Even as international attention focuses on the split in the Khmer Rouge organization and the hopes for peace that it has engendered, the human rights situation in Cambodia remains precarious and has in many respects steadily worsened over the course of 1996. Disturbing trends include a rise in political violence, the continued repression of the press, and impunity for abuses committed by government officials and other powerful figures. Indeed, an amnesty given to former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary in September marks only the latest incident in a history of impunity for human rights abusers in Cambodia since the United Nations-sponsored peace settlement.
Deterioration of Human Rights in Cambodia