https://debankd.org/ New public records added to the Financial Censorship Monitor. en Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 debankd build_public_site.py https://debankd.org/case/iranian-freelance-journalist-kianoosh-darvishi-iran-2026 https://debankd.org/case/iranian-freelance-journalist-kianoosh-darvishi-iran-2026 State-Ordered Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Iran. Year: 2026. Category: State-Ordered. Freelance journalist Kianoosh Darvishi, who previously worked for Ensaf News, had his bank accounts blocked by Iran's cyber police after being summoned for questioning about his posts on protests. Darvishi reported on February 3, 2026, that his accounts were frozen and stated he was being repeatedly summoned regarding his coverage of the mass protests that began in late 2025. https://debankd.org/case/four-pakistani-journalists-pakistan-2026 https://debankd.org/case/four-pakistani-journalists-pakistan-2026 State-Ordered Fri, 02 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Pakistan. Year: 2026. Category: State-Ordered. Four Pakistani journalists in exile—Wajahat Saeed Khan, Sabir Shakir, Shaheen Sehbai, and Moeed Pirzada—were sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia on January 2, 2026, by an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad for allegedly inciting violence during May 2023 protests. As part of a broader persecution campaign, their bank accounts were frozen, passports cancelled, and their YouTube channels blocked. The charges relate to their coverage of events from exile, not criminal activity, making this a clear case of politically motivated financial and legal harassment. https://debankd.org/case/at-least-six-non-governmental-organizations-uganda-2026 https://debankd.org/case/at-least-six-non-governmental-organizations-uganda-2026 State-Ordered Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Uganda. Year: 2026. Category: State-Ordered. The Uganda NGO Bureau suspended permits for at least six non-governmental organizations and froze their bank accounts ahead of a crucial election. This action occurred shortly before a nationwide internet shutdown and came amid widespread repression of opposition parties and dissenting voices during the election period. https://debankd.org/case/confederation-of-indigenous-nationalities-of-ecuador-conaie- https://debankd.org/case/confederation-of-indigenous-nationalities-of-ecuador-conaie- State-Ordered Sun, 28 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ecuador. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. The Ecuadorian government under President Daniel Noboa froze bank accounts belonging to social leaders and their legal representatives who were participating in or organizing national protests linked to a strike called by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE). Amnesty International reported that the freezing of these accounts occurred in parallel with abusive criminal investigations being opened against protesters, as part of broader government repression of dissent and peaceful assembly. https://debankd.org/case/a-pakistani-journalist-saad-pakistan-2025 https://debankd.org/case/a-pakistani-journalist-saad-pakistan-2025 State-Ordered Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Pakistan. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. A Pakistani journalist named Saad reported that his relatives' bank accounts, including his sister-in-law's pension account, were closed by authorities to prevent them from sending him funds. This action was taken as retaliation for his reporting on military and government corruption, and represents a deliberate restriction of financial access motivated by his political journalism rather than legitimate law enforcement. https://debankd.org/case/indigenous-and-environmental-organisations-alianza-ceibo-uda https://debankd.org/case/indigenous-and-environmental-organisations-alianza-ceibo-uda State-Ordered Fri, 19 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ecuador. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. Starting September 19, 2025, Ecuador's Financial and Economic Analysis Unit froze the bank accounts of multiple Indigenous and environmental organizations — including Alianza Ceibo and UDAPT — and their individual leaders, invoking anti-money-laundering provisions of the Social Transparency Law, which permits account freezes without a court order. The freezes occurred during nationwide protests against President Daniel Noboa's diesel fuel subsidy cuts and the greenlighting of a mining project; the Ministry of Interior alleged the groups had funded violent protests based on secret intelligence reports, and Noboa publicly stated the frozen funds targeted groups seeking to 'destabilize' his administration. The measures disrupted community programs, salaries, and projects for weeks. Courts subsequently ruled the intelligence reports lacked evidence and ordered the accounts restored. https://debankd.org/case/ukrainians-living-in-russian-occupied-territories-ukraine-20 https://debankd.org/case/ukrainians-living-in-russian-occupied-territories-ukraine-20 State-Ordered Wed, 10 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ukraine. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. Russian occupation authorities in Ukrainian territories enforced a decree requiring residents to obtain Russian passports by September 10, 2025, or face denial of access to financial and vital services. Those without Russian passports were systematically denied access to bank accounts, pensions, cell phone plans, medical care, employment, and humanitarian aid. The restriction was imposed through occupying authorities' direct control over access to these services in occupied areas. https://debankd.org/case/amazon-sacred-headwaters-alliance-ecuador-2025 https://debankd.org/case/amazon-sacred-headwaters-alliance-ecuador-2025 State-Ordered Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ecuador. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. Ecuador's Prosecutor's Office, under President Daniel Noboa, has launched investigations into more than 60 individuals and frozen their bank accounts, predominantly targeting Indigenous and environmental defenders. The targets include award-winning campaigner Belén Páez and leaders of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance. Fundación Pachamama reports its bank account was frozen, forcing suspension of all work. A lawyer for the defendants called the simultaneous investigations of so many people for this charge 'extremely unusual,' and human rights advocates characterise it as an abuse of power designed to silence conservation and Indigenous activists during a period of intense government repression. https://debankd.org/case/georgian-civil-society-ngos-incl-civil-society-foundation-an https://debankd.org/case/georgian-civil-society-ngos-incl-civil-society-foundation-an State-Ordered Wed, 27 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Georgia. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. Georgia's prosecutor's office obtained a court order to freeze the bank accounts of seven civil society organizations, alleging they funded protest equipment used during anti-government demonstrations in 2024. The NGOs, which include human rights and women's rights organizations, say the accusations are baseless and that the freezes represent political persecution designed to silence independent civil society groups. https://debankd.org/case/independent-news-outlets-batumelebi-and-netgazeti-georgia-20 https://debankd.org/case/independent-news-outlets-batumelebi-and-netgazeti-georgia-20 State-Ordered Thu, 17 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Georgia. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. Georgia's Revenue Service froze and seized the bank accounts of independent news outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti on July 17, 2025, citing accumulated tax debts of approximately 282,000 laris (~$100,000) and giving only five days notice. The action occurred while the outlets' founder and director, journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, was on trial — and was subsequently convicted and jailed — for allegedly slapping a police chief during anti-government protests on January 11, 2025. The outlets, their editor, and international press freedom and human rights organizations including Amnesty International, OCCRP, and the Committee to Protect Journalists characterize both the account seizure and the criminal charges as politically motivated retaliation for the outlets' critical reporting on the Georgian government. The account freeze threatened the outlets' continued operation and was described as part of a coordinated campaign to silence independent media. https://debankd.org/case/baha-i-community-members-in-iran-multiple-individuals-and-th https://debankd.org/case/baha-i-community-members-in-iran-multiple-individuals-and-th State-Ordered Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Iran. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. Iranian authorities have escalated persecution of Baha'is through the judiciary, including systematic confiscation of financial assets and property. In a case in Isfahan, authorities seized legitimate properties of 20 Baha'is—including homes, vehicles, and bank accounts—without due process by invoking article 49 of the Constitution. This financial censorship is part of a broader campaign that has intensified since June 2025, documented as containing over 750 persecutory acts motivated solely by the targets' religious beliefs. https://debankd.org/case/civil-society-organisations-and-independent-media-in-hungary https://debankd.org/case/civil-society-organisations-and-independent-media-in-hungary State-Ordered Tue, 13 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hungary. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. Hungary submitted a bill on 13 May 2025 entitled "Transparency of Public Life" that would allow the government to designate civil society organisations receiving foreign funding as threats to sovereignty, effectively blocking their financial access. The bill would require the Sovereignty Protection Office to create a government-compiled list of targeted organisations, freeze their bank accounts, bar them from domestic tax donation schemes, and force credit institutions to scrutinise and potentially redirect their foreign funding to a state-owned fund. Organisations listed would face financial asphyxiation through state-ordered restrictions on both foreign and domestic funding. https://debankd.org/case/association-for-freedom-of-thought-and-expression-afte-egypt https://debankd.org/case/association-for-freedom-of-thought-and-expression-afte-egypt State-Ordered Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), a human rights NGO in Egypt, experienced financial censorship through state-imposed restrictions on its funding and banking access. AFTE submitted a funding authorization request to the Ministry of Social Solidarity in May 2025 but has not received approval nearly two months later, hindering its ability to seek and use funds. Additionally, AFTE has faced systematic difficulties maintaining a bank account since registering in 2023 under Egypt's 2019 associations law, with an 11-month delay before a private bank finally opened an account for the organization. https://debankd.org/case/pakistani-journalist-asad-ali-toor-pakistan-2025 https://debankd.org/case/pakistani-journalist-asad-ali-toor-pakistan-2025 State-Ordered Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Pakistan. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. Pakistani journalist Asad Ali Toor, known for his critical YouTube channel covering government and military affairs, had his bank accounts and those of his family members and parrot sellers frozen by the FIA on April 10, 2025, without prior notification, citing vague concerns about 'unusual' financial activity and investigating potential money laundering and terror funding. His own account was restored after he secured a court order in May 2025, with the court ruling the action violated due process, though his family members' accounts remain blocked. The FIA also blocked his YouTube channel. On August 8, 2025, Toor was blocked from traveling overseas at Islamabad airport after his name was added to an FIA travel restriction list, preventing him from participating in a U.S. State Department-arranged International Visitor Leadership Program. https://debankd.org/case/bia-oru-liberty-poland-2025 https://debankd.org/case/bia-oru-liberty-poland-2025 Unknown Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Poland. Year: 2025. Category: Unknown. The Belarusian opposition's Coordination Council lost access to a bank account belonging to Białoruś Liberty, a foundation founded by Angelika Melnikova, a speaker for the exiled Belarusian opposition. The account was supposed to receive approximately 100,000 euros in donor funds for the Coordination Council and other opposition groups. The loss of access occurred around late March 2025, shortly after Melnikova disappeared, and the opposition scrambled to unfreeze the funds. https://debankd.org/case/chinese-dissident-and-human-rights-activist-chen-yunfei-chin https://debankd.org/case/chinese-dissident-and-human-rights-activist-chen-yunfei-chin State-Ordered Mon, 24 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. Chen Yunfei, a veteran Chinese dissident and human rights activist, was designated as a 'dishonest debtor' by Chinese courts after his release from prison in March 2025, which prevented him from accessing his bank accounts and resuming work. His nursery business was emptied of all assets upon his release, and he has lost his primary source of income. Additionally, his 91-year-old mother had approximately $35,800 in savings and cash stolen during a forced eviction, with authorities refusing to investigate the loss. https://debankd.org/case/georgian-ngos-incl-nanuka-s-fund-human-rights-house-tbilisi- https://debankd.org/case/georgian-ngos-incl-nanuka-s-fund-human-rights-house-tbilisi- State-Ordered Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Georgia. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. The Georgian Prosecutor's Office, acting through the Tbilisi City Court, froze the bank accounts of five civil society organizations — Nanuka's Fund, Prosperity Georgia, Human Rights House Tbilisi, Fund for Each Other 24/7, and Shame Movement — that had been providing legal aid, medical assistance, and financial support (including paying fines) to protesters and workers dismissed for participating in anti-government demonstrations. Authorities accused the groups of financing 'illegal activities' and 'sabotage' and alleged they bore responsibility for violence linked to the protests, but provided no evidence for these claims. The freezes were imposed without prior notification of any financial irregularities, and critics described the action as politically motivated suppression of dissent. https://debankd.org/case/mongolian-human-rights-activist-hada-china-2025 https://debankd.org/case/mongolian-human-rights-activist-hada-china-2025 State-Ordered Tue, 04 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. Hada, a 69-year-old ethnic Mongolian dissident, human rights activist, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee in Inner Mongolia, China, has had his bank accounts frozen by Chinese state security police since his release from prison in 2014. The financial restrictions are part of a broader set of controls including a travel ban and close police surveillance, imposed due to his political activism on behalf of ethnic Mongolian herding communities and their land rights. Hada has also appealed his 'separatism' conviction to China's highest court, and in early 2025 was rushed to hospital from house arrest, with family members prevented from visiting him. https://debankd.org/case/central-asian-migrants-placed-on-russia-s-registry-of-contro https://debankd.org/case/central-asian-migrants-placed-on-russia-s-registry-of-contro State-Ordered Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. Russia's amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens, which entered into force on February 5, 2025, created an 'expulsion regime' backed by a 'registry of controlled persons' database targeting migrants with expired permits, granting police broader expulsion authority under laws amended in summer 2024. The law prohibits individuals on the registry from opening bank accounts, transferring money, and conducting most financial transactions. Since implementation, hundreds of legal migrants have been prevented from accessing their Russian bank accounts due to technical issues with the registry system, and by March 9, 2025, the registry contained 685,000 foreigners. These measures disproportionately affect Central Asian migrant workers — mostly from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan — amid rising xenophobic harassment and violence following the March 2024 Crocus City Hall attack. https://debankd.org/case/international-criminal-court-icc-netherlands-2025 https://debankd.org/case/international-criminal-court-icc-netherlands-2025 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Netherlands. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. The United States has imposed and plans to impose sanctions against the International Criminal Court as an institution, following earlier sanctions against ICC officials, judges, and supporting NGOs. The sanctions restrict the ICC's access to financing from banks and states, block essential services, and leverage US control over the global financial system to obstruct the Court's operations, including its ability to pay staff, protect witnesses, and deliver justice to victims. https://debankd.org/case/11-uae-political-dissidents-their-relatives-and-8-linked-com https://debankd.org/case/11-uae-political-dissidents-their-relatives-and-8-linked-com State-Ordered Wed, 08 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United Arab Emirates. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. On January 8, 2025, Emirati authorities designated 11 political dissidents and their relatives as terrorists and added 8 UK-registered companies owned by exiled dissidents to its terrorism list via cabinet decision. The designations triggered immediate asset freezes and property confiscations under the UAE's counterterrorism law and Cabinet Decision 74/2020, without prior notice or due process. The individuals learned of the designation only through state media. The companies lost clients and business opportunities due to the designation. https://debankd.org/case/us-funded-ngo-name-not-disclosed-yemen-2025 https://debankd.org/case/us-funded-ngo-name-not-disclosed-yemen-2025 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Yemen. Year: 2025. Category: State-Ordered. A US-funded NGO in Yemen supporting women's empowerment had its offices raided by Houthi officials, with its boss arrested and organization's bank account subsequently frozen. The raid and financial restriction appear motivated by the NGO's association with US funding and perceived alignment with US interests, particularly following the Trump administration's re-designation of Houthis as a terrorist organization. https://debankd.org/case/canada-s-uyghur-rights-advocacy-project-and-canada-tibet-com https://debankd.org/case/canada-s-uyghur-rights-advocacy-project-and-canada-tibet-com State-Ordered Sat, 21 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on December 21, 2024, that it was freezing the assets in China of Canada's Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and Canada Tibet Committee in response to Canada's December 10 sanctions on eight senior Chinese officials over human rights violations. The Chinese government cited its Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and prohibited organizations and individuals in China from conducting transactions or cooperating with these Canadian groups, and barred them from travel to China, Hong Kong, and Macau. https://debankd.org/case/indigenous-activists-and-environmental-defenders-in-the-phil https://debankd.org/case/indigenous-activists-and-environmental-defenders-in-the-phil State-Ordered Tue, 03 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Philippines. