IMF Called Upon by Human Rights Watch to Intervene in Sri Lanka’s Proposed NGO Law

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to urge the Sri Lankan government to abandon draft legislation that could severely limit civil society and jeopardize the IMF’s program in the country.

The proposed Non-Governmental Organizations (Registration and Supervision) Act is among several recent and planned measures that would curtail fundamental freedoms, despite the critical role of public scrutiny in promoting good governance and combatting corruption.

The IMF should protect the credibility and efficacy of its program in Sri Lanka by publicly calling upon the government to abandon the proposed NGO law, impose a moratorium on use of the Online Safety Act, and amend the Anti-Terrorism Bill to ensure that it respects human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said.