Outgoing UN envoy laments scant human rights gains in Cambodia

Surya Subedi, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, attends a meeting with Sam Rainsy, president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), and Kem Sokha, vice president of the CNRP and of the National Assembly, at the National Assembly in Phnom Penh January 20, 2015. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A U.N. envoy paid a final official visit to Cambodia on Friday and noted scant progress during his six-year mandate, warning the government its people were no longer afraid to defend their human rights.

U.N. Special Rapporteur Surya Subedi said the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for 30 years, should reconsider its aversion to independent institutions.