Freedom of press: Cambodia backpedals

Cambodge Soir

23-10-2008

A Reporters sans frontières (Reporter without Borders) report includes a list outlining the situation of press freedom in the world for 2008. The list is based on the liberty of the press per country and highlights a worsening trend in the Kingdom.

Cambodia, like Colombia, ranks 126 out of 173 countries and is not one of the worst countries for press freedom. Overall, Asian countries rank at the lower end of the table as many of them are under totalitarian governments: for example China ranks at 167 and Laos 164. In the region, only Indonesia (111) and Thailand (124) are better ranked than Cambodia.

This report highlights that Cambodia is among a group of countries where strong taboos remain and which are governed by regimes hesitating between repression and more freedom. Gabon, Morocco and Malaysia, among others, are also in this group. The Kingdom’s slip is directly linked to the killing of journalist Khim Sambo, a murder which is not yet solved. It also suffers from the control exercised by the government over the press during the July election. The previous report, published last year, stressed improvement of the press, especially with defamation being decriminalized, a first in the region.

Other interesting points are a set back of the freedom of press in some western countries such as the US (36) or France (35), two countries slipping in the list. The authors of the report also observed that there is a correlation between the loss of freedom of expression in traditionally democratic countries and their involvement in armed conflicts. On top of the list are European countries with a huge GDP and with no war commitments: Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway share the top of the list.

CSH