In the PVO Amendment Bill edition of the Legal Monitor ZLHR shares its analysis of the proposed retrogressive law, the UN Special Rapporteurs warns about grave consequences emanating from enacting such obnoxious legislation and a timeline on the persecution on NGOs in Zimbabwe is shared. Read on.
What is the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)?
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is a non-treaty inter-governmental body tasked with the promotion of measures to help combat money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF). It has developed 40 Recommendations or FATF Standards to measure technical compliance, and 11 Immediate Outcomes, to assess the effectiveness of government measures to combat Money laundering and financing of terrorism.
The FATF has identified activities of Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) (in the context of Zimbabwe these may be not for profit charitable organisations including non-government organisations, private voluntary organisations, trusts, universitas, faith-based organisations, community based organisations) as potentially posing a risk of abuse for money laundering and funding of terrorist organisations. Recommendation 8 and Immediate Outcome 10 are the standards for NPO regulation.
UN censures Mnangagwa over PVO Amendment Bill
Four United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs have warned President Emmerson Mnangagwa against adopting the proposed Private Voluntary Organisations (PVOs) Amendment Bill (PVOs), which they say will inhibit the enjoyment of numerous fundamental rights in Zimbabwe. The Bill has also been criticised locally for its heavy-handedness in dealing with non- governmental organisations (NGOs), whom the ZANU PF party-led administration has often accused of pushing a regime change agenda at the behest of western countries.
ZLHR Speaks on Proposed Anti-NGO Law
Government should reconsider the Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill, which seeks to curtail the activities of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) under the guise of adhering to international anti-money laundering protocols.
This is according to Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), which has produced an in-depth analysis of the amendments. Cabinet in August last year approved the formulation of Private Voluntary Organisations Amendment Bill, which was subsequently published in the Government Gazette on 5 November 2021.
Read the full publication here (492KB PDF)
Source: ZLHR
