Dec 3-4, Brussels: 17th EU-NGO Forum on Human Rights

Two of the lead partners in the global coalition of NPOs on the FATF, Lia van Broekhoven (Human Security Collective) and Hanna Surmatz (European Foundation Centre), spoke at the forum on the impact of counter-terrorism legislation on civil society space. Organised by The European External Action Service (EEAS) and the European Commission in conjunction with the Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN), the overarching theme of the event was ‘Protecting and Promoting Civil Society Space’, including:

In her overview, Hanna Surmatz spoke of the shrinking of civic space worldwide, caused in part by governments implementing counter-terror (CT) and anti-money-laundering (AML)  rules and legislation. She outlined the work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – what it does and why it is so effective, including FATF Recommendation 8 that specifically targets the NPO sector. The implications for civil society were highlighted with concrete in-country examples.

Lia van Broekhoven then spoke on what NPOs are doing and what  national governments/the EU could do. This was reinforced with input from resource persons on national/regional initiatives. Emphasis was laid on the following:

1. Having a say in how FATF, EU and national governments design CT/AML policies and how they are implemented
2. Content: Revision of Recommendation 8 (R8) and the Interpretative Note (IN) to R8
3. Process: Consultation by FATF with NPOs on R8 revision but also long-term engagement and dialogue with NPOs beyond R8
4. What are NPOs doing?: global, regional and national initiatives and examples (lessons learned and good practice)
5. What can national governments do?
6. What can the EU do?

The EU’s counter-terrorism strategy was also discussed in this context.