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	The week in corruption by Transparency International, agencies   Most EU member states have just missed their deadline for a crucial assignment. Following the Panama Papers, the EU agreed to reform its anti-money laundering framework and make it harder for organized crime networks and corrupt politicians to clean their dirty money.   Today, January 10, was the deadline to implement public registers of company ownership. The majority of countries, from offshore havens like Malta and Cyprus, to major economies like France or Italy, have not taken the agreed steps.   Scandal after scandal has shown how anonymous companies enable corruption around the world. If the EU can't make good on its promises to end them, it will encourage procrastinators elsewhere to keep dragging their feet, too.   Other global players also need to step up their game for their own sake.   Last week, reports from the US revealed that the military had been awarding contracts to companies without knowing who was actually behind them, threatening national security.   In the absence of registers that the authorities can rely on, revealing corrupt and fraudulent schemes falls to whistleblowers and journalists who handle leaked data, often at great risk to their own safety.   Just yesterday, an investigative reporter was beaten and robbed by unknown men near his office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He had been covering a massive corruption scandal involving high level public officials who had funnelled over US$ 1 billion of dirty money abroad, often through - you guessed it, anonymous shell companies.   http://voices.transparency.org/ http://www.icij.org/investigations/luanda-leaks/western-advisers-helped-an-autocrats-daughter-amass-and-shield-a-fortune/ http://www.icij.org/investigations/ http://www.taxjustice.net/2020/02/18/financial-secrecy-index-2020-reports-progress-on-global-transparency-but-backsliding-from-us-cayman-and-uk-prompts-call-for-sanctions/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2020/02/21/human-rights-watch-submission-un-working-group-business-and-human-rights http://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/oil-gas-and-mining/signed-away-exxons-exploitative-deal-deprived-guyana/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/05/reputation-laundering-is-lucrative-business-for-london-pr-firms Visit the related web page
	Civic space: threats, attacks and lack of funding face many civil society organisations in the EU by EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, agencies European Union   Verbal threats, physical attacks and lack of funding are some of the main challenges for civil society organisations working on human rights in the European Union. Moreover, almost half say that the situation in their country has deteriorated in the last year. These findings come from the second annual consultation, carried out by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) among civil society organisations across the European Union.   The ‘Civic space ― experiences of organisations in 2019’ paper draws on views from 205 civil society organisations from FRA’s Fundamental Rights Platform (link is external). It shows the main obstacles they face in their work:   Almost half of national and local civil society organisations say that the situation in their country has deteriorated.   More than half say they faced verbal and online threats and attacks, including hate speech, as well as negative media reports about them.   One in five say they experienced a physical attack, targeting either one of their employees/volunteers or their office building.   The majority has difficulties accessing or participating in public consultations, mainly due to short deadlines or lack of feedback from the authorities.   Many face challenges arising from regulatory frameworks, such as provisions on freedom of expression, assembly and data protection.   Availability of, and access to funding is a problem for most civil society organisations. The proposed EU Justice, Rights and Values Fund could assist their finances.   Civil society is an essential component of the democratic system. The quantity, quality and intensity of obstacles affecting civil society’s ability to carry out their work provide an indication of a country’s general state of fundamental rights, democracy and rule of law.   This second annual consultation shows that many of the human rights organisations that FRA cooperates with continue to face challenges in their daily work.   FRA started an annual consultation with organisations participating in its Fundamental Rights Platform in 2018, focusing on the challenges they experience in their daily work. The consultation followed the publication of FRA’s 2018 report on ‘Challenges facing civil society working on human rights in the EU’, which highlighted different areas of concern.   The new findings underline the continued relevance of the opinions FRA formulated in its 2018 report on civil society, which EU institutions and Member States should consider.   http://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2020/civic-space-threats-attacks-and-lack-funding-face-many-civil-society-organisations-eu http://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2020/covid-19-new-normal-should-also-safeguard-fundamental-rights http://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner http://www.socialplatform.org/news/europes-recovery-after-the-pandemic-and-civil-society/ http://www.socialplatform.org/ http://www.eapn.eu/news-and-publications/news/eapn-news/ http://srpoverty.org/2020/07/14/how-to-ensure-the-poor-dont-pay-for-covid-19/ Visit the related web page
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