Bi-weekly News and Opinion Roundup - December 23, 2021
News from C&SN
C&SN founder and senior advisor Kay Guinane issued a statement in response to Treasury issuing new general licenses to protect certain activities in Afghanistan, applauding the protection of activities such as human rights and development work, while also calling for a Global General License to protect all legitimate civil society operations from sanctions in all places. Read the full statement here. (December 22).

Kay Guinane sounds the alarm over the global implications of Israel’s efforts to criminalize Palestinian civil society, arguing that “the Israeli government’s tactics have offered authoritarians the world over a blueprint for isolating and silencing their political adversaries.” Read her take on C&SN’s blog. (December 10).
Featured Resources
The six human rights organizations targeted by the Israeli government with terrorism designations have launched a website with informational resources and advocacy tools for pushing back against Israel’s attempt to shut down their work and isolate them from the international community. Take action on the website here. (December).

A recent report from Spaces for Change focuses “on the use of technologies, regulations, and other computerized devices to jeopardize the right to privacy, censor free speech, and stifle dissent in the online civic space in Nigeria.” Find the full report here. (December 7).

Another recent report from Spaces for Change explores “links between many restrictions on the civic space in Nigeria and well-intentioned global initiatives developed in the context of countering terrorism and preserving national security.” Find the full report here. (December 7).
Humanitarian Access
In recent months, the military junta in Myanmar has “imposed new travel restrictions on humanitarian workers, blocked access roads and aid convoys, destroyed non-military supplies, attacked aid workers, and shut down telecommunications services,” according to Human Rights Watch. HRW is calling on international donors to step up and fund local and cross-border efforts to deliver aid to the people of Myanmar. Read Human Rights Watch’s in-depth reporting here. (December 13).
Sanctions
C&SN’s Kay Guinane is quoted in response to new general licenses issued by the Treasury Department to protect a broader range of civil society activities in Afghanistan. She argues that while the new licenses are a welcome step and indicate that Treasury is being receptive to civil society input, “rather than taking a piecemeal approach that protects certain activities one license at a time, Treasury should issue a Global General License that encompasses all legitimate civil society operations in all locations.” The Hill reports. (December 22).

Former military commanders in Afghanistan, former U.S. ambassadors to Afghanistan, and other former U.S. officials, and dozens of sitting members of Congress have called on the Biden administration to consider relaxing its policy of freezing Afghanistan’s reserves given the current humanitarian crisis. The Washington Post reports. (December 20).

C&SN was proud to endorse a congressional letter urging Treasury to release Afghanistan’s frozen reserves and take other steps to address the urgent crisis in Afghanistan. As explained in a particularly poignant passage, the signers “fear, as aid groups do, that maintaining this policy could cause more civilian deaths in the coming year than were lost in 20 years of war.” The Washington Post reports. (December 20).

In a letter to President Biden, 18 faith leaders called on the president to “show moral leadership by ending the use of broad economic sanctions that too often result in the deaths of innocents and fail to change government behavior.” Read FCNL’s summary here, and the full letter here. (December 9).
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