See full debate video on UN WebTV (scroll to the debate on Cambodia)
Organization: Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada
Item: Item 10: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia
Date: 3 October 2025
Speaker: Gavin Magrath
Oral Statement to the 60th Session of the UN Human Rights Council from Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), the International Commission of Jurists, and the International Bar Association, NGOs in special consultative status
Cambodia: Further deterioration of the rule of law
Mr. President,
Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, the International Commission of Jurists, and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute concur with the Special Rapporteur’s findings about persisting human rights violations and abuses in Cambodia.
We are deeply concerned about Cambodia’s longstanding:
Cambodia’s recent armed conflict with Thailand has led to a crackdown on freedom of expression. Journalists’ independent reporting has led to arbitrary detention on false treason charges.
Cambodia continues to resist the establishment of an independent judiciary and legal profession, resulting in a systemic lack of fair trials – and crowded prisons. Inadequate legal aid further compounds lack of independent legal representation. Government-organized legal aid remainsinadequate and lacks independence. Access to legal aid lawyers appointed by independent civil society organizations has deteriorated with the plummeting of international aid.
The recent overbroad amendments to the Constitution and Nationality Law create alarming potential for stripping of citizenship on politicized grounds without due process, should authorities deem citizens’ actions to harm ill-defined national interests.
The need for continued independent monitoring by the Special Rapporteur is clear. We urge the Council to renew the mandate.
Thank you.