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. The Philippine government, through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), has designated Indigenous activists and environmental defenders as 'terrorists' under anti-terrorism legislation. The article states that once formally designated as terrorists, 'the government can formally designate individuals and organisations as terrorists, freez[ing] the bank accounts and assets of individuals and organisations even if they are just under suspicion.' This practice has been weaponised against critics of mining projects, with specific cases cited including Jennifer Awingan-Taggaoa and Stephen Tauli being branded terrorists after anti-mining activism. https://debankd.org/case/ethiopian-civil-society-and-governance-ngos-ethiopia-2024 https://debankd.org/case/ethiopian-civil-society-and-governance-ngos-ethiopia-2024 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ethiopia. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Ethiopia's government has proposed amendments to its civil society law that would restrict financial access for NGOs, particularly those engaged in governance and election-related work. The draft law would prohibit foreign funding for such organizations, require prior government approval to open bank accounts or borrow money, and grant the Authority for Civil Society Organizations power to freeze assets and bank accounts during suspensions on vague 'national security' grounds without court appeal. The proposal comes ahead of scheduled 2026 elections and amid ongoing government crackdowns on civil society. https://debankd.org/case/ten-journalists-individually-named-elsewhere-broader-target- https://debankd.org/case/ten-journalists-individually-named-elsewhere-broader-target- State-Ordered Sun, 24 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Bangladesh. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. On 24 November 2024, Bangladesh's central bank financial intelligence agency (BFIU) ordered the bank accounts of ten journalists to be frozen for a renewable period of one month. The official justification cited money laundering concerns, though no tangible proof was provided. An investigation into the accounts of 28 additional journalists was also underway following a request from the Ministry of Information. This action occurred in the context of violent attacks on independent newspapers Daily Star and Prothom Alo, and harassment of journalists through false murder complaints. https://debankd.org/case/multiple-tunisian-ngos-incl-ftdes-atfd-nawaat-and-iwatch-tun https://debankd.org/case/multiple-tunisian-ngos-incl-ftdes-atfd-nawaat-and-iwatch-tun State-Ordered Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Tunisia. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Tunisian government authorities systematically restricted financial access to at least 14 NGOs working on human rights, migration, election monitoring, and corruption between October 2024 and November 2025. Banks froze accounts, refused to process international transfers, and closed accounts without justification. The Ministry of Finance and Tax Evasion Investigation Unit opened investigations into at least 12 organizations on grounds of 'suspicious foreign funding,' leading prosecutors to freeze bank accounts. Courts issued 30-day suspension orders against multiple organizations including ATFD, FTDES, Nawaat, and OMCT. These restrictions were imposed in apparent retaliation for the organizations' legitimate human rights work, not for fraud or criminal misconduct. https://debankd.org/case/civil-society-groups-and-independent-ngos-in-georgia-georgia https://debankd.org/case/civil-society-groups-and-independent-ngos-in-georgia-georgia State-Ordered Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Georgia. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Georgian authorities have blocked the bank accounts of several civil society groups under criminal proceedings based on unfounded 'sabotage' allegations. Independent NGOs are being subjected to arbitrary intrusive inspections, criminal investigations, and asset freezes as part of a broader campaign of repression against civil society and independent media ahead of the 4 October 2025 local elections. https://debankd.org/case/flood-relief-workers-and-donation-collectors-myanmar-2024 https://debankd.org/case/flood-relief-workers-and-donation-collectors-myanmar-2024 State-Ordered Tue, 17 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Myanmar. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Myanmar's junta blocked bank accounts used by flood relief workers and donation collectors through the KBZ Pay mobile payment system on or around September 17, 2024. At least five accounts were closed and suspended under Myanmar's Anti-Money Laundering Law, preventing people from receiving donations or transferring money for Typhoon Yagi relief efforts. The junta justified the restrictions by claiming donations could reach rebel groups, though the accounts were being used for legitimate humanitarian aid distribution. https://debankd.org/case/g-i-zder-and-four-individual-migration-rights-activists-turk https://debankd.org/case/g-i-zder-and-four-individual-migration-rights-activists-turk State-Ordered Sat, 31 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Turkey. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Turkey's Minister of Finance and Treasury froze the assets of Göç İzleme Derneği, a migration rights monitoring NGO, and four of its staff members (Songül Köse, İlyas Erdem, Mehmet Zana Kibar, Halit Karahan) by ministerial decision published on 31 August 2024, claiming they were affiliated with the PKK/KCK terrorist organisation. The decision blocked their bank accounts, pensions, credit cards, and public transport passes. However, all four individuals had been acquitted of terrorism-related charges in February 2024 by Istanbul's 26th Heavy Criminal Court, and a separate dissolution case against the organisation remains ongoing. https://debankd.org/case/turkish-journalist-b-lent-mumay-turkey-2024 https://debankd.org/case/turkish-journalist-b-lent-mumay-turkey-2024 Informal Pressure Tue, 27 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Turkey. Year: 2024. Category: Informal Pressure. Journalist Bülent Mumay faced financial pressure and legal harassment in Turkey for reporting on a pro-government construction company's seizure of Istanbul Municipality funds. The article mentions that the government has employed 'financial coercion' against journalists, and references a lawsuit by a drug lord (Duax Ngakuru) against another journalist (Timur Soykan) demanding 350,000 TL in damages as an example of financial tools being used to intimidate journalists. https://debankd.org/case/individuals-and-entities-listed-in-niger-s-terrorism-databas https://debankd.org/case/individuals-and-entities-listed-in-niger-s-terrorism-databas State-Ordered Tue, 27 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Niger. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Niger's military government issued Order No. 2024-43 on August 27, 2024, creating an automated database of people suspected of terrorism. According to the ordinance, those listed face severe consequences including asset freezes, travel restrictions, and potential loss of nationality. Human Rights Watch criticized the ordinance for using vague criteria to determine inclusion, lacking due process protections, and enabling restrictions on freedom of expression and association. https://debankd.org/case/myanmar-migrant-workers-in-thailand-myanmar-thailand-2024 https://debankd.org/case/myanmar-migrant-workers-in-thailand-myanmar-thailand-2024 State-Ordered Thu, 01 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Myanmar, Thailand. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Since August 2024, Myanmar military junta has imposed mandatory taxes and remittances exceeding 6,000 baht (US$170) on approximately 2 million migrant workers in Thailand, payable through military-owned banks at artificially low exchange rates, effectively extracting money from the diaspora as a condition of maintaining legal status. In February 2025, Thailand introduced a new labour documentation rule requiring Myanmar government approval for workers to remain legally employed, giving the junta veto power over workers' livelihoods and forcing compliance with its financial demands. Workers who refuse to remit funds through junta-controlled banks risk losing legal work status, and the Myanmar embassy has refused to assist workers with accident compensation documentation without payment of mandatory fees. https://debankd.org/case/endbadgovernance-protesters-protest-organisers-nigeria-2024 https://debankd.org/case/endbadgovernance-protesters-protest-organisers-nigeria-2024 State-Ordered Tue, 09 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Nigeria. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. A Nigerian judge ordered the freeze of cryptocurrency wallets containing over $37 million allegedly linked to #EndBadGovernance protest organisers on July 9, 2024. The EFCC requested the freeze citing money laundering and terrorism financing investigations, but sources suggest the real targets are protest organisers. Investigation by Techpoint Africa found the wallets remain active and continue processing transactions despite the court order, raising questions about enforcement. https://debankd.org/case/center-for-alliance-of-labor-and-human-rights-central-cambod https://debankd.org/case/center-for-alliance-of-labor-and-human-rights-central-cambod State-Ordered Fri, 28 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Cambodia. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. On June 28, 2024, Cambodia's Interior Minister Sar Sokha issued a letter demanding that CENTRAL's executive director provide information about all the organization's bank accounts in Cambodia within 30 days. This action followed CENTRAL's publication of a June 4, 2024 report on freedom of association violations in Cambodia's garment industry. The demand foreshadows an arbitrary investigation into CENTRAL's activities and compliance with the Law on Associations and NGOs, with potential consequences including revocation of the organization's registration. https://debankd.org/case/nathan-law-christopher-mung-finn-lau-simon-cheng-johnny-fok- https://debankd.org/case/nathan-law-christopher-mung-finn-lau-simon-cheng-johnny-fok- State-Ordered Wed, 12 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Hong Kong's Secretary for Security Chris Tang revoked the Chinese passports of six UK-based pro-democracy activists and imposed financial sanctions on them. Tang explicitly warned that anyone engaging in financial transactions with them would be prosecuted. The activists were designated as 'fugitives' under Hong Kong's Article 23 national security law, and authorities also placed restrictions on their real estate holdings in Hong Kong. https://debankd.org/case/tunisian-council-for-refugees-and-terre-d-asile-tunisie-tuni https://debankd.org/case/tunisian-council-for-refugees-and-terre-d-asile-tunisie-tuni State-Ordered Fri, 03 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Tunisia. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Between May and June 2024, Tunisian authorities raided and shut down NGOs providing assistance to refugees and migrants, most notably the Tunisian Council for Refugees (a UNHCR partner) and Terre d'asile Tunisie, freezing their bank accounts. Six employees of the Tunisian Council for Refugees, including founder Mustapha Djemali and project manager Abderrazek Krimi, were prosecuted under immigration law for facilitating irregular entry and stay of foreign nationals, triggered in part by the organization's publication of a public tender for hotel accommodations for refugees. At least a dozen organizations were investigated over their funding, and banks increasingly delayed or blocked incoming international transfers by demanding excessive documentation. These actions were driven by President Kais Saied's accusations that NGOs working on migration were 'traitors' and 'foreign agents' seeking to alter Tunisia's demographic composition. https://debankd.org/case/philippine-community-organisations-incl-cernet-and-kaduami-p https://debankd.org/case/philippine-community-organisations-incl-cernet-and-kaduami-p State-Ordered Wed, 01 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Philippines. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Philippine authorities filed baseless terrorism financing charges against civil society groups and activists, including Cernet, Kaduami, and PDG, and froze their bank accounts through the Anti-Money Laundering Council. The charges appear politically motivated, targeting activists previously subjected to 'red-tagging,' and were filed to demonstrate progress toward removing the Philippines from the Financial Action Task Force's 'grey list' for money laundering deficiencies. Many charges were based on scant evidence and have been dismissed by courts. https://debankd.org/case/somali-journalists-syndicate-sjs-somalia-2024 https://debankd.org/case/somali-journalists-syndicate-sjs-somalia-2024 State-Ordered Sat, 13 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Somalia. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), a media rights organization, had its bank accounts frozen by three commercial banks (Premier Bank, Dahabshil Bank International, and IBS Bank) following court orders issued by the Banadir Regional Court in April 2024. The court acted on a report from Somalia's Office of the Attorney General alleging that SJS used fake media licenses and conducted illegal press activities. The article suggests these investigations are retaliatory actions against an organization that has been vocal about Somalia's poor press freedom record. https://debankd.org/case/uyghurs-china-2024 https://debankd.org/case/uyghurs-china-2024 State-Ordered Mon, 08 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Chinese authorities in Xinjiang announced a ban on Uyghurs using social media apps including TikTok, X, YouTube, and cryptocurrency platforms like Bitcoin, with penalties including arrest, fines of 15,000 yuan, and deductions from China's social credit system. The announcement was released by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a state-run paramilitary organization. Police have authority to freeze bank accounts and terminate phone service for violations, effectively restricting Uyghurs' financial access as punishment for political and communication activities. https://debankd.org/case/ngos-and-independent-media-outlets-in-kyrgyzstan-receiving-f https://debankd.org/case/ngos-and-independent-media-outlets-in-kyrgyzstan-receiving-f State-Ordered Tue, 02 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kyrgyzstan. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan signed a "foreign agents" law on 2 April 2024 that allows authorities to arbitrarily suspend NGOs and independent media organisations receiving foreign funding for six months without court reference and freeze all their financial assets. The law requires organisations to label all published content as produced by a "foreign agent" and register on a national list, or face suspension and potential permanent liquidation after court review. https://debankd.org/case/jewish-voice-for-peace-germany-2024 https://debankd.org/case/jewish-voice-for-peace-germany-2024 Corporate Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Germany. Year: 2024. Category: Corporate. Jewish Voice for Peace, a German-based anti-Zionist activist NGO, had its bank account frozen by state-owned Berliner Sparkasse ahead of the mid-April Palestine Congress. The bank cited "regulatory reasons" for the freeze, though the article notes the group's account had been frozen previously in 2019 due to its support for the Palestinian-led BDS movement. The timing and context suggest the freeze was politically motivated to prevent the organization's fundraising and participation in pro-Palestinian activism. https://debankd.org/case/russian-theatre-director-yevgenia-berkovich-and-playwright-s https://debankd.org/case/russian-theatre-director-yevgenia-berkovich-and-playwright-s State-Ordered Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. Russian theater director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk were placed on the Russian government's 'terrorists and extremists' list in spring 2024, which blocked them from drawing any funds from their bank accounts except 10,000 rubles (approximately $90) per month for basic necessities. The financial restriction was imposed following their arrest on charges of 'justifying terrorism' over an award-winning play they staged together. The article indicates the charges and subsequent financial censorship appear to be retaliation for Berkovich's public condemnation of Russia's war in Ukraine through poetry and activism. https://debankd.org/case/indian-national-congress-india-2024 https://debankd.org/case/indian-national-congress-india-2024 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. The Indian National Congress (INC), a leading opposition political party, had its bank accounts frozen by Indian government authorities in a tax dispute dating back to 2018-19. The party accused the government of using this financial restriction to damage their ability to campaign for national elections scheduled to begin in April 2024. This action was part of a broader crackdown on opposition figures and parties ahead of the elections. https://debankd.org/case/international-society-for-fair-elections-and-democracy-isfed https://debankd.org/case/international-society-for-fair-elections-and-democracy-isfed State-Ordered Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Georgia. