Whistleblower protection law discussed in Cambodia

By Lauren Crothers

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia

A controversial legal clause that can see those who expose corruption in Cambodia jailed could finally be made redundant under a new law being discussed between anti-corruption officials and lawmakers.

Transparency International (TI) Cambodia announced in a statement Thursday that the government’s Anti-Corruption Unit had agreed to enter negotiations with a parliamentary anti-corruption commission to draft a law specifically designed to protect such whistleblowers.

"Once adopted, the legal framework could make people feel safer to report corruption and would therefore make anti-corruption efforts more effective," said TI Executive Director Kol Preap.

Under the 2010 Anti-Corruption Law, authorities can jail whistleblowers for up to six months if the unit is unable to unearth evidence to back up claims made in their tip-offs.

A spokesman for the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party told The Anadolu Agency on Thursday that the law, as it stands, “discourages people from getting involved in curbing corruption."

"We have to eliminate this article, then we can let witnesses give information with no jail term or criminal punishment,” Yim Sovann said. 

He added that the country’s anti-corruption set-up has further flaws that need to be addressed.

“One is the independence of the body itself—you can see the chairman [Om Yentieng] is a very close advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen, and some other people in the ACU body are former CPP members, so there is a conflict of interest,” he said.

“Secondly, if we are talking about asset declarations, they should be public, like Thailand and other countries,” he added.

Cambodia is consistently ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. TI’s 2013 corruption perceptions index put it 160th out of 177 countries. The next index will be released Dec. 3.

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