Human rights: New UN Special Rapporteur in first official
visit to Cambodia
GENEVA / PHNOM PENH (14 September 2015) – United Nations
Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith will carry out her first official visit to
Cambodia from 16 to 24 September 2015. Ms. Smith was appointed by the UN Human
Rights Council in March 2015 to report and advise on the situation of human
rights in Cambodia.
During her mission, Ms. Smith is expected to meet the Prime
Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Sar Kheng and other senior members of
the Royal Government. She will also meet representatives of the civil society
and local communities as well as the UN Country Team and the donor community.
“I thank the Government for this opportunity to visit the
country before I report to the UN Human Rights Council later this month,” the
independent expert said.
“In undertaking this mission, I am looking forward to
engaging in a constructive dialogue with the Royal Government and people of
Cambodia to further promote and protect human rights in the country.”
The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference at the
end of her visit, on Thursday 24 September at 3 p.m. at the UN Human Rights
Office (OHCHR), 10 Street 302, Boeng Keng Kang 1, in Phnom Penh. Access to the
press conference is strictly limited to journalists.
ENDS
Professor Rhona Smith (United Kingdom) was appointed by the
United Nations Human Rights Council in March 2015, succeeding Professor Surya
P. Subedi, who completed his six-year term on the mandate in March 2015. The
mandate of the Special Rapporteur derives from the Paris Peace Accords Agreement
on a comprehensive political settlement of the Cambodian conflict. Ms. Smith is
a Professor of international human rights in the United Kingdom. Ms. Smith has
also been a visiting professor at Pannasastra University in Cambodia where she
worked on designing and developing course curricula for the re-launch of
Cambodia’s first master level program in human rights law.
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest
body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name
of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that
address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of
the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not
UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from
any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
UN Human Rights, country page – Cambodia: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/KHIndex.aspx and http://cambodia.ohchr.org
For additional information and media enquiries, please
contact:
In Phnom Penh: Ms. Christine Pickering, (+855 23 993 590/91,
Ext: 306/ cpickering@ohchr.org)
In Geneva: Ms. Olga Nakajo (+41 79 618 3429 / +81 1277 7831
/ onakajo@ohchr.org) or write to srcambodia@ohchr.org
For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 /
xcelaya@ohchr.org)
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unitednationshumanrightsand https://www.facebook.com/OHCHRCambodia
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