Brussels: Joint NGO letter criticises new Israeli legislation limiting work of human rights organisation in Israel and the OPT

Aprodev, CIDSE, Front Line, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), are concerned about the recent attempts of the Israeli government to restrict the space and freedom of Israeli civil society organisations to operate in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

Extract from Open letter

These attempts are aimed at de-legitimising and severely restricting the work of civil society organisations. They represent a clear threat to democratic standards in Israel and the unimpeded work of human rights defenders. As such, we believe that the EU and its Member States must address this situation with urgency.

On 14 February 2010, a government-backed bill passed preliminary reading at the Israeli Knesset. Under the pretext of increasing transparency of foreign funding of NGOs, the bill restricts the freedoms of Israeli civil society organisations.

It stipulates that any organisation “seeking to influence public opinion in Israel”, should be deemed a “political organisation” rather than one serving a charitable purpose. Such organisations will be required to register with the Political Party Registrar, and lose taxexempt status.

Furthermore, the bill requires any spokesperson of such an organisation to declare in all public appearances that they represent an organisation that receives funding from a “foreign political entity”. Non-compliance with the bill will result in fines or imprisonment.

To read the full text of the letter please see the attached PDF