Participants were all wearing blue kramas, a Cambodian traditional scarf

A sea of blue kramas filled the Olympic Stadium on December 10 as more than 10,000 people gathered to celebrate the 58th International Human Rights Day. All the participants on the day wore the blue kramas as a symbol representing the day's theme "We are all Human Rights Defenders".

The celebrations throughout the day included special activities such as a blessing dance performed by students from the Royal University of Fine Arts, a Robam Choun Por dance, speeches by distinguished guests and community activists, and traditional songs performed by popular Khmer singers. Participants also had the opportunity to visit booths set up by more than 20 NGOs displaying their reports and publications and providing information on their operations.

The gathering was supported by more than 90 organizations that aimed to recognize and promote the crucial roles that Cambodians from all vocations or occupations in life play in protecting human rights and to commemorate the struggles for the fulfillment of human rights in Cambodia. Participants included community activists, trade unionists, students, garment workers, people living with disabilities, NGO workers and members of the international community including diplomats.

The December 10 celebrations came as the culmination of a series of events promoting human rights in the past month. From December 1 to December 10, regional meetings in Siem Reap, Battambang, Kampot and Kratie were held, bringing together community activists to discuss natural resource management including right to housing and land; freedom of expression, assembly, movement and access to information and labor rights. On November 18 the first ever forum of Southeast Asian Human Rights Defenders was held in Phnom Penh, which hosted activists from 13 countries from the region and the annual 16 days of activism against gender violence (16 days campaign) which began on November 25 and concluded on December 10.

Artists performing the Robam Choun Por danceDistinguished guests who attended the celebrations included the Canadian Ambassador, Ms. Donica Pottie and US Ambassador, Mr. Joseph Mussomeli and Ms. Hina Jilani, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders.

U.S. ambassador Mr. Joseph Mussomeli told the crowd that "Human Rights abuses persist and come in a wide variety of forms, most especially corruption, a crippled judiciary and the lack of political will to make the hard choices needed to eradicate corruption and strengthen the judiciary."

So far this year, as many as 71 community or labor activists have been illegally detained or charged, he added.

On the day Ms. Jilani also gave a speech and helped to release the giant human rights balloon, which had emblazoned on its side "We Are All Human Rights Defenders".

Ms. Jilani is an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and in August 2000 was appointed as the first Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders. In her role as the Special Representative Ms. Jilani's mandate is to support and promote the work of human rights defenders and to collect information on human rights defenders around the world.

During 2006, Ms. Jilani together with her counterparts issued joint statements to condemn the killings of 17 local workers of the NGO Action Against Hunger in Sri Lanka and to appeal to the Government of Myanmar to release Ms. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the General-Secretary of the National League for Democracy and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Ms. Jilani also issued a joint statement condemning the forced evictions targeting poor and vulnerable people of the Tonle Bassac communities in Phnom Penh, as well as the obstruction of NGO workers attempting to help the victims.

During her first visit to Cambodia, Ms. Jilani also met with 14 grass roots community representatives and activists on December 9. The 14 activists were from Kratie, Siem Reap, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Kompong Speu, and Sihanoukville and each had been involved in land dispute cases that had resulted in illegal detentions or the abuse of judicial process. The discussions lasted almost two and half hours and as a result, Ms. Jilani expressed grave concerns over the issues and requested the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia to send her the reports of land grabbing cases.

This year's event ran smoothly and without any interference from authorities in stark contrast to last year's celebrations. Following 2005's similar celebrations at the Olympic Stadium three prominent NGO leaders and human rights defenders