UN Envoy to Visit Cambodia to Assess Human Rights Situation: UN Office

UNITED NATIONS, January 13 (Sputnik) – The UN human rights envoy to Cambodia will visit the country on January 17-25 to assess the situation there, the UN human rights office announced Tuesday.

"My visit to the country is part of my overall assessment of the situation of human rights in Cambodia today," UN Special Rapporteur Surya P. Subedi said in a statement.

This will be Subedi's last visit in the capacity as special rapporteur as his six-year term expires in March 2015.

"In my last mission to the Kingdom, I will focus on the progress achieved towards making state institutions independent with particular reference to legal and judicial reform," Subedi added.

During his visit, Subedi is expected to meet with senior Cambodian officials.

According to Human Rights Watch, violations of human rights in Cambodia increased in July 2013, in the run-up to the general elections, when Prime Minister Hun Sen managed to stay in office.

Hun is the sixth-longest serving current political leader (January 14 will mark the 30th year of his rule). In the 1970s, he was a commander of the Khmer Rouge communist regime in Cambodia, responsible for the horrific 1975 genocide against the civilian population of the country. The genocide led to the death of about 750,000 Cambodians.