Carta conjunta de ong internacionales sobre LANGO

H.E.Hun Sen

PrimeMinister

RoyalGovernment of Cambodia

PhnomPenh, Cambodia

6July 2015

Re:Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations

DearPrime Minister Hun Sen,

We,the undersigned international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and membershiporganizations call on the government of Cambodia to immediately withdraw thedraft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (LANGO) submittedbefore the National Assembly and apparently scheduled for a vote on 10 July2015. The government has failed to engage in serious and meaningfulconsultations with affected groups or the wider public. At the NationalAssembly, the draft law has been subject only to a pro-forma review by Assembly commissions controlled by the governing Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), continuing to ignore civil society concerns aboutthe unnecessary restrictions it imposes and its potential for arbitraryimplementation against critical groups and individuals. A law affectingfundamental rights should not be given so cursory consideration.

Thislegislation, if adopted, would seriously damage the ability of many domestic andinternational associations and NGOs, as well as community-based advocacy movements,to work effectively in Cambodia. The law would give the Interior, ForeignAffairs and other ministries sweeping, arbitrary powers to shut down existingdomestic and foreign membership groups and staffed organizations, uncheckedthrough judicial review, and to prohibit the creation of new ones, while criminalizingactivities by non-registered groups.

Furthermore,the restrictions on the right to association contained in LANGO go beyond thepermissible limitations allowed by international human rights law and areunnecessary for any legitimate purpose. Legislation already in force in Cambodiais fully sufficient to appropriately regulate the activities of NGOs and otherassociations and to allow prosecution where criminal acts have been committed.

Recentevents and the manner in which the LANGO is now being rushed through theNational Assembly on an expedited schedule have heightened our concern that thealmost certain consequence will be to impose new draconian and impermissiblyexcessive restrictions on the exercise of the rights to freedom of peacefulassembly, association, expression and opinion –rights safeguarded under theConstitution of Cambodia and the International Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights (ICCPR), to which Cambodia is a party.

In a22 June 2015 letter to the National Assembly, we have detailed our concerns aboutthe key departures from international human rights standards in the draft LANGOtext presented to the Council of Ministers on 5 June and about the government’s failure to meaningfully consult with civil society about its provisions.We greatly regret that this same text, with only a few fairly inconsequentialchanges, was forwarded to the National Assembly.

Initially,a CPP member of the National Assembly was reported as saying there would be aparliamentary consultation with civil society on the draft in early August. TheCPP then announced such a consultation would happen on 10 July. It has sincebeen re-scheduled again, with the CPP saying the consultation will happen on 8July, and announcing at the same time that the National Assembly would meet inan extraordinary session to consider the law on 10 July, on which date it seemsvery likely that LANGO will be adopted.

Thisacceleration of the legislative schedule comes after security forces attempted tosuppress peaceful civil society protests against the draft law on 28, 29 and 30June, such as preventing the launching of balloons to symbolize this oppositionand obstructing peaceful marches. The concerted efforts of the authorities to frustratepeaceful opposition to the draft law has been accompanied by threats fromnational and local government officials to use the LANGO to curtail human rightsmonitoring activities once the law is in place. International groups consideringestablishing themselves in Cambodia are also being deterred from doing so by the prospect of the law’s implementation.

Webelieve the two-and-a-quarter hour parliamentary “consultation” consisting of question and answer sessions forcivil society and others now scheduled for 8 July is not intended to be agenuine consultation and offers little prospect of bringing the law intocompliance with international human rights standards, including those in Cambodia’s Constitution, the ICCPR and the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility ofIndividuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect UniversallyRecognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Human Rights DefendersDeclaration). As described by CPP parliamentary spokesperson Chheang Vun, theevent appears to be little more than an opportunity for the government toreiterate its insistence on passage of the draft as is, and to make groups who oppose the law “understand” the need for it.

Moreover,the advance scheduling of the National Assembly session on 10 July leaveslittle doubt as to the government's intent to go through LANGO without substantialchanges. In any case, the failure of the government to effectively consult onthe LANGO draft with relevant stakeholders throughout the process has led to aninherently flawed draft contrary to international law.

Ifthe government of Cambodia is truly serious about the protection and promotionof human rights, it should stop rushing down this precipitous path to the adoptionof this unnecessary and non-human rights-respecting legislation now before theNational Assembly. It should instead embark upon a path of general legal reformto guarantee in practice the rights of which Cambodians are currently beingdenied and have been denied for much too long.

Signed:

ActionAid

AmnestyInternational

ARTICLE19

ASEANParliamentarians for Human Rights

AsiaDemocracy Network (ADN)

AsianForum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

AsianHuman Rights Commission

Asian

Networkfor Free Elections (ANFREL)

AsiaPacific Forum on Women, Law and Development

ChabDai

CivilRights Defenders

DanChurch Aid / Christian Aid

Danmission

Diakonia

ForumSyd

Forumon Democracy and Election (ForDE)

GlobalInitiative for Economic,

Socialand Culture Rights

GlobalWitness

HeinrichBöll Stiftung

HumanRights Watch

HumanRights Now

IFEX

InternationalAccountability Project

InternationalCommission of Jurists

InternationalService for Human Rights

Investingin Children and their Societies (ICS)

Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada

LICADHOCanada

Knightsfor Peace

OTWatch

Peoplein Need

People’s Empower Foundation