On 3 October 2025, HRN gave an oral statement at the Human Rights Council’s 60th Session in Geneva criticizing Cambodia’s government for arbitrarily arresting political opponents and amending Cambodia’s Nationality Law, allowing it to arbitrarily strip persons of their citizenship without due process.
A transcript of the statement is below the video of it.
Oral Statement on Cambodia Transcript:
Human Rights Now is deeply concerned about the government of Cambodia’s continuing targeting of political opposition and civil society voices. At least 76 persons are currently being arbitrarily detained due to their speech or legitimate activities, including the recent detentions for social media comments of union leader Pich Pisith and elected local government officials Muth Rin and Kan Kun in the political opposition. Other recently arbitrarily detained political opposition members include Chan Cheat, Hem Hoeurn, Vorn Lang, Soeng Heang, and Eam Ravuth.
Of particular concern are the recent amendments to the Nationality Law, which provide a means for arbitrarily stripping Cambodians of their citizenship, chilling speech and potentially rendering some persons stateless and vulnerable. The amendments appear to violate the right to nationality by having overly broad, vague, and undefined standards and terms that allow officials to arbitrarily target opponents without evidence or due process. They further lack conditions for valid restrictions on civil and political rights including being predictable, non-discriminatory, and necessary and proportionate to a legitimate and reasonable objective, taking the least restrictive actions necessary under narrowly tailored standards.
We call on the government of Cambodia to release all persons arbitrarily detained for their political or activist speech or activities and to bring its Nationality Law in line with international human rights standards by revoking or revising the recent amendments to meet those standards.
Thank you.