Cambodia passes constitutional change allowing gov't to revoke citizenship
The constitutional change, which was unanimously supported by 125 politicians in the National Assembly on Friday, has drawn criticism from rights groups, which have expressed concern that it could be used to target political opponents.
The government said it will soon make use of the amendment.
Justice Minister Koeut Rith confirmed that a new citizenship revocation bill would be swiftly brought before parliament.
'If you betray the nation, the nation will not keep you,' he said before dismissing critics' unease about the move.
The justice minister claimed that those who have not harmed the national interests will not be stripped of their citizenship, adding that they might still 'face other charges'.
Before Friday's vote, the constitution specified that Khmer citizens could lose their citizenship only 'through mutual agreement'.
However, after being revised, Article 33 of the constitution now states that 'receiving, losing and revoking Khmer nationality shall be determined by law'.
Amnesty International condemned the change on Friday, urging the international community to criticise Cambodia over the decision.
'As the proposal moves closer to becoming reality, anyone who speaks out against or opposes the ruling party will be at risk of having their citizenship revoked,' the NGO's regional research director, Montse Ferrer, said.
'We are deeply concerned that the Cambodian government, given the power to strip people of their citizenship, will misuse it to crack down on its critics and make them stateless.'
Last month, Hun Sen, the influential former Cambodian prime minister, called for the constitution to be changed so Cambodians could be stripped of their citizenship.
This came after exiled opposition figures condemned the government over its ongoing border dispute with Thailand.
Former opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who lives in exile to avoid being sent to prison, was among those Hun Sen accused of speaking against the interests of the nation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump threatens to revoke citizenship of US comedian Rosie O'Donnell
United States President Donald Trump has said he might revoke talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell's US citizenship after she criticised his administration's handling of weather forecasting agencies in the wake of the deadly Texas floods. Trump's threats are the latest salvo in a years-long feud the two have waged over social media. 'Because of the fact that Rosie O'Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship,' the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump has long called for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, but in recent weeks, he has suggested that he would remove US citizens that he disagrees with from the country. 'She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!' Trump wrote. Under the law, a president cannot revoke the citizenship of an American born in the US. O'Donnell was born in New York state. Trump's latest jab at O'Donnell seemed to be in response to a TikTok video she posted this month, mourning the 119 deaths in the July 4 floods in Texas and blaming Trump's widespread cuts to environmental and science agencies involved in forecasting major natural disasters. 'What a horror story in Texas,' O'Donnell said in the video. 'And you know, when the president guts all the early warning systems and the weathering forecast abilities of the government, these are the results that we're gonna start to see on a daily basis.' The Trump administration, as well as local and state officials, have faced mounting questions about whether more could have been done to protect and warn residents in advance of the Texas flooding, which killed at least 120 people earlier this month. Trump, on Friday, visited Texas and defended the government's response to the disaster, saying his agencies 'did an incredible job under the circumstances.' O'Donnell responded to Trump's threat in two posts on her Instagram account, saying: 'the president of the usa has always hated the fact that i see him for who he is – a criminal con man sexual abusing liar out to harm our nation to serve himself.' She added that he opposes her because she 'stands in direct opposition with all he represents'. O'Donnell has been a longtime target of Trump's insults and jabs. In 2014, when she opened up about her weight loss journey, Trump said on X that 'she felt 'shame' at being fat-not politically correct! She killed Star Jones for weight loss surgery, just had it!' During Trump's first presidency, O'Donnell told W magazine that she feared whether she would be able to 'live through' his presidency. Following Trump's inauguration for his second presidential term in January this year, she moved to Ireland earlier this year with her 12-year-old son. In a March TikTok video, she said that she would return to the US 'when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America'. Earlier this month, Trump said he may look at options to deport his former aide-turned-critic, Elon Musk, a naturalised US citizen. And last month, the White House said allegations that Democratic nominee for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has supported 'terrorism' in the past 'should be investigated', with the intent of revoking his citizenship.
Al Jazeera
15 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Sites of Khmer Rouge execution, torture in Cambodia added to UNESCO list
Three notorious locations used by Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime as torture and execution sites to perpetrate the genocide of Year Zero five decades ago have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage list. Two prisons and an execution site were inscribed on the list by the United Nations cultural agency on Friday during the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris. It coincided with the 50th anniversary of the rise to power by the communist Khmer Rouge, which caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians through starvation, torture and mass executions during a four-year reign of violence from 1975 to 1979 before it was brought to an end by an invasion from neighbouring Vietnam. UNESCO's World Heritage list lists sites considered important to humanity and includes the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India and Cambodia's Angkor archaeological complex. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet issued a message on Friday directing people to beat drums simultaneously across the country on Sunday morning to mark the UNESCO listing. 🔴 BREAKING! New inscription on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List: Cambodian Memorial Sites: From centres of repression to places of peace and reflection, #Cambodia 🇰🇭. ➡️ #47WHC — UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 (@UNESCO) July 11, 2025 'May this inscription serve as a lasting reminder that peace must always be defended,' Hun Manet said in a video message aired by state-run television TVK. 'From the darkest chapters of history, we can draw strength to build a better future for humanity.' Two sites added to the list are in the capital, Phnom Penh – the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Genocide Centre. Tuol Sleng is a former high school that was converted into a notorious prison known as S-21, where an estimated 15,000 people were imprisoned and tortured. Today, the site is a space for commemoration and education, housing the black-and-white mugshots of its many victims and the preserved equipment used by Khmer Rouge tormentors. The UNESCO inscription was Cambodia's first nomination for a modern and non-classical archaeological site and is among the first in the world to be submitted as a site associated with recent conflict, Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said in a statement on Friday. 'The Killing Fields' Choeung Ek – a former Chinese cemetery – was a notorious 'killing field' where S-21 prisoners were executed nightly. The story of the atrocities committed there is the focus of the 1984 film 'The Killing Fields', based on the experiences of New York Times photojournalist Dith Pran and correspondent Sydney Schanberg. More than 6,000 bodies were exhumed from at least 100 mass graves at the ground in the early 1980s, according to Cambodian government documents filed with UNESCO. Every year, hundreds hold remembrance prayers in front of the site's memorial displaying victims' skulls, and watch students stage dramatic re-enactments of the Khmer Rouge's bloody crimes. Another prison site, known as M-13 and located in a rural area in central Kampong Chhnang province, was one of the most important prisons of the early Khmer Rouge, where its cadres 'invented and tested various methods of interrogation, torture and killing' but is today only a patch of derelict land. A special tribunal sponsored by the UN, costing $337m and working over 16 years, only convicted three key Khmer Rouge figures, including S-21 chief torturer Kaing Guek Eav, before ceasing operations in 2022. Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge regime, died in 1998 before he could be brought to trial.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Can Trump strip Musk, Mamdani and others of their US citizenship?
United States President Donald Trump is threatening to strip away citizenship from some naturalised citizens, including billionaire Elon Musk and New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. In a country where more than 25 million people are naturalised citizens, who is really at risk?
