Civil society

Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeated that he will stand by the draft law on nongovernmental organizations currently under review by parliament, despite continued opposition by some groups which say the legislation would hinder their work in Cambodia. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen and minority leader of the National Assembly Sam Rainsy held talk this morning on the controversy of the draft of law on NGOs, Associations and Unions. ...

Ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) President and Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday appealed to foreign countries not to interfere in his country’s internal affairs over the establishment of the draft laws on Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Associations and on Trade Unions. ...

NGOs brought about 300 people together in front of the National Assembly on Sunday to protest the pending passage of a law that would force all non-government groups and associations in the country to register and file regular reports with the state. Critics of the draft ...

An interministerial committee has been established to once again investigate the assassinations of Free Trade Union leaders Chea Vichea, Hy Vuthy and Ros Sovannareth between 2004 and 2007, according to a government decree obtained Thursday. ...

The director of a Phnom Penh children’s NGO arrested over allegations of abuse was released from police custody on Wednesday due to a lack of evidence, police said yesterday. ...

Three activists from the environmental NGO Mother Nature and a human rights monitor were detained in Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon district for about three hours Thursday after City Hall deemed a planned march to the National Assembly illegal. ...

Three environmentalists and a rights worker were detained yesterday for more than two hours and blocked from delivering a petition to the National Assembly calling on the government to order sand-dredging operations in Koh Kong province to cease. ...

Four children were removed yesterday from Bethel Children’s Home of Cambodia and the centre’s director was arrested in Chhbar Ampov following a complaint alleging child abuse and neglect, including forced labour and sexually inappropriate conduct.​ ...

A group of 300 pro-democracy and rights organizations and their supporters delivered a petition to the National Assembly on Tuesday, calling for lawmakers to reject a draft law to regulate NGOs. ...

Sixteen international human rights groups on Monday urged Cambodia to withdraw a proposed law they fear will muzzle government critics and severely restrict the activities of non-governmental organisations. The law would require Cambodia’s 5,000 domestic and international NGOs to report their activities and finances to the ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy says his party will do its best to prevent the passage of a controversial draft law to regulate NGOs. Chheang Von, a lawmaker for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and the National Assembly’s spokesman, said Sam Rainsy was only making promises ...

More than a dozen international advocacy groups wrote to National Assembly President Heng Samrin asking him to withdraw a controversial draft law on NGOs and associations. ...

Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy told representatives of NGOs today that lawmakers from his party will vote against the controversial draft law on associations and NGOs if it is not amended. ...

Deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha yesterday weighed in on debates over the controversial draft NGO law, calling for its adoption to be postponed. ...

Representatives of pro-democracy and human rights groups met with the National Assembly’s vice president, opposition lawmaker Kem Sokha, on Wednesday, repeating calls that a controversial law to regulate NGOs be tabled. ...

Seventeen NGOs involved in child protection yesterday released a joint statement expressing their “outrage” over the impending release of former Enfants du Cambodge director Philippe Broaly, who was convicted last month of sexually abusing five boys over a period of several years. ...

Despite widespread concern it could curtail pro-democracy and rights work in the country, a bill to regulate NGOs in Cambodia arrived at the National Assembly Tuesday, where it must be debated before its likely passage into law. ...

Outgoing ambassador of the European Union to Cambodia Jean-Francois Cautain on Tuesday welcomed the Cambodian government’s decision to establish a law on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Associations, according to a Cambodian government official. ...

A leaked copy of the contentious draft law on associations and NGOs is fuelling fears among its many critics that its purpose is to stifle criticism of the government by giving it broad powers to shut down both foreign and domestic associations and NGOs. ...

An NGO umbrella group says it has seen a new, leaked copy of a controversial draft law that aims to regulate the country’s hundreds of non-government organizations—and that the latest version marks a significant step backward. ...

Armed Vietnamese soldiers on Monday tried to prevent more than 300 people led by CNRP lawmakers from visiting a disputed border area in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadaw district, a lawmaker and a rights worker said. ...

A new study is advocating a bottom-up approach to the Kingdom’s NGO scene, calling on international donors to alter their support strategies and foster the independence of grassroots initiatives taking off at the local level. The draft report, which was published last week by the Stanford ...

Rights groups want Cambodia’s parliament to hold a consultation with civil society about a controversial draft law on nongovernmental organizations approved Friday by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, which has long demonstrated animosity toward organizations outside of state control. ...