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), an election monitoring NGO in Georgia, had its bank accounts frozen by court order as of March 2024. ISFED's executive director stated that the frozen accounts combined with new restrictive laws make it impossible to receive grants or run election monitoring operations. Multiple other NGOs including the Human Rights House of Tbilisi and Civil Society Foundation also had their bank accounts frozen by prosecutors during the same period. https://debankd.org/case/indian-national-congress-party-india-2024 https://debankd.org/case/indian-national-congress-party-india-2024 State-Ordered Tue, 13 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. India's Income Tax Department froze the bank accounts of the Indian National Congress Party — the main opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP — in February 2024, just weeks before national elections scheduled for April–June 2024, blocking access to approximately 2.1 billion rupees ($25.3 million). The IT department issued multiple notices demanding roughly $220 million in back taxes, penalties, and interest dating back to 1993-94, citing the party's failure to file tax returns for donations, while also partially confiscating funds. The Congress party condemned the action as a deliberate assault on democracy, noting they could not pay salaries or electricity bills, and the freeze occurred shortly after the Supreme Court declared Modi's electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional amid a broader pattern of government agencies targeting opposition figures. https://debankd.org/case/armenian-environmental-and-human-rights-defenders-armenia-20 https://debankd.org/case/armenian-environmental-and-human-rights-defenders-armenia-20 Corporate Fri, 09 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Armenia. Year: 2024. Category: Corporate. Armenian environmental and human rights defenders have faced financial restrictions as part of a broader campaign of harassment and judicial intimidation by mining companies. Most directly, judges suspended the bank accounts of activists accused in defamation lawsuits filed by Lydian mining company; additionally, on 9 February 2024, the president of Centre for Community Mobilization and Support received a demand from Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine for one million Armenian drams (approximately EUR 2,300) in compensation and a public retraction. These financial restrictions occur within a pattern of strategic lawsuits designed to silence opposition to mining projects. https://debankd.org/case/indian-ngos-incl-centre-for-policy-research-and-oxfam-india- https://debankd.org/case/indian-ngos-incl-centre-for-policy-research-and-oxfam-india- State-Ordered Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. India's BJP-led government used the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to systematically target civil society organizations and activists. The government raided the homes and offices of prominent human rights activist Harsh Mander on February 2, 2024, and suspended or cancelled FCRA licenses of multiple NGOs including Centre for Equity Studies, Centre for Policy Research, World Vision India, and Tamil Nadu Social Service Society, effectively restricting their access to foreign funding. The government also ordered X (Twitter) to block Hindutva Watch and blocked access to India Hate Lab, websites documenting hate crimes and hate speech. https://debankd.org/case/palestinian-aid-organisations-individuals-in-gaza-and-diaspo https://debankd.org/case/palestinian-aid-organisations-individuals-in-gaza-and-diaspo Corporate Thu, 01 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Israel. Year: 2024. Category: Corporate. GoFundMe and PayPal have been accused of systematically blocking millions of dollars in fundraising for Palestinian aid by shutting down or freezing campaigns and accounts, with The Sameer Project among organisations reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars refunded or frozen despite providing full documentation. Multiple Palestinians and diaspora fundraisers attempting to crowdfund money for evacuation and aid had their accounts restricted for days or weeks, blocking transfers of tens of thousands of dollars. The payment processors cited security and donor protection concerns, but fundraisers reported these freezes coincided with political sensitivity around Gaza funding. Critics allege discriminatory application of terms of service, as similar fundraisers for Israel and Ukraine faced significantly less scrutiny. https://debankd.org/case/radio-free-europe-radio-liberty-rfe-rl-kyrgyz-service-kyrgyz https://debankd.org/case/radio-free-europe-radio-liberty-rfe-rl-kyrgyz-service-kyrgyz State-Ordered Tue, 16 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kyrgyzstan. Year: 2024. Category: State-Ordered. The Kyrgyz government froze the bank account of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Kyrgyz service as part of a broader campaign against independent media outlets critical of government policies. The article references this as an example of ongoing pressure on media organizations, alongside criminal investigations and raids targeting other independent news outlets on charges of war propaganda and calls to disobedience. https://debankd.org/case/turkish-journalist-united-states-2023 https://debankd.org/case/turkish-journalist-united-states-2023 Corporate Wed, 06 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United States. Year: 2023. Category: Corporate. A Turkish journalist lost access to multiple US bank accounts, likely as a result of unfounded terrorism accusations made against them by Turkish authorities. The account closures were attributed to de-risking practices adopted by financial institutions, which complicated the journalist's ability to access financial services while in exile. https://debankd.org/case/russian-physicist-artyom-khoroshilov-russia-2023 https://debankd.org/case/russian-physicist-artyom-khoroshilov-russia-2023 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Artyom Khoroshilov, a 34-year-old Russian physicist, was arrested in December 2023 and is facing 25 years in prison on charges that include state treason. The treason charge is based on his donations of approximately 700,000 rubles ($8,900) from his bank account and in cryptocurrency to Ukrainian charities, including Come Back Alive, which supports Ukrainian military personnel. Russian prosecutors have criminalized his financial transfers to Ukraine-based organizations as acts of treason, effectively restricting his access to his own funds and criminalizing his use of financial services for these transfers. https://debankd.org/case/international-lgbt-movement-russia-2023 https://debankd.org/case/international-lgbt-movement-russia-2023 State-Ordered Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. On November 30, 2023, Russia's Supreme Court ruled that the 'international LGBT movement' is an extremist organization, effectively outlawing all public LGBTI-related activity and rights activism in the country. Under Russian extremism legislation, participating in or financing the movement is punishable by up to 12 years in prison, with organizers and donors facing up to 10 years, and authorities are empowered to add suspected participants to a nationwide 'list of extremists' and freeze their bank accounts. At least 281 individuals have been identified as 'active participants' facing risk of criminal prosecution and asset freezes, and those under investigation typically also face employment restrictions and other rights violations. By early 2024, the first convictions under the ruling had already been recorded. https://debankd.org/case/international-public-lgbt-movement-lgbti-community-in-russia https://debankd.org/case/international-public-lgbt-movement-lgbti-community-in-russia State-Ordered Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Russia's Ministry of Justice initiated proceedings to legally recognize the "international public LGBT movement" as extremist and ban its activities. The article explicitly states that those facing investigation or prosecution for involvement in "extremist" activities "typically have their bank accounts blocked" along with employment restrictions and other rights restrictions. The motivation is political and identity-based, targeting LGBTI people for their sexual orientation and gender identity. https://debankd.org/case/sevinj-vagifgizi-her-family-and-families-of-abzas-media-jour https://debankd.org/case/sevinj-vagifgizi-her-family-and-families-of-abzas-media-jour State-Ordered Tue, 21 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Sevinj Vagifgizi, editor-in-chief of investigative outlet Abzas Media, was arrested on 21 November 2023 at Baku Airport, after which Azerbaijani authorities froze her family's bank accounts for six months, as well as blocking the bank accounts, pensions, and financial assets of family members of other imprisoned Abzas Media journalists and directors. Defence lawyers confirmed there was no legal basis for these freezes, as the family members were not suspects in any proceedings. The tactic was described as collective punishment designed to silence critics and their families, deployed in the context of Abzas Media's investigative journalism exposing state corruption and ahead of the February 2024 presidential election. https://debankd.org/case/abzas-media-journalists-and-collaborators-azerbaijan-2023 https://debankd.org/case/abzas-media-journalists-and-collaborators-azerbaijan-2023 State-Ordered Mon, 20 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Beginning on 20 November 2023, Azerbaijani authorities arrested and financially restricted multiple journalists and collaborators affiliated with independent media outlets Abzas Media and Kanal 13, ostensibly on charges of smuggling foreign currency. Sevinj Vagifgizi (editor-in-chief of Abzas Media) had her bank accounts and those of her family members frozen for six months following her arrest on 21 November 2023; Aziz Orujov (director of Kanal 13) and Shamo Eminov (Kanal 13 reporter) had their bank accounts and credit cards frozen and family pension payments suspended; and economist and Abzas Media collaborator Toghrul Valiyev had his salary account blocked. The crackdown was widely assessed as politically motivated retaliation for reporting on corruption involving President Aliyev and his inner circle, and occurred approximately two weeks before Aliyev announced snap presidential elections scheduled for February 2024. https://debankd.org/case/kazakhstani-women-s-rights-activist-dinara-smailova-kazakhst https://debankd.org/case/kazakhstani-women-s-rights-activist-dinara-smailova-kazakhst State-Ordered Wed, 01 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kazakhstan. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Dinara Smailova, founder of the NeMolchiKz Foundation, a women's rights organization providing assistance to survivors of sexual and domestic violence in Kazakhstan, had her foundation's and her personal bank accounts frozen by prosecutors in November 2023. The freezing followed criminal charges against her for fraud and other offenses that Human Rights Watch characterizes as dubious and politically motivated, designed to silence her activism and discredit her organization's work. https://debankd.org/case/palestinian-users-individuals-israel-2023 https://debankd.org/case/palestinian-users-individuals-israel-2023 Corporate Wed, 01 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Israel. Year: 2023. Category: Corporate. Binance seized cryptocurrency funds from Palestinian users at the request of Israel's Defense Forces, according to reports by Ray Youssef, CEO of Noones P2P platform. Binance cited a November 2023 letter from Israel's Ministry of Defense invoking anti-terrorism laws to justify the seizure. Binance later denied seizing funds from all Palestinians, claiming only a small number of accounts linked to illicit activities were restricted. https://debankd.org/case/launchgood-muslim-charities-and-humanitarian-organisations-p https://debankd.org/case/launchgood-muslim-charities-and-humanitarian-organisations-p Corporate Sat, 07 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United States. Year: 2023. Category: Corporate. Muslim-run charities and humanitarian organisations providing aid to Palestinians have had their bank accounts closed and payment processor access suspended by major financial institutions over the past year. LaunchGood, a crowdfunding platform for Muslims, and multiple other organisations have experienced account closures and service disruptions despite being registered charities in good standing. Banks cite 'de-risking' practices but the closures appear motivated by political sensitivity around Gaza aid and adverse media coverage rather than legal violations or fraud. https://debankd.org/case/azerbaijani-opposition-leader-gubad-ibadoghlu-azerbaijan-202 https://debankd.org/case/azerbaijani-opposition-leader-gubad-ibadoghlu-azerbaijan-202 State-Ordered Sun, 23 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Gubad Ibadoghlu, a prominent Azerbaijani opposition leader and scholar, was arrested on July 23, 2023, on spurious charges of counterfeiting money. During his arrest, Azerbaijani authorities seized approximately $40,000 in cash from the Economic Research Center office. The article explicitly states that authorities had previously frozen the bank accounts of Ibadoghlu's Economic Research Center and forcibly closed it in 2014 as part of a crackdown on civil society critics. His arrest and the seizure of financial assets appear politically motivated, targeting his opposition political activities and his recent establishment of the Azerbaijani Youth Education Foundation. https://debankd.org/case/russian-transgender-anti-war-activist-mark-kislitsyn-russia- https://debankd.org/case/russian-transgender-anti-war-activist-mark-kislitsyn-russia- State-Ordered Wed, 12 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Mark Kislitsyn, a transgender anti-war activist in Russia, was arrested on 12 July 2023 and charged with 'high treason' for sending approximately US$10 to a Ukrainian bank account hours after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On 23 December 2023, he was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony. Amnesty International characterizes this as politically motivated punishment for his anti-war activism rather than legitimate treason prosecution. https://debankd.org/case/democratic-voice-of-burma-dvb-and-mizzima-myanmar-2023 https://debankd.org/case/democratic-voice-of-burma-dvb-and-mizzima-myanmar-2023 State-Ordered Sat, 08 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Myanmar. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Myanmar's military junta announced a lawsuit against two independent media outlets, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Mizzima, claiming they owe broadcasting fees from before the February 2021 coup. The junta seized Mizzima's bank account containing approximately US$42,000 in March 2021 and revoked both outlets' operating licenses. Mizzima's founder stated the outlet could pay the bill if it could access its seized bank account, indicating the financial restriction was imposed as retaliation against the outlets' independent journalism. https://debankd.org/case/russian-democratic-society-rdo-serbia-2023 https://debankd.org/case/russian-democratic-society-rdo-serbia-2023 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Serbia. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. The Russian Democratic Society (RDO), a Serbia-based volunteer group co-founded by Pyotr Nikitin, faced difficulties opening a bank account and maintaining its legal entity status after Nikitin was denied entry to Serbia in July 2023 despite holding permanent residence. Nikitin suspects Moscow influenced the decision through Serbian intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin. The group subsequently transitioned to informal organizing methods, particularly around human rights causes. https://debankd.org/case/davit-sargsyan-and-168-hours-armenia-2023 https://debankd.org/case/davit-sargsyan-and-168-hours-armenia-2023 State-Ordered Tue, 02 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Armenia. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. An Armenian court ordered the freezing of 9 million dram (approximately US$23,000) in assets belonging to journalist Davit Sargsyan and his employer, the independent news outlet 168 Hours, on May 2, 2023. The freeze was part of a civil defamation suit filed by Yerevan Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinyan in response to a February 5 video report by Sargsyan accusing Avinyan of corruption. The asset freeze poses a significant operational problem for 168 Hours and could have a chilling effect on Armenian media freedom. https://debankd.org/case/ordinary-burmese-citizens-myanmar-2023 https://debankd.org/case/ordinary-burmese-citizens-myanmar-2023 State-Ordered Mon, 01 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Myanmar. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Myanmar's military junta shut down at least 721 mobile bank accounts in May 2023, accusing them of funding anti-junta forces including the People's Defense Force. The Central Bank ordered the closures after monitoring account transactions for suspicious activity. While some accounts may have been used to fund resistance groups, many belonged to ordinary civilians running small businesses who had no connection to anti-junta activities. https://debankd.org/case/greek-human-rights-activist-panayote-dimitras-greece-2023 https://debankd.org/case/greek-human-rights-activist-panayote-dimitras-greece-2023 State-Ordered Mon, 01 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Greece. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Greece's Anti-Money Laundering Authority ordered the freezing of all assets of Panayote Dimitras, a prominent human rights activist and founder of the Greek Helsinki Monitor, pending an investigation into alleged misuse of EU and other funding. Dimitras learned of the asset freeze through media reports rather than official notification. The case is part of a broader pattern of prosecutions and smear campaigns against activists working with migrants in Greece. https://debankd.org/case/women-and-girls-in-iran-iran-2023 https://debankd.org/case/women-and-girls-in-iran-iran-2023 State-Ordered Wed, 12 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Iran. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. The Iranian authorities have announced and are implementing multiple legislative and policy measures to restrict women and girls' access to financial and essential services as punishment for not complying with compulsory veiling laws. Proposed legislation includes freezing bank accounts of women who violate hijab requirements, blocking SIM cards and internet access, suspending driver's licenses, and denying access to educational services. These restrictions are explicitly designed to enforce discriminatory compulsory veiling laws and punish women exercising their human rights to freedom of expression and protest. https://debankd.org/case/chinese-human-rights-activist-li-ying-china-2023 https://debankd.org/case/chinese-human-rights-activist-li-ying-china-2023 State-Ordered Wed, 12 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Li Ying, operator of the influential 'Teacher Li is not Your Teacher' X account with 1.8 million followers, had all his Chinese bank accounts frozen on April 12, 2023, as part of a campaign of political repression by Chinese authorities. The account is known for disseminating sensitive information about protests and human rights abuses in China. The financial restriction was accompanied by harassment of his parents, including surveillance and threats to block their pensions if he did not delete his social media account. https://debankd.org/case/algerian-journalist-ihsane-el-kadi-algeria-2023 https://debankd.org/case/algerian-journalist-ihsane-el-kadi-algeria-2023 State-Ordered Sun, 02 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Algeria. