VZCZCXRO2536
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0977 3450855
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 100855Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0183
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000977 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL 
USAID FOR ASIA BUREAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PGOV CB
SUBJECT: PEACEFUL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY MARCH IN CAMBODIA 
 
¶1.  (U) For the second year in a row, a peaceful, 
well-attended Human Rights Day march and rally were held in 
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  The December 10 march of approximately 
1,000 participants began near the city's centrally located 
Independence Monument, filed along a major Phnom Penh 
thoroughfare for approximately four blocks, and ended at a 
gathering in a large park.  Approximately 1,000-2,000 
participants from labor unions, NGOs, community groups, and 
donor countries attended the rally.  The Ambassador 
participated along with diplomatic representatives from 
France, U.K., Germany, and the European Union.  A Phnom Penh 
deputy governor also attended as a representative of the 
Phnom Penh Municipality. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) This year's event was organized by a working group 
led by the Cambodia Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), 
and was finally approved by the Ministry of Interior (MOI) 
after some initially negative communications with the 
municipal authorities.  In his December 8 note to the Phnom 
Penh Municipality approving the march and rally, Deputy Prime 
Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng wrote that 
Cambodia is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights, and that a march and rally were allowed on Human 
Rights Day last year.  As the Embassy noted in a press 
release issued on December 9, activities such as the march 
and rally are laudable, important steps towards the freedoms 
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and 
signify that the people of Cambodia are increasingly able to 
enjoy an open and free society. 
 
¶3.  (U) We received reports that other Human Rights Day 
events took place peacefully and without interruption, as 
well.  In Battambang, an NGO-organized community gathering of 
approximately 200 people also had the participation of a 
local deputy governor and some local police officials. 
Similar gatherings of 50 to approximately 1,000 participants 
took place elsewhere in Phnom Penh, and Mondulkiri, Kratie, 
Kampong Thom, Takeo, Kampot, Koh Kong, Svay Rieng, Prey Veng, 
Poipet, and Siem Reap provinces. 
RODLEY