TLTP
NEW DELHI
Rights defenders have criticised an amendment to the Indian Foreign Contributions Act (FCRA), which oversees foreign funding to NGOs, with International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) saying it is “a tool to silence” civil society organisations in the South Asia nation.
In a briefing paper released on Thursday, the ICJ states that the FCRA is “severely shrinking” civil space in India and poses unnecessary obstacles to human rights defenders in India by “unlawfully obstructing” the work of NGOs in the country of 1.3 billion.
The ICJ said the FCRA “fails to comply with India’s international legal obligations to respect and protect the rights to freedom of association, expression, peaceful assembly, and the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs”. The FCRA regulates foreign donations with the aim of ensuring that such donations do not adversely affect the “national security” of India.
Originally enacted in 1976 with the aim to prevent foreign donations to political parties, the law has been amended to starve NGOs, particularly rights groups and environmental NGOs critical of the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Foreign funding to political parties remains illegal in India.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, expressed concern in October that the FCRA was being used to “deter or punish NGOs for human rights reporting and advocacy”. The ICJ is concerned that the overbroad language of the FCRA law means that it can be applied in an arbitrary manner. It considers the Act as being part of a “clampdown on Indian human rights defenders” consisting of arbitrary arrests and other forms of harassment.
“All governments have a duty to prevent corruption, but financial regulation should not be used to stifle the crucial role of civil society simply because the authorities find it hard to deal with constructive criticism,” Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, told the media.
The Act prohibits civil society organisations from accessing an FCRA certificate based on the prohibition on receipt of foreign funds for organisations of a “political nature” and activities against “public interest”, “economic interest” or “security”, where these terms are not defined or defined overly broadly. On Wednesday the Indian government amended the FCRA rules making it tougher for NGOs to access foreign contributions. According to the new rules, an NGO is now prohibited from transferring funds to another NGO, Aadhaar card, the biometric ID, is mandatory for registration, and prior permission required to receive foreign funds.
“The new Act together with the new regulations make running a human rights organisation in India with any foreign contribution extremely difficult,” Anubha Rastogi, a human lawyer based in Mumbai said. “The wording of the law ensures that the state has the power and wide discretion to interpret any activity as being political in nature”.
