The US-based Human Rights Watch accused local Cambodian officials of engaging in a "campaign of threats and intimidation" in the run-up to the national elections on July 27, according to a report released today.

The rights group accused local leaders, mostly members of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), with threatening opposition party supporters with violence, expulsion from villages, and denial of access to community resources.

"While the ruling Cambodian People's Party has used violence in previous elections, in the current campaign, it appears to have chosen a more subtle strategy to coerce villagers from voting their preference," said James Ross, senior legal advisor at Human Rights Watch.

"Such coercion is more difficult, especially for international observers, to detect, document, and quantify," he said.

"Cambodians know that it is very risky to support the political opposition, particularly out in the provinces." The organisation called on authorities to suspend officials who are responsible for such threats and election law violations, and warned that the decrease in the levels of overt political violence did not translate into greater overall respect for Cambodians rights.

Most election monitors and human rights groups have acknowledged that the lead-up to the upcoming parliamentary election has been more peaceful than either of the country's two previous national elections or the 2002 commune election.

But they have also expressed concern over the persistence of methods of voter intimidation, coercion and manipulation, saying it shows these election violations may have been institutionalised. - Sapa-DPA.