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Ihsane El Kadi, an Algerian journalist and media owner, was sentenced to three years in prison (with two years suspended) by an Algiers court on April 2, 2023. The court dissolved his media company Interface Médias, which owned Radio M and Maghreb Emergent, confiscated all assets seized since his December 26, 2022 arrest, and imposed fines totaling over 10 million dinars. The prosecution charged him under article 95b of the penal code with receiving foreign funding to undermine the state, but his defence team and RSF assert the charges were unsupported and based solely on legitimate funds his daughter sent from the UK to pay employee salaries during financial difficulty. https://debankd.org/case/radio-free-europe-radio-liberty-rfe-rl-russian-branch-russia https://debankd.org/case/radio-free-europe-radio-liberty-rfe-rl-russian-branch-russia State-Ordered Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. A Moscow court declared the Russian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty bankrupt on March 13, 2023, following fines totaling over 1 billion rubles (US$13.3 million) imposed for refusing to comply with Russia's foreign agent law. Russian authorities had previously frozen RFE/RL's bank accounts in May 2021 and initiated bankruptcy proceedings in 2022 as part of what RFE/RL characterized as a years-long pressure campaign. The outlet's websites were also blocked, and more than 30 of its journalists were labeled foreign agents. https://debankd.org/case/myanmar-opposition-groups-incl-nug-pdf-and-crph-myanmar-2023 https://debankd.org/case/myanmar-opposition-groups-incl-nug-pdf-and-crph-myanmar-2023 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Myanmar. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Myanmar's military junta issued an amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Law on March 1, 2023, granting authorities sweeping powers to confiscate and control assets belonging to individuals and organizations deemed terrorist groups, including the power to take control of bank accounts as part of investigations. The law explicitly targets opposition groups, the People's Defense Force, and shadow government entities, according to lawyers and political analysts quoted in the article. The amendment also includes surveillance powers to monitor and intercept financial transactions and communications for up to 60 days. https://debankd.org/case/russian-clients-of-swiss-banks-ubs-credit-suisse-switzerland https://debankd.org/case/russian-clients-of-swiss-banks-ubs-credit-suisse-switzerland Informal Pressure Wed, 01 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Switzerland. Year: 2023. Category: Informal Pressure. Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse reportedly warned Russian clients that their accounts would be closed if they continued paying taxes to Russia. According to Swiss lawyers, clients received calls from bank employees threatening account closure, and some accounts were already blocked after tax payments to Russia were made. The banks appear to have taken these actions in response to pressure from Swiss authorities. https://debankd.org/case/lawyers-for-justice-israel-2023 https://debankd.org/case/lawyers-for-justice-israel-2023 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Israel. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. The Palestinian Authority's General Intelligence Services blocked the registration renewal of Lawyers for Justice in March 2023, a legal organization that has represented Palestinians detained by the PA. The organization's head stated that without valid registration, Lawyers for Justice will be unable to access its bank accounts and could face office closure and staff arrest. The PA cited alleged violations of nonprofit activity regulations, though the organization disputed these claims. https://debankd.org/case/ethnic-kazakh-musician-and-reeducation-camp-survivor-zhanarg https://debankd.org/case/ethnic-kazakh-musician-and-reeducation-camp-survivor-zhanarg State-Ordered Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Zhanargul Zhumatai, a 47-year-old ethnic Kazakh musician and reeducation camp survivor, was detained by Chinese state security police in Urumqi on February 10, 2023, after being contacted by someone claiming to be an Associated Press correspondent and after speaking out against government appropriation of ethnic Kazakh herding communities' land. Chinese authorities froze her bank accounts and assets pending 'investigation' for alleged 'extremist' behavior, which included normal Islamic practices. On February 13, 2023, her mother, sister, and two brothers were also arrested, reportedly for failing to stop her from communicating with foreign reporters. Her detention is part of a broader pattern in which Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have detained hundreds of ethnic Kazakhs in recent years, freezing their bank accounts and assets. https://debankd.org/case/league-of-social-democrats-lsd-hong-kong-2023 https://debankd.org/case/league-of-social-democrats-lsd-hong-kong-2023 Corporate Wed, 01 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2023. Category: Corporate. HSBC closed the bank accounts of the League of Social Democrats (LSD), a pro-democracy opposition party in Hong Kong, without explanation in February 2023. The closures prevented the party from operating and fundraising, and at least four party members also had personal accounts shut down, frozen, or closed. LSD chair Chan Po-ying later protested outside HSBC's headquarters against the closure. The account closures occurred amid a broader crackdown on opposition parties and activists following Hong Kong's 2020 National Security Law. Under sustained pressure from authorities, who warned the party to disband before July 1 or face forced dissolution, the LSD announced its disbandment in June 2025. https://debankd.org/case/peoples-democratic-party-hdp-turkey-2023 https://debankd.org/case/peoples-democratic-party-hdp-turkey-2023 State-Ordered Thu, 05 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Turkey. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. On 5 January 2023, Turkey's Constitutional Court froze the bank accounts of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the third-largest party in parliament with 56 deputies, blocking access to 539 million Turkish lira in state treasury electoral grants ahead of the June 2023 parliamentary and presidential elections. The court acted on a request by Chief State Prosecutor Bekir Sahin, who claimed the funds would be used to aid the PKK, designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU, and the US. A broader indictment also seeks to ban 451 party members from political activity and order forfeiture of the party's assets. HDP officials and lawyers described the decision as politically motivated, noting the same court had rejected a similar demand 18 months earlier and that the timing coincided with declining support for President Erdogan. https://debankd.org/case/lgbt-rights-organization-unnamed-jordan-2023 https://debankd.org/case/lgbt-rights-organization-unnamed-jordan-2023 State-Ordered Wed, 04 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Jordan. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. In January 2023, Jordanian authorities orchestrated the closure of an LGBT rights organization's bank account. The organization's director received a one-hour ultimatum from the bank to submit 60 documents or have the account closed. Following this, a multi-ministry committee ordered the organization to shut down. A second LGBT organization also had its bank account frozen by the central bank on orders from the intelligence agency, preventing the director from making international transactions. Both organizations were forced to cease operations and flee the country under threat. https://debankd.org/case/individual-nicaraguan-farmer-nicaragua-2023 https://debankd.org/case/individual-nicaraguan-farmer-nicaragua-2023 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Nicaragua. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Freedom House released a report documenting how authoritarian regimes worldwide use financial censorship as part of 'civil death' tactics to silence political opponents. The report provides specific examples including Nicaragua, where judges ordered the seizure of assets and froze bank accounts of over 300 individuals stripped of nationality, and more broadly documents how regimes freeze or seize bank accounts and confiscate property to restrict opponents' participation in society. https://debankd.org/case/humanitarian-aid-organizations-and-international-ngos-operat https://debankd.org/case/humanitarian-aid-organizations-and-international-ngos-operat State-Ordered Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Myanmar. Year: 2023. Category: State-Ordered. Myanmar's military junta restricts humanitarian aid financial flows by scrutinizing transactions through the country's central bank and forcing aid organizations to circumvent the banking system. The article describes how humanitarian organizations must open bank accounts in Thailand and carry cash across the border to avoid detection and investigation by Myanmar's central bank, and how the junta uses registration laws and bureaucratic checklists to control aid delivery. These restrictions disproportionately affect areas controlled by resistance groups rather than the military. https://debankd.org/case/kyrgyz-investigative-journalist-bolot-temirov-kyrgyzstan-202 https://debankd.org/case/kyrgyz-investigative-journalist-bolot-temirov-kyrgyzstan-202 Corporate Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kyrgyzstan. Year: 2022. Category: Corporate. Bolot Temirov, an investigative journalist, had two bank accounts closed by M-Bank (a Kyrgyz bank) that were created to receive donations for his YouTube channel Temirov Live. The first account, in the name of an association funding the media outlet, was closed in December 2022 without warning or explanation. The second account, in his wife's name, was blocked in October 2023 shortly after being created and announced on social media for receiving donations. The bank closures occurred following Temirov's expulsion from Kyrgyzstan after publishing investigations into corruption involving government figures. https://debankd.org/case/british-right-wing-politician-nigel-farage-united-kingdom-20 https://debankd.org/case/british-right-wing-politician-nigel-farage-united-kingdom-20 Corporate Thu, 17 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United Kingdom. Year: 2022. Category: Corporate. Coutts, NatWest Group's private banking arm, closed Nigel Farage's account in late June/early July 2023; internal documents obtained by Farage via subject access request — including minutes from a November 2022 wealth reputational risk committee meeting — revealed that his political views, including retweets on transgender issues, characterisation of Black Lives Matter protesters, and criticism of the RNLI, were considered incompatible with Coutts' position as an inclusive organisation, with the bank assessing him as 'xenophobic and racist'. Farage was subsequently rejected by nine other lenders, many citing his status as a 'politically exposed person', while other UK figures including Arron Banks, Andrew Wigmore, Richard Tice, and members of Grant Shapps's family also reported account closures. The scandal prompted NatWest CEO Dame Alison Rose and Coutts boss Peter Flavel to resign, the UK Treasury to issue a draft letter to major bank heads demanding explanations for politically motivated closures, the BBC to apologise for initially reporting political views were not involved, and Farage to launch AccountClosed.org to support others denied banking services. In March 2025, NatWest and Farage settled their dispute, with the bank issuing a formal apology and admitting to 'serious failings' in its treatment of him. https://debankd.org/case/radio-azattyk-kyrgyzstan-2022 https://debankd.org/case/radio-azattyk-kyrgyzstan-2022 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kyrgyzstan. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, had its bank account frozen by the Kyrgyz National Security Agency in October 2022, citing money laundering law violations. This action followed the outlet's publication of a video about the Kyrgyz-Tajik border conflict that the government did not approve. Multiple activists and politicians characterized the financial restriction as politically motivated retaliation for the outlet's independent journalism. https://debankd.org/case/iranian-celebrities-including-taraneh-alidoosti-et-al-iran-2 https://debankd.org/case/iranian-celebrities-including-taraneh-alidoosti-et-al-iran-2 State-Ordered Thu, 22 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Iran. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. Iran's government formed a secret committee on September 22, 2022, to punish celebrities who supported anti-government protests. The committee sent the economy ministry a list of 141 well-known figures with instructions to investigate their tax returns and implement economic restrictions. Multiple sources confirmed that bank accounts were blocked after celebrities expressed support for protests, and one Instagram influencer was threatened with significant tax assessments on online income. https://debankd.org/case/memorial-international-russia-2022 https://debankd.org/case/memorial-international-russia-2022 State-Ordered Wed, 14 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. Russian authorities froze the personal bank accounts of Memorial International head Yelena Zhemkova and Memorial Research and Information Center Director Boris Belenkin on September 14, 2022, as part of legal proceedings to seize the organization's office building. This action followed Memorial International's legal dissolution by the Russian Supreme Court in 2021 and the organization's subsequent outlawing. The account freezes appear motivated by the organization's human rights activities rather than legitimate law enforcement. https://debankd.org/case/nuns-and-peasant-women-red-tagged-by-the-philippine-governme https://debankd.org/case/nuns-and-peasant-women-red-tagged-by-the-philippine-governme State-Ordered Mon, 12 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Philippines. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. A group of nuns and peasant women in the Philippines had their bank accounts frozen as part of a broader harassment campaign stemming from being red-tagged by the Philippine government, specifically through the National Task Force on Ending Local Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). Red-tagging is a government practice of labeling activists, peasant organizations, human rights groups, and civil society members as communist sympathizers, exposing them to violence, physical harm, and financial restrictions such as account freezes. The financial censorship was one of multiple forms of harassment experienced by those targeted, alongside physical dangers. https://debankd.org/case/russian-anti-war-journalist-viktor-zyryanov-russia-2022 https://debankd.org/case/russian-anti-war-journalist-viktor-zyryanov-russia-2022 State-Ordered Thu, 08 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. Viktor Zyryanov, a Telegram administrator and journalist, had his bank accounts blocked by Russian authorities in connection with an investigation into former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev. Zyryanov, who holds anti-war views, fled Russia citing high risk of imprisonment and the blocking of his bank accounts, which he attributed to political targeting for his opposition to the war. https://debankd.org/case/seven-palestinian-civil-society-and-human-rights-organizatio https://debankd.org/case/seven-palestinian-civil-society-and-human-rights-organizatio State-Ordered Thu, 18 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Israel. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. On 18 August 2022, Israeli occupying forces raided and sealed the offices of seven Palestinian civil society and human rights organizations, leaving military orders for their closure under Article 319 of the Emergency Regulations of 1945. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz had previously designated six of these organizations as terrorist entities under Israel's Anti-Terrorism Law (2016) on 19 October 2021, with the designation extended to the West Bank on 3 November 2021. The organizations face additional risks including closure of bank accounts, travel bans, and arrest of staff members. A joint statement signed by over 190 organizations called on the international community to engage with financial institutions to ensure fund transfers to these groups continue. https://debankd.org/case/el-peri-dico-guatemala-2022 https://debankd.org/case/el-peri-dico-guatemala-2022 State-Ordered Sat, 30 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Guatemala. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. On 30 July 2022, Guatemala's Special Prosecutor for Anti-Impunity (FECI) obtained a judge's authorization to seize the bank accounts of el Periódico newspaper, one of the country's principal independent newspapers. The seizure was ordered alongside the arrest of the newspaper's president and founder José Rubén Zamora and a raid on the newspaper's offices. The prosecution accused Zamora of "blackmail," "influence trafficking," and "money laundering," charges widely viewed as pretextual given the newspaper's decades of reporting on corruption and abuses of power. https://debankd.org/case/rached-ghannouchi-mouadh-ghannouchi-hamadi-jebali-rafik-abde https://debankd.org/case/rached-ghannouchi-mouadh-ghannouchi-hamadi-jebali-rafik-abde State-Ordered Wed, 06 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Tunisia. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. A Tunisian court issued an order to freeze the bank accounts of several key opposition figures, including Rached Ghannouchi (head of the Ennahdha party and former parliament speaker), his son Mouadh, former Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, and former Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem. The Tunisian Financial Analysis Committee issued a statement instructing banks to immediately implement the ruling from an investigating judge in the anti-terrorism division. The targeted individuals are all prominent members of the Ennahdha party, which opposed President Kais Saied's dissolving of parliament and consolidation of power. https://debankd.org/case/russian-human-rights-activist-nadezhda-rossinskaya-russia-20 https://debankd.org/case/russian-human-rights-activist-nadezhda-rossinskaya-russia-20 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. Nadezhda Rossinskaya, a Russian volunteer from Belgorod who organized humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees and victims of Russian occupation, had her bank cards blocked in summer 2022 after authorities discovered her aid work. In February 2024, FSB agents arrested her and charged her with treason, aiding terrorism, and calling for actions threatening territorial integrity, based primarily on alleged Instagram posts calling for donations to Ukraine's Azov Brigade and financial transfers made through associates' bank accounts. In June 2025, a Moscow military court sentenced her to 22 years in prison and a 320,000-ruble fine. https://debankd.org/case/citizens-radio-hong-kong-2022 https://debankd.org/case/citizens-radio-hong-kong-2022 Informal Pressure Fri, 01 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2022. Category: Informal Pressure. Citizens' Radio, an independent Hong Kong radio station founded in 2005, ceased operations on 30 June 2023 after its bank refused to register donations to the station's account for nearly a year, presumably due to government pressure. The station's founder Tsang Kin-shing announced the shutdown after nearly two decades of harassment by authorities. This forced closure followed the Hong Kong government's broader campaign against independent media, including forced shutdowns of Apple Daily and Stand News. https://debankd.org/case/trans-people-in-guanajuato-state-mexico-2022 https://debankd.org/case/trans-people-in-guanajuato-state-mexico-2022 State-Ordered Tue, 21 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Mexico. