We, the undersigned organisations, call upon World Bank President Ajay Banga to condemn the Cambodian government's assault on human rights groups, including reprisals against World Bank project stakeholders.
In recent months, there has been a worrying escalation in the Cambodian government’s repression of critical voices. This has included attacks on two prominent human rights groups, Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL) and Equitable Cambodia. In both cases, the reprisals are linked to the groups’ legitimate human rights activities, and in particular to their efforts to ensure human and labor rights protections in projects supported by the World Bank Group.
We call on World Bank Group leadership to demand that these attacks be stopped and to use its leverage, consistent with its Position Statement on Retaliation Against Civil Society and Project Stakeholders, to ensure human rights defenders and civil society organisations in the country can continue their work without facing further reprisals.
