The latest EuroMed Rights report highlights how government-organised NGOs spread alternative human rights narratives to support authoritarian governments.
In its latest report “The rise and impact of government-organised NGOs: another tool of repression of independent civil society”, EuroMed Rights examines how government-organised NGOs (or “GoNGOs”) support the work of authoritarian governments by spreading alternative human rights narratives.
As state-supported organisations, GoNGOs push independent civil society actors out of the political space by crowding out legitimate voices and spreading fake news. They indirectly intimidate independent civil society actors, human rights defenders and trade unions activists while providing human rights legitimacy at international level to the autocratic governments that support them. Through their actions, they complete the arsenal of restrictive laws and abusive practices put in place by authoritarian governments to shrink the space available for civil society to organise and defend human rights.
EuroMed Rights’ report focuses on some of the difficulties faced by activists in Algeria, Egypt and Turkey. It is aimed as a starting point for an open dialogue with relevant stakeholders and decision-makers to create awareness of the issue and counter it. The report is based on first-hand testimonies from independent activists as well as trade unionists and is completed by an analysis of the repressive legislative environment against civil society activism.
Read EuroMed Rights’ full report “The rise and impact of government-organised NGOs: another tool of repression of independent civil society”.
Browse through the main findings of the report with the infographic below.