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. Trans people in Guanajuato state, Mexico face barriers to accessing banking and financial services because the state lacks a legal gender recognition procedure. Six trans individuals reported difficulty completing financial transactions, including withdrawing money, opening accounts, receiving remittances, and securing loans, due to mismatches between their legal identity documents and their presented identity. Banks and financial institutions refuse service when identification documents do not match the person's appearance and stated gender identity. https://debankd.org/case/nicaraguan-civil-society-organisations-770-groups-nicaragua- https://debankd.org/case/nicaraguan-civil-society-organisations-770-groups-nicaragua- State-Ordered Mon, 06 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Nicaragua. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. The Nicaraguan government, through its National Assembly and Interior Ministry, systematically canceled the legal registration of over 770 nongovernmental organizations, NGOs, and foundations since June 2022, effectively forcing them to shut down operations. The closures were based on abusive legislation including a 'foreign agents' law that requires government registration and restricts financial operations, preventing organizations from maintaining bank accounts or moving financial resources without the Interior Ministry's certificate. The closures targeted medical charities, humanitarian organizations, human rights groups, and development organizations working on women's rights and climate change, ostensibly for non-compliance with vague legal requirements but in reality to silence civil society critics of President Daniel Ortega's administration. https://debankd.org/case/igor-zhulimov-and-irina-gurskaya-penza-volunteer-group-russi https://debankd.org/case/igor-zhulimov-and-irina-gurskaya-penza-volunteer-group-russi Corporate Tue, 12 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2022. Category: Corporate. A group of Russian volunteers led by lawyer Igor Zhulimov and economist Irina Gurskaya who were helping Ukrainian refugees reach Estonia had their fundraising bank account blocked by Sberbank in mid-April 2022, citing "suspicious activity." The account was blocked multiple times despite Gurskaya obtaining a replacement card. This financial restriction occurred amid a coordinated harassment campaign featuring anonymous Telegram posts, graffiti on volunteers' homes and vehicles, and police interference, all targeting the volunteers' humanitarian work assisting refugees. https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-pro-democracy-lawmaker-ted-hui-chi-fung-hong-kong- https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-pro-democracy-lawmaker-ted-hui-chi-fung-hong-kong- State-Ordered Sat, 09 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. Hong Kong authorities took multiple actions to freeze assets belonging to exiled former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui, who fled Hong Kong in 2020 while on bail. An initial restraining order by national security police in April 2022 froze the assets of Hui and his family members under the National Security Law. A further court-ordered freeze on February 17, 2025, applied by the Department of Justice, targeted over US$300,000 in funds, citing allegations of inciting secession, subversion of state power, and collusion with foreign forces. Hui, based in the United Kingdom, characterized both actions as political persecution and a violation of human rights. https://debankd.org/case/saung-hnin-phyu-and-six-other-unnamed-individuals-from-tanin https://debankd.org/case/saung-hnin-phyu-and-six-other-unnamed-individuals-from-tanin State-Ordered Tue, 29 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Myanmar. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. The Myanmar military junta froze the bank accounts of at least seven young civilians and prosecuted them under a rewritten Counterterrorism Law for making small donations (as little as $8) to opposition groups. The individuals received prison sentences of 7-10 years for these donations, far exceeding sentences given to anti-junta protesters. The junta amended the Counterterrorism Law in August 2021 to increase penalties for funding designated opposition groups. https://debankd.org/case/nurture-aids-center-nac-myanmar-2022 https://debankd.org/case/nurture-aids-center-nac-myanmar-2022 State-Ordered Wed, 02 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Myanmar. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. The Nurture AIDS Center in Yangon, Myanmar, a humanitarian NGO caring for 150 HIV/AIDS patients and orphans, had its bank accounts frozen by the military junta on March 2, 2022, following the arrest of its manager Yar Zar. The junta froze the accounts in connection with charges of 'money laundering' and 'terrorism' brought against the manager. The financial restriction was politically motivated, as the center's founder Phyu Phyu Thin, a former National League for Democracy lawmaker, had joined an opposition shadow government after the February 2021 coup, leading the junta to target the organization and its staff. https://debankd.org/case/belarusian-citizens-in-ukraine-including-belarusian-journali https://debankd.org/case/belarusian-citizens-in-ukraine-including-belarusian-journali State-Ordered Fri, 25 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ukraine. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. The Ukrainian central bank blocked all bank accounts and bank cards held by Belarusian citizens, including at least four Belarusian journalists who had fled Belarus to escape persecution and sought refuge in Ukraine. The restrictions were imposed as economic sanctions on Belarus as a Russian ally following Russia's attack on Ukraine, but had the effect of freezing funds that displaced persons had transferred to Ukraine to live on. Access Now's open letter to EU officials further noted that Russian and Belarusian nationals who fled their repressive regimes to Ukraine reported being unable to purchase basic necessities, pay for transportation, or secure housing as a result of these blanket nationality-based account freezes. The letter called on EU officials to address these discriminatory financial restrictions affecting refugees. https://debankd.org/case/convoy-protest-organizers-and-participants-canada-2022 https://debankd.org/case/convoy-protest-organizers-and-participants-canada-2022 State-Ordered Tue, 15 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Canada. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. The Canadian federal government froze more than 200 bank accounts holding approximately $7.8 million belonging to convoy protest organizers and participants under the Emergencies Act, which came into force on February 15, 2022. The freezes were intended to apply financial pressure to end the protest occupation of downtown Ottawa. Some Conservative MPs reported that constituents' accounts were frozen after they made donations to the convoy protest. https://debankd.org/case/freedom-convoy-protesters-and-donors-canada-2022 https://debankd.org/case/freedom-convoy-protesters-and-donors-canada-2022 State-Ordered Mon, 14 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Canada. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. On February 14, 2022, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, directing banks, credit unions, investment firms, and crowdfunding platforms to freeze accounts and stop providing financial services to anyone linked to the Freedom Convoy trucker protests against COVID-19 mandates, without requiring court orders. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced that vehicle insurance could also be suspended for protesters, and the government broadened terrorist financing rules to target cryptocurrencies and crowdfunding platforms used to fund the demonstrations. Toronto-Dominion Bank had already frozen C$1.4 million in donated funds prior to the formal emergency declaration. Critics described the measures as government seizure of funds targeting a domestic protest movement rather than terrorism, prompting Canadians to explore alternative financial systems such as Bitcoin. https://debankd.org/case/indian-investigative-journalist-rana-ayyub-india-2022 https://debankd.org/case/indian-investigative-journalist-rana-ayyub-india-2022 State-Ordered Thu, 10 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. India's Enforcement Directorate froze the bank accounts and assets of investigative journalist and Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub, reportedly in response to a complaint filed by a Hindu nationalist activist, marking the second such freeze in six months. The action was allegedly triggered by her crowdfunding campaigns to provide pandemic assistance, though UN human rights experts stated the money laundering allegations appeared baseless. UN experts and Reporters Without Borders characterized the actions as judicial harassment and an arbitrary intimidation campaign motivated by her critical reporting of the Modi government. The harassment was described as part of a broader pattern including false complaints, judicial investigations, and online hate campaigns. https://debankd.org/case/indian-journalist-rana-ayyub-india-2022 https://debankd.org/case/indian-journalist-rana-ayyub-india-2022 State-Ordered Fri, 04 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. Indian journalist Rana Ayyub's bank account was frozen on February 4, 2022, by the Enforcement Directorate, a financial fraud investigative body under India's ministry of finance, as part of a money laundering investigation into her COVID-19 charitable fundraising. The investigation was triggered by a September 2021 first information report filed by Uttar Pradesh police following articles by a pro-BJP website. Ayyub and her defenders contend the action is retaliation for her critical journalism, and U.N. Special Rapporteurs have called it judicial harassment. https://debankd.org/case/tibetans-who-have-traveled-to-india-and-returned-to-china-ti https://debankd.org/case/tibetans-who-have-traveled-to-india-and-returned-to-china-ti State-Ordered Fri, 04 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. Chinese authorities in Tibetan areas of China (Ngaba and Kanlho prefectures) closed bank accounts and confiscated mobile phones of Tibetans, particularly those who had traveled to India and returned. The article reports that Tibetans who sent money to Tibetans in exile for religious ceremonies were routinely threatened by authorities and had their financial and communication access restricted. These measures intensified during the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022. https://debankd.org/case/progressive-international-netherlands-2022 https://debankd.org/case/progressive-international-netherlands-2022 Corporate Wed, 02 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Netherlands. Year: 2022. Category: Corporate. Progressive International, a global organization supporting left-wing activists, had its donations blocked by Dutch ING Bank and PayPal. According to the organization's spokesperson, both institutions blocked donations to Progressive International and their COVID-19 vaccination solidarity campaign with Cuba, allegedly in support of the United States embargo. In response, Progressive International began accepting cryptocurrency donations including Bitcoin and Ether. https://debankd.org/case/russian-opposition-activists-leonid-volkov-and-ivan-zhdanov- https://debankd.org/case/russian-opposition-activists-leonid-volkov-and-ivan-zhdanov- State-Ordered Fri, 14 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) placed Leonid Volkov and Ivan Zhdanov, associates of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, on its list of 'terrorists and extremists' on January 14, 2022. This designation immediately froze their bank accounts and restricted their access to banking services. Both individuals are former heads of Navalny's political network and anti-corruption foundation, which were outlawed as extremist organizations in June 2021. https://debankd.org/case/arab-network-for-human-rights-information-anhri-egypt-2022 https://debankd.org/case/arab-network-for-human-rights-information-anhri-egypt-2022 State-Ordered Mon, 10 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. The Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), a prominent Egyptian human rights organization, announced its closure on January 10, 2022, after nearly 18 years of operation. The organization was forced to close due to Egypt's 2019 associations law requiring NGO registration with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, combined with government threats, arrests, and harassment by the National Security Agency. Founder Gamal Eid has been under a travel ban and asset freeze since 2016, preventing him from opening bank accounts or conducting official transactions, which directly hindered the organization's ability to register and operate. https://debankd.org/case/non-profit-organizations-npos-receiving-foreign-funding-in-t https://debankd.org/case/non-profit-organizations-npos-receiving-foreign-funding-in-t State-Ordered Tue, 04 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Thailand. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. On January 4, 2022, Thailand's Cabinet approved a draft law that would restrict non-profit organizations' access to foreign funding by requiring NPOs receiving foreign donations to disclose funding sources, bank accounts, and amounts to government registrars, while also limiting how foreign funds may be used. The law grants government officials unilateral authority to order the temporary or permanent shutdown of any NPO, effectively cutting off their financial operations. Vague provisions allow censorship of organizations deemed to affect 'public order,' 'people's good morals,' or 'relations between countries,' posing a broad threat to civil society organizations reliant on international funding. https://debankd.org/case/chinese-covid-19-victim-s-rights-activist-zhang-hai-china-20 https://debankd.org/case/chinese-covid-19-victim-s-rights-activist-zhang-hai-china-20 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. Zhang Hai, a Wuhan-based activist who has campaigned for redress after his father's death during the early COVID-19 pandemic and has been critical of the Chinese Communist Party, had his bank cards and online payment services restricted. Bank of China staff initially told Zhang the restrictions were requested by the Wuhan city police department. Zhang believes the restrictions are official retaliation for his 2020 lawsuit against the Wuhan municipal government over his father's wrongful death and for his interviews with foreign media. https://debankd.org/case/el-watan-algeria-2022 https://debankd.org/case/el-watan-algeria-2022 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Algeria. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. El Watan, Algeria's leading French-language daily newspaper and a publication critical of the government that supports progressive opposition, had its bank accounts blocked by Crédit Populaire d'Algérie (CPA) citing non-payment of debts, preventing payment of employee salaries since at least January 2022. Algerian authorities also unilaterally terminated El Watan's contract with state advertising distributor ANEP, deprived the newspaper of state advertising, and subjected it to fiscal adjustment, pushing it toward closure. Despite Article 19 noting that El Watan is a profitable company without genuine financial difficulties, suggesting the measures were politically motivated, the newspaper eventually returned to newsstands though its long-term survival remained threatened. https://debankd.org/case/oxfam-india-india-2022 https://debankd.org/case/oxfam-india-india-2022 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2022. Category: State-Ordered. India's Ministry of Home Affairs refused to renew Oxfam India's FCRA registration, effective January 1, 2022, thereby blocking the NGO's access to foreign funding. The restriction came without clear explanation, though the government cited 'adverse inputs' in similar cases. The article notes that NGOs have accused the Modi government of targeting critics through increasingly restrictive amendments to the FCRA since 2014. https://debankd.org/case/stand-news-hong-kong-2021 https://debankd.org/case/stand-news-hong-kong-2021 State-Ordered Wed, 29 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Stand News, an independent online media outlet in Hong Kong, had its assets worth approximately 61 million Hong Kong dollars frozen by the government on 29 December 2021 following a police raid. The company was forced to cease publication and dismiss around 70 employees as a result of the asset freeze. Two of its editors-in-chief, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, were later sentenced to prison for publishing content deemed seditious by Hong Kong authorities. https://debankd.org/case/missionaries-of-charity-india-2021 https://debankd.org/case/missionaries-of-charity-india-2021 State-Ordered Sat, 25 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. India's Home Ministry refused to renew the Missionaries of Charity's Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence on Christmas 2021, cutting off the charity's access to foreign funding. The decision came shortly after right-wing Hindu groups affiliated with Prime Minister Modi's BJP disrupted Christmas celebrations across India and accused the charity of forced religious conversions. The charity confirmed it was unable to operate foreign contribution accounts as a result. https://debankd.org/case/south-sudanese-civil-society-organisations-and-activists-sou https://debankd.org/case/south-sudanese-civil-society-organisations-and-activists-sou State-Ordered Fri, 19 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: South Sudan. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. The Bank of South Sudan froze the bank accounts of three civil society organizations, a think tank, four civil society activists, and a political activist. Amnesty International and 46 other organizations called for the immediate unfreezing of these accounts, alleging that the South Sudanese authorities imposed the freezes to suppress calls for peaceful protests and unduly restrict rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, particularly targeting members of the People's Coalition for Civic Action (PCCA). https://debankd.org/case/civil-society-actors-and-political-activists-in-south-sudan- https://debankd.org/case/civil-society-actors-and-political-activists-in-south-sudan- State-Ordered Fri, 19 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: South Sudan. