Unesco has “fallen short of its responsibility to uphold and promote human rights” amid mass evictions at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple complex, Amnesty International has claimed in a new investigation.
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The Cambodian government has used “intimidation, harassment, threats and acts of violence” to remove about 10,000 families from the world heritage site, the report said. In an unusual move, Amnesty also named Unesco as a “responsible actor”, arguing that the UN body was made aware of alleged human rights abuses for months but did not investigate or acknowledge them.
The report called on Unesco to perform an independent assessment, require a resettlement plan complying with international standards, and to “categorically reject” forced evictions at world heritage sites. Amnesty also reiterated calls for Cambodia to halt the relocations.
