Civil Society Organizations in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Process in Sri Lanka Withdraw in Protest of the Oppressive and Undemocratic Laws Targeting Civic Space
Civil society organizations (CSOs) engaged in the co-creation of third National Action Plan have collectively decided to withdraw from the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in Sri Lanka to express their opposition to the recent actions of the Government, specifically the purported passage of the Online Safety Act and attempts to introduce a draconian anti-terrorism law despite widespread public resistance.
CSOs are concerned that these actions of the Government are aimed at suppressing the civic space and fundamental freedoms of the people, and therefore clearly contradict the fundamental principles of the OGP.
As the co-convenors of the CSOs in the OGP process in Sri Lanka, Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) and Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, we wrote to the President today to officially inform him of this collective decision