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. The South Sudan government froze the bank accounts of civil society actors and political activists, as reported in a joint letter by 80 NGOs to the UN Human Rights Council dated November 19, 2021. The letter explicitly references an Amnesty International statement calling to 'Unfreeze civil society and political activist's bank accounts,' indicating the freezes were politically motivated restrictions on activists and civil society organizations critical of the government. https://debankd.org/case/individuals-and-organizations-who-finance-unauthorized-publi https://debankd.org/case/individuals-and-organizations-who-finance-unauthorized-publi State-Ordered Wed, 13 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) developed draft amendments that would allow authorities to freeze the bank accounts of individuals and organizations who finance unauthorized public assemblies, treating such financing on par with terrorism and extremism. Police could issue freeze orders without court authorization for up to 10 business days based solely on their own determination that accounts were used to finance unsanctioned protests. Courts could additionally issue orders for indefinite account freezes, with only minimal withdrawal allowances for subsistence. At the time of reporting, the draft law had not yet been submitted to the State Duma, and Human Rights Watch called for the provisions to be dropped due to limited appeal mechanisms and the threat to political protest activity. https://debankd.org/case/hamad-al-shamsi-mohammed-saqr-al-zaabi-ahmed-al-shaiba-al-nu https://debankd.org/case/hamad-al-shamsi-mohammed-saqr-al-zaabi-ahmed-al-shaiba-al-nu State-Ordered Wed, 01 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United Arab Emirates. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. The UAE Cabinet of Ministers designated four prominent exiled Emirati dissidents—Hamad al-Shamsi, Mohammed Saqr al-Zaabi, Ahmed al-Shaiba al-Nuaimi, and Saeed al-Tenaiji—as terrorism supporters in September 2021. The designation resulted in immediate asset freezes and property confiscations against the dissidents, and criminalized communication between UAE-based family members and the designated individuals. The dissidents, who are human rights activists and researchers, were previously convicted in absentia in a mass trial of political activists in 2013. https://debankd.org/case/612-humanitarian-relief-fund-hong-kong-2021 https://debankd.org/case/612-humanitarian-relief-fund-hong-kong-2021 State-Ordered Wed, 18 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. The 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, established to provide bail, legal, and medical assistance to people arrested during Hong Kong's 2019 pro-democracy protests, was forced to disband in August 2021 after losing access to its bank account when its banking partner, the Alliance for True Democracy, wound up operations amid the national security crackdown. Trustee Margaret Ng stated it was impossible for the Fund to open its own bank account under the prevailing political environment. Government officials had warned of investigation of organizations with 'unusual' financial transactions, and both the Fund and the Alliance were ordered to provide information to national security police under the National Security Law. On 11 May 2022, four trustees — Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen, pop star Denise Ho, scholar Hui Po-keung, and barrister Margaret Ng — were arrested by Hong Kong national security police on suspicion of 'collusion with foreign powers'. https://debankd.org/case/belarusian-human-rights-defender-nasta-loika-belarus-2021 https://debankd.org/case/belarusian-human-rights-defender-nasta-loika-belarus-2021 State-Ordered Fri, 13 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Belarus. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Nasta Loika, a human rights defender and former employee of Viasna human rights centre, was detained on August 13, 2021 by Belarus' Financial Investigation Department. Upon her release 72 hours later, authorities froze her bank accounts as part of a criminal case against her and Viasna leadership. The case against her alleges assistance in tax evasion, though the article indicates the prosecution is politically motivated retaliation for her human rights activities. https://debankd.org/case/bangladeshi-journalists-rozina-islam-farida-yasmin-et-al-ban https://debankd.org/case/bangladeshi-journalists-rozina-islam-farida-yasmin-et-al-ban State-Ordered Wed, 11 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Bangladesh. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Bangladesh authorities, through the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, ordered all 61 scheduled banks to disclose account details for 12 journalists. The first order, issued August 11, 2021, targeted Rozina Islam, a senior correspondent for Prothom Alo who had been arrested for photographing documents at the Health Ministry. A second order on September 16, 2021, targeted 11 additional journalists who are leaders of journalist trade organizations. The investigation appears designed to intimidate the independent press, with no clear reason disclosed for the broader order against journalist organization leaders. https://debankd.org/case/professional-teachers-union-hkptu-hong-kong-2021 https://debankd.org/case/professional-teachers-union-hkptu-hong-kong-2021 State-Ordered Tue, 10 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Hong Kong's Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) announced its dissolution on August 10, 2021, following denunciation by Chinese state media (People's Daily and Xinhua) as a 'malignant tumor.' The union, which had existed for 48 years, dissolved to preempt an asset freeze and investigation under Hong Kong's national security law, which allows authorities to freeze assets of organizations accused of 'collusion with foreign powers.' The union laid off 200 staff and sold off its assets immediately upon dissolution. https://debankd.org/case/national-unity-government-nug-civil-disobedience-movement-an https://debankd.org/case/national-unity-government-nug-civil-disobedience-movement-an State-Ordered Mon, 09 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Myanmar. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Myanmar's military junta, acting through the Central Bank, ordered banks and mobile payment service providers to shut down accounts and restrict transactions used by the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), Civil Disobedience Movement, and affiliated opposition groups beginning August 9, 2021. The junta placed officers in all banks to monitor transactions over 100,000 kyat, physically inspected phones for the NUG Pay app, and threatened legal action against banks that failed to comply with blocking orders, including those related to a NUG-organized lottery campaign. The NUG had raised over $100 million through online sales and cryptocurrency offerings, prompting the junta to deliberately target these financial channels. Individuals who made donations to the NUG or its affiliated militias faced sentences of up to a decade in prison. https://debankd.org/case/algerian-christian-convert-foudhil-bahloul-algeria-2021 https://debankd.org/case/algerian-christian-convert-foudhil-bahloul-algeria-2021 State-Ordered Wed, 21 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Algeria. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Foudhil Bahloul, a Christian convert in Algeria who was unemployed at the time, received a 200-euro transfer from a friend in Germany to his bank account as financial support. A court in Ain Defla convicted him on 21 July 2021 under Article 11 of decree law 06-03, classifying the transfer as an 'unauthorized donation' under Algeria's law targeting religious minorities. On appeal, he was sentenced to a six-month suspended prison term and fined 100,000 Algerian dinars (approximately $720). Amnesty International condemned the conviction as based solely on his Christian faith and called for it to be quashed along with the repressive law used to prosecute him. https://debankd.org/case/health-workers-and-humanitarian-organizations-in-tigray-ethi https://debankd.org/case/health-workers-and-humanitarian-organizations-in-tigray-ethi State-Ordered Mon, 28 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ethiopia. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. The Ethiopian government imposed government-wide restrictions on banking in the Tigray region beginning June 28, 2021, after Tigrayan forces retook control. These banking shutdowns, along with telecommunications and electricity cutoffs, severely impeded the ability of health workers and humanitarian aid providers to expand operations and support sexual violence survivors. Humanitarian workers reported they lacked adequate cash and could not conduct community-based outreach due to the financial restrictions. https://debankd.org/case/vietnamese-climate-activist-and-lawyer-dang-dinh-bach-vietna https://debankd.org/case/vietnamese-climate-activist-and-lawyer-dang-dinh-bach-vietna State-Ordered Thu, 24 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Vietnam. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Dang Dinh Bach, a climate activist and lawyer, was arrested in June 2021 on charges of tax evasion and sentenced to five years in prison. Vietnamese authorities froze his four bank accounts and threatened to seize his home to collect alleged unpaid taxes. A UN working group found his arrest arbitrary and his trial unfair, noting the tax evasion charge appears politically motivated given his environmental activism. https://debankd.org/case/russian-opposition-politician-oleg-stepanov-russia-2021 https://debankd.org/case/russian-opposition-politician-oleg-stepanov-russia-2021 State-Ordered Wed, 23 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Oleg Stepanov, a former coordinator for opposition politician Alexey Navalny running in State Duma elections, was denied permission by Russian election officials to open a campaign bank account needed to collect nomination signatures. The election commission cited legislation banning anyone linked to an illegal extremist group from running in elections, though the court ruling outlawing Navalny's movement had not yet entered into force. Stepanov's campaign team characterized this as political pressure targeting their campaign. https://debankd.org/case/apple-daily-next-digital-limited-hong-kong-2021 https://debankd.org/case/apple-daily-next-digital-limited-hong-kong-2021 State-Ordered Thu, 17 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. On June 17, 2021, Hong Kong national security police raided Apple Daily's headquarters, arrested five senior staff members for alleged 'conspiracy to collude with foreign forces' under the National Security Law, and froze HK$18 million in assets belonging to parent company Next Digital Limited. Unable to pay staff and suppliers, Apple Daily — Hong Kong's largest and most popular Chinese-language opposition newspaper, and one of the last major independent media outlets critical of the Chinese government — announced closure on June 23 and ceased publication on June 24, 2021. Next Digital was subsequently forced into liquidation in September 2021, with the board stating this occurred without court involvement under the National Security Law. The closures drew international condemnation from U.S. President Biden and U.K. Foreign Secretary Raab, and on September 28, 2022, RSF and nine NGOs urged the U.S. Congress to impose sanctions on Hong Kong individuals and Chinese officials involved in the raids and asset freeze. https://debankd.org/case/tut-by-tut-by-belarus-2021 https://debankd.org/case/tut-by-tut-by-belarus-2021 State-Ordered Tue, 18 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Belarus. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. In mid-May 2021, Belarusian authorities shut down Tut.by, the country's leading independent media outlet with a team of 270 people, by blocking its website, freezing all company bank accounts, detaining staff members, and initiating a felony tax evasion case against its leadership. On August 13, 2021, both Tut.by and its successor publication Zerkalo.io were officially designated as extremist organizations, making distribution of their materials illegal and criminalizing support for these outlets under Belarusian law. Surviving staff members fled Belarus and launched Zerkalo.io to continue their journalism, relying on alternative channels such as Telegram to reach readers. https://debankd.org/case/radio-free-europe-radio-liberty-radio-svoboda-moscow-bureau- https://debankd.org/case/radio-free-europe-radio-liberty-radio-svoboda-moscow-bureau- State-Ordered Fri, 14 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. On May 14, 2021, Russian authorities froze the local bank accounts of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Moscow bureau (known in Russia as Radio Svoboda), citing alleged non-payment of fines issued under Russia's foreign agents law. The freezing was accompanied by heavy fines for non-compliance with foreign agent requirements and 'repetition of offence' proceedings initiated by Roskomnadzor. On the same day, the Russian Justice Ministry also designated Stichting 2 Oktober, the Dutch foundation administering the independent news website VTimes, as a foreign agent. Both actions targeted foreign-funded, editorially independent media outlets under Russia's draconian foreign agents legislation. https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-journalist-wu-gin-hong-kong-2021 https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-journalist-wu-gin-hong-kong-2021 Unknown Thu, 06 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2021. Category: Unknown. Wu Gin, a 23-year-old Hong Kong journalist who won a Human Rights Press Award for reporting on police violence during the 2019 protests, had his bank account frozen. He was also followed by unidentified personnel since late 2020 and visited by police officers after interviewing a German human rights activist. Fearing arrest under Hong Kong's national security law for his journalism, Wu fled to Taiwan. https://debankd.org/case/amihan-federation-of-peasant-women-philippines-2021 https://debankd.org/case/amihan-federation-of-peasant-women-philippines-2021 State-Ordered Wed, 05 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Philippines. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) issued Resolution No. TF-38 on May 5, 2021, freezing the bank accounts of the Amihan Federation of Peasant Women and eight other NGOs, allegedly based on violations of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act. Karapatan criticized the freeze order as arbitrary, noting that Amihan was only notified on June 8 and was not informed of any proceeding leading to the AMLC resolution. The organization contended that the freeze order violates the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and is part of a scheme to restrict civil society access to resources. https://debankd.org/case/rwandan-blogger-and-human-rights-defender-aimable-karasira-r https://debankd.org/case/rwandan-blogger-and-human-rights-defender-aimable-karasira-r State-Ordered Sat, 01 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Rwanda. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Aimable Karasira, a blogger and commentator detained since May 2021 in Rwanda, has had his bank accounts frozen as part of his prosecution for inciting 'divisionism.' Originally convicted in September 2025 and sentenced to five years in prison, prosecutors have appealed seeking a 30-year sentence. The article indicates that the financial restriction—freezing of his bank accounts—was imposed by Rwandan authorities in connection with his prosecution for speech critical of the government's official genocide narrative. https://debankd.org/case/meduza-russia-2021 https://debankd.org/case/meduza-russia-2021 State-Ordered Mon, 26 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. The Russian Justice Ministry designated Meduza, an independent news agency, as a foreign agent in April 2021. This designation imposed several financial restrictions: the agency must add a 'foreign agent' label where advertisements appear, salaried writers could be individually designated as foreign agents requiring income reporting to the justice ministry with penalties for errors, and the designation aimed to rob the organization of advertising revenue and vital sources. In response, Meduza launched a cryptocurrency donations page accepting Bitcoin, ETH, and BNB. https://debankd.org/case/pro-protest-artists-and-filmmakers-in-hong-kong-hong-kong-20 https://debankd.org/case/pro-protest-artists-and-filmmakers-in-hong-kong-hong-kong-20 State-Ordered Wed, 17 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. The Hong Kong Arts Development Council warned artists that it would suspend, postpone, or adjust grant disbursements for any projects that violate the national security law, including those advocating Hong Kong independence or criticizing the government. The warning followed media pressure from the CCP-backed Ta Kung Pao newspaper, which reported that pro-protest filmmakers had received approximately HK$15 million in public grants over three years. The Council's statement made clear that funding would be withdrawn from artists whose work was deemed to support the 2019 protest movement. https://debankd.org/case/ai-weiwei-s-fart-foundation-switzerland-2021 https://debankd.org/case/ai-weiwei-s-fart-foundation-switzerland-2021 Corporate Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Switzerland. Year: 2021. Category: Corporate. Credit Suisse closed a Swiss bank account belonging to dissident artist Ai Weiwei's Fart Foundation in spring 2021, citing a policy against customers with criminal records. Ai Weiwei was never formally charged or convicted of a crime in China, despite spending 81 days in prison in 2011 for speaking out against the Chinese government, and he believes the bank's decision was motivated by a desire to appease the Chinese Communist Party and expand its business in China. Separately, UBS also warned Ai Weiwei that it would close his account after he criticized Switzerland's anti-immigration policies in a media interview. https://debankd.org/case/civil-society-organisations-and-human-rights-defenders-in-my https://debankd.org/case/civil-society-organisations-and-human-rights-defenders-in-my State-Ordered Mon, 01 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Myanmar. