Democratic states and free and independent media are closely interlinked and interacting. The diversity and quality of the media is essential for constituting a broadly, diversely and well informed public. To ensure that media can properly fulfill its information and education function it is of utmost importance to develop and implement democratic regulations that assure program diversity and objectivity to strengthen free formation of opinions in a pluralistic society. Consequently the aim of this study is to expedite the development and acceptance of a transparent and democratic media regulation in Cambodia. Moreover, the study offers practical ideas and options for Cambodian lawmakers, journalists and other media professionals on how to create and develop such a framework.

This report is a collection of stories about the current state of freedom of expression in Cambodia. The people in these stories hail from every corner of Cambodia, and come from all walks of life – they are politicians, NGO workers, academics, journalists, community representatives, and ordinary citizens. What they have in common is that governmental authorities have thwarted them in their attempts to exercise expressive freedoms – their rights to organize, assemble, move, speak, petition and influence government decisions.

During the eighth Consultative Group meeting in March 2006, the Royal Cambodian Government promised to develop a clear policy framework on Freedom of Information by December 2006. This policy framework serves as the guideline for drafting the law on Freedom of Information. The Cambodian Government has developed a policy framework on FOI but the policy has not yet been adopted. As the citizens of Cambodia, we strongly encourage the Government to adopt the FOI policy framework by 2008.

This report provides a detailed summary of the initiatives which were carried out as part of [CCIM’s Enhancing Independent Media in Cambodia project], as well as an overview of the outcomes of the project as a whole, the challenges that CCIM faces moving forward and the plans it holds for the future.

The aim of this study was to show, in the absence of a Freedom to Information Act, the difficulties to access information from courts and public bodies, and where access is allowed the arbitrary procedures involved. From January to May 2004, the study was conducted in 4 provinces and 2 municipalities, namely: Battambang, Kandal, Kampong Cham, Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, and Takeo. It obtained a total of 322 respondents represented by court officers, lawyers, litigants, media and persons from the private sector and NGOs.

Aware of the importance of freedom of expression to Cambodia’s fledgling democracy and its importance to the ongoing social, economic and political development of the nation, CCHR has compiled this Report in order to provide an overview of the freedom of expression situation as it developed in Cambodia throughout 2012 and in the first half of 2013. The Report will provide concrete recommendations for the improvement of the situation of free expression in Cambodia and will be used as an advocacy tool to engage with the Cambodian people, national and international organizations, donors, embassies, and of course, with the newly elected RGC.

This Memorandum examines the Draft Law on Access to Information (the “Draft Law”) that was submitted by the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, to the National Assembly on 23 December 2010.1 The purpose of this Memorandum is to examine this Draft Law from an international and comparative law perspective in order to assess whether the Draft Law is a progressive piece of legislation that will enhance free flow of information and democratic governance in Cambodia. In doing so, the Memorandum draws upon international law, standards as well as best practices of other states on RTI.