Three national audit officers appeared at The Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL) office on Monday morning to conduct a planned audit amid calls by international associations to the government to cancel the exercise.

CENTRAL program manager Khun Tharo said during the audit, a three-hour discussion was conducted in accordance with the technical work requested by the Ministry of Interior and relevant laws, as stated in a letter by the National Audit Authority.

“Processes and procedures are implemented in accordance with the principles of audit. The CENTRAL team will cooperate professionally and ethically to ensure transparency and accountability,” Tharo added.

The audit was being conducted at the request of the ministry after they notified CENTRAL to provide information on all their Cambodian bank accounts within 30 days from June 28.

On July 12, members of the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) and the Fair Labor Association (FLA) jointly urged Cambodia in the “strongest possible terms” to immediately cancel the audit.

“The timing of the audit so close after CENTRAL’s recent report makes it appear that the sole purpose of the audit is to retaliate against CENTRAL”.

It also asked the government to refrain from taking any measures that “could be, and will be, perceived as intimidation and harassment of this NGO or any other NGO”.

“With the name ‘Cambodia’ increasingly printed on our member brands’ products, your actions immediately impact our member brands’ values, reputations, and legal obligations,” they said.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Touch Sokhak said the National Audit Authority worked in accordance with the law, adding that “if there were no irregularities, they would not have requested the audit”.

“We follow the law, not intimidation. Cambodia is a sovereign state, an independent state. The pressure from international organizations and foreign actors was to undermine the sovereignty of a nation that is a member of the United Nations,” he remarked.

Sokhak said external orders on Cambodia’s internal affairs were “illegal” under international laws, suggesting that foreign organizations review Cambodian and international law.

On June 27, 2024, Cambodia Workers’ Rights Protection Union Confederation (CWPUC) accused Tharo of public defamation and incitement to discrimination, and demanded a compensation of 100 million riel (approximately $24,000).

In an interview with RFA on June 15, 2024, Tharo was alleged to have said, “use fake unions to attack independent unions and use fake youth or civil society to attack youth and independent civil society”.

Tharo said he was “ready with a lawyer” to testify in court, however, he has not received a summons from the court so far. “As for the charges against me, I’m waiting for the summons from the court to testify on behalf of the defendants, and my lawyer will study the case, as I have already given them the right to do so.”

On July 8, CWPUC president Hang Ravy filed a second lawsuit against Tharo and his companion for the same reason, this time demanding one billion riel (about $234,000) in compensation.

Ravy confirmed the complaint but declined to comment further as he was in a meeting.

Regarding CWPUC’s lawsuit, Moeun Tola echoed Tharo in saying that they have yet to receive a complaint. Tola told CamboJA News that he only found out about the complaint from the media.

“We have not seen the lawsuit. We only saw it in the press but have not received a summons from the court,” he added.

He also denied the phrase published by RFA, noting that it was not uttered by Khun Tharo.

“Based on the information we see on social media accusing Khun Tharo of saying ‘using fake unions, fake youths’, I think this is a misunderstanding [in] RFA’s article. That phrase is not Khun Tharo’s,” Tola added.