Opposition Party Wary of Revamped NGO Law

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Tuesday, 01 February 2011

“There should not be such a restrictive law, because it is the people who will lose benefits.”

Despite concessions made in the drafting of a law to govern NGOs, officials from the main opposition Sam Rainsy Party say the legislation still risks limiting freedoms and can be a setback to good governance.

The NGO law is being drafted by the Ministry of Interior and contains provisions for the regulation of the non-governmental sector. But critics warn that it can bog down organizations in red tape and could limit their functions or efficiency.

Mu Sochua, a Kampot representative for the opposition, told VOA Khmer the government could instead focus on strengthening existing registration mechanisms.

“We don’t see any need to have this law,” she said in an interview Friday. “There should not be such a restrictive law, because it is the people who will lose benefits.”

The definitive description of a non-government organisation

Friday, 28 January 2011
Stuart Alan Becker
The Phnom Penh Post

THE definition of a non-governmental organisation is a legally constituted organisation that operates independently from any government. NGO is a term usually used by governments to refer to entities that have no government status – but in the context of Cambodia, one of the most donated-to countries in the world, NGOs are generally perceived as being of service in one way or another to the poor and marginalised citizens, through health services, vocational training, agricultural or infrastructure development, family and social services or other human-benefiting or humanitarian work.

Because of Cambodia’s turbulent history, owing to a combination of factors including the nation’s geographical location between the two larger powers of Thailand and Vietnam, together with the history of foreign intervention beginning with the French Protectorate, the Vietnam War, the Khmer Rouge period and the civil war and liberation in 1979 – it is widely recognised that NGOs have been essential in stabilising Cambodia’s population.

While it may be somewhat discomforting for local people to be asked to tolerate well-funded foreigners running around getting involved in poor people’s lives, even the most ardent of Cambodian nationalists must agree that NGOs have played essential roles in stabilising the population following the removal of the Pol Pot regime.

Ministry Accepts Many NGO Changes to Draft Law

Many NGOs say they are worried the law needs corrections lest it be used to crackdown on organizations deemed anti-government.

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer

Phnom Penh Thursday, 27 January 2011

“If the current draft law is not changed, it’s worrisome to NGOs.”

The Ministry of Interior has accepted most of the recommendations from the non-governmental sector as it moves forward with a draft law on governing NGOs, although some concerning provisions remain, officials said Thursday.

Organizations had said they worried the new law, which seeks tighter regulations of the sector, would inhibit the growth and develop of the country by making it difficult for NGOs to both form and operate.

In a meeting between the government and NGO sectors earlier this month, organizations said they wanted to see changes to 21 articles of the law to prevent bureaucratic logjams that could diminish their effectiveness. Many of their recommendations were accepted, officials said.

Cambodia Kingdom of Wondering about how new laws will change our lifes

Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Dara Saoyuth and Tang Khyhay
The Phnom Penh Post

Dara Saoyuth and Tang Khyhay explore the law, as it relates to us.

Born in Kandal’s Ponhea Leu district, this young man decided to leave home for Phnom Penh in 2009 to get a better education. Chan Sokneang, 22, is now a sophomore in English literature at the National University of Management.

Staying independently in Neakvon Pagoda, Chan Sokneang is struggling to make a living as an intern at an organisation in the city, hoping to gain some experience for his future goal as an NGO staff member after graduation. He hopes to land his dream job so he will not have to follow in his parents’ footsteps and become a farmer.

“I am very concerned about job opportunities that NGOs provide since the draft of the NGO law might affect their recruitment,” said Chan Sokneang.

Cambodia Should Rethink Its Plan For NGOs

The Cambodian government is considering plans to impose controls on the large number of foreign and domestic non-governmental organizations.

01-21-2011

Voice of America

Editorials

We urge Cambodian officials to reconsider whether such a measure is needed.

The Cambodian government is considering plans to impose controls on the large number of foreign and domestic non-governmental organizations that operate medical, educational, humanitarian, civil society and other programs in their country.

The law, as currently drafted and announced in December, would impose burdensome restrictions on civil society organizations, including requirements to register and report their activities every year, in addition to several other vague requirements for obtaining permission to continue their work. The Royal Government of Cambodia says the law is needed to increase transparency among the Southeast Asian nation's network of NGOs, and prevent terrorists and criminal gangs from using groups based in Cambodia as fronts for their operations.

The move is drawing mounting criticism from civil society representatives, who fear the law represents an effort by the government to control what their groups do for the Cambodian people and where they do it. Small community-based groups say compliance with the current draft law would be difficult and could threaten their very existence.

The United States shares these concerns, opposing any law that constrains the legitimate activities of NGOs. We urge Cambodian officials to reconsider whether such a measure is needed.

