Clarification sought on government’s fraught NGO Law
A request has been sent to the government’s Human Rights Committee and the interior and foreign affairs ministries seeking clarification on the status and whereabouts of a draft law that will govern associations and non-governmental organizations, asking to see the latest version of the law before it is sent to the National Assembly for ratification. Explaining the request, Soeung Saroeun, executive director of the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC), referred to a speech given in Geneva last month by Mak Sambath, deputy chairman of the rights committee, during which he told the U.N. meeting that the legislation had been “approved unanimously” by the Council of Ministers. … In a letter sent to Mr. Sambath, Interior Minister Sar Kheng and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, the CCC referred to a December 24, 2011 speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen, in which he promised to make promulgation of the draft law an inclusive one, with the input of NGOs. “We would like to ask for a meeting…and would like your excellencies to coordinate and please give us the current draft…to study ahead [of its being ratified] and to discuss, comment, and give advice for the Cambodian government,” states the letter, which was co-signed by two other umbrella groups: NGO Forum and Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee said. …
Phorn Bopha and Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/clarification-sought-on-governments-fraught-ngo-law-52238/
