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UN expert tells U.S. commission foreign‑agent laws 'close the space' for civil society
Summary
At a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing, UN Special Rapporteur Gina Romero and multiple experts warned that a global wave of anti‑NGO or "foreign agent" laws stigmatizes civil society, fuels intimidation and exile, and weakens democratic accountability; witnesses urged repeal, targeted risk assessments and renewed donor support.
Gina Romero, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, told the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission that recent laws targeting foreign nongovernmental organizations are part of a global trend that "signal democratic decline and rising authoritarianism." Romero testified at a congressional hearing convened to examine the human‑rights implications of so‑called foreign‑agent laws.
Romero said the laws are often framed as efforts to ensure transparency or national security but in practice are used to stigmatize and criminalize civic actors. "These measures signal democratic decline and rising authoritarianism," she said. She described mechanisms used in some laws — mandatory…
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