was neither free nor fair and failed to represent the will of the Cambodian people . (10) In the 2022 local elections, the Candlelight Party, founded in 1995 as the Khmer Nation Party and renamed the Sam Rainsy Party in 1997, won 22 percent of seats. The United Nations Human Rights Office reported pre-election threats, intimidation, and obstruction, including the imprisonment of some candidates. In February 2023, the government charged several Candlelight Party leaders with defamation and writing bad checks, which some analysts view as politically motivated in advance of the 2023 national elections. (11) The widespread crackdown by the Government of Cambodia on the political opposition and other independent voices has caused many CNRP leaders to flee abroad. (12) Since 2021, Cambodian courts have convicted more than 115 former CNRP politicians and opposition activists, including Sam Rainsy (in absentia) and Cambodian-American lawyer Theary Seng (jailed in Cambodia), of crimes against the state. Other convicted opposition figures living in exile include Rainsy’s wife, Tioulong Saumura, Mu Sochua, Eng Chhay Eang, Men Sothavarin, Ou Chanrith, Ho Vann, Long Ry, and Nuth Romduol. (13) According to Freedom House, Hun Sen uses the police and armed forces as instruments of repression. The military has stood firmly behind Hun Sen and his crackdown on opposition groups and Hun Sen has built a personal bodyguard unit in the armed forces that he reportedly uses to harass and abuse Cambodian People’s Party opponents. (14) Beginning in December 2021, the Government of Cambodia has restricted the labor rights of workers protesting working conditions and illegal dismissals at the NagaWorld Casino, including using the COVID–19 pandemic as an excuse to limit the ability of workers to protest. In February 2022, officials of the Government of Cambodia arrested 6 workers of the casino after leaving a COVID–19 testing center, claiming that they had obstructed testing. (15) In 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that Cambodia had