Sambor Prei Kuk: Demarcating the Relationship Between Religion & Cultural Heritage as Human Rights in Cambodia

This chapter addresses the specific subject of religion and cultural heritage using the site of Sambor Prei Kuk in Cambodia as a case study. Sambor Prei Kuk is the subject of an application for World Heritage listing by the Cambodian government. The chapter explores a rights-based framework for Sambor Prei Kuk that focuses on the right to religion and its place relative to cultural heritage in general and World Heritage in particular. With respect to Cambodia's World Heritage sites, the marginalisation of local farming communities from Angkor Wat in the present suggests the risk of a comparable marginalisation for local farming communities at Sambor Prei Kuk in future. Concerns over a right to religion in Cambodia's plans for Sambor Prei Kuk provide a spur for additional ways to support the protection of religious practices at the site. The connection between human rights and cultural heritage can be described according to two divergent approaches: a hierarchical perspective versus an equitable one.