Political Repression, Restrictions on Civil Liberties and Risks to Opposition Voices in Cambodia (2024)

Photo: Cambodia - flowcomm

Cambodia under Prime Minister Hun Manet — son of Hun Sen, who governed for 38 years — continues the same authoritarian system that systematically eliminated political opposition, closed independent media, and criminalised civil society. The 2023 elections were held with the main opposition party banned, producing a parliament entirely controlled by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP). This report draws on data from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, OHCHR Cambodia, and the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR).

Elimination of Political Opposition

In 2017, the Supreme Court dissolved the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) — the main opposition — on fabricated "treason" charges, and its leader Kem Sokha was arrested and placed under multi-year house arrest. Over 150 senior CNRP members were banned from politics. In the lead-up to the 2023 elections, the Candlelight Party — which had attempted to fill the opposition space — was disqualified on technical grounds, leaving the CPP to win every parliamentary seat. The UN Special Rapporteur described the elections as fundamentally incompatible with democratic principles.[1]

Media Suppression and NGO Restrictions

Cambodia's independent media landscape has been largely destroyed. The Cambodia Daily — one of the country's most respected newspapers — was forced to close in 2017 after being presented with an impossibly large tax bill. Radio Free Asia's Cambodian service saw two of its journalists arrested. By 2024, Phnom Penh Post and other surviving outlets operate under government-aligned ownership or extreme self-censorship. The Law on Non-Governmental Organisations (2015) gives the government sweeping powers to deregister civil society groups, and dozens of organisations have closed rather than risk prosecution.[2]

Cambodia's transformation from a fragile democracy into a consolidated one-party state has been methodical, legal in form, and devastating in effect — human rights defenders, journalists, and opposition politicians face a justice system that serves power, not law.
Human Rights Watch, World Report 2024 — Cambodia

Asylum Considerations

Cambodian nationals who are or have been members of the CNRP, Candlelight Party, or other opposition groups; who have engaged in journalism or civil society advocacy; or who have been previously detained face credible risks of persecution. The continuity of CPP governance under Hun Manet — with the same security services, judicial system, and political dynamics as under Hun Sen — means there has been no substantive change in the protection environment.[3]