Parliament should withdraw Foreign Donations Regulation Bill 2015
Geneva-Paris, Oct .17 (NsNewsWire) — The Parliament of Bangladesh should withdraw the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Bill 2015, which if passed would severely restrict the legitimate activities of civil society and human rights defenders in Bangladesh, urged the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of OMCT and FIDH.
On September 1, 2015, the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act 2015 was tabled before the Parliament of Bangladesh and is slated to be passed into law soon.
“This new bill clearly aims at establishing a permanent Damocles sword hanging over human rights NGOs in Bangladesh, and in turn to silence victims of violations. Under this law, organisations documenting and reporting human rights violations would be denied funding clearance and would face possible de-registration. It is time for the international community to wake up and see the dramatic closing of democratic space in Bangladesh before it is too late”. Source : press release.