UN welcomes Cambodia's acceptance of rights recommendations

Mar 31, 2010 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) -- [Corrected version: correcting Source and Source Descriptor; AKP report: "UN Welcomes Cambodia's acceptance of UPR recommendations"]
Phnom Penh, March 31, 2010 AKP - The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia has welcomed the Royal Government's acceptance of Universal Periodic Review recommendations, said a UN release dated Mar. 29 in Geneva.
The full release reads as follows:
"The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Professor Surya P. Subedi, welcomes the decision of the Royal Government of Cambodia to accept the 91 recommendations following Cambodia's
submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review. 'This demonstrates the public commitment of the Government of Cambodia to pursue its efforts to build a functioning system of the rule of law guided by international human rights norms, which is an important factor in the development of the country', said the Rapporteur.
Cambodia is one of the very few Member States to have formally endorsed all recommendations made by the Human Rights Council. Under the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, the human rights record of all 192 Member States is reviewed by the Council on the basis of a four-year cycle. This mechanism enables fellow Member States to review each other's human rights records, both acknowledging progress and identifying areas for attention.
At the Human Rights Council, Member states acknowledged the remarkable progress made by Cambodia, taking into account that the country has come a long way after three decades of conflicts. Among other things, they welcomed the enactment of several important laws, the effort to improve access to health and education, to promote women's rights, and other reforms underway, including those in the correctional sector. They echoed recommendations by other United Nations Treaty Bodies and experts, as well as by civil society organizations, with regard the need to strengthen the legal and institutional framework to protect land and housing rights, and the independence and capacity of the judiciary. The importance of promoting and protecting freedom of assembly and expression, as essential factors of democratic debate, was underlined; so was the importance attached to dialogue between the Government and civil society and the need to protect human rights defenders. Members States welcomed the engagement of Cambodia with the other United Nations human rights mechanisms, including the Special Rapporteur and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The real test of the UPR recommendations starts with their effective implementation. Many of them are being implemented already. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to 'engage major stakeholders, including civil society organizations, in the follow-up to the UPR.' He adds, 'I look forward to working with the Government, civil society actors, the OHCHR and United Nations agencies as well as interested development partners, to support Cambodia's effort to further integrate these recommendations into its policies, laws and practices in the next phase of the UPR process.'"
Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse email, Phnom Penh, in English 0000 gmt 31 Mar 10
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