The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 632 – Friday, 2.10.2009
"The draft of a law by the government to control non-government organizations, where two institutions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior, are studying the draft before it is presented for adoption, led more than 200 national and international organizations to release a statement about it.
"In a statement signed by 216 local and international groups, distributed Tuesday [at an international donors' meeting], Cambodia's NGO community asked to get to see a draft of the new law that will soon govern associations and non-government organizations in Cambodia.
"This law was marked as a priority by Prime Minister Hun Sen in a September [2008] speech, but members of civil society told The Cambodia Daily yesterday [1 October 2009] that they haven't seen a draft of the proposed legislation in the year since. That prompted them to call for more consultation, with concerned organizations issuing their statement during Tuesday's donors meeting between the government and development partners.
"'Do you have a draft? I don't have one,' said Dr. Sin Somony, the director of the medical NGO umbrella group Medicam [3], said by telephone on 1 October 2009. 'That's why I'm wondering when a draft will be available,' he said. The public health organization, along with the Cooperation Committee of Cambodia [4] and the NGO Forum on Cambodia [5], organized a meeting last week with members of civil society groups to discuss the proposed law. They sent invitations to the Ministry of Interior [6] and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation [7], the two government bodies involved in drafting the law, but no government representatives attended the meeting.
"The directotr of the NGO Forum, Mr. Chhith Sam Ath, told the same paper that he had not seen a draft of the law, or spoken with government representatives in the past year, a sentiment echoed by Lun Borithy, the executive director of the Cooperation Committee of Cambodia.
"'We cannot give any input on what is in the law, until we know what is in it,' Mr. Borithy said yesterday.
"The statement from the 216 NGOs, which was not taken up to be addressed by the donors meeting on Tuesday, also questioned the government's motivation in creating the law.
"'We believe that the current registration processes are adequate to ensure proper operations and, more importantly, they are seen as supportive for an 'enabling' environment for civil society, to exercise its right to engage in participatory democracy,' it read.
"'The legitimacy of civil society to create space for the 'voice' of affected communities is being called into question by the government.'
"Members of the government have said that the law will promote transparency in the NGO community and weed out groups that support terrorism. The last draft made available to members of civil society was written in 2005.
"CARE International's Country Director Sharon Wilkinson told The Cambodia Daily yesterday that she does not necessarily object to the idea of a law governing associations.
"'Laws are excellent things to govern, if the laws are unambiguous and cannot be used to hamper civil society,' Ms. Wilkinson said. 'I cannot comment on whether this law will do this or not, because I have not seen it.'
"She pointed out that, as things stand now, local organizations must register with the Mnistry of Interior, while international NGOs enlist at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and that the CCC administers an NGO good practices registry, which invites associations to voluntarily adhere to a code of ethics.
"'Nobody is working outside the law,' Ms. Wilkinson said.
"Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said that the draft is currently being discussed by members of his ministry and the Interior Ministry.
"'Right now, it's in process. A technical team is working on it,' adding that he did not have information about the content of the draft.
"Interior Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak said that an NGO law will encourage organizations that are politically neutral, and discourage 'racist' groups.
"But analysts said that non-government organizations have worked to serve poor citizens and people with poor knowledge by preventing dishonest and rich people from harassing the weak.
"The president of Cambodian Free Trade Union of Workers, Mr. Chea Mony, told Khmer Machas Srok via telephone yesterday evening, 'It is wrong. Generally, civil society organizations are not subordinates of political parties and the government. Therefore, if the government drafts a law to put civil society organizations under its control, it is against the main pact of the International Labor Organization (ILO) which stipulates that there is no interference form the government.'
"He added that if the government intends to control civil society organizations, our country will be later not a democratic country, but a country controlled by the state. And civil society organizations are like trade unions created by the state. If they are state's unions, there will be no transparency and they must support the government, otherwise they will not receive aid. All in all, a draft law to control civil society organizations is not right." Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.3, #500, 2.10.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Friday, 2 October 2009
Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #300, 2.10.2009
Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #2061, 2.10.2009
Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.3, #500, 2.10.2009
Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6768, 2.10.2009
Phnom Penh Post, Vol.1, #17, 2.10.2009
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #5010, 2.10.2009
Sereypheap Thmey, Vol.17, #1799, 2-4.10.2009
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Links:
[1] http://mail.expat-advisory.com/articles/77
[2] http://mail.expat-advisory.com/articles/292
[3] http://www.medicam-cambodia.org/
[4] http://www.ccc-cambodia.org/
[5] http://www.ngoforum.org.kh/eng/core/
[6] http://www.interior.gov.kh/
[7] http://www.mfaic.gov.kh/