A strong and free civil society is vital to strengthening democratic institutions, enhancing economic and humanitarian well-being and promoting a sustainable economy. In Cambodia, as in many other countries, NGOs and other similar groups make important contributions in these areas. Government officials there have asked for input from civil society representatives about the draft law, and the United States urges the Royal Government of Cambodia to take their concerns very seriously as they move forward on the issue.

Debate urged on NGO law

Thursday, 13 January 2011
Thomas Miller
The Phnom Penh Post

Four civil society umbrella organisations yesterday urged the government to make Monday’s consultation the beginning – rather than the end – of public debate on its controv ersial draft NGO law.

In a statement yesterday, the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, NGO Forum, Medicam and the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee – representing more than 400 local and international NGOs working in Cambodia – called on the government to incorporate their recommendations into the law.

It also requested the establishment of a joint government-civil society working group to make further revisions.

“Our aim is to have a law that is enabling for us rather than a law that would restrict operations and also our ability to serve the people,” said CCC executive director Lun Borithy.

US Warns of 'Freedom' Concerns in NGO Draft Law

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer 
Phnom Penh Thursday, 13 January 2011

“We strongly urge the Royal Government of Cambodia to reconsider whether the draft NGO law is in fact necessary ..."

The US Embassy in Phnom Penh says it is concerned a new NGO law under consideration by the government will restrict freedoms within the public and should be reconsidered.

“We strongly urge the Royal Government of Cambodia to reconsider whether the draft NGO law is in fact necessary and, if so, to adopt and implement a law consistent with a commitment to expand, rather than restrict, the freedom for civil society organizations to operate,” embassy spokesman Mark Wenig told VOA Khmer Thursday.

The law, which was examined by NGOs and government officials in meetings this week, seeks to tighten regulations on non-governmental agencies through stricter registration and reporting processes and high bars for organization.

Some NGOs say they fear the law will be used as a tool of repression against anti-government groups.

Cambodia: Draft NGO Law

Taken Question
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
Source: US Department of State

Question Taken at the January 7, 2011 Daily Press Briefing

January 12, 2011

Question: Has the government of Cambodia started to make laws that place limits on NGOs operating in country? What sort of limits? How is this affecting NGO programs?

Answer: The United States has serious concerns about the law as drafted and strongly opposes the enactment of any law that would constrain the legitimate activities of NGOs. We urge the Royal Government of Cambodia to consult closely with NGOs and other stakeholders on the substance of the draft law, and to reconsider whether such a measure is even necessary. The United States believes that a strong and free civil society is vital to strengthening democratic institutions, enhancing economic and humanitarian well-being, and promoting a sustainable economy. In Cambodia, as in many other countries, NGOs and other civil society organizations make critical contributions in these areas.

US concerned for NGOs in Cambodia

Thursday, January 13, 2011
AFP

WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday urged Cambodia to ensure a free civil society, voicing deep concern at what it viewed as efforts to constrict the activities of non-governmental organizations.

The State Department called on Prime Minister Hun Sen's government to hold talks with non-governmental groups and other stakeholders on a new law and to "reconsider whether such a measure is even necessary."

"The United States has serious concerns about the law as drafted and strongly opposes the enactment of any law that would constrain the legitimate activities of NGOs," a State Department statement said.

"The United States believes that a strong and free civil society is vital to strengthening democratic institutions, enhancing economic and humanitarian well-being and promoting a sustainable economy," it said.

Cambodian NGOs fear law will tie their hands

A service provided by a Catholic NGO in Cambodia

January 11, 2011
By Khan Sophirom, Phnom Penh
UCANews.com

Aid workers fear that a draft law to “regulate” NGOs in Cambodia is an attempt to control community organizations but Catholic groups will not be affected, says a local Church worker.

The law may affect NGOs working on sensitive issues such as human rights and may inconvenience some small village-based NGOs, according to Rene Ayala Moreira, assistant director of New Humanity, a Catholic-based NGO.

“But I think Catholic Church activities will not be affected,” Moreira told ucanews.com following a Jan. 10 consultation hosted by the interior ministry with representatives of around 400 local and international NGOs.

The meeting was to seek the views of NGOs on the draft law made public in December.

Groups Join Workshop With NGO Law Concerns

Cambodian NGOs at a social forum. (Photo: VOA Khmer)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Monday, 10 January 2011

“The draft law in its current form, will restrict the work of these organizations, as it places significant barriers on their registration and implementation of their work. The effect will be to reduce funding for the many important development projects currently delivered in collaboration with the government and to reduce potential new funding sources for long-term development.”

Interior Minister Sar Kheng ruled out concerns from non-governmental groups on Monday that a new draft law will prompt threats or attacks on them.

