Cambodia's Human Rights Committee and OHCHR Discuss Strengthening Cooperation

Phnom Penh, July 8, 2026--His Excellency Keo Remy, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC), met with Her Excellency Matilda Bogner, UN Resident Coordinator for Cambodia, to discuss strengthening cooperation between the CHRC and the OHCHR in the human rights sector. The meeting took place at the CHRC's meeting hall on the afternoon of July 7, 2026, according to a press release from the CHRC. After welcoming Ms. Bogner and her colleagues, HE Keo Remy expressed his gratitude for OHCHR's continued constructive cooperation with the CHRC. In the same vein, the Minister Attached to the Prime Minister highlighted Cambodia's participation with France in drafting a resolution on "Towards Universal Decriminalization of Homosexuality," which is scheduled to be adopted during the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council. During the occasion, the Minister Attached to the Prime Minister also raised various activities by the Thai side and the actual situation along the Cambodia-Thailand border, which severely violate international law, particularly international human rights law and international humanitarian law. These include: Discrimination against Cambodian migrant workers who work and live in Thailand, including threats and various forms of violence. The brutal rape of a Cambodian female migrant worker by Thai soldiers while returning from Thailand to Cambodia. Indiscriminate attacks deep into Cambodia's sovereign territory using heavy weapons, cluster bombs, toxic smoke, and F-16, Gripen, and T-50 fighter jets, causing damage to private and public property, including Preah Vihear Temple, a World Heritage site, and displacing over 640,000 people. Attempts to create a new reality on the ground (fait accompli) through the destruction of citizens' homes and the construction of new infrastructure in illegally occupied and continuously held areas, as well as the theft of Cambodian citizens' property by the Thai army. HE stated that despite the ceasefire agreement on December 27, 2025, more than 20,000 displaced persons have not been able to return to their homes due to the illegal occupation of Cambodian territory by the Thai military, the deployment of barbed wire and containers, as well as the destruction of Cambodian citizens' homes. On this occasion, Ms. Bogner thanked the Minister Attached to the Prime Minister for the warm welcome and for sharing important information. She expressed her delight that the Royal Government of Cambodia continues to promote and protect the rights of homosexual people, including considering ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. Ms. Bogner also added that OHCHR has been closely monitoring and has met directly with Cambodian displaced persons to understand their living conditions. Finally, the Minister Attached to the Prime Minister thanked OHCHR for its attention to visiting and inspecting the actual situation of Cambodian displaced persons.