Bi-weekly News & Opinion - June 25, 2026

FATF Supports Humanitarians with Updated Recommendation 6

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) updated Recommendation 6 which now requires governments to integrate three key UN Security Council Resolutions into their domestic policies that protect aid operations from the adverse impacts of broad terrorism financing laws. This update could spur greater solidarity across governments in protecting the operating space of humanitarian organizations. Read more about the update at C&SN. (Jun. 25)

Call for Input: Draft General Comments on UN Treaty for Right to Freedom of Association

The UN Human Rights Committee invites stakeholders to comment on Draft General Comment No. 38, which interprets Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—the foundational treaty provision guaranteeing the right to freedom of association. The draft was completed at the Committee's 145th session in March 2026 and will undergo a second reading, making this a critical window for civil society to shape how the right to freedom of association is interpreted.

• Read the draft General Comment in English, French, or Spanish.
• Civil society organizations, unions, academia, and national human rights institutions are all encouraged to submit comments by the Wednesday, Jul. 15, 2026 deadline. 
• Read submission details on the full call for input. 
• Context: This is a timely opportunity to push back against growing authoritarianism and weigh in on international standards that support civic freedoms.

Consider registering as a C&SN Member (no financial commitment required) to receive our weekly Opportunity Spotlight Newsletter. There we share exclusive opportunities for civil society input, webinars, events, and working groups on key issue areas such as sanctions, material support, financial access, lawfare, civil society rights and resiliency, human rights in counter-terrorism and more. 

Florida Enacts Comprehensive Overhaul of the Nonprofit Corporation Act (HB 797)

New laws in Florida will significantly change the governance, liability, membership rights, mergers, conversions, and enforcement across the nonprofit sector in the state. Legal experts at Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP break down key changes at Lexology. (Jun. 17)

Nonprofit Primer: What if… Your Organization Is Concerned About an IRS Investigation? 

Protect Democracy has prepared a primer that details how nonprofits can prepare and respond to a potential IRS investigation. (Jun. 12)

• The Trump Administration has sought to weaponize the IRS against its political opponents.

Civil Rights Organizations Continue to Be Targeted; Terrorism Convictions over Anti-ICE Protest Raise Concerns

C&SN monitors threats to freedoms of assembly, association, and expression for the global watchdog organization, CIVICUS. Read our latest update on the United States, covering developments from March through April, here. (Jun. 5)

Explore a full list of resources designed to support the nonprofit sector as they prepare and respond to lawsuits, disinformation, and other forms of attack on civil society at C&SN’s Civil Society Rights & Resiliency hub.

Texas Federal Judges' Sentence Against ICE Protestors a Brutal Assault on First Amendment Rights 

CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance, issued a statement that condemns the sentences handed down to eight protesters by the Federal Court in Fort Worth, Texas. The brutally unjust sentence of 30 to 100 years in federal prison targeted individuals protesting outside the Prairieland ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas, on 4 July 2025.  Read the full statement. (Jun. 25)

• Sam Levine reports on the harsh sentencing for The Guardian. (Jun. 23)

DOJ Charges 15 in Minnesota with Conspiracy to Block ICE, Claims Antifa Ties

The activists tracked ICE movements in neighborhoods across Minnesota earlier this year, but now prosecutors say they are part of a wider “Antifa” movement and have been charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer. Molly Hennessy-Fiske reports for The Washington Post. (Jun. 16)

• The defendants warn that the charges are an attempt to criminalize dissent, similar to the Prairieland case which recently led to harsh sentencing on terrorism charges. (Jun. 19)

“Terrorism” Designation of Protest Movement Marks Dangerous Escalation in Jammu and Kashmir Crackdown

The Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee, a grassroots movement that advocates for political and economic rights in Kashmir and Jammu, was branded as a terrorist organization by the Pakistani government. Read more from Amnesty International. (Jun. 9)

Moscow Adds Human Rights Organisations to ‘Terrorist List’ 

The Putin administration has continued its crackdown on civil society and dissent in Russia by adding three human rights organizations to a list of “extremists and terrorist organizations.” Atle Staalesen reports for The Barents Observer. (Jun. 5)

The Collateral Damage of Anti-Trans Policymaking 

The Trump Administration’s targeting of the trans community is cutting into community organizations that provide mental health, food assistance, and other essential services in disadvantaged communities. Yasemin Smallens writes for Just Security. (Jun. 16)

