"US Congress passes sanctions bill on human rights", 1 October 2021

A spokesman for the Cambodian government expressed regret over the US Congress’s decision to pass a bill empowering the president to sanction individual officials deemed to be responsible for undermining democracy and committing human rights violations, saying that the bill will negatively impact the relationship between the two nations. The bill will now have to pass through the senate before being approved by the president.

…, the US congress passed the “Cambodia Democracy Act of 2021”, which directs the president to impose sanctions against “senior Cambodian government, military, or security forces officials” responsible for human rights violations…

“This bill is the core of an obstacle to cooperation between both nations, even the bilateral or multilateral [relations] in ASEAN, and that is very regrettable,” wrote government spokesman Phay Siphan ...

He said that US sanctions against individual government officials are based on unjust accusations that do not reflect the facts, and stressed that Cambodia is making efforts to build the rule of law, which is its commitment to a democratic Cambodian society…

Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin told … that the bill was political in nature, having been proposed by a few congressmen who he claimed have a relationship with the former outlawed opposition party and which was biased …

… US embassy in Phnom Penh spokesman Chad Roedemeier referred media enquiries to the members of Congress who had sponsored the bill.

“The United States remains concerned about eroding human rights and the weakening of democratic institutions in Cambodia,” he said…