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Following the military coup in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, civil society organisations and human rights defenders faced severe restrictions on their ability to operate, including blocked fund transfers and severely curtailed banking infrastructure. The military's campaign of attacks and intimidation against human rights defenders and civil society groups was designed to silence protest and dissent, with the financial restrictions making it increasingly difficult for civil society organisations to sustain their vital work. https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-ngos-and-civil-society-organisations-incl-eipr-egyp https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-ngos-and-civil-society-organisations-incl-eipr-egyp State-Ordered Mon, 11 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2021. Category: State-Ordered. Egypt's implementing regulations for Law 149 (issued January 11, 2021) impose severe restrictions on NGO financial activities, including mandatory government approval for international donations, required bank accounts for any civic work, and asset freezes. The regulations require NGOs to report all foreign funding within 30 days and return it if the Social Solidarity Ministry disapproves within 60 days. In November 2020, NSA officers arrested three leaders of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, and a terrorism court ordered their personal assets frozen. These restrictions are designed to suppress independent civil society and human rights organizations. https://debankd.org/case/donald-trump-and-his-businesses-united-states-2021 https://debankd.org/case/donald-trump-and-his-businesses-united-states-2021 Corporate Wed, 06 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United States. Year: 2021. Category: Corporate. JPMorgan Chase closed multiple personal and business accounts belonging to Donald Trump in February 2021, following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, providing 60 days' notice and no explanation at the time. Trump subsequently filed a $5 billion lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase and CEO Jamie Dimon, alleging the bank debanked him for political reasons and because it believed the political climate favored doing so. JPMorgan Chase denied any political motivation, stating the closures were driven by legal and regulatory risk. The case has revived broader concerns about debanking practices in the US financial system. https://debankd.org/case/palestinians-living-abroad-palestinian-individuals-in-gaza-i https://debankd.org/case/palestinians-living-abroad-palestinian-individuals-in-gaza-i Corporate Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Israel. Year: 2021. Category: Corporate. According to BBC News, Microsoft arbitrarily suspended the email accounts and Skype access of several Palestinians living abroad since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023. These suspensions left them unable to access bank accounts, hampered their work, and disconnected them further from families in Gaza. The article does not specify political motivation explicitly, but contextualizes this within broader patterns of tech company actions affecting Palestinians during the conflict. https://debankd.org/case/good-neighbour-north-district-church-hong-kong-2020 https://debankd.org/case/good-neighbour-north-district-church-hong-kong-2020 State-Ordered Wed, 09 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. On 9 December 2020, Hong Kong police raided the premises of the Good Neighbour North District Church, froze its bank accounts, and arrested two members, alleging the church had raised HK$27 million through crowdfunding between June 2019 and September 2020 in violation of money laundering laws. The church's members had formed a group called 'Safeguard Defenders' to protect young protesters during Hong Kong's 2019-2020 anti-extradition protest movement, and its leadership and members had been active in peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations. The church and religious leaders widely characterised the action as political retaliation, arguing the vague money-laundering accusations were being weaponised under Hong Kong's national security law. The church ultimately ceased operations following the freezing of its accounts. https://debankd.org/case/ted-hui-his-wife-and-his-parents-hong-kong-united-kingdom-20 https://debankd.org/case/ted-hui-his-wife-and-his-parents-hong-kong-united-kingdom-20 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong, United Kingdom. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Hong Kong police ordered HSBC to freeze bank accounts belonging to exiled pro-democracy former legislator Ted Hui, as well as accounts of his wife and parents, after he announced his resettlement in the UK. The accounts were frozen with zero available balance, blocking all deposits, transfers, and withdrawals, and were later refrozen as police investigated allegations that Hui 'colluded with foreign forces' via an online crowdfunding campaign related to peaceful protest activities. Beyond the bank account freezing, Hong Kong authorities also froze Hui's assets more broadly, preventing him from paying outstanding legal fees, and subsequently filed bankruptcy proceedings against him. Hui characterised these actions as political retaliation and a form of transnational repression, noting that his frozen assets exceed the claimed legal fees and that he is not insolvent. https://debankd.org/case/nasiliu-net-russia-2020 https://debankd.org/case/nasiliu-net-russia-2020 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. In December 2020, the Russian government declared Nasiliu.net, a nonprofit organization providing aid to domestic violence victims, a 'foreign agent.' This designation restricted the organization's access to foreign funding and resulted in 900,000 rubles (approximately $12,000) in fines over the following year for violations of Russia's 'foreign agent' laws. The label also damaged partnerships and the organization's ability to receive state grants, creating a severe funding dilemma. https://debankd.org/case/peaceful-protesters-and-protest-organizers-in-russia-russia- https://debankd.org/case/peaceful-protesters-and-protest-organizers-in-russia-russia- State-Ordered Tue, 01 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Russian authorities implemented financial restrictions on peaceful protest activities by barring foreign citizens, foreign organizations, international organizations, and entities labeled 'foreign agents' from financing public gatherings since December 2020. Additionally, assemblies with more than 500 participants must be organized and funded using designated bank accounts, effectively restricting financial access for larger protests. These measures are part of a broader legislative crackdown on freedom of assembly that has made it nearly impossible for Russians to protest meaningfully. https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-human-rights-lawyer-mohamed-el-baqer-egypt-2020 https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-human-rights-lawyer-mohamed-el-baqer-egypt-2020 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Mohamed El-Baqer, an Egyptian human rights lawyer and head of the Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms, was arrested on 29 September 2019 on terrorism-related charges connected to his human rights work. In November 2020, his name was added to Egypt's terrorist list for five years, which triggered a judicial order freezing his bank accounts and assets. He also became banned from traveling abroad and assuming any official position or civil work for five years. https://debankd.org/case/venezuelan-ngos-and-humanitarian-organizations-including-ali https://debankd.org/case/venezuelan-ngos-and-humanitarian-organizations-including-ali State-Ordered Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Venezuela. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Starting November 2020, the Venezuelan government under Nicolás Maduro launched a systematic campaign against civil society, with SUDEBAN formally announcing on November 20, 2020 that all financial institutions must monitor and restrict financial operations of non-profit organizations, resulting in frozen bank accounts for groups including Alimenta la Solidaridad (which provided food assistance to 25,000 children) and Azul Positivo, and restricted prepaid card usage for international NGOs. The crackdown also included arrest warrants for aid workers, raids on NGO offices, denial of work permits to organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, October 2020 regulations requiring international NGOs to register activities, and March 2021 requirements forcing NGOs to disclose sensitive information about beneficiaries. In May 2021, the government further seized the headquarters of El Nacional newspaper following a Supreme Court order demanding excessive damages. https://debankd.org/case/civil-society-organizations-in-venezuela-venezuela-2020 https://debankd.org/case/civil-society-organizations-in-venezuela-venezuela-2020 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Venezuela. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Venezuelan authorities have systematically harassed and criminally prosecuted civil society organizations by freezing their bank accounts, issuing arrest warrants, raiding offices, and detaining members. This campaign targets NGOs doing humanitarian work to address Venezuela's ongoing humanitarian emergency, representing a deliberate government effort to restrict the financial access of organizations engaged in rights-related work. https://debankd.org/case/protest-leaders-october-2020-endsars-movement-nigeria-2020 https://debankd.org/case/protest-leaders-october-2020-endsars-movement-nigeria-2020 State-Ordered Thu, 01 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Nigeria. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. During the October 2020 #EndSARS protests in Nigeria against police brutality, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele ordered the freezing of bank accounts belonging to select protest leaders without obtaining a court order. This action restricted the protesters' access to financial services as retaliation for their political activity and speech. https://debankd.org/case/turkish-journalist-can-d-ndar-turkey-2020 https://debankd.org/case/turkish-journalist-can-d-ndar-turkey-2020 State-Ordered Thu, 17 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Turkey. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Turkish journalist Can Dündar, who fled to Germany in 2016 after publishing a report critical of President Erdogan and narrowly escaping an armed attack, was given an ultimatum by an Istanbul court on 17 September 2020 to return to Turkey within 15 days or face seizure of all his property and bank account assets. The seizure order was motivated by his refusal to appear in court, itself a consequence of his politically motivated prosecution for publishing classified information critical of the government. https://debankd.org/case/canal-12-nicavision-canal-12-nicaragua-2020 https://debankd.org/case/canal-12-nicavision-canal-12-nicaragua-2020 State-Ordered Fri, 11 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Nicaragua. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. On September 11, 2020, a Nicaraguan court ordered the seizure of Canal 12's assets, including its main offices, vehicles, and property belonging to the owner's family, following a tax assessment demand of 21 million córdobas (US$607,000) in back taxes. The outlet's bank accounts were frozen, preventing staff from receiving paychecks, though broadcast operations initially continued. The outlet's editor-in-chief characterized the seizure as political retaliation for the station's critical coverage of President Daniel Ortega, noting the outlet had been under audit since 2018 when it reported on government protests. https://debankd.org/case/amnesty-international-india-india-2020 https://debankd.org/case/amnesty-international-india-india-2020 State-Ordered Thu, 10 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. On September 10, 2020, India's Enforcement Directorate froze the bank accounts of Amnesty International India under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), citing alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), forcing the organization to halt all human rights operations in the country, lay off staff, and close its offices. Amnesty International characterized the action as politically motivated retaliation — part of a two-year 'incessant witch hunt' — for its documentation of human rights violations including alleged police complicity in the Delhi riots, abuses in Kashmir, and gender-based violence, with a Situation Update on Jammu and Kashmir having been released shortly before the freeze. The account freeze left Amnesty International India without funds for legal representation for approximately three years, and the action was part of a broader BJP-led government crackdown on civil society in which over 20,600 nonprofit FCRA licenses were cancelled over the preceding decade, including those of the Centre for Policy Research and Centre for Equity Studies in 2023. On October 28–29, 2020, India's National Investigation Agency also conducted raids on other human rights NGOs, journalists, and activists in Kashmir, Delhi, and Bangalore under counterterrorism laws, further illustrating the coordinated suppression of dissent. https://debankd.org/case/tanzanian-human-rights-ngos-incl-thrdc-and-lhrc-tanzania-202 https://debankd.org/case/tanzanian-human-rights-ngos-incl-thrdc-and-lhrc-tanzania-202 State-Ordered Tue, 18 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Tanzania. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. The Tanzanian government froze the bank accounts of the Tanzania Civil Society Consortium for Election Observation (led by the Legal and Human Rights Centre) on August 18, 2020, after authorities questioned the organization's head about failing to submit donor contracts. The government had previously suspended the registration of Inclusive Development for Citizens in June 2020 and suspended the AIDS Initiative Youth Empowerment and Development in June 2020, citing political activities and LGBT rights work respectively. Major human rights organizations were also excluded from election observer accreditation lists despite proper applications. https://debankd.org/case/belarusian-human-rights-defender-alexander-vasilevich-belaru https://debankd.org/case/belarusian-human-rights-defender-alexander-vasilevich-belaru State-Ordered Sat, 01 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Belarus. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Alexander Vasilevich, a Belarusian businessman and gallery owner, had his bank accounts and those of his advertising agency Vondel/Hepta seized by Belarusian authorities in August 2020 following his arrest for political activity. The charges against him (tax evasion and violating laws on mass gatherings) were politically motivated, arising from his support for opposition candidate Viktor Babariko and his presence at political protests. Belarusian human rights activists declared him a political prisoner in September 2020. https://debankd.org/case/pakistani-human-rights-activist-muhammad-ismail-pakistan-202 https://debankd.org/case/pakistani-human-rights-activist-muhammad-ismail-pakistan-202 State-Ordered Thu, 30 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Pakistan. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Mr. Muhammad Ismail, a prominent human rights activist and coordinator of Pakistan NGOs Forum, had his bank accounts frozen by Pakistani authorities. This occurred in the context of judicial harassment against him and his family members, including charges of cyber crime and accusations of receiving financial support from terrorist organisations, which appear to be motivated by his family member Ms. Gulalai Ismail's human rights activism and public criticism of government failures. https://debankd.org/case/corporaci-n-la-prensa-panama-2020 https://debankd.org/case/corporaci-n-la-prensa-panama-2020 State-Ordered Sat, 04 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Panama. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. A Panamanian civil court froze the bank accounts and financial assets of Corporación La Prensa (which owns newspapers La Prensa and Mi Diario) totaling $1.13 million on July 4, 2020, as part of a civil defamation lawsuit filed by former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares. The asset freeze was ordered under Panamanian law to secure potential damages in the defamation case, but the media company characterized it as an attempt to silence critical journalism and prevent the newspapers from paying employees and operating. https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-alliance-in-support-of-patriotic-democratic-moveme https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-alliance-in-support-of-patriotic-democratic-moveme State-Ordered Wed, 01 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, a civil society organization that organized annual Tiananmen massacre vigils for over three decades, had its assets frozen by national security police following the introduction of Hong Kong's National Security Law on 1 July 2020. On 29 September 2021, the National Security Department froze multiple bank accounts across three Hong Kong banks and seized its property in Mong Kok — including the June 4th Memorial Hall — under the NSL implementing rules, with the freeze scheduled to last until September 2023. Leaders Chow Hang-tung, Albert Ho, and Lee Cheuk-yan were arrested and accused of acting as foreign agents and inciting subversion of state power. The Alliance voted to disband on 25 September 2021 following cumulative arrests, asset freezes, and the forced removal of all social media content. https://debankd.org/case/iranian-human-rights-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh-iran-2020 https://debankd.org/case/iranian-human-rights-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh-iran-2020 State-Ordered Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Iran. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer and 2012 Sakharov Prize laureate, had her bank account frozen by Iranian authorities in May 2020. The article states that efforts by her family members and lawyer to obtain an explanation for the account freeze have been unsuccessful. This financial restriction occurred while Ms. Sotoudeh was detained in Evin prison facing charges related to her human rights activism. https://debankd.org/case/pakistani-human-rights-defender-muhammed-ismail-pakistan-202 https://debankd.org/case/pakistani-human-rights-defender-muhammed-ismail-pakistan-202 State-Ordered Mon, 20 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Pakistan. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Muhammed Ismail, Secretary-General of the Pakistan NGO Forum and human rights defender, had his bank account frozen by Pakistani authorities. The freezing occurred as part of broader politically motivated persecution, including charges under the Anti-Terrorism Act and Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act filed in connection with his daughter's human rights advocacy. The organizations issuing this statement assert the charges and financial restrictions are designed to silence Ismail and his family. https://debankd.org/case/survival-initiative-cameroon-2020 https://debankd.org/case/survival-initiative-cameroon-2020 State-Ordered Thu, 09 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Cameroon. