Using procedural ruses, members of the Committee can, and often do, defer applications session after session with inappropriate, specious or repetitive questions and demands of the NGOs.
Among the organizations blocked in this manner today:
- Russia blocked a Russian NGO, the "Anti-Corruption Foundation," by asking the organization about any connections with the "Open Russia" movement, an initiative advocating democracy and human rights in Russia;
- Turkey blocked the organization "World Without Genocide," which recognizes the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as a genocide
- Pakistan attempted to demand the organization "Women Living Under Muslim Laws – International Solidarity Network" explain its position on existing legislation on homosexuality in the Muslim world. The U.S. expressed serious concern at the question, leading to the Pakistani representative simply rephrasing the question to address "sexual rights" instead of homosexuality;
- Nicaragua continued blocking organizations dedicated to reproductive rights, including the American organization "White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood" and the British NGO "World Association for Sexual Health";
- For the second time this year Iran blocked a pair of American organizations dedicated to women's rights, including "Women's Freedom Forum" and "Women's Voices Now," asking the latter why it only focuses on a "specific religion" in a "specific region," a similar question to what Iran asked the Women's Freedom Forum at the Committee's last session in February 2017; and
- Azerbaijan blocked Armenian NGOs – "SEG" Civil Society Support Center NGO and the Society Without Violence – asking for information on projects they undertake in the Nagorno-Karabakh region (a region in dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan).
