#NoNPOBill: After an 8-day-straight overnight protest, anti-NPO Bill protesters still get no answer!

#NoNPOBill: After an 8-day-straight overnight protest, anti-NPO Bill protesters still get no answer from the government!

Today hundreds of anti-NPO Bill protesters marched from the UN Headquarters to Government House again to demand immediate withdrawal of the abusive NPO law. They have been protesting for 8 days straight, and the government still ignores their demands!

Last week, the protesters met with a government representative and submitted a letter demanding the law to be immediately withdrawn, but there's still no answer or any reaction from the government!

This abusive draft bill was originally approved by the Government on February 24, 2021, and requires all Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) to be registered with the Ministry of Interior. NPOs’ actions must comply with the rules prescribed by the law and administered by the Ministry of Interior.

So, what does it mean if the draft law passes? It will further LIMIT the rights to freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and freedom of expression of the Thai people!

Read our analysis of the damaging impacts of the Bill on civil society here.

The approval of the Bill sparked the Thai civil society to unite and fight against it because it will impact everyone from speaking truth to power or even questioning the government!

Manushya Foundation has joined dozens of other organizations, calling for its withdrawal in a series of joint letters and statements on 17 June 2021, 27 December 2021, and most recently on 12 May 2022 in a letter to the US President Joseph R. Biden and the Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.

The NPO Bill does not have a place in a democratic society and its adoption would only contribute to the shrinking civic space we have been witnessing in Thailand in recent years. Manushya Foundation has been raising this issue, as well as the fact that the bill itself is not compliant with International Human Rights Law standards, on various occasions. Most importantly, we lobbied for this issue to be included in Thailand's 3rd Universal Periodic Review, an UN-backed review assessing the human rights situation in the country.

We presented our UPR Factsheet on Civic Space in Thailand to the international community and informed the UN about the dangers of the NPO Bill. In November 2021, the international community responded clearly: in its current form, the NPO Bill is a danger to Thai civil society and democracy. Thailand consequently received 9 recommendations from foreign governments. 8 of them calling for a revision of the NPO Bill were accepted by Thailand in March 2022, however, the Government only 'noted' (effectively meaning 'refused') the remaining recommendation calling for a withdrawal of the Bill.

✊ Manushya Foundation will continue to fight against the deeply flawed NPO Bill until the Government can ensure that civil society in Thailand can operate freely and that our rights to freedom of assembly, association, and expression are respected!

#WeAreManushyan ♾ Equal Human Beings

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