DPA
Phnom Penh - The United States has threatened to freeze aid spending to Cambodia if the government pushes ahead with a highly controversial draft law designed to regulate civil society.
The comments were made by Flynn Fuller, the country head of the US government's development agency USAID, during a closed meeting between the Cambodian government and donors in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.
The meeting assessed Phnom Penh's progress in attaining a series of 20 benchmarks in areas such as judicial reform and land rights.
'In these times of fiscal constraint, justifying increased assistance to Cambodia will become very difficult in the face of shrinking space for civil society to function,' Fuller said, adding that the 'excessively restrictive' law would harm development.
'We strongly urge the government to reconsider the necessity of the draft NGO [non-governmental organization] law, and if so, to adopt a law consistent with a commitment to expand, rather than restrict, the freedom for civil society organizations to operate,' he said.
Last year, donors pledged 1.1 billion dollars in development assistance, around half of Cambodia's budget.
Civil society has condemned the draft NGO law, which requires all NGOs and associations to register with the government, as woolly, lacking definition and full of ambiguities.
A coalition of around 300 civil society groups said the law would impose onerous administration requirements on the country's crop of 3,000 NGOs and hundreds of associations, something many lack the capacity to comply with.
NGOs had called on donors to weigh in on the issue.
Prominent human rights group LICADHO said recently the law constituted 'the most serious threat to civil society in Cambodia for years.'
The government has said it drafted the law to protect NGOs. Last week, spokesman Phay Siphan said the government was prepared to listen to changes suggested by civil society, something critics said it failed to do after two rounds of consultation in recent months.
Phay Siphan's pledge contrasted with public comments by other spokesmen who said the draft would not be amended.
The draft law is expected to head to the Council of Ministers for assessment in the coming weeks before being presented to parliament for approval later this year.
USAID works with more than 100 local organizations in Cambodia in areas such as governance, health and education. The US, the third-largest donor to Cambodia, approved 72 million dollars in aid last year, and is seeking approval from legislators for around 88 million dollars for 2012.
13 comments:
Hun Xen is going to live forever, death to Cambodia!
CPP Yuon Officials and Hun Sen (Hanoi's puppet) will be destroyed soon. No date and time have not been set up yet, but very soon.
Many Yuon/Vietgook folks, CPP Yuon supporters and evil Yuon friends and family members of the bad ass Hun Sen will be gone to Vietcong Hanoi. Those stupid and evil folks as mentions above always feel good to say such things to make Cambodian/Khmer people feel discouraged, but they are playing with the feelings of Khmer/Cambodian people. Please don't listen to them. They are the ones will face the real problems and collapse one of these days. For examples, those evil Youn folks and CPP Yuon/Hun Sen supporters say somethings in the following as politics and games:
1. Keep dreaming and will not happen.
2. Khmer are stupid and always keep fighting each others. They pretend to be Khmer and then say such things to make Khmer/Cambodian people look bad.
3. Khmer/Cambodian slaves bow to Vietnam
4. Cambodia will be part of Vietnam
5. Khmer people drink Vietnamese people's pee in the Mekong Lakes
6. They laugh at Khmer people
7. Tell other people like Americans, British, French, Mexicans, etc that they are Khmer and then they cause Khmer to hate Khmer, make Khmer people look very bad.
8. They try to scare Khmer people and kill Khmer/Cambodia people
9. and more
10.....Please list as much as they can
So, Khmer people don't be fooled or scare. We can fight back hard to scare the heck of Yuon people, CPP folks. You can have anything to protect yourself. We can beat Yuon CPP bodyguards if they beat Khmer people. Khmer people all together in the millions of us including myself are brave and dying to fight and destroy Yuon folks and CPP, Hun Sen. If they use weapons to destroy Khmer, Khmer will use the same weapons and long with the outsiders who are in favor of Khmer/Cambodian people. Vietcong/Yuon folks, CPP Yuon bastards and Hun Sen will not have friends from outsides or powerful countries in the world, USA, Canada, S. Korea, France, UK, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, S. Africa, Egypt, Qatar, Japan, Slovakia, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Swedish, Poland, Turkey, and more. If Vietnamese Communist bastards dare to destroy or kill Khmer people in order to help protect their puppet Hun Sen and illegal CPP Yuon officials and their hidden Yuon faces to pretend to be Khmer bodyguards, etc. They will get hit and destroyed by Khmer heroes and real Khmer/Cambodian military and soldiers.
Please, Khmer people, don't be fooled and don't be afraid. If you are afraid of Hun Sen and CPP Yuon bastards, that means you are weak and they will trick you Khmer people. Please wake up. I will be there to join forces along with the outsiders from all the world. You have your encouragement and don't give up hope. Remembers, Yuon/Vietcong folks, CPP and Hen Sen tried to scare you, but don't be scare. Just fight back and throw the shoes at them. If they use the weapons, Khmer people will use the weapons and guys, too.
Hun Sen, CPP Yuon bastards, illegal Yuon folks in Cambodia will be scared because of Khmer/Cambodian uprising and they will know that Khmer/Cambodia people are dying to fight and destroy those evil Yuon CPP bastards, Hun Send and kick out illegal Yuon residents living in Cambodian.
Hun Hun is born to kill Khmer and there is nothing can stop him now.
2:30 PM
Be realist, perhaps you should ask the US to stop Mr. Hun Sen now.
2:30 PM,
Khmer people have been very patients and afraid of him as a leader. Khmer have been so beyond patient and more than enough patients and will die to fight and destroy the evil bastards and CPP Yuon. If they dare to use brutal forces against Khmer people, but Khmer people with the help from their friends from powerful countries in the world will hit back against those bastards and kick out all illegal Youn/Vietnamese people who have no respects for Khmer people and their country.
Hun Sen has been so stupid and blind.
Hun Sen along with his CPP Yuon bastards will be beaten or crushed to death one of these days in the near future.
I heard a rumor that in his last life he was a Yuon. He is reincarnated as Khmer. His body is a Khmer but his soul is still a Yuon.
He took this opportunity in killings as much Khmer as possible for his older brother Hi Chi Minh.
4:25 PM,
I agree with you. Hun Sen was brainwashed by his Communist Hanoi masters. He want to be protected by Hanoi so that he gave some lands and island to Vietnam after 1979. He is not an appropriate leader because he did not have the western education, but he was from farmer and trained in Hanoi. It has been more than 30 years for Cambodian being slowly developed, but it has been in the wrong direction. This PM did not have any skill or knowledge to build Cambodia. Sam Rainsy is far better than him and better than Vietnamese Communist leaders and CPP Yuon Officials. Those bastards love to have powers and money or they are very greedy and corrupted. They are thieves and crooks
We the people create government don't let the government create us. The power is within the citizens, open your eyes to Egypt.
I dont understand this shit....Why most Khmer in Cambodia so afriad of death. We khmer have been thru a living hell for the last 70 yrs. For this ass hole Hun Sen conquered your fear of death. To be dead is better to live in Cambodia. Look at the condition, Human abuses, people know nothing. Government keep bend over for Hanio VC. Why are they going to help it own people.
HIT THEM BACK HARD AND STOP SENDING THOSE CORRUPTED THUGS AID. FUCK HUN SEN CPP
GO all the way America, do not do thing half way!
8:20PM! are you conquer death!? please come and show it to us!
cut all the donation and shit lolz
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