Donor governments asked to review Cambodia aid if NGO law is passed

Donor governments asked to review Cambodia aid if NGO law is passed

Cambodia's PM Hun Sen is under fire from human rights groups over a proposed law requiring NGOs and associations to register. Photograph: Rolex Dela Pena/EPA

Human rights groups call on UK, US and Australia to apply pressure on Cambodia if severely restrictive draft law is adopted

Friday 26 August 2011

Mark Tran

guardian.co.uk

"The lesson is when push comes to shove, when development partners threaten to take action, that kind of thing makes the Cambodian government sit up and take notice"

Human rights organisations are calling on donor governments to reassess their aid programmes to Cambodia if the country passes a law that can be used to muzzle local and foreign NGOs.

Ten groups have written to William Hague, the foreign secretary, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and Australia's foreign minister Kevin Rudd, sounding the alarm on a draft law now before Cambodia's council of ministers.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), Global Witness and others say the draft law, if passed in its present form, threatens to severely restrict civil society's right to freedom of association and expression.

"As such, the law will limit the ability of Cambodia's development partners to ensure that programmes reach their intended grass-roots beneficiaries," the letter says.