The under-signed associations and non-governmental
organizations, which are actively operating in Cambodia, express serious
concern about the challenges of the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental
Organizations (LANGO), which hinder the freedom to implement their activities.
The law is understood as imposing obligations and abusing individual autonomy. We
perceive that the law set the obligations which violent entity autonomy of associations
and non-governmental organizations since it requires them to submit reports to
the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and to comply with complicated
taxation procedures. The wording of the Law also enables state officials to
interpret provisions based on a political situation and circumstances in a manner,
which can cause confusion and implementation not reflective of the contents of
the Law.
These obligations and
abuses of individual autonomy violate the existing Civil Code and international
conventions on human rights, which Cambodia has ratified.
After experiencing
these effects and challenges, CSOs, including associations and non-governmental
organizations have undertaken a thorough study and discussion of each article
and have already submitted their recommendations on proposed amendments to the
Ministry of Interior. So far, representatives of civil society organization groups
have submitted proposed amendments to 14 articles including articles 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 20, 24, 25,
26, 30, 31, 32 and Article 35. It is also noted that CSOs have submitted their
joint proposed amendment in the second meeting with MOI on 03 December 2019.
Consequently, there is no contrasting proposed amendment submitted to MOI.
The associations and non-governmental
organizations strongly urge the governmental working group on LANGO amendments
to take the following steps:
- Creation of a roadmap indicating specific timelines for the process of amending the LANGO.
- Accept concerns of CSOs, including associations and non-governmental organizations, and speed up the amendment process to ensure CSOs’ freedom and rights in the process of national development.
- Establish separate meetings and discussions with various groups that have submitted proposed amendments to the LANGO.
For
further information:
1.
Mr. YONG Kim Eng, PDP-Center President, 016 828 211
2.
Mr. Soeng Sen Karuna, Spoke person of ADHOC, 086 324 666
3. Mr. KORN Savang, Monitoring and Advocacy Coordinator, 011 884 840
Here are the associations and organizations endorsed
this statement:
1. Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL)
2. Cambodian Human Right and Development Association (ADHOC)
3. People Center for Development and Peace (PDP-CENTER)
4. Youth Resource Development Program (YRDP)
5. Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (សង់ត្រាល់-Central)
6. Cambodian Food and Service Workers’ Federation
(CFSWF)
7. Cambodian
Center for Independent Media (CCIM)
8. Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC-Association)
9. Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association
(IDEA)
10. Cambodian Human Rights Action Coalition (CHRAC)
11. Affiliated
Network for Social Accountability-Cambodia (ANSA)
12. Khmer
Kampuchea Krom for Human Rights and Development Association (KKKHRDA)
13. Cambodian
Volunteers for Society (CVS)
14. Khmer Youth
Association (KYA)
15. Coalition for
Integrity and Social Accountability (CISA)
16. Youth
Coalition for Unity and Development (YCUD)
17. Alliance for
Conflict Transformation (ACT)
18. Coalition of
Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU)
19. Peace Bridges
Organization (PBO)
20. Transparency
International Cambodia (TIC)
21. Cambodian
Alliance of Trade Union (CATU)
22. Neutral and
Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC)
23. Sahmakum
Teang Tnaut (STT)
24. Cambodian's
Independent Civil-Servants Association (CICA)
25. Cambodian
Institute for Democracy (CID)
26. Cambodian
Grassroots Cross-sector Network (CGCN)
27. Youth Council of Cambodia (YCC)
28. Cambodian Youth Network (CYN)