Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia

A/RES/54/171No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 116bHuman rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, published in 2000.

What other versions does this mandate have?

11 versions · 1994–2004

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/58/191

2004A/RES/58/191Situation of human rights in CambodiaLatestCompare with previous version
2003A/RES/57/225Situation of human rights in CambodiaCompare with previous version
2002A/RES/56/169Situation of human rights in CambodiaCompare with previous version
2001A/RES/55/95Situation of human rights in CambodiaCompare with previous version
2000A/RES/54/171Situation of human rights in CambodiaCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What does this mandate say?

27 operative paragraphs

Requests the Secretary-General, through his Special Representative for human rights in Cambodia, in collaboration with the office in Cambodia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to assist the Government of Cambodia in ensuring the protection of the human rights of all people in Cambodia and to ensure adequate resources for the continued functioning of the operational presence in Cambodia of the Office of the High Commissioner and to enable the Special Representative to continue to fulfil his tasks expeditiously;

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General , and notes in particular the concerns of the Special Representative about the problem of impunity, the need to promote and protect the independence of the judiciary and to establish the rule of law, and the need for the reform of police and the military;

Welcomes the agreement by the Government of Cambodia to extend the memorandum of understanding for the office at Phnom Penh of the High Commissioner until March 2002, enabling the office to continue its operations and to maintain its technical cooperation programmes, and encourages the Government to continue to cooperate with the office;

Urges the Government of Cambodia to continue to take the necessary measures to develop an independent, impartial and effective judicial system, including through the early adoption of the draft statute on magistrates, a penal code and a code on criminal procedures, and the reform of the administration of justice, and appeals to the international community to assist the Government to this end;

Commends the efforts by the Government of Cambodia with regard to the review and the stated commitment to the downsizing of the police and the military, urges the Government to take further measures to carry out effective reform aimed towards professional and impartial police and military forces, and invites the international community to assist the Government to this end;

Also commends the vital and valuable role played by non-governmental organizations in Cambodia, inter alia, in the development of civil society, and encourages the Government of Cambodia to continue to work with non-governmental organizations in efforts to strengthen and uphold human rights in Cambodia;

Notes with interest the activities undertaken by the governmental Cambodian Human Rights Committee, the National Assembly Commission on Human Rights and Reception of Complaints and the Senate Commission on Human Rights and Reception of Complaints, and welcomes preliminary efforts to establish an independent national human rights commission which should be based on international standards, such as the Paris principles, and requests the Office of the High Commissioner to provide advice and technical assistance in these efforts;

Expresses grave concern about numerous instances of violations of human rights, including extrajudicial executions, torture, illegal arrests and detention, as detailed in the reports of the Special Representative, and notes some progress made by the Government of Cambodia in addressing these issues;

Expresses serious concern about the situation of impunity in Cambodia, commends the commitment and efforts of the Government of Cambodia to tackle this question, such as amending article 51 of the 1994 Law on Civil Servants, and calls upon the Government to take further measures, as a matter of priority, to investigate urgently and prosecute, in accordance with due process of law and international human rights standards, all those who have perpetrated violations of human rights;

Reaffirms that the most serious human rights violations in Cambodia in recent history have been committed by the Khmer Rouge, welcomes the final collapse of the Khmer Rouge, which has paved the way for the investigation and prosecution of its leaders, and takes note with interest of the steps taken by the Government of Cambodia to bring to justice the Khmer Rouge leaders most responsible for the most serious violations of human rights;

Appeals strongly to the Government of Cambodia to ensure that those most responsible for the most serious violations of human rights are brought to account in accordance with international standards of justice, fairness and due process of law, welcomes the efforts of the Secretariat and actors of the international community in assisting the Government to this end, and encourages the Government to continue to cooperate with the United Nations with a view to reaching an agreement;

Reaffirms that ensuring the security of persons and rights of association, assembly and expression remain matters of critical priority;

Also reaffirms the importance of the upcoming communal elections being conducted in a free and fair manner, and urges the Government of Cambodia to prepare for the communal elections accordingly;

Welcomes the adoption of a five-year action plan by the Government of Cambodia, in particular by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Veterans, as well as other measures taken by the Government to improve the status of women, and urges the Government to continue to take appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women, including in the political and public life of the country, to combat violence against women in all its forms, and to take all steps to meet its obligations as a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, including seeking technical assistance;

Commends the recent initiatives of and the progress made by the Government of Cambodia towards ensuring adequate health conditions, calls upon the Government to continue to take further measures to achieve this goal, with emphasis on ensuring adequate health conditions for women and children and minority groups and on the problem of the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and encourages the international community to continue to support the Government to this end;

Also commends the continued efforts of the Government of Cambodia, together with non-governmental organizations and local authorities, to improve the quality of and access to education, and calls for further measures to be taken in order to ensure the right of Cambodian children to education, especially at the primary level, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and requests the international community to provide assistance for the achievement of this goal;

Welcomes the Five-Year National Plan against Child Sexual Exploitation in Cambodia, and encourages the Government of Cambodia to ensure the necessary law enforcement and other measures in support of the Plan in order to tackle the problem of child prostitution and trafficking in Cambodia;

Notes with serious concern the problem of child labour, calls upon the Government of Cambodia to ensure adequate health and safety conditions for children and to outlaw, in particular, the worst forms of child labour, and invites the International Labour Organization to continue to extend the necessary assistance in this regard;

Also notes with serious concern the prison conditions in Cambodia, notes with interest the recent adoption of the Proclamation on Administration of Prisons and Prison Procedures, commends the continued international assistance to improve the material conditions of detention, and calls upon the Government of Cambodia to take the further measures necessary to improve prison conditions, especially with regard to providing the minimum standard of food and health care;

Condemns the use of racist rhetoric and acts of violence against ethnic minorities, urges an end to racial violence and vilification, and urges the Government of Cambodia to take all steps to meet its obligations as a party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, including through seeking technical assistance;

Welcomes, in particular, the recent actions taken by the Government of Cambodia to combat illicit logging which has seriously threatened the full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by many Cambodians, including indigenous people, expresses the hope that these efforts by the Government will continue, and notes with interest the current revision of the law on land;

Also welcomes the submission of the initial reports of Cambodia under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,2 the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, asks the Government of Cambodia to follow up the recommendations made by the Human Rights Committee regarding the report submitted under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, calls upon the Government to meet its reporting obligations under all other international human rights instruments, and requests the office in Cambodia of the High Commissioner to continue to provide the necessary assistance in this regard;

Expresses grave concern at the devastating consequences and destabilizing effects of the use of anti-personnel landmines on Cambodian society, welcomes the ratification by Cambodia of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction in July 1999, encourages the Government of Cambodia to continue its support and efforts for the removal of those mines and for victim assistance and mine awareness programmes, and commends donor countries for their contributions and assistance to mine action;

Expresses concern about the high number of small arms in society and commends the efforts by the Government of Cambodia to control the spread of weapons;

Notes with appreciation the use by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Trust Fund for a Human Rights Education Programme in Cambodia to finance the programme of activities of the office in Cambodia of the High Commissioner, as defined in resolutions of the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights, and invites Governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, foundations and individuals to consider contributing to the Trust Fund;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session on the role and achievements of the Office of the High Commissioner in assisting the Government and the people of Cambodia in the promotion and protection of human rights and on the recommendations made by the Special Representative on matters within his mandate;

Decides to continue its consideration of the situation of human rights in Cambodia at its fifty-fifth session under the item entitled “Human rights questions”.

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Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia

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