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This speech was delivered by LICADHO President Chhiv Kek Pung on September 10, 2009, during the US Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing on Cambodia.

I wish to express my gratitude to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for assisting the Cambodian delegation to participate in this important and timely hearing. Cambodia is currently facing a crisis in human rights, which constitutes a backward slide in the country’s democratization and efforts to promote good governance. The international community, including the United States, made a significant contribution to bringing peace and the concept of democracy to Cambodia in the early 1990s. Sadly, the hard-won steps which have been made toward pluralistic democracy, and towards economic and social development, are now in danger.

Today I would like to focus on some of the most pressing threats to human rights: specifically, violations of land rights; restrictions on freedom of expression; and Cambodia’s fundamentally dysfunctional justice system.