France, Germany concerned over cancellation of Odhikar’s registration

France and Germany have expressed deep concern about the scrapping of the non-government organisation (NGO) Odhikar's registration by the government.  
 
In a Facebook post, the French Embassy said, "We are concerned by the situation of the NGO Odhikar, which was temporarily denied the renewal of its registration."
 
France and Germany have reiterated their attachment to freedom of opinion and expression and to the promotion and protection of all human rights throughout the world.
 
The two countries salute the important work of this NGO to which the Franco-German Human Rights Prize was awarded in December 2017 by the French and German Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
 
Earlier on 10 June, the United Nations also expressed deep concern over the matter and called on the Bangladesh government to foster an enabling environment for civil society to undertake their work without fear of reprisals, particularly in the lead-up to the next polls.
 
"We urge the government to immediately reconsider this decision, and to ensure that Odhikar has the ability to seek full judicial review of any such determination," said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
 
Amnesty International, an international rights organization, on 7 June demanded that the Bangladesh government must immediately rescind its decision to arbitrarily deregister the rights organisation and allow the leading human rights group in the country to function without fear of reprisals.
 
Thirty-seven eminent citizens of the country have demanded the withdrawal of the decision to deregister Odhikar.
 
In a statement issued on 12 June, they said that Odhikar has been conducting information collection, research and advocacy activities for many years to uphold the rule of law and protect human rights in Bangladesh.
 
On 6 June, the NGO Affairs Bureau of the Prime Minister's Office cancelled the registration of Odhikar after the rights body applied for 10 years extension of its registration.
 
The NGO Bureau said the registration has been cancelled for various reasons including engaging in activities that tarnish the image of the country in the international arena.
 
The reasons for the cancellation of registration include - not providing information required for registration and non-payment of increased fees and VAT imposed under the new law, no response or explanation for objections to eight financial audit reports of foreign-funded projects, creating anti-state issues on its website (odhikar.org), and not responding appropriately to intelligence report on inconsistencies in financial transactions in three projects.