The World Assembly,
Affirming the importance of the freedom to associate and the effort of GA#550 to protect this freedom,
Recognizing that protecting said freedom is especially important in the authoritarian and anti-democratic regimes among us where abuses of civil rights can occur commonly,
Concerned by section 1(b), particularly:
- The ability for governments to selectively impose criminal penalties on an organization through the word “may,” allowing corrupt governments to support criminal and/or hateful organizations to continue operating when they otherwise would not be allowed to,
- The undefined term “national security” which allows the majority of protest and action groups to be sanctioned by authoritarian regimes on the vague premise of being a threat to national security, especially pro-democracy and pro-rights advocacy groups,
- The prohibition of the spread of “message[s] of hate directed toward a specific group,” meaning that any and every categorical group is protected from any sort of hate, so a pro-democracy group insulting an authoritarian regime for crimes against humanity could be censured for hateful speech against that group,
Believing that the above flaws are a major loophole and allow for the continued exploitation of the freedom to associate,
Desiring a resolution which does not give bad actors the ability to neglect basic rights and freedoms,
Hereby repeals General Assembly Resolution #550 “Freedom of Association.”