The United States is giving human rights groups in Cambodia nearly three-and-a-half-million dollars to support their efforts to promote freedom of expression.

The American ambassador to Cambodia , Kenneth Quinn, said the country had been through a terrible crisis and the United States wanted to help rebuild civil society by giving strength to those groups which gave voice to many views.

This latest donation is being channelled to non-governmental organisations such as the Institute for Human Rights and the Khmer Institute for Democracy which correspondents say have been among the foremost critics of alleged abuses by the security forces. They've also been critical of the contested elections last year which confirmed the prime minister, Hun Sen, in office.