PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen commemorated the 73rd Anniversary of Human Rights Day on Friday, celebrating the fact that today Cambodians can freely live and work, practice their religion and vote for their preferred leader, while recalling the suppression of human rights during the period of the Khmer Rouge.
In a post made by the Prime Minister on his Facebook page, he wrote, "The genocidal regime of Pol Pot deprived all people of their rights and freedoms and forced people – young and old, men and women – to work overtime and to die without medical treatment, leaving more than 3 million people dead, over a period of just 3 years, 8 months and 20 days.”
He added that since liberation from the regime on 7 January 1979, the human rights of the Cambodian people have been fully restored and implemented in the country, making the Kingdom more prosperous.
His post continued, "At present, the right to freedom is the right of the people to live and work, with a small or large occupation, to choose their own religion and the right to freely elect their favorite leaders. The right to freedom has made Cambodia more prosperous.”
In an exclusive interview with EAC News, the Chairman of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee, Mr. Keo Remy, stated that the Prime Minister of Cambodia has launched a campaign to save the "right to life", which is the most important right of the Cambodian people, and history shows this since the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge regime and the fight against Covid-19 both exemplify the efforts made to guarantee the Cambodian people with the right to life.
Human Rights Day is celebrated worldwide on 10 December every year. The day honors and celebrates the declaration and adoption of the first Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 10 December 1948, which marked the first major achievement of the UN since its inception in 1945.
Cambodia celebrates this year’s Human Rights Day under the theme "Together to promote human rights under the context of Covid-19", which will be commemorated at a ceremony in Kampong Cham.
