Demonstrators protest against the incumbent Guatemalan president Jimmy Morales in September 2017. Jesús Alfonso/dpa/pa images. All rights reserved.
A quick scan of news headlines reflects the repression of civic space of late, all over the globe: What's behind the Bolivian government's attack on NGOs?; 'Spain's freedom of speech repression is no joke'; Egypt's NGO law aims to 'erase civil society'; Colombia: peaceful protesters attacked by riot police;Tunisia cracks down on NGOs, Guatemalan activist's murder sparks alarm over human rights crisis.
Over the last 15 years, dictatorships and parliamentary democracies alike have passed laws to narrow the space for social participation and freedom of expression or assembly. In addition to restrictive legislation, they’ve also increased their use of other types of repressive government tactics, including intimidation, criminal penalties, harassment and excessive bureaucratic burdens. These actions have a clear objective: to suppress the defence and promotion of human rights.
