CoE Commissioner for Human Rights Mijatović urges Georgian parliament reject foreign agents bill

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, on Tuesday expressed concerns that the adoption of the draft law on transparency of foreign influence proposed by the former members of the ruling Georgian Dream party “may have a serious chilling effect on the work of civil society organisations in Georgia”.

 

“Such a legislative initiative raises a number of human rights concerns in the light of the Council of Europe standards on freedom of association and of expression. While transparency may be a legitimate concern, it should not be achieved to the detriment of the effective enjoyment of rights and freedoms by non-commercial organisations and media outlets and of the exercise of their legitimate activities”, says the Commissioner.

 

In this context, the Commissioner called on the Georgian parliament to reject this or any similar draft law and to “unequivocally commit itself to fostering a diverse and vibrant civic participation in public affairs, as well as a conducive environment for the functioning of civil society organisations and human rights defenders in Georgia”. 

 

The bill by the People’s Power political movement envisages registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets as agents of foreign influence if they obtain more than 20 percent of their incomes from abroad.