With the government hardening its already strict drug trafficking laws, the prison population rose by 15.5% in 2015. Cambodia has 17,522 prisoners and with a capacity of just 8,500, the estimated overcrowding rate is 206%.

Eleven activists from the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) were sentenced in July 2015. The activists received between 7 to 20 years in prison for participating in an unauthorized protest. Senator Hong Sok Hour was arrested in August after posting a fake copy of the treaty between Vietnam and Cambodia online.

Prey Sar prison in Phom Pehn, the biggest in the country, experienced months-long water shortages. It was reported that staff and certain inmates were taking advantage of water cuts to sell bottles of water at inflated prices.