Cambodia Picture

Dispute Settlement Cambodia's legal system is a mosaic of pre-1975 statutes modelled on French law, communist-era legislation dating from 1979-1991, statutes put in place by the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) during the period 1991-93, and legislation passed by the Royal Government of Cambodia since 1993.  The legal system contains many gaps in key areas such as company law, bankruptcy and commercial arbitration. [Read More]

International Women's Issues Newsletter: Winter 2004

As President Bush’s Representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey (pictured below in State Dept. photo) represents the United States in fora that address the social, educational, economic, and political status and concerns of women. ...

In the photo at left, President Bush and members of the Women's Alliance for a Democratic Iraq, Iraqi women, and U.S. soldiers pose for a picture in the Oval Office. [ full story] White House photo by Tina Hager. ... [Read More]

Embassy of the United States in Manila

  Read the Philippines portion in the following State Department Annual Reports: Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2004-2005 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2005 2005 Investment Climate Statement - Philippines Trafficking in Persons Report 2005 Country Reports on Terrorism 2004 [Read More]

Embassy of the United States in Manila

  Read the Philippines portion in the following State Department Annual Reports: Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2004-2005 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2005 2005 Investment Climate Statement - Philippines Trafficking in Persons Report 2005 Country Reports on Terrorism 2004 [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Fact Sheet: Asia Home to Some of Fastest-Growing AIDS Epidemics, U.N. Says

-- In South-East Asia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand are experiencing particularly serious epidemics. Cambodia's national HIV prevalence is around 3%-the highest recorded in Asia. Data suggest this country's epidemic has gone through dramatic changes though. For instance, infection among brothel-based sex workers fell from 43% in 1998 to 29% in 2002. However, the picture of Cambodia's epidemic is incomplete: little has been done to monitor the epidemic among drug users, or men who have sex with men, even though HIV prevalence among male sex workers in the capital was above 15% when last measured in 2000. ... [Read More]

East Asia and Pacific

CHINAChina's authoritarian Government continues to suppress political, religious, and social groups, as well as individuals, that are perceived to be a threat to regime power or national stability. The U.S. Government employs multiple strategies to promote human rights and strengthen the rule of law in China. U.S. officials routinely highlight publicly the need for improvements in human rights conditions and call for the release of prisoners of conscience. The Ambassador and other officers of the U.S. Mission in China also work privately with Chinese officials, NGOs, and other organizations to identify areas of particular concern and encourage systemic reforms. Finally, the U.S. supports a wide range of programs designed to improve human rights conditions in China by strengthening the judicial system and furthering the rule of law, encouraging democratic political reform, promoting respect for freedom of religion, pr ... [Read More]

Article Alert, Archives--Electronic Journals, Dept. of State

Our far-flung correspondents have profiled thirteen persons whose individual stories provide a composite-but far from complete-picture of the United States in 2005. The subjects include a wide variety of ordinary Americans in addition to a few individuals whom you may already know. ... [Read More]

East Asia and Pacific

Securing improvements in Laos’ human rights picture has been a cornerstone of U.S. Government programs in Laos for a number of years. The United States has made human rights a salient feature of all meetings with senior Lao government officials. The Ambassador highlighted human rights as a special concern during her confirmation hearings before the Senate in April 2004, noting the particular importance of religious freedom, ethnic minority rights, and democratic reform. In all meetings with senior officials since her arrival in Vientiane, the Ambassador raised these human rights issues and urged the Lao leadership to do more on the human rights front. The Ambassador also formally demarched the Government to urge a transparent and full investigation of reports of atrocities by Lao soldiers against the ethnic Hmong population. In an unusual turn, the Lao press issued a public denial of these reports in response to the Ambassador’s demarche. ... [Read More]