NGOs question democracy

Photo by: David Boyle
President of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, Ou Virak, discusses democratic principles of government during an interview earlier this year.

via CAAI

Tuesday, 14 September 2010 19:17 Cameron Wells

A coalition of 16 human rights NGOs has released a report that accuses the Cambodian Peoples party of stifling freedom of expression and restraining democracy and urges the international community to act on what it deems a deterioration of rights in the Kingdom.

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, who commissioned the report, read a statement to reporters on Tuesday expressing fears that Cambodia was at risk of becoming a “de-facto one party state”.

“With the continued use of intimidation, harassment, threats, and spurious legal charges to silence dissenting voices and criticism of government policies, we fear that the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) is moving away from the democratic principles enshrined in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia to a defacto one-party state; a closed society in which laws, systems and actions of the ruling party prevent free opinion and criticism,” he said.

The report, titled “Cambodia Gagged: Democracy at Risk?” accuses the government of using the courts to silence anti-governmental comment relating to land grabbing, corruption and territorial disputes.

But senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said yesterday that while he had not seen the report, it lacked balance and was biased against the government.

“I think NGO’s have exercised their rights and freedom of expression with this report, but the ruling party cannot accept the criticisms leveled at it,” he said. “It is not fair to the government.”...read the full story in tomorrow’s Phnom Penh Post or see the updated story online from 3PM UTC/GMT +7 hours.