GENEVA: The Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Cambodia to the United Nations in Geneva has called on the United Nations to establish a special monitoring mechanism to ensure the effective implementation of the Special Rapporteur's code of conduct.

In a press release issued by the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Cambodia to the United Nations on the efforts and progress made by Cambodia in the field of human rights, the Cambodian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva, Sokkhoeurn An, stated that the UN Human Rights Council should prioritize addressing the escalation of hate speech, misinformation and incitement lurking under the banner of freedom of expression, while supporting efforts to improve the work of the Special Rapporteur. This includes a call for the establishment of an oversight mechanism to ensure the effective implementation of the Special Rapporteur's code of conduct.

Recently, there has been an increased exchange between the UN Special Rapporteur and the Cambodian representative to the UN at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. The 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council was held from 28 February to 1 April 2022.

On 30 March, Ambassador Sokkhoeurn An responded to a statement made by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Cambodia, Vitit Muntarbhorn, asking for proof of his report that human rights and democracy in Cambodia are in a worrying state of regression. He also reminded the Special Rapporteur that the human rights agenda is not a “sprint”, but rather “a marathon run with commitment, effort and progress.” He emphasized that such discussions on the topic should be conducted “on the basis of statistics and efforts, and not perception.”