Civil society

Prime Minister Hun Sen has decided not to shut down a Christian anti-trafficking charity after its founder issued a “heartfelt apology” yesterday. The apology from Agape International Missions (AIM) CEO Don Brewster is the first public comment he has made since the social media fracas sparked ...

The U.N.’s human rights envoy to Cambodia condemned the government’s recent violent rhetoric, court action against politicians and attacks against NGOs that have ramped up ahead of a key national election next year, arguing that the country appeared to be “approaching a precipice.” ...

The Ministry of Environment has disputed an environmental NGO report that large-scale illegal logging continues unabated, with large quantities of timber being transported to Vietnam. ...

Leaked materials from the United States-funded NGO National Democratic Institute (NDI) have been portrayed on Facebook and in local media as being part of an “ill intended” strategy to help the opposition party win next year’s national election, with government officials yesterday publicly questioning the ...

An Economy and Finance Ministry spokesman denied any political motive for investigating NGOs and media outlets over tax payments on Tuesday, saying private enterprises were also under scrutiny. ...

At least three local NGOs have been called for questioning by the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s Taxation Department to clarify their tax payments, amid an aggressive tax collection campaign that has recently gone after media outlets the Cambodia Daily, Voice of America and Radio ...

Only 200 of some 5,000 domestic NGOs have submitted required banking details to the Interior Ministry, its spokesman said on Monday, as the government steps up enforcement of tax requirements on organizations that may have racked up huge unpaid bills. ...

Government-aligned media outlet Fresh News has published a leaked letter from the Taxation Department to the Cambodia Daily claiming that it owes $6.3 million in back taxes, a disclosure accompanied by scathing anonymous “letters” attacking the English-language newspaper and prominent NGOs. ...

NGOs in Cambodia and Malaysia are working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to repatriate six of the 30 Cambodians who sought shelter at the country’s embassy after the Malaysian government started mass arrests of undocumented migrant workers on July 1. ...

Though they live in orphanages, an estimated 13,000 children in facilities across Cambodia have at least one living parent. As part of a sea change in government policy in a country with a checkered history with orphanages, officials in Battambang province on Tuesday kicked off ...

Two key members of the election monitoring group dubbed the Situation Room are seeking a meeting with Interior Minister Sar Kheng to discuss a recent government order that would bar the NGO consortium from continuing its work for next year’s general election. ...

NGOs huddled yesterday to make sense of a letter from the Interior Ministry asking them to comply with controversial provisions of the Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO), with some considering requesting further clarification or an extension of a September deadline for compliance. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng took aim at civil society on Tuesday night, warning NGOs to comply with the law or face legal action, at the same time the ministry ordered the ad hoc election monitoring group the Situation Room to cease any future monitoring activities. ...

A series of letters issued by the Ministry of Interior on Tuesday night – one chastising two election monitors, and another offering a blanket warning to NGOs – have again raised the spectre of the Kingdom’s controversial and widely criticised Law on Associations and NGOs ...

Australians facilitating tours and volunteer programs at orphanages in foreign countries such as Cambodia may eventually face criminal charges if a recently opened inquiry in Australia results in legislation.   ...

The National Election Committee will hold a meeting with political parties and civil society organisations next month to discuss the high number of invalid ballots in the commune elections. Of more than 7 million ballots cast, 133,484 were deemed invalid. ...

More than a month after confirming its investigation into new reports of rampant timber trafficking between Cambodia and Vietnam, the Environment Ministry remains tight-lipped about what—if any—progress it is making, but says the U.K. NGO that exposed the scale of the problem is itself being ...

Transparency International (TI) Cambodia yesterday said that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party appeard to have won 49.4 percent of the nationwide popular vote on June 4 based on the stations it monitored, nearly six percentage points ahead of the CNRP’s 43.2 percent. ...

An NGO coalition launched a program to collaborate more closely with the government on Wednesday, a week after an Interior Ministry spokesman admitted to threatening several organizations in order to “scare” them ahead of commune elections. CCC executive director Soeung Saran said the problems between ...

As the National Election Committee launched into the recount process for contested communes yesterday, an election watchdog coalition announced it had found that 95 percent of a sample of polling stations’ vote count forms from the election body matched those compiled by the group itself. ...

An environmental activist branded an “anarchist” by a government spokesman said he fled to the U.N. human rights office in Phnom Penh on Monday after police harassed him for becoming involved in a dispute between sand dredgers and villagers in Kandal province. ...

Asian election monitor Anfrel yesterday commended authorities, citizens and political parties for Sunday’s smooth commune elections, but stopped short of calling the ballot “free and fair”, raising concerns over the heightened political rhetoric in the run-up to June 4. ...

Amnesty International today accused the ruling CPP of using its grip on the judiciary to systematically harass and intimidate civil society and urged the government to drop cases against opposition activists and human rights defenders. ...

Police in Svay Rieng province on Saturday shut down a training session for 16 observers registered to monitor this Sunday’s commune elections, saying it had not been sanctioned by authorities, according to an organizer. ...