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PHNOM PENH / WASHINGTON – Press freedom in Cambodia, on the decline since the 2017 crackdown on independent reporting, has worsened, with an increase in arrests and media harassment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Cambodia 144th out of 180 countries in its 2020 press freedom index, citing Prime Minister Hun Sen’s “improved system for cracking down on dissent.”
But senior Phnom Penh officials paint a different picture.
“Cambodia has taken a major step towards what we call a” free press regime “in the context of an open and democratic nation, where we need journalists who are free,” said Phay Siphan, the leading spokesperson for the Cambodian government.
“But at the same time, journalists must be responsible for what they speak and write,” he warned in a recent interview with the VOA’s Khmer service.
“Whatever you want to report, do it,” he said. “But it must be on a real foundation, not terrifying or creating misunderstandings that lead to an uprising.”
When asked about reporting on sensitive issues, such as state corruption and illegal logging, he said, “I note that journalists, if they are professionals, can report on that because there is no reason. [not to do that]”He said, adding a warning.
“At the same time, we urge [journalists] to respect the dignity of privacy, to avoid [violating] Privacy, “he said.” For example, if your report involves mentioning exact names and showing photographs of exact portraits of the person, so that they cannot defend their reputation, “that would violate Phnom Penh’s official definition of” professional “journalism.
Why?
“Because journalists are not judges.”
International conviction
Local journalists and media organizations say the government’s assault on free and independent media is ongoing.
“Threats to press freedom, intimidation and harassment against journalists, including lawsuits, [criminal] charges and arrests remain as reflected in the RSF report, “said Nop Vy, the outgoing media director for the Cambodian Center for Independent Media.
The center is one of the few independent media organizations still operating in the country.
“The media has not been pluralistic, with mostly unilateral reports,” said Vy, who now heads a new Alliance of Cambodian Journalists, established to promote and protect freedom of the press and journalists working in Cambodia.
Despite constitutional guarantees of press freedom, the media is strictly controlled by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and its allies.
Tightening restrictions
As the CPP sought to consolidate its power ahead of the 2017 local elections and the 2018 national elections, there was an increase in independent journalists, and political and civic activists accused, threatened or attacked.
Radio Free Asia (RFA), one of the VOA sister broadcast media funded by the United States Congress, closed its Phnom Penh office in September 2017, citing “unprecedented” government intimidation of the media. By the end of 2017, the Cambodian government had closed more than two dozen local radio stations, some of which had rebroadcast VOA and RFA programming.
The Daily Cambodia, an award-winning English-language newspaper that had helped train journalists and strengthen the country’s fragile democracy for more than 20 years, was also forced to close.
Two of his former reporters, one of whom is now a VOA contributor, were charged with incitement, and two former RFA reporters are on trial for espionage, charges that journalists and some media observers have said are an attempt to silence them.
More recently, authorities have detained journalists and revoked media licenses.
“The latest crackdown on the media, especially the revocation of some media licenses, is part of the crackdown on the practice of media journalistic roles that have no tendency to broadcast only government activities,” said Vy.
On April 7, authorities arrested Sovann Rithy, director of news site TVFB, for quoting the prime minister in a Facebook post.
‘More than absurd’
“Jailing a journalist for quoting a word-for-word statement by the prime minister is more than absurd,” Daniel Bastard, head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific bureau, said in a statement.
The Information Ministry also ordered the revocation of TVFB’s media license after his arrest, saying the publisher had “selected” the prime minister’s appointment.
On Monday, the ministry revoked the license of another news site, CKV TV Online, saying the news reports from the media owner were in “serious violation of journalism affecting public order.”
CKV TV, which received two ministerial warnings before the cancellation, had also been the subject of similar complaints from local citizens and journalists.
Yeang Sothearin, who was arrested along with former RFA colleague Uon Chhin, said his case was pending.
“Although we can now live with our families, we do not have freedom like anyone else,” Sothearin told VOA Khmer.
He has become more cautious since his arrest, especially when posting on social media, in case “those ideas can be considered to affect the government or any government agency.”
“Sometimes, because of those concerns, I refrain from expressing my opinions on social media,” said Sothearin, who is now working on a short-term project with a local organization. “This is a form of my self-restraint.”
Questioning ‘professionalism’
Information Ministry spokesman Ouk Kimseng denies that the government has restricted press freedom or harassed journalists.
“[RSF] it has never seen anything positive in the freedom of the press or freedom of expression that the government has provided so far in Cambodia, ”he told VOA, adding that the license removal measures were justified.
“Those [reporters] did not follow the [professional] journalistic roles and responsibilities, ”he said. He declined to comment on the RFA’s previous arrests and Daily reporters, saying the cases were in the hands of the courts.
Echoing the government’s view that Cambodia has more press freedom than at any other time, Pen Bona, senior editor of PNN TV, owned by business magnate and ruling CPP party senator Ly Yong Phat, said that the Authorities need a better understanding of journalistic roles and responsibilities.
“In some cases, the authorities have taken too strong measures, such as arrests and lawsuits [against journalists]”Bona said, adding that both journalists and state officials should try harder to understand each other.
A veteran journalist and president of the independent Cambodian Journalists Club, which is widely viewed as a government-aligned organization, Bona also said that some journalists are not real professionals, but simply “self-proclaimed journalists” who “practice the profession incorrectly.” “
“So it’s both ways,” he said.
VOA contributor Chhengpor Aun reported from Phnom Penh. This story originated from the Cambodian VOA service.
