Cambodia: 68 CSOs call on the govt. to discard draft Law on Public Order aiming to excessively restrict fundamental freedoms and human rights
Autor/in: Narim Khuon, CamboJa, Veröffentlicht am: 16 August 2020
"Civil society groups call for draft Public Order Law to be scrapped", 14 August 2020
Civil society groups … called on the government to immediately discard the draft Law on Public Order, saying that it will lead to a crackdown on fundamental freedoms in the country as it grants overbroad powers to the government, allowing it to undermine human rights.
A statement signed by 65 local and international civil society organizations including Adhoc, Amnesty International, Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), Licadho, called on the government to scrap the draft and uphold its obligations to international human rights law.
“The draft law contains an extensive array of provisions that effectively criminalize the legitimate everyday activities of many within the Kingdom of Cambodia, in violation of their rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and other protected human rights,” the statement says…
Interior Ministry Secretary of State Ouk Kimlek, who has led the creation of the draft law, said … that the ministry welcomes input from civil society groups, but that the legislation cannot be scrapped…
Am Sam Ath, deputy director at rights group Licadho, also called for the draft law to be thrown out, saying that it has affected the fundamental freedoms of citizens, especially women.
… “There is no law to ban activities such as cycling, so if the draft law on Public Order is approved, then they will be able to ban it based on the law.”
Chak Sopheap, executive director at CCHR said … that the draft law is a severe violation of human rights and freedoms, including in Article 36, which bans women from wearing clothing that is “too short” or “too see-through”…