Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

Human rights defenders find it difficult to function with a fair and functioning legal regime for the creation and administration of associations (NGOs). In my post of yesterday on Russia I drew attention to the draft law declaring some NGOs ‘undesirable”. Today Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Kyrgyz lawmakers in the coming days not to follow Russia’s bad example of passing a Foreign Agents law [see also my earlier: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/kyrgyzstan-follows-bad-example-set-by-russia-foreign-agents/].

And also today Front Line and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint OMCT-FIDH programme) ask the Cambodian Government to withdraw its draft law on civil society which would create many uncertainties and restrictions. The NGOs trace the lack of consultation in the process of law- making (since 2010) and conclude that the draft law as it stands will be used arbitrarily to restrict the legitimate work of human rights organisations.

The text of the Open Letter by the Observatory can be viewed at:  Open Letter – Cambodia : Draft law on civil society.

https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/russia-human-rights-ngos-likely-to-become-officially-undesirable/

This entry was posted on May 21, 2015 at 22:15 and is filed under FIDH, Front Line, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, OMCT.

Tags: Cambodia, Civil society, draft law, enabling environment, foreign agent law, freedom of association, Front Line (NGO), HRW, Human Rights Defenders, Kyrgyzstan, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Russia