The NGO Law seeks tighter controls on the myriad non-governmental agencies that exist in Cambodia, but critics say it creates tangles of red tape that could be used to attack groups that don't follow the government line.

Sar Kheng told some 300 participants at the outset of a workshop on the law on Monday that the government “has no intention of threatening or pressuring associations or non-governmental organizations.”

Government stands by controversial NGO law

Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Thomas Miller and Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

We hope that an NGO law can facilitate the growth of this sector, and not hold it back.

THE government defended its controversial new draft NGO law in the face of mounting criticism and asked for input from civil society representatives at a consultation in Phnom Penh yesterday.

At the meeting, Minister of Interior Sar Kheng reaffirmed the government’s commitment to passing the law and dismissed fears that it would be used to control Cambodian civil society groups.

“If the government had a plan to threaten NGOs or associations, it would not need to have the presence of NGOs. The second reason is that if we planned [to threaten NGOs], there is no need for a workshop like you see today,” Sar Kheng said. “There are very few laws that we get to discuss in public.”

Sar Kheng said the law was “modest and does not infringe on rights”, and that he didn’t see how it would restrict NGOs’ activities, attempting to address claims that the law limits the right to freedom of association.

NGOs Worry Over Intent of New Law

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
31 March 2009

A draft law to tighten control over Cambodia’s many non-governmental organizations is nearly completed and will soon be at the Council of Ministers for final approval before moving on to the National Assembly.

Rights groups and other watchdogs are increasingly worried over the motives behind the law, which they say will erode freedoms. But government officials say the law is needed, to watch the watchers.

In a statement issued earlier this month, the Asian Human Rights Commission warned that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party could be using its landslide victory in elections last year—where it won 90 of 123 National Assembly seats—to pass laws that favor the party and ignore constitutional freedoms.

“If the government adopted this law, it could strongly control and reduce political, social and economic rights,” Rights Commission researcher Lao Monghay told VOA Khmer in a phone interview last week.

Government officials say the law has been drafted with the constitution and UN charters in mind.

Om Yentieng, who heads the government’s rights committee and is an adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, said the Rights Commission was making recommendations from “blindness,” having not seen the draft.

“Now we don’t know how to please those people,” he said.

Local rights groups also worry the new law could mean a crackdown. They say other laws need more attention.

“The Cambodian government should focus its efforts on establishing the necessary corruption law and bettering the penal code,” Kek Galabru, president of the rights group Licadho, said.

An anti-corruption law, despite urgent encouragement by donors, has remained in a draft stage for years. Om Yentieng said the government is taking all laws in stride, but the high number of non-governmental organizations in the country need regulation.

However, the fear is that the intent of the law is not to regulate, but to pressure rights organizations and others, Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, told VOA Khmer in a phone interview.

“I think the purpose of Hun Sen is to have an NGO law that allows the government to control their activities and to ensure that they don’t criticize the government, and that kind of law should not be passed,” Adams said.

As a developing country, Cambodia remains heavily reliant on non-governmental agencies, which provide anything from health care to agricultural development, food aid, and rights monitoring.

Ho Van, a lawmaker for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said rural Cambodians especially rely on these organizations.

“The duties of NGOs are to push the government to take action and bring justice for the people,” he said. “If those NGOs work under restrictions and pressure by the government, then the innocent Khmer people and victims won’t have a way to complain for solutions at all.”

Without the rights protection afforded by NGOs, Cambodia’s democratic standing could slide quickly, Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party, said in an interview.

Prior to its sweeping win in elections last year, the CPP-led government delayed democracy “little by little,” he said, “but now it has a strong enough voice to start reducing democracy. It is reducing the democratic process now.”

Kem Sokha was the head of the non-governmental Cambodian Center for Human Rights before he went on to found his party ahead of last year’s election, where his candidates won three seats in parliament.

A main worry in the Law on Organizations is a requirement for groups to report their activities and financial expenditures to the government. This was not necessary, as such groups report to their donors, which is enough, he said.

However, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, the ministry responsible for up to 80 percent of the draft, said the law is necessary to monitor the financial activities of NGOs that are currently “riding a horse with free hands.”

The law will require re-registration for all NGOs with the Ministry of Interior, the spokesman, Lt. Gen. Khieu Sopheak, said.

“This is a big thing for them,” he said. “What they have, where they’ve received financing from, where are their resources, how many millions do they spend in a year, what have they spent it on, doing politics or whatever: these all need to be transparent.”

The part of the law addressing political activities is of concern, because many roles of organizations, if broadly defined, can be considered political, said Rafael Dochao Moreno, the European Commission’s representative in Cambodia.

“Government officials and NGO representatives, they have to sit together…to see whether or not…proposals of civil society organizations could be incorporated into the text of the law,” he said.

