Civil society

The interim representative of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia met yesterday with the head of the Cambodian government’s rights body, voicing concerns about the threatened closure of a prominent outspoken local NGO. ...

The Ministry of Interior yesterday confirmed that certain civil society organisations and their members are being “monitored” following accusations, levelled during the Supreme Court hearing on the dissolution of the opposition party on Thursday, that they participated in a purported “revolution”. ...

More than a month after the announcement of its ostensibly 30-day suspension, land rights organisation Equitable Cambodia remains stuck in limbo, with the Ministry of Interior saying the NGO must wait for the ministry’s approval to reopen. ...

Twenty-two NGOs released a joint statement yesterday demanding the release of two activists detained by Koh Kong Provincial Court after recording a video of sand dredging. ...

Thousands of organisations have failed to meet the deadline for filing their financial reports under the controversial Law on Associations and NGOs (Lango), according to a ministry official. ...

A student group was suspended by the Ministry of Interior yesterday for a series of violations of the Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organisations (Lango), including the highly controversial Article 24, which requires organisations to remain “politically neutral”. ...

Defence Minister General Tea Banh yesterday told Asean member states and eight other countries how the recent government crackdown on media outlets and NGOs was legal and justified. ...

Jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha, exiled former opposition leader Sam Rainsy and more than 50 human rights NGOs called on France and Indonesia to reconvene the signatories to the Paris Peace Accords yesterday amid fears that the historic treaty is in danger of being “completely ...

A senior Defence Ministry official said yesterday that the United States had provided financial assistance to its own organisations and to NGOs to carry out anti-Cambodian government activities. ...

A senior Ministry of Defence official yesterday claimed that housing rights group Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) had received close to half a million dollars a year from the United States to foment “colour revolution” among the land dispute groups it worked with – a claim ...

The Interior Ministry has instructed provincial officials to urgently report any instances in which activities are carried out by any NGOs or grassroots associations without prior notification, adding that authorities can stop any planned events if they affect “public order and national security”. ...

Around six people were arrested outside the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh yesterday for attempting to stage a small protest, but were released later in the afternoon after agreeing to not demonstrate again without a City Hall permit. ...

States, United Nations officials and civil society representatives continued to heap criticism on Cambodia’s approach to civil and political rights at the UN Human Rights Council yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Interior yesterday ordered the temporary suspension of land rights NGO Equitable Cambodia for allegedly violating its own by-laws and the controversial law regulating NGOs passed in 2015. ...

The UN’s special rapporteur on Cambodia yesterday slammed the Kingdom’s government at the 36th session of the UN Human Rights Council, going so far as to express doubt as to whether next year’s crucial elections will be free and fair. ...

The floodgates of the largest and most controversial dam project in the country’s history officially closed yesterday at an inauguration ceremony presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who took aim at environmentalists, ambassadors and NGOs in a wide-ranging speech. ...

The Interior Ministry on Friday announced it had stricken critical environmental NGO Mother Nature from its registry, effective immediately, with the group saying it had requested the move and would continue to investigate sand dredging and export violations in the country’s southwest despite the de-registration. ...

Former opposition leader Sam Rainsy announced yesterday that he plans to create a France-based NGO called the Association for Democracy in Cambodia, though he declined to give a detailed account of the structure and goals of the organisation. ...

Following protests against land rights NGO Equitable Cambodia (EC) on Friday, several villagers in affected communities in Kampong Speu’s Oral district voiced concern yesterday that the protests might have been staged by the company that the communities stand in conflict with. ...

International condemnation for the government’s continued clampdown on NGOs and independent media organisations continued to flow in over the weekend, with Human Rights Watch (HRW) calling it an “escalating campaign of politically-motivated harassment, intimidation, and legal action”. ...

The US State Department has expressed deep concern over Cambodia’s spiralling democratic climate following the government’s diktat to shutter the USAID-funded National Democratic Institute (NDI), ostensibly for violating the highly contentious NGO Law. ...

The Cambodian Foreign Ministry yesterday announced that it was halting the operations of the US State Department-funded National Democratic Institute (NDI) and expelling all its foreign staff from the Kingdom in the next week – a move that prompted the US Embassy to fire back ...

A project to increase the number of wild tigers in the northeastern part of Cambodia was put forward to the Cambodian government by a group of NGOs yesterday. ...

Prominent NGOs yesterday said they are trying to comply with the new law on organisations and will meet the Interior Ministry’s deadline to submit reports by the end of September. ...