Authorities set to control NGOs – opposition lawyer

January 4, BPN. A civil society bill currently under consideration is designed to set up a hierarchy of NGOs and introduce a system of restrictions, said Kryścina Rychter, a legal aide to Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja.

The bill, currently under consideration by the parliament, was drafted by the Council of Ministers at Alaksandr Łukašenka’s request. It passed the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Belarusian National Assembly, without much debate on December 20. The Belarusian ruler can sign it into law after approval from the upper chamber.

If adopted, it might also restrict the right of Belarusians to receive information from government agencies, Rychter noted. Only government-approved NGOs would have access to it and the right to cooperate with government agencies in developing policies and improving legislation, she added.

Government-approved organizations would have the privilege to nominate delegates to the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly and participate in carrying out its decisions, Rychter said.

Registered NGOs with branches across Belarus and over 100,000 members or representing at least half of the registered Belarusian trade unions would benefit from “special types of cooperation” with authorities, she stressed.

In the hierarchy overseen by the Ministry of Justice, one group of NGOs such as the pro-government Belarusian National Youth Union or Belaya Rus would have more rights and privileges than other government-approved civil society actors, Rychter noted.