democracia participativa y derechos humanos / participatory democracy & human rights

Civil Society is facing serious threats today across the globe. An offensive against the spread of democracy has spread and intensified. This ongoing backlash against democracy has been characterized by a pronounced shift from outright repression of democracy, human rights and civil society activists and groups to more subtle governmental efforts to restrict the space in which civil society organizations (“CSOs”) - especially democracy assistance groups - operate. Too many regimes still employ standard forms of repression, from activists’ imprisonment and organizational harassment to disappearances and executions. But in other states - principally, but not exclusively authoritarian or hybrid regimes - these standard techniques are often complemented or pre-empted by more sophisticated measures, including legal or quasi-legal obstacles such as barriers to entry to discourage or prevent the formation of organizations, and barriers to resources to restrict organizations’ ability to secure the resources required to carry out their activities.

Governments have tried to justify and legitimize such obstacles as necessary to enhance accountability and transparency of non-governmental organizations (“NGOs”); to harmonize or coordinate NGO activities; to meet national security interests by countering terrorism or extremism; and/or in defense of national sovereignty against foreign influence in domestic affairs. This report exposes such justifications as rationalizations for repression, and, furthermore, as violations of international laws and conventions to which the states concerned are signatories.

The report articulates well-defined international principles protecting civil society (see box below), already embedded in international law, including norms and conventions that regulate and protect civil society from government intrusion. These principles include: the right of NGOs to entry (that is, the right of individuals to form and join NGOs); the right to operate to fulfill their legal purposes without state interference; the rights to free expression and to communication with domestic and international partners; the right to seek and secure resources, including the cross-border transfer of funds; and the state’s positive obligation to protect NGO rights.

The report concludes by calling upon:

• international organizations to endorse the report and the principles it identifies;
• civil society organizations to conduct national and regional discussions to mobilize support for the reform of legal frameworks governing them; and
• democracy assistance organizations to distribute and promote the report and its recommendations to its partners and grantees.

Outline of the report

This report is divided into four sections: Legal Barriers to Civil Society Organizations; Government Justifications for Legal Barriers; International Principles Protecting Civil Society; and Next Steps: Building Solidarity and Promoting the Principles. In the first section, the legal barriers are discussed within several categories:

•  barriers to entry, particularly the use of law to discourage, burden, or prevent the formation of organizations;
•  barriers to operational activity, or the use of law to prevent organizations from carrying out their legitimate activities;
•  barriers to speech and advocacy, or the use of law to restrict NGOs from engaging in the full range of free expression and public policy engagement; and
•  barriers to resources or the use of law to restrict the ability of organizations to secure the financial resources necessary to carry out their work.

Examples are provided to elucidate each category in a nuanced way. We have not sought to provide a comprehensive account of regimes taking measures to implement such restrictions. The examples provided are intended to be illustrative of the challenges NGOs face in a wide—and widening—range of countries. In addition, the authors of the report fully recognize that there are significant variations in the challenges civil society confronts within regions and from one region to another. The Middle East/North Africa regional report mentioned above, for example, aims to describe the differences among the countries in that region regarding the legal environments for civil society activity. We encourage efforts in other regions to conduct similar surveys.

The second section of the report briefly surveys governments' justifications for establishing legal barriers. Again, the examples are not meant to be comprehensive but to illustrate the ways in which such justifications serve to deflect criticism by obscuring governments' intentions. This section of the report is instructive in the ways in which such proffered justifications can be analyzed and, for the most part, rejected.

The third and fundamental section of the report, on the international principles protecting civil society, articulates the rights of civil society organizations that are being systematically violated. Not surprisingly, these principles and rights correspond to the legal barriers discussed in the first section of the report. They include:

• the right to entry (or freedom of association);
• the right to operate free from government interference;
• the right to free expression;
• the right to communication and cooperation;
• the right to seek and secure resources; and,
• the state's duty to protect or promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and its obligation to protect the rights of NGOs.

[ Read full Report here ]