Rights group Human Rights Watch released a statement on Monday calling for the Cambodian government to cease the arrests and harassment of members and officials of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
The statement’s release comes as political tensions have flared in Cambodia following opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s announcement that he will return with other party members on November 9, ending a four-year exile. The announcement sparked a slew of arrests of activists and supporters of the CNRP, after the government linked the return of Sam Rainsy with an alleged coup attempt.
“The dozens of politically motivated arrests over the past three months demonstrate that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government has no intention of lifting the heavy-handed repression that has darkened Cambodia in recent years,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, in the statement.
