Minister of Interior Sar Kheng’s Facebook monitoring group addressed the concerns of eight Facebook account users in May. Several civil society organisations supported the mechanism, suggesting that it was an excellent way of resolving disputes outside the courts.
According to the monitoring group’s monthly report, it received requests from 32 members of the public and had resolved eight. The group was committed to accelerating its work and addressing the outstanding 132 requests as soon as possible.
It noted that some requests were beyond the competence or jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior, and were referred to the relevant body.
“There were several cases where a concerned parent had said their children were using drugs. We dispatched local police chiefs to search for the children and take action,” said Chea Sokunthea, the head of the monitoring group.
He added that the group had not resolved any major land disputes, but had forwarded them to the relevant authorities.
“Sar Kheng pays attention to the problems and challenges of the people, which is why he established this group,” he added.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director of human rights group LICADHO, said although the percentage of requests solved was not high, results of the working group were promising.
“We support the continuation of digital solutions to sharing complaints directly with leadership,” he said.
