ETHIOPIA: Parliament adopts repressive new NGO law

Source: CRIN
Articles: *See footnote

The Ethiopian parliament has adopted a potentially repressive new law which could criminalise the child rights activities of both foreign and domestic non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The Charities and Societies Proclamation law (CSO law), adopted on Tuesday, is designed to strictly control and monitor civil society in an atmosphere of intolerance of the work of human rights defenders and civil society organisations.

...the implications for civil society organisations under this new law which would allow the government, among other things, to:

--Decide which NGOs can be registered and which ones should be disbanded
--Subject all civil society groups to intrusive government control and surveillance.
--Bar foreign NGOs from doing any work related to human rights, governance, protection of the rights of women, children and people with disabilities, conflict resolution and a range of other issues.
--Strip Ethiopian NGOs that work on human rights issues of access to foreign funding.
Impose criminal penalties on anyone participating in activities deemed 'unlawful'
--Fine or jail, for up to 15 years, anyone participating in meetings organised by such 'unlawful' organisations
--Prohibit all activities carried out by non-Ethiopian NGOs that relate to human rights and other identified fields

*Click on the articles below to read the entire posts:
ETHIOPIA: Parliament adopts repressive new NGO law
ETHIOPIA: Human Rights Council side event on recent NGO law