Global civil society alliance, CIVICUS has pointed out that the overwhelming majority of the newly admitted members of the BRICS alliance have troubling records of upholding civic freedoms and a history of quashing democratic dissent which does not augur well for multilateralism or people-centred decision making.
CIVICUS believes civil society participation and civic space are essential for the creation of peaceful, just, inclusive and sustainable societies. Without civic space and participation there cannot be any meaningful transparency, accountability or participation in decision making.
“There were already serious concerns about BRICS being a values-free alliance given the appalling human rights records of China and Russia against whom there are credible accusations of committing crimes against humanity. The addition of six new members to BRICS, four of which have some of the worst records on the planet in respect of persecution of civil society, further weakens the legitimacy of the alliance,” said Lysa John, Secretary General of CIVICUS.
All of the current BRICS countries have seriously disenabling civic space conditions according to the CIVICUS Monitor, a participatory research collaboration involving over 20 organisations from around the world. China and Russia are classified in the worst ‘closed’ category on the CIVICUS Monitor which means that civic space conditions in these countries are so poor that state and non-state actors are routinely allowed to imprison, seriously injure and kill people with impunity for seeking to exercise their fundamental freedoms of peaceful assembly, expression and association.
Four of the proposed new inductee countries – Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates – are also listed in the ‘closed’ category and have a history of routinely imprisoning and persecuting political dissenters and civil society activists engaged in uncovering corruption and serious human rights violations.
BRICS countries claim to support a system of global governance that is more inclusive and egalitarian yet have mixed records in upholding civic freedoms enshrined in the international human rights framework. Respect for civic freedoms is an essential element of the rules based international order.
For more information on global civic space conditions, please visit CIVICUS Monitor at https://monitor.civicus.org/ . The CIVICUS Monitor rates countries according to five categories: open, narrowed, obstructed, repressed and closed.
Current BRICS members: Brazil (obstructed), Russia (closed), India (repressed), China (closed), South Africa (obstructed).
Proposed new BRICS members: Argentina (narrowed), Egypt (closed), Ethiopia (repressed), Iran (closed), Saudi Arabia (closed), United Arab Emirates (closed).
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