Nongovernmental organizations and civil society groups in Cambodia are calling on the government to open consultations over a dreaded law they fear would curtail their operations in the Southeast Asian nation.
Cambodia has been tightening its grip on civil society over the past few years. When an early draft of the NGO law was released four years ago, civil society advocates raised concern over the extensive restrictions it seemed to put on the sector. But the law seemed to have been shelved as there had been no developments on its progress — until Prime Minister Hun Sen announced in April that the draft Law on Associations and Nongovernmental Organizations will be ratified “in the near future.”
“The last draft that was circulated dates back to 2011, and it contained many restrictive provisions,” Maina Kiai, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, told Devex. “Hence, the widespread concern about the current draft’s speedy enactment without proper consultations.”
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