NGO'S IN GEORGIA AND AZERBIJAN

The CACI Analyst is reporting that Georgia and Azerbijan have used the war on terrorism as an excuse to restrict the activities of NGO's operating within their borders. Read the article here. The legal moves in Georgia have been Kafkaesque:

[T]he government circulated the draft Law on Charity, Grants, and Humanitarian Assistance, which eventually morphed into the draft Law on Grants and Humanitarian Assistance. The latter draft law would have cancelled the existing law and established state control over the utilization of grants. NGOs and reform-minded parliamentarians managed to scuttle passage of the law; however, a little over a year later, the Ministry of State Security circulated a new draft law entitled, “On the Suspension of Activities, Liquidation, and Banning of Extremist Organizations and Organizations under Foreign Control.” The new law, if passed, would suspend, liquidate, or ban any organization under direct or indirect foreign control, including receiving funding, that “aimed at damaging the interests of Georgia.” The draft law does not define the “interests of Georgia” nor does it establish criteria for a definition. Moreover, the draft law states that court decisions to suspend or terminate an organization’s activities can be appealed “based on Georgian legislation;” however, no legislation currently exists that would allow an appeal. If the court decision is revoked, the draft law provides for the state to compensate for damages, but sets out no procedure for doing so.