prijava
SARAJEVO, November 29 (FENA) - International Human Rights Organization Civil Rights Defenders is hosting a conference in Sarajevo today titled "Restricting Foreign Funding of Organizations: A New Challenge for Human Rights in Europe", which deals with the topic of limiting funding and the work of media and human rights organizations rights in BiH and the region.
Representatives of organizations from Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Russia and Turkey at the conference will focus on the challenges they face working in environments that are increasingly hostile to the civil sector.
Ivana Korajlić, Executive Director of Transparency International ,said that there are increasing attempts in BiH and the region to limit the work of civil society and the media, establish some kind of censorship and restrict the freedom of speech and work of civil society organizations.
“For some time now, Transparency International has experienced problems, especially in Republika Srpska, due to frequent efforts to limit the work of civil society through new legislation that specifically targets organizations that are financed from international sources. It is a way to try and extinguish any kind of criticism and to limit the work of those who monitor and criticize the work of the government and point to the problems and which are outside the scope of government’s control," Korajlić explained.
She added that on the other hand, the same government has no problems when it receives finances from international funds, but the problem arises when finances are directed towards the media and civil society organizations, and then the government opts for marking these people and organizations as "foreign agents" and "paid agents".
“They are trying to establish other forms of censorship as well, such as demanding a license for all civil society activities, which is, of course, contrary to all human rights conventions that should guarantee the freedom of association and work of civil society and the media, and of course, also restricting the freedom of speech, even to the extent that they determine what is allowed to be said and what information is allowed to be published. Those in power even conduct campaigns against organizations that criticize the work of the authorities,” said Korajlić.
While the legal framework governing the work and funding of non-governmental and other organizations already exists, human rights defenders, including journalists, are now facing the adoption of new laws that limit funding opportunities and the work of media and human rights organizations financed from abroad. They are frequently referred to as "foreign agents" and in the worst cases the authorities threaten to ban and their work altogether.
Executive Director of Civil Rights Defender Anders Pettersson pointed out that for several years now, in BiH and other European countries, there has been overt trend of passing restrictive laws limiting the work of the media and civil society organizations.
“Every modern society needs civil society organizations that will monitor and criticize the work of the government, so that the government will respect its own laws and provide protection of civil rights. In order to prevent any kind of restrictions, there must be international pressure and constant reporting on the situation in BiH. Independent media are crucial for a democratic society,” said Pettersson.
Regulations that target organizations and media funded by foreign donors are most often justified by the need of states to control organizations and media dealing with "political activities", but these laws are in most cases written in such a way so as to refer to the work of independent organizations dealing with the fight against corruption, the protection of human rights and the rule of law.
Countries that have adopted or are in the process of drafting the laws that restrict the work of organizations financed from abroad are most often, and in particular the countries where corruption is at a high level, violation of human rights is also frequent, as well as interference with the work of independent state institutions.
(FENA) S. R.
