silence-CC-BY-NC-Geoff-LMVThe Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs proved once again that there is more support for silencing criticism than for democracy. On Sunday they approved the controversial “Transparency Bill.” The sole purpose of the bill is to harass anyone who expresses strong opposition towards government policy. In passing the bill, the ministers have violated the freedoms of expression, protest and association.
The bill significantly undermines equality, because it imposes different rules on non-profit organizations that receive specific types of funding. As transparency already exists with respect to finance from foreign countries, it is clear that focusing on this type of funding and ignoring private donations coming from abroad, is designed to only limit organizations that the government dislikes.
Senior politicians, legal experts and major supporters of Israel overseas have opposed the bill. ACRI regrets that ministers who are obligated to uphold democracy are instead harming democracy and allowing the de-legitimization of human rights organizations.
For more information please see:
Please click here to read an Anti-NGO Bills Overview – Updated June 2016
Please click here to read ACRI’s position paper written by Attorney Debbie Gild-Hayo, Director of Policy Advocacy at ACRI (updated February 2016).
Marking out Human Rights Organizations
ACRI’s response to the draft NGO Funding Bill
