March 11, 2013
Check against delivery
Mr. President,
FIDH and OMCT, within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, are alarmed by a new setback impeding the work of human rights defenders. As highlighted in the recently published Annual Report 2013 of the Observatory, NGOs’ access to funding, in particular foreign funding, is increasingly being hindered by governments around the world. Restrictive laws combined with unfounded criticism, smear campaigns and judicial harassment directed against human rights defenders because of the source of their funding create a hostile environment towards their activities as a way to silence them.
Belarusian law now prohibits any possibility for an NGO to hold a bank account in an institution based abroad, and criminalises the use of so-called unauthorised funds. These new provisions were adopted as FIDH Vice-President and "Viasna" President Ales Bialiatski was sentenced to 4.5 years’ imprisonment after he made use of foreign funds to finance human rights activities in his country.
In the Russian Federation, NGOs receiving foreign funds now face criminal liability if they fail to add the mention “foreign agent” on all official documents. In Ethiopia, regulations on foreign funding forced NGOs to reduce their activities and dismiss part of their staff or stop human rights related activities. In India, the Government continues to use the new Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) of 2012 and its Rules of May 2011 to restrict access to foreign funding by national human rights NGOs. In this context, several NGOs in Tamil Nadu have seen their bank accounts being temporarily frozen for months on end, on the basis of unfounded accusation of diverting funds. Some of them even after obtaining successful orders from the High Court.
We are also extremely concerned with the number of restrictive pieces of legislation currently under examination, notably in Egypt, Bangladesh, Bahrain and beyond, which might have further highly negative consequences on the ability of NGOs to freely make use of foreign funds for peaceful and legitimate human rights activities. In Egypt, several CSO bills are currently being tabled. The draft of the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs is among the most restrictive ones, as it aims at significantly curtailing the operations of foreign organisations in Egypt and at restricting the ability of NGOs to receive or provide international funding.
Mr. President,
Restrictions to access to funding not only violate universally recognised human rights standards, notably the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), but also seriously impact efforts by civil society to promote and protect human rights and ensure that the voice of victims of human rights violations is heard. Our organisations recall in that regard the recommendation by the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in her last report to the General Assembly that “States should refrain from imposing legal restrictions on potential sources of funding for associations, including foreign sources”.
Last but not least, restrictions on foreign funding also seriously jeopardise the ability of many NGOs that are not based in Geneva to come and interact with UN experts and mechanisms.
Accordingly, we sincerely hope that the Council will address this issue as a matter of priority.
I thank you.