My dear Kacvey,

Ah, 14 January 2017 could be a day to be remembered! Both parties “chatted” with chats et chiens, domestic pets!

I guess you were not disappointed by not being invited to both the “wine and dine chatting party with 1,000 journalists” and the forum of opposition not only in Phnom Penh but also in France, the US and Canada. Well, you did not miss or lose anything: on the contrary, you gain a lot by keeping your dignity intact. Can’t wait to read what those 1,000 journalists or others write in their column on Monday morning(*).

One whole month of January has now gone into the new year, and stage curtain is already open on Cambodia with extremely critical reports:

• • Human Rights Watch: World Report 2017 – Cambodia, Events of 2016
  • A video by Al Jazeera, 101 East: Cambodia’s Deadly Politics
  • Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT): The situation before the Commune Council/Sangkat Election 2017 in Cambodia (in Khmer)
  • Mongabay: NASA releases images of dramatic deforestation in Cambodia
  • Transparency International: Corruption Perceptions Index 2016: Vicious Circle of Corruption and Inequality Must Be Tackled. Cambodia scored 21, and ranked 156 out
  • The Cambodia Daily: Cambodia Gets Slammed in Yearly Corruption Index – Again
  • Cambodian Center for Human Rights: CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS FR KHMER KROM IN CAMBODIA
  • investvine: Cambodia, Indonesia Near Bottom of World Talent Index, a report prepared by INSEAD
  • Freedom House: Report Freedom in the World 2017 where Cambodia scored 31/100 with Press Freedom Status: Not Free, and Net freedom Status: Partly Free
  • Transparency International Cambodia: Report Corruption Perceptions in Cambodian Small and Medium Enterprises
  • U.S. Department of State: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016 – Cambodia
  • The Committee for Free and fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL) 2016 Annual Narrative Report
  • Transparency International: Surveys – CORRUPTION IN ASIA PACIFIC: WHAT 20,000+ PEOPLE TOLD US
  • Reporters Without Borders: 2017 World press Freedom Index – Cambodia: Gagging critics

Kacvey, your students will have a lot to study and ponder. This column will be updated as new reports are publicly available. So stay tuned.

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(*) Update: Monday 16 January 2017
Kacvey,
Thanks to The Cambodia Daily: “Hun Sen, as Journalism Professor, Wines and Dines the Media” (also in Khmer) and The Phnom Penh Post: “Questions not on the menu“, you can now call a spade a spade!