CAMBODIA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PASSES LAW PROTECTING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 000376 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, P, D, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV SOCI EAID PHUM PREL CB SUBJECT: CAMBODIA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PASSES LAW PROTECTING DISABLED PERSONS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On May 29, the National Assembly (NA) passed the first law on protecting the rights of disabled persons in Cambodia. In a country that still deals with yearly casualties from unexploded land mines and other ordinance, the legislation is an important step forward for many disabled persons. Twenty-two opposition lawmakers boycotted the final NA vote when, by voice vote, the CPP majority blocked consideration of a list of amendments on the floor. Sources close to the legislative drafting process call it a good law that could have been better with more outside consultation, and expressed disappointment that NA's Commission on Health, Social Affairs, Labor, and Women's Affairs (Commission Eight) chose not to hold public hearings on the law before the vote. Others noted the opposition interest in the draft was relatively recent. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) After more than 10 years of work, Cambodia's National Assembly passed its Law on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons With Disabilities on May 29, the first of its kind in Cambodia. The country now joins the ranks of neighbors Thailand and Malaysia that have such legislation. The new law, once implemented, will bring Cambodia into compliance as a signatory of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which it signed October 1, 2007. -------------- It's Good That There's a Law -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Civil society stakeholders welcomed the law's passage. Although it must still pass a Senate review and be approved by the King, Susan Cowley, a Senior Parliamentary Advisor with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Legislative Assistance Project said that the National Assembly approval is the biggest hurdle, since the Senate and Palace rarely send legislation back. She stated that "the most important thing is that the law now exists." The Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Center operated by Veterans International (VI),Josefina McAndrew, said her organization, and the NGO sector in general, are very happy o have the law. And Ngin Saroath, Executive Director of the Cambodian Disabled Peoples Organization (CDPO),called the law "a great opportunity," and "a tool that CDPO can use to monitor the government's compliance going forward." -------------- The Law Could Be Better -------------- ¶4. (SBU) UNDP's Cowley, who advises the National Assembly on legislative processes in an effort to promote democratic principles, expressed disappointment at the lack of a consultative process in drafting and passing the new legislation and said the law would have been better for it. She said the staff of UNDP's Legislative Assistance Project encouraged Commission Eight to seek civil society input during the drafting process, and to hold public hearings on the draft law before the vote. UNDP offered financial support for public hearings, but Commission Eight declined, citing time constraints. ¶5. (SBU) The two contacts from NGOs serving disabled persons also indicated that the law is only a first step in the process. VI's McAndrew said the law is not perfect, but that the real challenge will emerge in the implementation process. In Cambodia, laws are generally broad, and then refined through both an implementing decree via the Council of Ministers and any Sub-Decrees that may be passed. CDPO's Ngin said the law does not cover everything they hoped, but he expects at least 6 Sub-Decrees from the government to support the law's goals, and he hoped those Sub-Decrees would also make the law more comprehensive over time. ¶6. (SBU) A group of twenty-two opposition Parliamentarians, including 19 members from the Sam Rainsy Party and all three members from the Human Rights Party, boycotted the vote on May 29. Led by Mu Sochua, the opposition members stated that while they supported the goals of the law, the version that passed did not do enough to prevent violence against persons with disabilities or contain enough protections for women and children with disabilities. According to UNDP's Cowley, the opposition consulted with an American expert on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from Georgetown University to prepare a list of approximately 40 amendments to the draft law. The amendments concentrated on PHNOM PENH 00000376 002 OF 003 explicitly stating protections for disabled women and children, guaranteeing a disabled person's right to own land and access decent housing, and would have brought the new law closer to the U.S.'s Americans with Disabilities Act. The opposition members first tried to submit their amendments during an early plenary session on the law, but were told that was the inappropriate venue. They then tried to submit the recommendations to Commission Eight through Chairwoman Ho Naun, but Commission Eight declined to accept the amendments. Mu has said she will send the amendments to the Senate and the King for consideration (the next steps before final passage of the law). ¶7. (SBU) CDPO's Ngin said he understood the majority of the lawmakers not wanting to accept the amendments because drafting the law has been more than 10 years in the making, but the opposition did not express any interest in the process until the last two or three months. -------------- Cambodia's First Disability Rights Law -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Cambodia's Law on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons With Disabilities defines a disabled person as one who "suffers the lack, loss or damage or any organ or morale...that limits the capacity to perform essential activities of daily life," and specifically includes mental illness among examples of disability. It prohibits discrimination, neglect, exploitation, or abandonment of persons with disabilities. ¶9. (SBU) The new law acknowledges the link between disability and extreme poverty in the Kingdom, and contains provisions to improve the livelihoods of persons with disabilities, including health care and rehabilitation support, guaranteed access to education, and creation of special education programs. It mandates accessibility of public places and requires employers to consider disabled persons for jobs for which they are otherwise qualified. It forms committees to acknowledge and promote the contributions of disabled persons to society, and contains provisions to encourage businesses wholly- or partly-owned by disabled persons. ¶10. (SBU) Ngin Saroath said his organization, CDPO, was the most active participant in the more than decade-long process of drafting the law. He said the discussion of the law began in 1996 within the civil society community in Cambodia, and that several NGOs participated in the initial drafting effort. The NGOs sought international expertise in preparing their draft, particularly from Japan, which sent an expert to help with the process. The NGOs examined the disability laws from the U.S., Japan, and a few other Western countries, and drew upon the system of state support in South Korea. CDPO presented a draft law to the Ministry Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation (MOSAVY) in 2003, and the initial draft contained more than 80 Articles, including several that provided for welfare-style payments to disabled persons. According to Ngin, MOSAVY accepted the draft, but said that the responsibility for drafting such a law fell to the Ministry, and not NGOs. The law passed on May 29 contains 60 Articles, and reflects most of the concerns raised in the original draft. However, there are no provisions for state payments to disabled people. ¶11. (SBU) Mr. Ngin said it's difficult to compare Cambodia's new law with other countries' laws, because each country has its own set of challenges in this area. He said the best laws are probably in Japan and Singapore, but noted that these highly-developed countries do not face the same problems as Cambodia. In the developing world, he noted that Thailand and Malaysia have adequate laws, but both have problems with enforcement, and he said disabled persons in both countries still face extreme discrimination. Vietnam and Laos are both still drafting disability rights laws. He pointed out that South Korea does not have an explicit law protecting the rights of disabled people, but has an excellent system of support for disabled individuals, including state support payments, which most other countries do not have. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶12. (SBU) The Department's annual Report on Human Rights addresses discrimination and societal abuses against certain PHNOM PENH 00000376 003 OF 003 classes of people. In the case of disabled persons in Cambodia, the primary concerns in the past have been the absence of legislation protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, general discrimination (particularly for skilled workers' employment),and lack of government support for physical accessibility for disabled persons. Direct funding for initiatives to help disabled persons has also been a concern, since nearly all such support has been provided by NGOs. The new law contains provisions that address each of these concerns. As with many laws in Cambodia, implementation measures and enforcement will be the true test of the government's commitment to this issue. RODLEY