A/HRC/27/70 11. In the fulfilment of its constitutionally mandated duties, the National Election Committee speedily took up election complaints but then proceeded to dismiss each one. While the Committee recognized that some irregularities might have occurred, it concluded that none were so grave as to affect the results of the elections. The same conclusion was reached at the next stage, when the Constitutional Council reviewed the complaints. 12. The Special Rapporteur noted with satisfaction that, in the aftermath of the elections, people were for the most part able to express themselves freely and to enjoy their freedom of assembly through numerous protest marches and demonstrations, both large and small. With some exceptions, they were well disciplined and peaceful and in general not restricted by the authorities; at many of them the traffic police played a helpful role. At the same time, most demonstrations were met with barriers with barbed wire and security forces equipped with electric batons and shields, guns, slingshots, metal bars and other makeshift weapons. Nevertheless, the Special Rapporteur believed that the ability of people to exercise their rights and freedoms was a sign of a maturing democracy in Cambodia, which he welcomed. 13. However, on several occasions the peace was broken by violence and security officials resorting to excessive force. That was the case on 15 and 22 September and 12 November 2013, and on 2, 3 and 4 January 2014, when demonstrations of varying scale were violently broken up by security forces. On several occasions, security forces caused crowds to be formed at road-barriers, blocking commuters from crossing certain roads and bridges; on one occasion on 15 September, they opened fire on the crowd, killing one bystander and injuring many others. The authorities visibly targeted journalists covering a small demonstration on 22 September. World Press Freedom Day 2014 in Cambodia was ironically marked by front-page coverage of journalists being beaten and cameras confiscated as they observed small demonstrations during the preceding days. 14. The number and scale of the demonstrations increased toward the end of the year from monthly to weekly to daily protests by December as the political opposition called for the Prime Minister to step down. When negotiations for raising the minimum wage broke down on 23 December as the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training set a new minimum wage that constituted a smaller increase than that sought by the major independent trade unions, labour protests converged with the demonstrations by the political opposition. By now, tens of thousands of persons were joining the mass demonstrations. 15. Few were prepared for the shocking response of early January. On 2 January, military soldiers guarding the Yakjin factory as workers demonstrated outside descended into the crowd, indiscriminately beating demonstrators and arresting 15 people. Ten of them, several of whom had sustained serious injuries, were detained incommunicado for days, moved to a remote prison, and later charged with intentional violence and destruction of property. 16. The following morning, military police fired live ammunition when a demonstration in an industrial area on the outskirts of Phnom Penh turned violent, killing four 2 and injuring scores more. At least 13 people were arrested and later charged with intentional violence and destruction of property, including one minor. 17. On 4 January, security forces cleared demonstrators and bystanders from Freedom Park, a central area in Phnom Penh designated for demonstrations that had become the epicentre of gatherings of the opposition. On the same day, notifications were issued by the 2 6 A fifth person who sustained serious injury died at a later date, and the sixth, a minor, remains missing after he was last seen having been shot in the chest.