Civil society policy and regulation

The Ministry of Interior has issued a first warning to associations and NGOs that failed to submit the requisite reports to the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Finance before the deadline on September 30. According to a press release issued on Monday, only 648 ...

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”. ...

Security forces on Thursday blocked two mothers and a wife of jailed activists from the environmental group Mother Nature from walking to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house to protest their family members’ imprisonment, before a representative of the premier’s cabinet chastised them for using the ...

With the draft union law due to be debated during a public forum on Wednesday, a group of 21 unions and NGOs released a statement yesterday calling on the National Assembly to allow more time to discuss the legislation before it is passed.  ...

Cambodians were optimistic about the economic and political future of the Kingdom, according to a national survey on citizen’s perceptions released on Wednesday by the Asia Foundation, although observers yesterday questioned whether that optimism remains in light of the government’s recent crackdown on the opposition. ...

Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Pa Socheatvong yesterday lashed out at civil society groups he blamed for instigating protests aimed at destabilising the government. ...

International rights groups issued an “urgent appeal” this week for the release of three environmental activists in Koh Kong province imprisoned in August over their anti-sand dredging activities. ...

Legal restrictions on funding for civil-society – like Cambodia’s much-maligned NGO Law – are on the rise globally, a report by the Carnegie International Endowment for Peace has warned, putting international donors in the position of having to adapt to a backlash against democracy promotion. ...

Civil society organizations yesterday expressed concern about the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations last month, which they said would be hard to achieve under the new Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO).   ​ ...

The child sex abuse trial of orphanage director and former head of child protection NGO APLE, Hang Vibol, began at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday, with the defendant reportedly testifying that the accusations against him were an attempt at revenge by aggrieved former colleagues. ...

The Interior Ministry has reiterated its claims that a new law requiring NGOs and associations to register with the government does not apply to small community-based groups, despite recent efforts by police to apply the legislation to a group of families in Kratie province. ...

More than 30 non-government groups have recently applied to register with the state or asked for changes to their current registration records, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry that hailed the requests as broad endorsement of Cambodia’s highly controversial new NGO law. ...

Human rights groups say the Foreign Affairs Minister was wrong to demand the incoming representative of Unicef not comment on controversial legislation to govern NGOs. In a statement Tuesday, the civil society groups said Minister Hor Namhong’s demands constitute a narrowing of democratic ideals. ...

Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong on Monday told Unicef’s new country representative to focus on helping street children and refrain from criticizing a controversial new law regulating the country’s NGOs and associations, an official said Monday. ...

When Sam Samnang’s son decided to join the ranks of environmental NGO Mother Nature, she knew he was in for trouble. ...

King Norodom Sihamoni signed the NGO law on Wednesday, according to a government official, bringing into effect a piece of legislation that has been internationally rebuked as a serious threat to free speech and association. ...

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 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. ...

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. ...

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 ...

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. ...

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.  ...

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. ...