National Assembly postponed the second discussion of the law to regulate NGOs

• The legislation was approved up to article 30 and the debate will resume in the next ordinary session of Parliament | Main photo: EFE

On Tuesday, August 13, the National Assembly postponed the second discussion of the Law on Supervision, Regulation, Action and Financing of Non-Governmental Organizations and Related Organizations until the next ordinary session.

The president of the Legislative Branch, Jorge Rodríguez, chaired the session and asked the deputies present if they agreed with the postponement of the debate on the wording of this regulation. “The discussion of this law is postponed until the next session,” said Rodríguez.

According to information provided by the parliamentarians, this decision was taken in order to make changes to the wording of the law and “include proposals” that they have received from various sectors of civil society.

The legislation was approved up to its Article 30, which provides for the suspension of a non-profit social organization for a maximum period of 30 days if it fails to comply with the prohibitions established in this law.

Photo: Courtesy

“This measure must be notified to the competent jurisdictional body within 15 days, so that it may decide on its admissibility and continuity, in which case, the non-profit social organization will be subject to the corresponding judicial dissolution process,” says Article 30 of the bill.

On August 12, Jorge Rodríguez reported that the National Assembly would begin to discuss the Law on Supervision, Regularization, Action and Financing of Non-Governmental Organizations and Related Organizations.

“We are going to discuss the Law on Supervision, Regularization, Action and Financing of NGOs and Related Organizations, which are regulated in many parts of the world, but not in Venezuela. There are NGOs that provide a service to people, such as the Red Cross, but many of them are a facade for financing terrorist actions,” said Rodriguez.

The IACHR’s exhortation to the National Assembly

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) On August 13, he urged the National Assembly (AN) to abstain from approving the Law on Supervision, Regulation, Action and Financing of Non-Governmental and Related Organizations, since it considered that the right of association in Venezuela would be restricted.

Photo: HRW.org

“This law would arbitrarily restrict the right to association, freedom of expression and public participation, in a context of closing civic space. The work of human rights defenders is key to rebuilding a democratic society,” the IACHR wrote on its X account.

The multilateral organization stressed that the discussion and possible approval of this law is taking place in a context of increasing repression by the Venezuelan authorities following the presidential elections on July 28.

Likewise, the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, asked the government of Nicolás Maduro to reject bills to regulate the operation of NGOs

and social media, due to the negative impact they would have on human rights and democracy in general.

“I urge the authorities not to adopt these or other laws that undermine the civic and democratic space in the country,” Türk said in a statement read in Geneva by her spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, on August 13.