. Voter registration in 2013 was marred by CPP-orchestratedfraud and other irregularities. The NEC announced that the CCP won 68 seatsand the CNRP won 55 seats in the election, a much closer result than the CPPexpected, but it rejected CNRP demands for an independent investigation intothe irregularities.In the run-up to elections, commanders of the army, gendarmerie, and policeopenly campaigned for the CPP and Hun Sen. After the ballot, they proclaimed313