authorities to lift the ban on 118 politicians participating in politics. Journalists in Cambodia are increasingly being subjected to various forms of harassment and pressure, as well as violence, a report published on August 3, 2022 by the UN Human Rights Office said, amid growing restrictions on civic space and press freedoms in the country. Sixty-five journalists were interviewed and surveyed as part of the report. Soy Sros, a Cambodian woman who makes bags for international fashion brands like Michael Kors and Kate Spade, worked at the Superl factory in Kampong Speu Province. On 4 April 2020, Soy was sent to prison for a Facebook post in which she wrote about her concerns that workers from her factory would be laid off in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. She was interrogated by several police for more than 48 hours. "There were several policemen in the interrogation room, and they asked me if I wanted attention, or to be famous, whether I was trying to incite somebody," Soy said. "They called me names, offended my dignity as a woman." Soon after, Soy was thrown into the Kampong Speu prison. Superl's initial charges against Soy claimed that she had posted fake news and defamed the factory. But the court that was looking into her case also charged her with two criminal offenses, provocation and discrimination. If Soy were found guilty, she faced up to three years in prison and a fine of up to six million riels (approximately US$1,500). She was jailed for two months. In 2020, Human Rights Watch raised concerns that the Cambodian government had used the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic to restrict fundamental liberties, including granting laws banning the distribution of information, establishing surveillance of telecommunications, and total control of the media. Judiciary system Efforts to establish an independent judiciary have been considerable for over a decade but have not yet achieved hoped-for results. The judiciary remains corrupt, inefficient, and mostly controlled by the ruling party CPP. Flagrant violations of human rights by state agents have been identified but prosecutions have been rare. Arbitrary arrests are also practiced by the CPP government using a politically controlled court as a mean to strengthen its grip on power. In 2006 the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that 'the detention of Sam Rainsy Party MP Cheam Channy is in violation of both Cambodian and international law'. Women's rights Gender roles