OCC proposes Bank Secrecy Act, Sanctions Requirements for Stablecoin Issuers

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a proposed rule that would require that registered stablecoin issuers maintain effective AML/CFT and sanctions compliance programs in accordance with the Bank Secrecy Act. Read more at ABA Banking Journal. (Jun. 22)

Financial Services Committee Leaders Call for AML/CFT Relief

House Financial Services Committee leaders voiced support for the Department of Treasury’s reforms to the Bank Secrecy Act, which emphasize a risk-based approach to combating money laundering and terrorism finance. Read more at the America's Credit Unions. (Jun. 18)

National Security Law Leads to Arrests in Hong Kong of Booksellers

Hong Kong police arrested two people on suspicion of selling seditious publications and receiving funds from foreign political organizations in violation of a national security law that critics say is designed to crush dissent. Associated Press reports. (Jun. 24)

Welch Endorses Bipartisan 'PAID OFF Act' to Prevent Foreign Adversaries Influencing U.S. Policy 

The Preventing Adversary Influence, Disinformation and Obscured Foreign Financing (PAID OFF) Act seeks to close loopholes in the Foreign Agents Registration Act that allow agents of foreign governments the ability to lobby in the U.S. without registering. Read more about Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)’s endorsement in Vermont Business Magazine. (Jun. 23)

• Find the text of the introduced bill here.

Palestinian Children ‘Unprotected’ as NGOs Forced out of Gaza and West Bank

Many civil society and aid organisations in Gaza and the West Bank have been labelled “terrorists” by pro-Israel groups or politicians and have been constrained from supporting vulnerable children, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child warned in a statement. Alex Milan Durie reports for Al Jazeera. (Jun. 22)

Myanmar's Humanitarian Crisis Deepens as Foreign Aid Declines, UN Report Finds

As the military junta in Myanmar increasingly targets civilians, a report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warns that cuts to foreign aid has prevented civil society groups from protecting vulnerable populations. Hussin Alameedi writes for JURIST. (Jun. 22)

A Small Conservative Group Rises in Influence under Trump 2.0

The Trump Administration is increasingly relying on the services of the Capital Research Center, a conservative watchdog organization that tracks finances of progressive networks, to dig up “evidence” that fuel its crackdown on the left. Jacob Wendler reports for POLITICO. (Jun. 20)

Blanche Is Targeting the D.C. Bar to Remove Ethical Guardrails for the Justice Department 

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called the District of Columbia Bar “one of the most activist, obnoxious bars when it comes to going after conservative lawyers,” threatening to take it “out of the picture.”  Scott Cummings writes for Just Security. (Jun. 17)

Ohio Voting Rights Organization Raided by FBI 

FBI agents raided the offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a Cleveland-based pro-democracy nonprofit that helps register voters in that state, while seeking information on whether members of the organization were conducting voter fraud. Carol Leonnig, Will McDuffie, Alex Tabet, and Laura Barrón-López report for MS Now. (Jun. 11)

Legal Groups File Complaint Against UK Lawyers for Israel 

Last month, the European Legal Support Centre and the Public Interest Law Centre filed a complaint against three senior barristers from UK Lawyers for Israel, two of whom are members of the House of Lords, alleging misuse of professional status in a campaign targeting Palestine solidarity organisations and individuals. Anam Alam reports for The New Arab. (May 22)

• UK Lawyers for Israel is a prominent lawfare group that C&SN reported on in our landmark study on lawfare targeting Palestinian civil society.

World Court Judges Sue Trump Administration over Sanctions

Three International Criminal Court judges sued the Trump Administration over sanctions imposed on them last year, arguing the measures were designed to punish and coerce the judges for doing their lawful activity. Daphne Psaledakis reports for Reuters. (Jun. 24)

Ceasefire Without End 

“If a final deal is reached, the United States has already committed to lift sanctions on Iran. Not just nuclear sanctions or U.S. sanctions, but seemingly all sanctions,” J. Dana Stuster provides analysis on the proposed ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran at Lawfare. (Jun. 18)

• Reuters reports that the UK, France, Germany and Italy are also ready to lift Iran sanctions after a ceasefire deal. (Jun. 14)

Trump Administration Targets Cuba's CUPET with Sanctions 

The State Department on Thursday announced that it will sanction Cuba’s state-owned oil and gas company Unión Cuba-Petróleo amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and the island country. Ryan Mancini reports for The Hill. (Jun. 11)

• Meanwhile, Associated Press reports that the Cuban government is tracking the impacts of the U.S. energy blockade on children’s health—which they say has disrupted surgeries and other crucial interventions, causing higher death rates for children with cancer. (Jun. 15)

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