A/HRC/41/17 97. The Plurinational State of Bolivia commended the State’s determination to promote human rights, as demonstrated by its ratification of eight core international human rights instruments. 98. Brazil called upon Cambodia to continue to investigate all cases of past human rights violations and to protect the full independence of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. It welcomed the State’s ratification of international treaties and expressed support for its efforts to advance the social protection of workers. 99. Brunei Darussalam welcomed the efforts made with regard to the rights of persons with disabilities, including the national strategic plan on disability, and the progress on the national plan against child labour, which included training for the relevant national committee and the reform of the inspection mechanism. 100. Canada remained concerned by the restrictions imposed on civil society, the media and political opposition, exacerbated by the undemocratic elections held in 2018. Canada closely follows the implementation of recently announced reforms to expand political space. It would continue to call upon the Government to organize free and fair elections and to restore freedom of expression and political participation. 101. Chile recognized the efforts made to promote and protect human rights, especially the establishment of the national committee to combat torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and the progress made in the reform of the judicial system. 102. The delegation of Cambodia stated that the Cambodian Human Rights Committee had cooperated with civil society organizations in the preparation of the draft law on the establishment of a national human rights institution, which had been initiated by a civil society working group and discussed with the Committee. The draft law had not been finalized. The Committee would continue to work with stakeholders, in particular with OHCHR Cambodia, to ensure that the draft law was in line with the Paris Principles and international standards. 103. No journalist had been killed for political reasons since 2000. The Government condemned all attacks on the freedom of the press when media personnel acted in accordance with the law. Not all incidents were politically motivated; sometimes journalists disregarded safety regulations or lacked a code of ethics in their activities. Freedom of the press was guaranteed under the Constitution and regulated by the law on the press. Moreover, in an effort to promote freedom of expression, Cambodia had even removed imprisonment as a penalty for defamation from the Criminal Code, and provided a guarantee that no individual would be imprisoned for expressing his or her opinion. 104. With respect to the electoral process in 2018 and the amendment to the law on political parties, the amendment had been based on a principle entrenched in the Constitution. The amended law applied indiscriminately to all political parties. Nothing in the amended law threatened the multiparty system set up by the Constitution. As in all democratic countries, the amended law was aimed at preventing abuse and acts not in accordance with fundamental democratic principles, such as incitation to racial hatred, defamation and the destruction of the social fabric of the nation. 105. The Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva stressed that some delegates had prioritized civil and political rights over economic, social and cultural rights when addressing Cambodian issues. These two fundamental groups of rights should not be treated differently. The economic growth witnessed in Cambodia as a result of hardearned peace under the policies of the Prime Minister had been underestimated, while a few insignificant shortcomings had been exaggerated. For Cambodia, peace was a prerequisite for development that the Government had to defend, whatever the price, to uphold the people’s prosperity and rights, particularly economic and social rights. 106. Cambodia did not ignore other rights and freedoms. The concerns raised should be considered on the basis of mutual respect. The universal periodic review was not a forum for political propaganda benefiting one group or one political party at the expense of the others. Human rights should not be politicized. They should be applied in a fair and impartial manner. 10