HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS TO VISIT CAMBODIA

12 May 2005

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour will visit Cambodia from 15 to 19 May.

This will be the first to the country by a High Commissioner since 2002. The High Commissioner is scheduled to meet King Norodom Sihamoni, Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Ministers of the Interior and Justice. In addition, the High Commissioner is set to meet with representatives of national non-governmental organizations.

The one-week visit will also see the High Commissioner hold talks with representatives of the UN team in the country as well as with officials from the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the prosecution of crimes committed during the period of Khmer Rouge rule.

The High Commissioner will also visit the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Pehn and the Angkor temple complex.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has had a presence in Cambodia since October 1993, following the withdrawal of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia.