Lawmakers in Tunisia are moving to adopt a draft NGO law that threatens independent civil society organisations in the country.
Development Diaries reports that the draft NGO law, which aims to replace the current NGO law of 2011, allows the government to unduly interfere in the work of civil society organisations (CSOs).
It is understood that the draft law grants executive authorities broad and unchecked powers that contradict international human rights law and standards on freedom of association.
Tunisia has had the most progressive and democratic legal framework for civil society in the Arab world since the revolution of 2011. The 2011 law known as Decree 88, which oversees CSOs in the country, appropriately controls NGO operations as opposed to limiting them.
With the new draft law in the works, activists from Tunisia’s civic space fear that the law will restrict the freedoms of associations.
It also violates the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), which the country ratified in 1969.
Under President Kais Saied, the country has experienced threats to free speech, a deterioration of civil society, and intimidation of human rights advocates, all of which have contributed to Tunisia’s political turmoil.
Development Diaries calls on the legislators in Tunisia to drop the restrictive draft law to ensure that the country complies with its international obligation to facilitate the work of CSOs.
Photo source: The New Arab
