NGOs: Attacks on civil society have become more and more frequent

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photo source: ipn

Posted by: Vasile Cojocari

News / Social

20 Mar. 2019 / 19:20

NGOs: Attacks on civil society have become more and more frequent

Attacks on civil society representatives have become increasingly frequent, attempting to intimidate non-governmental organizations and discourage their activities. Representatives of several NGOs came to a press conference at IPN with a public message of solidarity. Representatives of the associative sector argue that civil society is a partner to be involved in the decision-making process, because that is the only way to contribute to the country's development, IPN reports.

Ilie Chirtoaca, a legal adviser at the Moldovan Legal Resources Center, said it was about actions that put the associative sector in a not very good light. "We are talking here about media articles, attacks from politicians on how we work. I have noticed that these actions often take the form of articles that are published concertedly on certain press portals with identical content, but with the slightly changed title. In some cases, people even have access to confidential information from personal files, which is a worrying one for us," noted Ilie Chirtoaca.

Arcadie Barbăroşie, Public Policy Institute's Executive Director, says that NGOs are citizens’ organizations that stay with each other and government to protect them from possible government attacks. In his view, in the context of increasingly frequent attacks, non-governmental organizations have also separated themselves into NGOs that genuinely represent the interests of the ordinary citizen, and in organizations that act on the line of government, and recently it became known that four such organizations have benefited from funding from the State Chancellery for research. "We are just a mirror reflecting the citizen's opinion. Of course there might be errors. We accept this, but we still strive to be as objective as possible and to measure exactly what the citizen says in this situation," said Arcadie Barbăroşie.

Veaceslav Tofan, Chief Executive of Amnesty International Moldova, says that the issue of attacks on NGOs is a global trend. The source mentions in this context Russia, Turkey and even a state of the European Union, Hungary, where NGOs are subject to unprecedented attacks. In Hungary, NGOs that defend human rights and receive outside funding are discredited. Especially organizations that defend the rights of refugees are subject to administrative pressure, fines, and sometimes their activity is suspended. In Moldova, the attacks intensified after the deportation, which they considered illegal, of Turkish teachers at the beginning of September 2018. The organization published several appeals calling for the cessation of this process, as teachers risked being tried unjustly in Turkey, which has been confirmed, and recently sentenced to two of the seven professors. The rest is about to find out the sentence by May.

Promo-LEX Executive Director Ion Manole says that for the first time in 2018 the association and its observers faced situations that, in the experts' opinion, could be described as intimidation actions. Some have been discussed with relevant actors and Ion Manole hopes that they have been resolved. In his vision, a healthy climate of collaboration and partnership is required, which also requires mutual respect between NGOs and authorities.

"We are pledging for a strategic partnership between the state and civil society organizations. Of course, we condemn the attacks that have taken place and have intensified over the past two years. We do not believe that it contributes to the creation of a democratic society and, in general, the development of the country. Once again - we are in favor of creating a culture of dialogue and mutual respect so that together we could contribute to the country's development," said Tatiana Savva, an analyst at Independent Expert-Group Analytical Center.

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