Rights groups lobby foreign powers over draft Cambodian NGO law

Radio Australia
August 29, 2011

A group of ten major international rights groups have asked the American, British and Australian governments, among others, to consider cutting aid to Cambodia if a law's passed covering non-government organisations.

The third draft of the law is currently before the Council of Ministers, who will decide whether to send it to the National Assembly for final adoption.

The Cambodian Government says the new rules are needed to control the many non-government organisations or NGOs that operate in the country.

Presenter:Liam Cochrane
Speaker: Phil Robertson, Deputy Director of the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch.

ROBERTSON: Well, we're seeing that the law users of a tried and true Cambodian government method pass a law that restricts core rights, in this case, the right to freedom of association and set out a vague criteria to making decisions so the government official power will have absolute power to make arbitrary decisions, so this is going to allow them essentially shut down NGOs that they don't like, ones that raise unpleasant truths, expose corruption or take the side of villages in cases where the government may be doing something wrong like seizing land.

COCHRANE: It's still a draft law being considered by the Cambodian government. You're saying that there is a potential for this, but have there been any indications that this is the way that the law might be used?

ROBERTSON: Well, there have been already. We can already see in the case of an NGO that has been active, involved with projects of Ausaid funded project supported by ADB that railroad rehabilitation project, a small Cambodian NGO that has been working with the communities that have been forcibly resettled from those areas and when they raised concerns about systematic under estimating the compensation to the people being moved, they have been accused of incitement and have been suspended. It's unclear actually even what legal provision the government used to suspend them, but it has sent a chilling affect through the NGO community and we're seeing that as a clear harbinger of the way that the government will use the law if it gets this through the National Assembly.

COCHRANE: Now some other countries have an NGO law. I believe that France is one of them. Shouldn't a country be able to regulate its not for profit sector as it wishes?

ROBERTSON: Well, we think that governments do have a right to regulate the NGO sector. They just should not do it by systematically undermining human rights. Cambodia has an obligation to protect freedom of association and in fact Cambodia has a civil code that is going to be going into effect in November this year, which will provide the power to regulate the non profit sector in a voluntary way, providing incentives for people to register, but not this sort of draconian law that will allow the government to undertake arbitrary decisions to shut down NGOs.

COCHRANE: Now you and others have asked for Western donor countries to consider reviewing their aid to Cambodia if this law is passed. Recently, the Cambodian government announced that it was cancelling what were annual meetings between it and donors where issues were discussed and at times the government was criticised for not getting on with the job essentially. Do you think that foreign and particularly Western donors still have the power to make much of a difference in Cambodia?

ROBERTSON: I think they have a tremendous power to make a difference. Well over 50 per cent of the Cambodian government budget comes from foreign assistance, so we think that the Western donors and the donors who have set out clear conditions related to human rights now are obligated to act for these NGOs who have been taking human rights approach to development. It's really five minutes before midnight. Those who are willing to challenge the government when it does something wrong or when a government minister or is cronies do something like seizing land. These NGOs are going to be the edge of a cliff if this law passes and so we're calling on bilateral and multi-lateral donors to make it clear that if this law passes, that they will reconsider their bilateral assistance to Cambodia. We think they should seriously start reassessing whether the rights abusing government like this one that persecutes civil society watchdogs their best development partner.

COCHRANE: You've written to Australia's Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, US Secretary-of-State, Hilary Clinton and others of similar positions. Has there been any response yet?

ROBERTSON: Not yet. The letter actually went out earlier this past week, so we're expecting that we'll probably be getting a response, the first responses back in the next week or two. And of course we're engaging with people on this as well and advocating and lobbying with them.