A/HRC/33/39
indigenous languages an interactive voice response app on indigenous land law in
Cambodia, which already existed in the Tompuon language. The apps help to bring
knowledge on human rights to those who may not otherwise have access to it, including
those in rural areas, indigenous groups, and persons with visual impairments. Persons with
an Android smartphone may choose which information they wish to access, download it
and listen to it offline at their convenience.
VII. Supporting engagement with international human rights
mechanisms
74.
OHCHR continued to raise awareness of the work of international human rights
mechanisms. It promoted the ratification of the human rights treaties not yet ratified by
Cambodia, including the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
75.
OHCHR provided technical support to the Cambodian Human Rights Committee
and the Disability Action Council on the reporting requirements of the United Nations
treaty bodies, and supported consultations with stakeholders, including civil society
organizations. In December, OHCHR and the Committee organized a joint meeting to
follow up on the recommendations addressed to Cambodia during its universal periodic
review, in preparation for the mid-term report due in late 2016. Good practices were shared
regarding the establishment of a national mechanism for reporting on and follow-up to the
recommendations of expert human rights mechanisms.
76.
With regard to the Government’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the
Convention against Torture, in 2015, the Ministry of the Interior announced its intention to
draft new sub-legislation, in a royal decree, to replace the current sub-decree on the national
preventive mechanism and to amend its composition. In 2016, the Ministry announced its
decision to allocate prison management and torture prevention responsibilities to different
State Secretaries, and that it would reflect the changes in a law. The preparation of such a
new legal basis represents an opportunity to improve the compliance of a new national
preventive mechanism with the Optional Protocol, in particular to strengthen its
independence from the prison and other detention authorities that it is intended to monitor.
77.
In September 2015 and March 2016, OHCHR supported the first and second visits
conducted by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia. The
Special Rapporteur chose to focus on marginalized groups, using discrimination as a lens to
view the prevailing situation of human rights. Women and indigenous peoples were
identified as the focus of her second mission.
VIII. Mainstreaming human rights within the United Nations
framework
78.
OHCHR continued to play an active role in the United Nations country team in
Cambodia, coordinating in particular the Human Rights Theme Group, which played an
active role in discussing opportunities and challenges in integrating human rights in the
localization process of the Sustainable Development Goals. OHCHR has been active in
sharing information and briefings on human rights issues in Cambodia within the United
Nations system at the country, regional and international levels.
79.
The United Nations Development Assistance Framework for 2016-2018 entered its
first year of implementation during the period under review. The new Framework fully
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