Organizations like the Cambodian Center for Human Rigths, Licadho, and others often criticize the government directly, focusing on government policy, law enforcement, or the courts, which are widely held as politically biased.

With government restrictions written in a new law, these groups won’t be able to do their work at all, said Ou Vireak, director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights.

“I think that they have made a law that is not parallel to the democratic process,” he said.

Cambodia Needs A Rights-Based NGO Law

Thursday, 5 March 2009
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission

In 1991 two accords were concluded to end the war that had ravaged Cambodia for so many years. These accords assigned the UN to keep the peace, organize the election of a new government and administer Cambodia for some 18 months, in 1992 and 1993, for all these purposes.

The UN presence then gave birth to a civil society in Cambodia, previously a communist country, when local NGOs were successively created to do human rights and development work. Together with the peace accords and international assistance, the UN laid a solid foundation for the civil society’s further development after the end of its mandate.

Nowadays, despite the lengthy and tortuous procedures for their creation through some ten layers of administrative units from the grassroots to the top of the Ministry of Interior, there are nevertheless some 2000 NGOs on the ministry’s register. Thanks to their work across the country NGOs have become an integral part of Cambodia’s social fabric.

However, over recent years, the government has imposed a number of restrictions on their activities, especially the activities of human rights NGOs. In 2005 the Ministry of the Interior issued a set of guidelines to instruct all commune authorities (grassroots authorities), among other things, that all activities of NGOs and other associations and civil society organisations, "must have cooperation from provincial or municipal governors" and "all invitations to provincial, district and commune officials to attend any seminar or training sessions must have the approval" of these governors as well.

These guidelines in effect restrict the activities of NGOs as their members have to travel potentially long distances to the offices of provincial or municipal governors and get through lengthy bureaucracies to get such approvals. Cambodian local authorities have rigorously enforced these guidelines and have banned or interrupted many NGO activities, especially the holding of public forums for the public to debate issues affecting their livelihood.

Now the government has set out to regulate NGOs through an act of parliament. Upon its election in July 2008, with a substantially increased majority, 90 out of the total seats of 123, the government has made this law one of the three laws to be enacted as a matter of priority, the other being the penal code and the anti-corruption law. The reason for this urgency was the government’s concern that their funding could come from terrorist groups. Prime Minister Hun said in September 2008: “We have a concern that sometimes under so and so NGO, financial assistance has been provided for terrorist activities, take for instance the Al Um Quran under which Ham Bali hid himself in Cambodia.”

This reason is hardly plausible since the control of funding for terrorist activities are already adequately dealt with by the Anti-Terrorism Law enacted in 2007 (Chapter 11 on funding and aid for terrorism). The real reason behind the need for such a law is more likely the anti-NGO sentiment still prevailing in the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, a former communist party. In 2006 Heng Samrin, the President of the National Assembly and Honorary President of the ruling party, said: “Today, so many NGOs are speaking too freely and do things without a framework. When we have a law, we will direct them.” After the July 2008 election Heng is still holding the two positions.

As spelt out clearly in Cambodia’s Constitution, freedom of association is one of the fundamental rights of the Cambodian people, and, according to the same constitution, there needs to be a law to determine this right.

However, this law should further guarantee and protect this fundamental right. It should faithfully reflect Cambodia’s international human rights obligations under the peace accords mentioned above and other international human rights instruments, and also its own constitution.

The accords say, among other things, that “all persons in Cambodia shall enjoy the rights and freedoms embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international human rights instruments” and “Cambodia undertakes “to support the right of all Cambodia citizens to undertake activities that would promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms".

The Universal Declaration, which Cambodia has incorporated in its constitution, guarantees the right to freedom of association. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Cambodia is a party, also guarantees this right and elaborates it further “1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests. 2. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those which are prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."

The same NGO law should not in any way curtail the Cambodian people’s “right to participate actively in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the nation”, a right that is guaranteed and protected under Article 35 of their Constitution.

Cambodian lawmakers should be reminded that civil society is essential for democracy and development, and their country is supposed to be a liberal democracy according of its Constitution. The regulation of NGOs should not mean to “direct them” as National Assembly Chairman Heng Samrin has said.

In designing the NGO law, those Cambodian lawmakers should get inspiration, for instance, from the South African Non Profit Organisations Act of 1997. Like the South African Law, the Cambodian law should be designed, for instance, “to provide for an environment in which (NGOs) can flourish” with no unjustified restrictions on their activities, and “to establish an administrative and regulatory framework within which (NGOs) can conduct their affairs”. The same law should also require “every state organ to determine and co-ordinate the implementation of its policies and measures in a manner designed to promote, support and enhance the capacity of nonprofit organisations to perform their functions.”

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.