Am Juni gouf ech vun der Kommissioun vun den Affaires Juridiques et des Droits de l’Homme mat engem intressanten a wichtegen Rapport beoptragt. Et geet ëm d’Problemer déi ONG’en a verschiddenen europäische Staaten gemeet kréien fir hiere regulären Aktivitéiten nozegoen. Besonnesch schlëmm ass d’Situatioun am Azerbaidjan an a Russland wou ONG’en kaum nach finanziell Hëllefen aus dem Ausland kréien an wou en ganz Rëtsch Mënschrechtsaktivisten vun den Authoritéiten agelacht goufen (Azerbaidjan). Dobäi sinn niewt enger fräier Presse, onofhängeg ONG’en ee vun de Grondsteng vun engem funktionnéierenden demokratesche Staat an enger fräier Gesellschaft.
Dës Woch hunn ech zu Stroossbuerg e Memorandum presentéiert an an der Kommissioun zur Diskussioun gestallt:
Ënnert anerem hunn ech di direkt Fräiloossung vun Mënscherechtsaktivisten am Azerbaidjan gefuerdert!
How to prevent inappropriate restrictions on NGO activities in Europe?
Dear Chairman,
Dear Colleagues,
During the june part-session, I was appointed as rapporteur on this subject following the withdrawal of the previous rapporteur Ms Nataša VUČKOVIĆ. I would like to thank Ms VUCKOVIC for her work on this matter. In May, Ms Vuckovic prepared an introductory memorandum, but, unfortunately, following her resignation, the Committee was not in a position to discuss that document.
The issue we are dealing with is becoming very urgent though. Especially following the recent developments in certain member states of the Council of Europe, such as Azerbaijan, Hungary and Russia. That is why Ms Vuckovic’s introductory memorandum was updated.
Let me just briefly recall that my mandate focuses on the importance of a dynamic civil society for a democratic state and on obstructions that NGOs face in their daily activities.
Such impediments include, among others,
– obstacles for NGOs to register,
– restrictions on access to funding, especially if it comes from abroad,
– unjustified criminalisation of NGOs’ activities or defamation campaigns.
The revised memorandum focuses on the situation in the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Hungary. It stresses the recent developments in Russia, such as the adoption of the “Foreign Agent” Law obliging NGOs receiving foreign donations to register as “foreign agents”.
In June this year, this law was amended to allow the Minister of Justice to unilaterally register NGOs as “foreign agents”. Subsequently, a dozen of prominent Russian NGOs were registered as such in the course of the summer. NGOs registered as “foreign agents” must refer to this labelling in any public statement they make – this is a very worrying development and will have a chilling effect on their activities, as such NGOs will likely be stigmatised by the public as “foreign spies”.
Another worrying trend may be observed in Azerbaijan, where procedures for NGOs registration are lengthy and cumbersome. Therefore, many organizations operate without registration, but the recent amendments to the law on NGOs have made it even more difficult by preventing them, in practice, from receiving foreign grants. This results in many activists operating at the borderline of legality, which is later used by the authorities as a pretext to start criminal proceedings against many of them. I am particularly concerned about the recent arrests of four prominent activists
– Intigam Aliyev,
– Rasul Jafarov,
– Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif Yunus,
who were all accused of alleged “tax evasion”, “abuse of power”, “fraud” or similar charges related to their activities.
This happened within a couple of days, at the end of July/beginning of August 2014, during Azerbaijan’s chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers. I call on the Committee to firmly condemn these arrests and demand from the concerned authorities to set free these activists.
Even though the situation of NGOs in Turkey cannot be compared to the one in the countries just mentioned, fact is that NGO’s face heavy bureaucratic hurdles, frequent inspections and disproportionate fines.
Lastly, the situation of some NGOs in Hungary is also worrying and has deteriorated over summer, when several NGOs receiving grants from the Norway Grants scheme and working on human rights, gender equality or combating corruption were blacklisted. The offices of some of them were raided by the police and their materials and computers – confiscated. An attempt was made in Hungary to introduce a bill similar to the “foreign agents” law in Russia. Luckily the bill did not pass but could be tabled again.
In the light of these developments, I would like to ask the Committees authorisation for the following:
1. first and foremost, to organise a hearing at the forthcoming meeting in Madrid, with the participation of three experts
– a representative of the Expert Council on NGO Law of the INGO Conference,
– an academic specialised in freedom of association and
– a representative of the Russian civil society;
2. second, to carry out fact-finding visits to Azerbaijan, Hungary and Russia;
3. third, to send out a questionnaire to the European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) and,
4. fourth, to declassify the revised memorandum, in order to share it with the public and concerned NGOs.
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Falls et zu enger Visite am Azerbaidjan kënnt, wäert ech och probéieren bei verschiddenen Aktivisten di am Prisong sinn laanscht ze goen an hier Versioun ze héieren.
Hei di komplett note (op Englesch)
