U.S. condemns Cambodia court ruling upholding Kem Sokha treason sentence

The Phnom Penh Court of Appeal has kept Kem Sokha under his 27-year treason sentence, a ruling that tightens the squeeze on Cambodia’s already shattered opposition and deepens concern over the country’s democratic backsliding.

The court upheld the conviction on April 30, 2026, leaving the 72-year-old former opposition leader confined to de-facto house arrest. Human Rights Watch said the ruling also added a five-year ban on international travel, compounding the restrictions already in place since Sokha’s conviction in March 2023. Sokha, who co-founded the now-defunct Cambodia National Rescue Party, has long been the most prominent figure left from an opposition that once threatened the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

The U.S. State Department said it was “troubled” by the ruling and rejected accusations that Washington had played any role in the case, calling such claims “patently false and irresponsible.” Sokha had been accused of conspiring with a foreign power to topple then-premier Hun Sen, a charge Washington previously described as part of a politically motivated effort to silence him.

The case now stands as more than a legal proceeding against one politician. It reflects how Cambodia’s courts have been used to reinforce, rather than restrain, executive power as the Cambodian People’s Party has ruled for decades. The U.N. human rights office said the charges were tied to a speech Sokha gave in Australia in 2013, four years before his arrest, and said the same ruling also involved convictions of 33 other opposition activists, human rights defenders and social media users in a separate case.

Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said the outcome was deeply concerning and called for the conviction to be quashed. Human Rights Watch said Sokha’s case was politically motivated and cited 88 political prisoners in detention in Cambodia as of November 2025, underscoring the scale of the crackdown around him.

The U.S. State Department’s 2024 human rights report already described Cambodia as a country marked by credible reports of arbitrary detention, severe restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, and serious problems with judicial independence. The latest ruling suggests those concerns are not easing. It instead leaves Cambodia with a weaker opposition, a narrower civic space and fewer paths for meaningful electoral competition.