Bi-weekly News & Opinion - November 14, 2024

C&SN Opportunity Spotlight

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, and more.

Risky Business Episode 1: The Standard

The Human Security Collective launched a new podcast that explores how the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s complex counter-terrorism financing framework affects nonprofits. The hosts ask key questions like: How do you alleviate the overregulation, suppression, and financial exclusion faced by nonprofits caught in a web of regulations and policies aimed at combating financial crime? Do we stick to an evolutionary approach refining FATF's Recommendations or consider a revolutionary approach? Episode 1 focuses on FATF’s Recommendation 8 and why it is seen as a “category error” by those in the sector. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. (Nov. 13)

House Rejects Bill Enabling Punishment of Non-profits Supporting ‘Terrorism’

On Nov. 12, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly blocked a bill that would have allowed the U.S. Treasury Department to strip tax-exempt status from any nonprofit it deemed to be supporting “terrorism”. Alice Herman writes for The Guardian. (Nov. 13)

• C&SN raised awareness on this dangerous bill outlining how it would greatly expand the powers of the U.S. Treasury and would allow it to be weaponized against dissent. 
• C&SN joined the ACLU and over 130 civil society organizations writing to the House urging them to vote no on the bill.

Rubio, Rosen, Colleagues to Blinken: Designate Houthis as Foreign Terrorist Organization

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and others sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging him to redesignate the Houthis as an foreign terrorist organization (FTO), calling the decision of the Biden-Harris Administration to remove the FTO designation in 2021 “foolish”. Read the press release at the office of Senator Rubio. (Nov. 7)

When Does Free Speech Cross the Line Into Breaking U.S. Anti-terrorism Laws?

The U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions on Vancouver-based NGO, Samidoun – whose co-founder has voiced support for Hamas – highlights an ongoing debate over what constitutes free speech and what can be defined as providing services to a terrorist organization. Simone Weischelbaum and Chloe Atkins report for NBC News. (Nov. 1)

Climate Talks and the Chilling Effect: Repression on the Rise

Climate Action Network writes that the world is in the throes of unprecedented repression regarding climate activists, human rights defenders, journalists, academics and others who express opposing views to their government. (Nov. 11)

Suppressing Dissent: Shrinking Civic Space, Transnational Repression and Palestine–Israel

Every year, human rights defenders, humanitarians, social justice activists, and their organizations face new threats in their ability to advocate for change, organize campaigns, or protest against oppressive policies. Nowhere is this crisis of civil society more acute than in the context of dissent and speech related to Palestine–Israel. Read Zaha Hassan and H.A. Hellyer’s report at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. (Nov. 7)

Money Laundering National Risk Assessment Guidance

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published its 2024 guidance for governments developing their National Risk Assessments. The guidance serves as a framework to assist policymakers as they develop and implement AML/CFT programs under a risk-based approach. (Nov. 2024)

• C&SN and partners at the Global NPO Coalition on FATF submitted input to the FATF’s revision process for the NRA guidance, calling for a specific section to be tailored to the unique circumstances of combating financial crime in the nonprofit sector, guidelines for delineating the differences between types of nonprofit organizations (NPOs), note that not all NPOs fall under the FATF definition of NPOs, and establish a clear methodology for addressing these challenges in collaboration with NPOs.

National Strategy for the Financial Inclusion in the United States

The U.S. Treasury Department published a new strategy focused on “improving consumers’ ability to access and use safe financial products and services”, and to “promote an inclusive financial system that works to reduce rather than compound disparities”. (Nov.  2024)

Turkish Parliament Set to Debate Foreign Agent Law: Here's What to Expect

The Turkish parliament is currently discussing the potential expansion of the Turkish Penal Code to include the ‘influence agent’ act under ‘espionage’ charges. Read more in Türkiye Today. (Nov. 12)

Russia to Curb Income of 'Foreign Agents' and Those Who Leave, Lawmaker Says

Russia plans to significantly tighten the rules governing the income received by those deemed "foreign agents" and of those who speak negatively about Russia after leaving the country. Read more at Voice of America. (Nov. 7)

Why Is Only Limited Aid Getting to Palestinians Inside Gaza?

During October, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that Israeli authorities rejected roughly 43% of all humanitarian movement requests, and impeded a further 16%. Julia Frankel, Samy Magdy, and Jack Jeffery report for ABC News. (Nov. 12)

• The U.S. government warned Israel to improve the humanitarian conditions in Gaza amidst leading aid NGOs reporting worsening access challenges. Yet, on Nov. 12, the U.S. State Department said the Israeli government is not violating U.S. law on humanitarian access. 

‘More People Will Die’: How Israel’s UNRWA Ban Affects Palestinians in Gaza and Beyond

The outcome of the U.S. presidential election “is going to be a key factor in how the situation across the region is going to move forward, including implications on UNRWA”, said Juliette Touma, communications director for UNRWA. Eric Reidy reports for The New Humanitarian. (Nov. 7) 

UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees Urges World to Save It from Israeli Ban

UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang said that Israel’s legislation to ban UNRWA “constitutes an intolerable affront to the authority of this assembly, an affront to international law and, most importantly, an affront to the human dignity of innocent Palestinian civilians.” Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News. (Nov. 6)

Israel Ends Agreement with UN Agency Providing Aid in Gaza

Israel took its first steps to terminate its agreement with UNRWA following legislation passed last month that would sever ties with the agency completely. AP News reports. (Nov. 4)

U.S. Allows Americans to Hold Foreign Conferences With Speakers Under Sanctions

In 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department barred the Foundation for Global Political Exchange from inviting individuals sanctioned by the U.S. government to attend a political dialogue forum. The NGO, with the help from Knight First Amendment Institute, sued the Treasury Department claiming a violation of First Amendment rights, which ultimately led to the Department reversing its decision. Charlie Savage reports for The New York Times. (Nov. 12)

CEPR Sanctions Watch October 2024

Read the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)’s latest edition of Sanctions Watch, which provides updates and analysis on U.S. sanctions regimes across key contexts, such as Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, and more. (Oct. 31)

UN General Assembly Condemns the U.S. Economic Embargo of Cuba for a 32nd Year

U.S. deputy ambassador to Cuba, Paul Folmsbee, defended U.S. economic sanctions placed on Cuba, highlighting that they are meant to “advance democracy and promote respect for human rights”, and that sanctions exempt food, medicine and other humanitarian goods. Edith M. Lederer reports for AP News. (Oct. 30)