Civil society

The Constitutional Council has officially accepted the contentious Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations, which would tighten regulations on thousands of organizations in the country in what critics fear could mean a major crackdown on basic freedoms and government criticism. ...

The Constitutional Council will meet with a group of opposition lawmakers on Wednesday over a controversial draft law to regulate NGOs, as it prepares to review the bill and send it to the king to be signed into law. ...

The Constitutional Council of Cambodia will meet on Wednesday to decide on the legality of a controversial draft NGO law that was passed by the National Assembly and Senate last month, according to the council’s spokesman. ...

The Constitutional Council of Cambodia (CCC) held a meeting today on the “constitutionality” of a newly-approved law on the Association and Non-governmental Organization. ...

Rights group Adhoc recorded 131 rape cases in the first six months of the year, compared to 80 cases in 2014—a nearly 64 percent increase—due to the influence of “uncontrolled foreign cultures” such as pornography, according to a report released by the NGO on Wednesday. ...

Police in Koh Kong province on Tuesday prevented about 50 locals from joining a public forum on a controversial sand-dredging operation on the grounds that the group did not live close enough to where the firm is operating to participate. ...

As an environmental NGO held a press conference in Phnom Penh on Monday to present evidence against a company it accuses of illegally extracting sand from an estuary in Koh Kong province, opposition lawmaker Son Chhay called on Prime Minister Hun Sen to order an ...

The Ministry of Land Management has again accused rights group Licadho of spreading false data that shows that the number of families embroiled in new or intensifying land disputes jumped threefold last year. ...

A group of 26 local NGOs submitted a letter to King Norodom Sihamoni on Thursday calling on him to refuse to sign off on a controversial law regulating non-governmental groups in the country. ...

A group of opposition lawmakers has urged the Constitutional Council to amend a contentious law on regulating NGOs in the country. Prum Nhean Vicheth, a spokesman for the Constitutional Council, confirmed receipt of the petition and said the Council will be considering the draft law ...

Dr. Thearith helps thousands of women in Kampong Chhnang province care for their babies. He provides them with advice about how to breastfeed, how to keep their infants from contracting malaria, and how to avoid infections. ...

The Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia on Tuesday wrote to local rights group Adhoc accusing its head of monitoring, Ny Chakrya, of flouting legal practice by ordering the NGO’s lawyers to hand over for examination all documents relating to cases they defend. ...

Opponents of the controversial draft law on associations and NGOs (LANGO) hope that the Constitutional Council can succeed where protests and vote boycotts have failed. ...

Authorities in Phnom Penh on Sunday arrested and released six people dressed in prison uniforms and chained together by their legs for protesting outside the National Assembly against a recently approved law that threatens to muzzle NGOs critical of the government ...

Six demonstrators were briefly detained as they protested against the recent passage of a law under which critics say the law will hinder the ability of NGOs to operate in the nation. ...

As hundreds of protesters rallied outside the Senate Friday morning, 44 ruling party senators voiced their support for the controversial NGO law before approving it unanimously and sending it on to the Constitutional Council. ...

Cambodia’s Senate today gave its expected approval to the controversial law on associations and non-governmental organisations (LANGO), amid street protests and a boycott from opposition representatives.All 44 Cambodia People’s Party senators present voted unanimously to endorse the draft legislation, which will next week head to ...

The Senate is scheduled to vote Friday on the controversial Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (LANGO), despite a boycott by the opposition party and heated opposition from civil society.  ...

Hundreds of people gathered in provinces around the country Wednesday to demonstrate against a pending NGO law that opponents fear will be used to muzzle groups that criticize the ruling CPP. ...

Although the number of land disputes across the country decreased in the first six months of the year—largely due to a freeze on the granting of economic land concessions—little has been done to resolve existing disputes, according to a report released Wednesday by rights group ...

Senators from Cambodia’s opposition party will not participate in a debate on controversial legislation passed by the lower house of parliament earlier this month on the regulation of nongovernmental organizations that operate in the developing country, an opposition Senate lawmaker said. ...

The National Assembly may have approved the contentious Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO), but some young people are still urging the government to scrap it. ...

Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Pa Socheatvong yesterday accused civil society organisations of paying land rights demonstrators to protest against a controversial NGO law that recently passed the National Assembly. ...

How should one react when accused in court of defaming a provincial judge and prosecutor? Ny Chakrya just laughs. ...