NGOs condemn new Cambodia law

Organisations are calling on the Cambodian government to withdraw the draft law, which threatens to curtail their activities and ‘contravenes international human rights laws’

Thursday 7 April 2011
Liz Ford
guardian.co.uk

Cambodian civil society groups and international NGOs have condemned a proposed new law that they claim will seriously curtail their activities.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Forum-Asia, Global Witness, the Federation of Human Rights Watch, Christian Aid, VSO and Save the Children, along with Cambodian farmers and indigenous rights groups, are among the organisations calling on the Cambodian government to withdraw the draft law, which will require all civil society groups working in the country to register in order to work, and appears ambiguous over rights to appeal. Local organisations will be required to have a specific number of members, will need to be headed by a Cambodian national, which will exclude refugees from forming an association and send the government annual reports.

The organisations are also calling on international donors to publicly express their opposition to the legislation.

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