UN NGO Committee Does Turkey's Bidding and Cracks Down on Civil Society

On January 30, 2017, member states of the UN's Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations ("NGO Committee") voted to recommend the withdrawal of UN accreditation from three organizations based in Turkey, including a free speech organization registered with 501c3 status in the United States. The UN NGO Committee is responsible for reviewing the applications of NGOs and recommending them for UN accreditation - a status that gives them the ability to participate in various UN events. The NGO Committee is well-known for holding up or denying accreditation of NGOs for political reasons. Members include China, Iran, Russia, Sudan, and Venezuela - countries which have little respect for freedom of speech or association and hinder the operation of independent NGOs.

Moreover, Turkey, which has engaged in a purge of thousands of journalists, teachers, and other civil society members following the the attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in July 2016, was chosen as a Vice-Chair of the UN NGO Committee at the January 30, 2017 meeting.

Following its appointment, Turkey requested that three organizations have their UN accreditation withdrawn because they had "ties to terrorists."

The United States objected to Turkey's request to withdraw immediately UN accreditation from the organizations and asked that the organizations be granted time to respond to the allegations. The United States pointed out that one of the organizations, the Journalist and Writers Foundation, relocated to the United States, is based in New York, and is a registered 501c3 non-profit.

The United States' request to postpone a vote on withdrawing their UN status was rejected by a vote of 2 in favor (the U.S. and Israel), 14 against, and 1 abstention. The NGO Committee then voted to recommend withdrawal of UN accreditation from the Journalist and Writers Foundation by a vote of 16 in favor, 2 against the U.S and Israel), and 1 abstention. (The other two organizations were recommended to have UN accreditation withdrawn by a vote of 16 in favor, 0 against, 2 abstentions.)

During the January 30, 2017 meeting, the NGO Committee also prevented an NGO from making a statement. At the beginning of the meeting, the US representative requested that an NGO be granted an opportunity to make a statement relevant to the NGO Committee's work. Committee members from China, Russia and India objected on procedural grounds. After 45 minutes of debate over procedure, the Chair ruled that because of the lack of consensus, the NGO would not be given an opportunity to speak."