A/HRC/45/51/Add.1 I. Comment on general context of human rights and political situation A. Legal action on people illegally aligned with convicted person, Sam Rainsy 1. Actually the recent legal action against the members of former opposition party by the local and court authority is an attempt to enforce the rule of law against the violators, who try to exempt themselves from law and justice on the ground that they are simply promoting different voices in different ways with a malicious intention. Political rhetoric with full of incitement, hatred, discrimination, violence, harassment, abuses, social riot appeal, call for support of illegal movement and organization and rebellion against legitimately elected government made by those members of former opposition party so far is not the right to freedom of expression and opinion, but an illegal act and must face criminal liability in accordance with the criminal law of Cambodia. If this trend left uncheck it will end up in the way that freedom of expression and opinion is distorted and twisted to undermine rule of law, human rights and democracy at once and for all. 2. As a democratic country upholding human rights and adhering to rule of law, all Cambodian citizens are equally treated before the law regardless of their political affiliation, profession, social status or their past. Each and every person is legally accountable not because of who they are but because of what offences they have committed. B. Pending case of Kem Sokha 3. On 9 September 2018, the Court of First Instance issued an order to release Mr. Kem Sokha under judicial supervision with some conditions, meaning that he was no longer under pre-trial detention within the maximum period of 18 months in prison. 4. Currently, the case is in being at the trial state of Phnom Penh Court of First Instance, an independent body which cannot be interfered by any institution as guaranteed by the Constitution. According to the procedure law, Kem Sokha has never been placed under house arrest as claimed and alleged wrongly by some other groups because he has fully right to leave his home within the permitted perimeters, use phone, meet or communicate with family, lawyers or any persons who are not prohibited by court. Howver, due to covid-19 pandemic and upon the request from lawyers of both sides, the trial procedure has been suspended until now. C. Civil and political space and legal action against some civil society activists 5. In terms of civic and political spaces, the government acted in good faith on anything that it is could have done, save for actions that are tantamount to infringing the sovereignty of the nation. For the records and for the sake of transparency, Cambodia upholds a multiparty democratic system with 20 political parties taking part in the last election. It is currently home to 5,441 registered local NGOs and associations, 800 printed media organizations, 70 online publications, 22 TV stations, and 330 radio stations. Cambodia is one of the only three countries in ASEAN that has ratified all 8 core ILO labor conventions where workers can be represented by 5,045 registered trade unions. Cambodia values multi-stakeholder partnership through participatory and rewarding exchange with mutual respect to enhance the quality of technical cooperation and human rights standard on the ground. 6. The Royal Government is strongly committed to promoting genuine dialogue, participation and partnership with Local and International Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Media and Labor Unions in all aspects of social development. In this spirit, the government has initiated several important measures such as an inter-ministerial working group led by the Ministry to address CSOs’ requests and concerns, including issues related to the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations as well as suggested 3