18 Nov 2014
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Surya Prasad Subedi, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
The Cambodian government has been urged by the UN to respect the law and the principle of judicial independence in the south-east Asian country.
The call by the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Cambodia, Surya Subedi, follows the arrest of 11 activists in the past week.
The activists were charged and sentenced in mass trials for taking part in non-violent protests.
Mr Subedi said the legal system was being used as a tool of the executive, a situation which demonstrated, he added, the need for an independent judiciary in Cambodia.
He said the lack of judicial independence was one of the “central obstacles to achieving the just, inclusive society that Cambodians strive for.”
Members of the opposition party have also been arrested.
There have been 17 detentions in the last four months for alleged “insurrection” in protests in July.
Derrick Mbatha, United Nations
Duration: 1’14″
