US funding offer for NGOs draws mixed reactions

US funding that has been made available for local pro-democracy NGOs has received mixed reactions from Syrian rights groups. “Our people don’t respect groups that take money from abroad,” said Ahmad Fayez Fawaz, director of the Damascus-based Human Rights Association of Syria. “Although we don’t completely reject the idea of accepting foreign funding, we don’t want money from the US, because its reputation is very bad in Syria.” “We believe the policy of the US towards democracy is dishonest,” added Fawaz. “We don’t believe this money would come without conditions.” The UK-based Telegraph newspaper quoted Syria’s foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, as saying: "It is interference in our internal affairs. We reject it totally.” Last week, Washington announced the creation of a US $5 million funding programme for Syrian NGOs working on issues related to “core democratic values”. Organisations promoting a range of issues – including democracy, freedom of association, transparency and government accountability – are now eligible for grants ranging from between US $100,000 and US $1 million. An online application form, available on the State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) website, states that “any registered NGO” is eligible to apply. However, Syrian rights groups involved in political activities complain they are unable to apply because, under Syrian law, only organisations conducting charitable activities are able to obtain official NGO status. No non-charitable NGO has been registered since 1963, when the emergency law that still governs the country was introduced. This has forced human rights and opposition groups to operate illegally, although they are currently “tolerated” by the government. “The money can only go to legally registered organisations – but we aren’t legal,” noted Anwar al-Bunni, head of the Free Political Prisoners Committee and Syria's leading human rights lawyer. “If my organisation were legal, then I would consider taking money from abroad, but only if there were no conditions attached.” Other rights activists declined to comment on the matter, fearing that it could worsen their already precarious situation. Many activists continue to express concerns for their safety, especially since last week’s brief re-arrest of Mamoun Homsi and Riad Seif, two opposition leaders and former MPs, who were detained for 24-hours. Homsi and Seif were originally released last month under a special presidential pardon after being imprisoned in 2000 on charges of stirring up feelings against the regime of President Bashar Assad. The arrests abruptly ended the so-called "Damascus Spring", a period of official flexibility and freedom of expression that followed the ascension of Assad to power in July 2000. International human rights groups have long campaigned to revoke the law banning political activity in Syria. “We’ve urged the Syrian government for a long time to review the existing legislation so that the legal situation of NGOs can improve,” said Nicole Choueiry, Amnesty International’s spokeswoman for the Middle East. The American embassy in Damascus declined to comment on the funding programme.