Georgia: CSOs & intl. organisations criticise new draft law on foreign agents saying it significantly restricts freedom of expression & association
Georgia: ‘Foreign Agents’ Bill Tramples on Rights. Reject Measure Restricting Freedom of Expression and Association, 7 March 2023
Georgia’s parliament should firmly reject the two bills it is debating that would require individuals, civil society organizations, and media outlets to register with the Justice Ministry as “agents of foreign influence” if they receive at least 20 percent of their funds from abroad, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. If adopted, the bills would also impose additional onerous reporting requirements, inspections, and administrative and criminal liability, including up to five years in prison for violations.
These bills are incompatible with international human rights law and standards that protect the rights to freedom of expression and association.
“The ‘foreign agent’ bills seek to marginalize and discredit independent, foreign-funded groups and media that serve the wider public interest in Georgia,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “They clearly aim to restrict critical groups and crucial media, violate Georgia’s international obligations, and would have a serious chilling effect on groups and individuals working to protect human rights, democracy, and the rule of law”...
Organizations and media outlets registered as an “agent of foreign influence” would be obliged to submit an electronic financial declaration, including full data on the source, amount, and purpose of any money and other material benefits received and spent. This duplicates some reporting obligations to tax and other agencies, and would further put at risk the privacy of those related to the association. The Justice Ministry would be authorized to investigate and request and study additional information, including personal data. The proponents of the bill have not explained how this duplicative and onerous reporting increases transparency or accountability, but rather appears to be a blatant effort to restrict the ability of associations and media to operate freely and independently, and stigmatize independent groups, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said.
The draft bill imposes a fine of GEL 25,000 (US$ 9,600) for evasion of registration or failure to submit the full financial declaration.
On February 22, the same members of parliament registered another version of the bill, which expands the scope of “agents of foreign influence” to include individuals and increases the penalties for failure to comply from fines to up to five years in prison...On February 27, the parliamentary bureau decided to send both bills to the relevant committees for consideration. The ruling Georgian Dream party expressed public support for the bills.
The bills have triggered strong criticism from Georgian civil society groups, multilateral organizations, and bilateral partners. In a joint statement, about 400 local nongovernmental groups and media outlets said that the adoption of the bill would amount to “an attack on the core Georgian values of dignity, independence and solidarity” and would harm the people of Georgia.
The United Nations in Georgia expressed “profound concern”...The US and EU ambassadors, the spokespersons for the EU high representative, Josep Borrell, and the US State Department have also criticized the bill, saying that it is incompatible with Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. In a February 28 open letter, the Council of Europe human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatović, said that the law could have a serious chilling effect on the work of civil society organizations in Georgia.
President Salome Zurabishvili said that she would veto the law, as she “cannot support such legislation and persecution of new agents”...