Paris-Geneva, February 27, 2023 –
Initiated by People’s Power political group, the draft Law on
Transparency of Foreign Influence is incompatible with international and
regional standards on the rights to freedom of association and
expression, alerted the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders (OMCT-FIDH). The Parliament of Georgia must reject this bill
and ensure civil society organisations and independent media are not
stigmatised as “foreign agents”.
Government-aligned and member of the
parliamentary majority People’s Power movement submitted a draft Law on
Transparency of Foreign Influence to the Parliament of Georgia on
February 14, 2023. The bill contains provisions that severely restrict
the rights to freedom of association and expression in the country, and
its enactment into law would pose a serious threat to critical and
independent voices in Georgia. Yet, the ruling party Georgian Dream’s
spokesperson has already announced the group’s support to the bill,
while affirming that any analogies with Russia’s draconian “foreign
agents” legislation are simply “lies”.
Far from it, under this draft law,
any media outlets and non-entrepreneurial legal entities —the most
common form of non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Georgia— receiving
over 20% of their income from foreign sources would have to register
and label themselves as “agents of foreign influence”. They would also
have to fill out an annual financial declaration that would have to be
approved by the Ministry of Justice. These requirements are very similar
to those imposed by the early iterations of the Russian legislation,
which has been found to violate freedoms of expression and association
by the European Court of Human Rights.
Initiators of the bill argue
these provisions respond to Georgian citizens’ need to “distinguish
cases of positive and non-positive [political] influence” on the
country, for them to “form their own political and social views”. Yet,
undue restrictions on the right to freedom of association foreseen in
this bill would have a direct impact on free public debate in Georgia
were the draft law to be passed, as it would be used to stifle media
outlets and NGOs critical of the government.
The draft law would also impose
burdensome reporting requirements on NGOs and media outlets, and would
expose them to unlimited inspections by the government, regardless of
whether they receive foreign funding. For instance, under this bill the
Ministry of Justice would have discretionary powers to investigate and
obtain documents, including personal data, from organisations believed
to be “agents of foreign influence”. Failure to comply with the draft
law’s provisions would result in harsh and unreasonable penalties
amounting to up to 8,500 Euros fines.
The draft law was officially
registered before the Parliament’s Bureau on February 20, 2023, and will
be reviewed by the Parliamentary Committees on Defence and Security and
on Foreign Relations, respectively, before being debated and voted by
all parliamentary groups.
The Observatory expresses great
concern over the negative impact the “foreign agents” bill will have on
Georgia’s civic space should it be enacted into law, and condemns the
stigmatisation of independent media outlets and NGOs. Using “foreign
agents”-related terminology to label civil society organisations and
media pollutes the public discourse and has a chilling effect on their
activities.
The Observatory urges the Parliament
of Georgia to reject the draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence
and calls on the authorities to respect, protect and promote the rights
to freedom of association and expression in the country, in accordance
with regional and international human rights standards, particularly
Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and
Articles 19 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, to which Georgia is a state party.
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