A/HRC/24/36 constructive, the Special Rapporteur regrets that he was subjected to some unpleasant incidents during the mission. If the media reports are to be believed, these were staged protests designed to intimidate and harass the Special Rapporteur in order to distract him from his focus on substantive issues. He was also subjected to baseless allegations of bias against the Government. These were all familiar lines of criticism of the work of the Special Rapporteur and were not much different from the treatment meted out to his predecessors. While the experience was unpleasant, this did not distract the Special Rapporteur from the objectives of his mission and he continued to advocate the reform agenda of the national institutions responsible for promoting and protecting human rights to move forward. In fact, as a reaction to these incidents, he received tremendous messages of support for his work in Cambodia from people from various walks of life, by which he was greatly encouraged. In addition to the government interlocutors, the Special Rapporteur also interacted with various other stakeholders in Cambodian society, including the various political parties, civil society, local communities, private citizens and development partners of Cambodia. Overall, Cambodia seems to be moving along on the road to democracy. It has come a long way since the conclusion of the Paris Peace Agreements in 1991 and adoption of the new Constitution founded on liberal democratic values in 1993. Some of the major steps taken in a positive direction within the review period were the release of Mr. Mam Sonando, a prominent human rights defender, and the granting of pardon to the leader of the opposition, Mr. Sam Rainsy, paving his return to the country from exile in France to participate in the political process in the country. However, Cambodia still has some way to go in promoting and protecting human rights, strengthening good governance, enhancing the independence and capacity of State institutions responsible for upholding people’s rights, as was acknowledged by government interlocutors throughout the Special Rapporteur’s mission to the country in May 2013. He sees as a sign of progress that the Government has readily admitted these shortcomings in his meetings, showing its willingness to work with him in its endeavour to improve the human rights situation for the people of Cambodia. While the Constitution of Cambodia speaks of a liberal democracy, in reality the situation is akin to a limited democracy in many respects. The country has some way to go in conforming to international human rights standards that flow from the human rights treaties voluntarily ratified by Cambodia and is striving towards that end. The international community has invested heavily in Cambodia since the conclusion of the Paris Peace Agreements and the first democratic elections held under the auspices of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) in 1993. The wish of the State parties to the Paris Peace Agreements and the national stakeholders that participated in the Paris Conference on Cambodia was to see Cambodia develop as a liberal democracy. The Special Rapporteur sees a role for the international community, including that of his mandate, in assisting the people and the Government of Cambodia in moving towards a fuller liberal democracy underpinned by sustainable peace and equitable economic development. As will be seen from an account of the achievements made in implementing his recommendations throughout this report, while some of his recommendations seem to have been implemented, some others seem to be under active consideration for implementation. These are encouraging indications and the Government should be commended for these achievements. While the process of judicial, parliamentary and electoral reform has been slow, the Government is yet to act on most of the recommendations relating to the granting and management of economic and other land concessions. It is in this context that, as ever, he stands ready to assist the Government of Cambodia. With this in mind, he urges the Government to speed up the process of promised reform of State institutions responsible for protecting and promoting human rights and to accelerate the process of democratization of the country so that the benefits of economic growth can be shared equitably by all in the country. 2