A/HRC/45/56 IX. Conclusions and recommendations 77. The Secretary-General acknowledges the engagement of the Government of Cambodia with OHCHR and stresses the centrality of human rights for strengthening economic development and maintaining peace and social cohesion, particularly during a time of crisis. Human rights are critical to the COVID-19 response and recovery, and are central to ensuring that no one is left behind. 31 The Secretary-General highlights the important role that OHCHR can continue to play in assisting the Government and people of Cambodia in the realization of all human rights for all, including in the context of COVID-19. 78. The Secretary-General: (a) Calls upon the Government and other political actors to engage in a dialogue to reduce tensions and fully restore the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly and the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs; (b) Calls upon the Government to strengthen civic and democratic space, including through guarantees for the unhindered work of human rights and other civil society organizations and community groups by consolidating and broadening their space to operate. In particular, amendments to the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations should incorporate recommendations from civil society organizations and OHCHR, and be aligned with the international human rights obligations of Cambodia; (c) Encourages the Government to ensure that the draft law on access to information is developed in a participatory manner and complies with international human rights law. It should also include clearly defined categories of exceptions to disclosure, define types of information subject to disclosure, and establish an independent oversight body; (d) Calls upon the Government to ensure that any extraordinary measures introduced to protect the health and well-being of the population during the COVID19 pandemic are temporary, proportionate, strictly necessary for the prevention of the spread and the treatment of the disease, non-discriminatory, and aligned with the international human rights obligations of Cambodia; (e) Calls upon the Government to introduce special measures to protect groups and individuals in situations of particular vulnerability to the COVID-19 pandemic, including indigenous peoples and minorities, poor and rural communities, floating communities, returning migrants, persons deprived of their liberty, persons in quarantine, pregnant women, persons with disabilities, older persons, and persons with underlying illnesses; (f) Calls upon the Government to ensure access to information about prevention, as well as testing and treatment, for all during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to ensure that a robust rights-based approach is integrated into all national disaster and health emergency protocols; (g) Encourages the Government to guarantee the right to legal assistance, including by adopting a national policy on legal aid and creating a centralized legal aid system; (h) Encourages the Government to introduce non-custodial measures and alternatives to detention with a view to reducing prison overcrowding; and to develop guidelines and procedures to reduce lengthy pretrial detention and delayed release upon sentence completion, and to review the ban on sentence reductions and pardons for drug-related offences; 31 “COVID-19 and human rights: we are all in this together” (April 2020), available at www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief_on_human_rights_and_covid_23_april_2020.pdf. 15