Press Announcement: Civil Society Organizations published the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mid-term report on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT+) people in Cambodia
On 03 March 2022, civil society organizations (CSOs) published a report on Sexual Orientation, Gender identity and Expression and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) rights and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for the voluntary mid-term reporting period of Cambodia’s third Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The joint mid-term report is endorsed by 19 CSOs working on the protection of LGBT+ rights, SRHR, women’s rights, gender equality, and children’s rights. The joint-report presents an assessment of the progress made by Cambodia towards the implementation of accepted UPR recommendations on SOGIESC-SRHR since 2019. The report also suggests concrete recommendations to the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) and other UPR stakeholders including recommending states and UN agencies on ways forward to address remaining gaps and ensure the effective implementation of accepted UPR recommendations on SOGIESC rights before the next UPR cycle, thereby protecting the human rights of LGBT+ communities across Cambodia.
During Cambodia’s third UPR in 2019, the RGC received and accepted nine recommendations specifically related to the protection of SOGIESC rights. These accepted recommendations on SOGIESC rights focused on three main legal and policy reforms: amending Article 45 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia to enable legal marriage equality for LGBT+ couples; enacting laws and policies guaranteeing non-discrimination based on SOGIESC; and enacting legislation allowing legal gender recognition for transgender people.
Since 2019, some progress has been noticed and appreciated with regards to the promotion and protection of equal rights of LGBT+ persons in Cambodia. Nonetheless, based on CSOs’ follow-up and monitoring work since 2019, CSOs observe that the Cambodian Government has not yet taken significant concrete actions to advance the process of legal reforms necessary for the full implementation of the SOGIESC rights recommendations accepted by Cambodia at its third UPR.
While commendable progress has been made, LGBT+ people in Cambodia continue to face various forms of legal and social discrimination, in large part due to: (i) the exclusion of same-sex couples from being able to marry under the law; (ii) the lack of explicit legal protections against discrimination based on SOGIESC in employment, health and education sectors; and (iii) due to the lack of legal gender recognition for transgender people on official identity documents such as ID cards.
In the UPR mid-term report on SOGIESC-SRHR, CSOs present concrete recommendations to the RGC and other relevant UPR stakeholders on ways forward to take concrete actions to protect LGBT+ rights in Cambodia by ensuring the effective implementation of accepted UPR recommendations on SOGIESC rights, primarily towards enabling LGBT+ couples to legally register a marriage certificate.
The full report in English is available here: https://bit.ly/3ptZdd8
The summary factsheet is available in English: https://bit.ly/3pnVrSE and Khmer: https://bit.ly/3ptanij
For more information, please contact:
Pisey Ly, Coordinator, Rainbow Community Kampuchea Organization (RoCK). Tel: +855 12 697 641/ Email: [email protected]