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. On April 9, 2020, Cameroon's Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji ordered the closure and freezing of bank accounts belonging to the Survival Initiative, an opposition-led fundraising effort launched by opposition leader Maurice Kamto to distribute COVID-19 protective equipment and tests. The minister also ordered communication companies to close mobile accounts opened to support the fund. These actions were motivated by the opposition's independent relief efforts rather than legitimate financial regulation. https://debankd.org/case/haneen-hossam-mawada-eladhm-and-other-tiktok-influencers-9-w https://debankd.org/case/haneen-hossam-mawada-eladhm-and-other-tiktok-influencers-9-w State-Ordered Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Egyptian authorities arrested and prosecuted multiple women TikTok influencers, including Haneen Hossam and Mawada Eladhm, on charges of violating "family values" under the Cybercrime Law. The women had their assets frozen, bank accounts frozen, and were fined heavily (300,000-500,000 LE each) and sentenced to 2-10 years in prison. The prosecutions appear politically motivated, targeting women speaking freely on social media during a period of increased feminist activism in Egypt. https://debankd.org/case/sergei-filatov-and-other-jehovah-s-witnesses-russia-2020 https://debankd.org/case/sergei-filatov-and-other-jehovah-s-witnesses-russia-2020 State-Ordered Thu, 05 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. Over 200 Jehovah's Witnesses were placed on a list of "extremists and terrorists" by Rosfinmonitoring, the Russian government agency overseeing financial flows. Inclusion on this list resulted in automatic blocking of bank accounts and debit and credit cards, depriving individuals of means of subsistence. This action was motivated by the targets' religious beliefs and membership in Jehovah's Witnesses organizations, which Russia has designated as extremist. https://debankd.org/case/nguyen-thuy-hanh-and-dong-tam-activists-and-supporters-vietn https://debankd.org/case/nguyen-thuy-hanh-and-dong-tam-activists-and-supporters-vietn State-Ordered Thu, 09 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Vietnam. Year: 2020. Category: State-Ordered. In January 2020, Vietnamese authorities ordered Vietcombank to freeze the bank accounts of people involved in protests on January 9, 2020 against the planned construction of a military airport near Hanoi, including an account belonging to activist Nguyen Thuy Hanh containing over 500 million Vietnamese dong (approximately U.S. $21,600) in donations collected for the family of Le Dinh Kinh, an 84-year-old community leader killed during a police raid at the protest site. Hanh was the founder of the 50K Fund, which provided financial support to families of prisoners of conscience. The Ministry of Public Security justified the freeze by citing ongoing investigations and prevention of 'terrorism financing,' though the freezes clearly targeted political activists and supporters rather than criminals. Hanh was subsequently arrested in April 2021 and charged with disseminating materials against the state, and was also forced to undergo a mental health assessment while awaiting trial. https://debankd.org/case/spark-alliance-hong-kong-2019 https://debankd.org/case/spark-alliance-hong-kong-2019 State-Ordered Thu, 19 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Hong Kong police froze a H.K.$70 million HSBC bank account belonging to Spark Alliance, a non-profit online platform that collected donations to fund legal defenses for pro-democracy protesters arrested during the 2019 protest movement. Police arrested four members of the alliance and accused them of money laundering, claiming some funds were transferred to a shell company and used to buy insurance. The action occurred amid broader suppression of pro-democracy activism in Hong Kong. https://debankd.org/case/kloop-radio-free-europe-radio-liberty-kyrgyz-service-24-kg-a https://debankd.org/case/kloop-radio-free-europe-radio-liberty-kyrgyz-service-24-kg-a State-Ordered Tue, 10 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kyrgyzstan. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. A Bishkek court ordered the bank accounts of independent news outlets Kloop, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Kyrgyz Service, 24.kg, and journalist Ali Toktakunov to be frozen following their publication of a corruption report alleging that the Matraimov family was involved in a scheme moving hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan. The freeze was initiated after a libel complaint was filed by the Matraimov family, one of the high-ranking officials named in the report. The court reversed the decision approximately one day later after the Matraimov family requested the measure be dropped. Additionally, from around December 17, Kloop and other independent news websites experienced cyberattacks after publishing further corruption allegations. https://debankd.org/case/spark-alliance-hk-hong-kong-2019 https://debankd.org/case/spark-alliance-hk-hong-kong-2019 Corporate Mon, 18 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2019. Category: Corporate. HSBC closed a corporate bank account that was reportedly being used to crowdsource and transfer funds to Hong Kong protestors during the 2019 protest movement. HSBC cited its regular account review procedures and claimed the account was being used inconsistently with its stated purpose, but the closure occurred amid active protests and appeared politically motivated given the bank's financial ties to Hong Kong and China. https://debankd.org/case/sahara-reporters-nigeria-2019 https://debankd.org/case/sahara-reporters-nigeria-2019 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Nigeria. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Sahara Reporters' Nigerian bank account with Guaranty Trust Bank was frozen without warning in October 2019. The bank stated the account was subject to "a government hold" but refused to elaborate. The outlet, which conducts aggressive investigative reporting on corruption in Nigeria, had also faced cyberattacks, DDoS attacks, website takedowns via DMCA complaints, and surveillance by security officers—all occurring amid the detention of its founder Omoyele Sowore on treason and cybercrime charges. https://debankd.org/case/uyghur-businessman-ablikim-yusup-pakistan-2019 https://debankd.org/case/uyghur-businessman-ablikim-yusup-pakistan-2019 State-Ordered Wed, 07 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Pakistan. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Ablikim Yusup, a Uyghur businessman living in Pakistan, reported that his bank accounts in Pakistan and with the Bank of China were frozen, presumably at the order of Beijing. Yusup stated he had conducted extensive work related to China's Belt and Road Initiative but his assets were frozen, prompting him to flee Pakistan and seek asylum in the United States. The timing and targeting of the asset freeze coincided with Chinese pressure on Pakistan regarding Uyghurs in the country. https://debankd.org/case/alexei-navalny-and-anti-corruption-foundation-fbk-russia-201 https://debankd.org/case/alexei-navalny-and-anti-corruption-foundation-fbk-russia-201 State-Ordered Fri, 02 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Beginning August 2, 2019, Russia's Investigative Committee prepared felony money-laundering and tax-evasion charges against Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), with Moscow's Presnensky Court ordering 75 million rubles (~$1.15 million) frozen across FBK and staff accounts on August 8, 2019. On September 12, 2019, nationwide police raids were launched against FBK regional offices in 43 cities, with personal bank accounts of regional coordinators in cities including Krasnodar, Stavropol, Omsk, Tambov, and St. Petersburg also frozen, occurring days after Navalny's 'Smart Vote' project potentially shifted Moscow election results. Russia's Justice Ministry subsequently designated FBK a 'foreign agent' citing approximately $2,160 in foreign donations from Spain and the United States, with FBK director Ivan Zhdanov alleging the Spanish donation was made deliberately to justify the designation. On December 26, 2019, the Federal Bailiff Service raided FBK's Moscow office in a case connected to a corruption report about Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, cutting through the office door, seizing all employees' laptops, and blocking an additional fundraising bank account. In February 2020, Alfa-Bank refused to release frozen accounts belonging to Navalny, his family, and FBK staff after the legal sequestration period expired, while Russian authorities separately seized 75.5 million rubles in donated funds. In September 2020, FBK's bank accounts were frozen in connection with an 88-million-ruble debt to Kremlin-linked billionaire Evgeny Prigozhin, who acquired the debt with stated intent to financially destroy Navalny and his organisation; in November 2020, court marshals searched the Moscow offices and seized a server from the Navalny LIVE studio. Also in August 2020, a court froze Navalny's personal accounts and seized his Moscow apartment while he was in a coma recovering from Novichok poisoning. In April 2021, Rosfinmonitoring blacklisted FBK as an extremist organisation, blocking all its bank accounts; by 2022, at least 13,647 individuals — including FBK donors — appeared on the government's List of Terrorists and Extremists, resulting in automatic account freezes and monthly spending capped at 10,000 roubles. https://debankd.org/case/burmese-ultranationalist-monk-wirathu-myanmar-2019 https://debankd.org/case/burmese-ultranationalist-monk-wirathu-myanmar-2019 State-Ordered Wed, 01 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Myanmar. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Wirathu, a fugitive ultranationalist Buddhist monk wanted on sedition charges in Myanmar, accused the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) government of freezing his bank account before turning himself in to police on November 2, 2020. Wirathu claimed the NLD government harassed him and froze his account, forcing him into hiding for 18 months. The financial restriction appears politically motivated, as it occurred amid government prosecution of Wirathu for speeches critical of Aung San Suu Kyi and her government. https://debankd.org/case/dawn-pakistan-2019 https://debankd.org/case/dawn-pakistan-2019 State-Ordered Wed, 24 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Pakistan. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Pakistan's federal government abruptly withdrew all state advertising from Dawn, the country's oldest and most prestigious newspaper, on 24 April 2019. The newspaper's sister outlet DawnNews TV was subjected to the same treatment two days later. The withdrawal followed Dawn's publication of remarks by Prime Minister Imran Khan about militant activity, and the government offered no official explanation for the action. As Pakistan lacks substantial private-sector advertising revenue independent of government influence, the advertising ban posed a grave threat to the media group's economic viability. https://debankd.org/case/ojo-p-blico-scar-castilla-edmundo-cruz-peru-2019 https://debankd.org/case/ojo-p-blico-scar-castilla-edmundo-cruz-peru-2019 State-Ordered Tue, 09 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Peru. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. A Peruvian court judge ordered the assets of independent news website Ojo Público and two journalists—executive director Óscar Castilla and La República investigative reporter Edmundo Cruz—to be frozen while a criminal defamation complaint against them is heard. The order, made public on April 9, 2019, was filed by Miguel Arévalo Ramírez in response to investigative reporting published in 2016 on allegations that Arévalo was under investigation for money laundering. The freeze could affect office equipment, computers, and bank accounts of the organization and individuals. https://debankd.org/case/russian-journalist-svetlana-prokopyeva-russia-2019 https://debankd.org/case/russian-journalist-svetlana-prokopyeva-russia-2019 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Svetlana Prokopyeva, a freelance journalist working for Radio Svoboda in Pskov, Russia, had her apartment searched and electronic devices seized in February 2019 as part of a criminal investigation into her November 2018 radio broadcast and written column analyzing the social factors behind a suicide bombing at an FSB building. She was charged with 'justification of terrorism' and subsequently added to Rosfinmonitoring's federal list of terrorists and extremists (by June–July 2019), resulting in her bank accounts being frozen, preventing her from obtaining debit or credit cards, opening bank accounts, applying for a mortgage, or paying bills without special permission. She was also banned from leaving the Pskov region, and her trial on terrorism charges began in June 2020, with a potential sentence of up to seven years in prison. https://debankd.org/case/jehovah-s-witnesses-individuals-and-organization-russia-2019 https://debankd.org/case/jehovah-s-witnesses-individuals-and-organization-russia-2019 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Russian authorities listed 166 Jehovah's Witnesses members on a government 'terrorists and extremists' list maintained by Rosfinmonitoring, causing their bank accounts to be frozen. The article documents cases where families of detained Jehovah's Witnesses had their bank accounts frozen, severely restricting access to funds for living expenses, while the targeted individuals faced criminal charges for religious activities. https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-civil-society-ngos-incl-eipr-ecrf-cihrs-and-others- https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-civil-society-ngos-incl-eipr-ecrf-cihrs-and-others- State-Ordered Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Egypt's 2019 NGO Law (Law 149 of 2019) and its implementing regulations (Prime Minister's Decree 104 of 2021) impose severe restrictions on NGO financial access and operations. Organizations cannot open bank accounts without letters from the Social Solidarity Ministry confirming registration. All foreign funding requires advance government approval involving security agency review, with funds frozen if not approved within 60 days. The law mandates detailed reporting of all funding sources and prohibits fundraising campaigns without government permission. Organizations that fail to register by January 2022 face asset freezes and dissolution, with staff members subject to criminal prosecution. https://debankd.org/case/libyan-ngos-incl-libyan-centre-for-the-freedom-of-the-press- https://debankd.org/case/libyan-ngos-incl-libyan-centre-for-the-freedom-of-the-press- State-Ordered Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Libya. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Libya's Presidential Council issued Decree 286 in 2019 establishing a Commission of Civil Society with sweeping powers to restrict NGO funding and operations. The decree prohibits domestic fundraising and international fundraising by Libyan branches of organizations, requires prior approval for all fund transfers, and gives the commission authority to cancel registration based on broad financial criteria. Multiple NGOs reported the decree has effectively prevented them from operating due to burdensome approval processes and financial controls, with one activist stating their organization suspended work due to compliance difficulties. https://debankd.org/case/asylum-seekers-in-the-remain-in-mexico-program-multiple-indi https://debankd.org/case/asylum-seekers-in-the-remain-in-mexico-program-multiple-indi State-Ordered Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Mexico. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Asylum seekers in Mexico's Remain in Mexico program faced systematic financial restrictions imposed by Mexican government officials and enforced by banks. Mexican immigration agents and police extorted thousands of dollars from asylum seekers, while banks refused to open accounts or accept money transfers, citing lack of proper photo ID documentation. These restrictions prevented asylum seekers from working legally, receiving family remittances, and accessing essential services, motivated by their status as foreign migrants and asylum seekers rather than legitimate regulatory concerns. https://debankd.org/case/multiple-individuals-on-kazakhstan-s-financing-terrorism-lis https://debankd.org/case/multiple-individuals-on-kazakhstan-s-financing-terrorism-lis State-Ordered Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kazakhstan. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Kazakhstan's government automatically adds individuals convicted of vaguely-defined extremism or terrorism offences to a Financing Terrorism List, triggering severe financial restrictions including frozen bank accounts, blocked access to wages, and prohibition of lawful financial transactions. Nearly half of the approximately 1,400 people on the list were convicted of non-violent 'extremist' offences for peaceful political opposition activities or speech rather than actual financing of terrorism, resulting in economic hardship and violations of rights to work, social security, and an adequate standard of living. https://debankd.org/case/independent-egyptian-ngos-multiple-organizations-egypt-2019 https://debankd.org/case/independent-egyptian-ngos-multiple-organizations-egypt-2019 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2019. Category: State-Ordered. Egyptian authorities systematically restrict independent NGOs' access to financial resources through the 2019 associations law and the Associations and Civil Work Unit (ACWU). NGOs cannot open or activate bank accounts without ACWU letters, face delays of 3-15 months for account openings pending security clearances, and must obtain prior approval before receiving foreign funding which the ACWU can block without clear grounds. The National Security Agency also intimidates NGO staff through harassment and coercive questioning, creating a chilling effect on fundraising activities. https://debankd.org/case/azerbaijani-investigative-journalist-khadija-ismayilova-azer https://debankd.org/case/azerbaijani-investigative-journalist-khadija-ismayilova-azer State-Ordered Fri, 21 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. Azerbaijani authorities froze investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova's bank account after transferring into it compensation money ordered by the European Court of Human Rights. Days earlier, a Baku court ordered her to pay 45,143 manat (approximately 23,000 euros) in allegedly unpaid taxes from her time as bureau chief at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from 2008-2010, a claim the article describes as patently absurd since she was never financially responsible for the bureau and RFE/RL is a non-profit entity. The authorities imposed these financial restrictions as part of a broader pattern of persecution against Ismayilova for her investigative reporting on corruption at the highest levels of government. https://debankd.org/case/nicaraguan-ngos-incl-ieepp-cenidh-and-hademos-nicaragua-2018 https://debankd.org/case/nicaraguan-ngos-incl-ieepp-cenidh-and-hademos-nicaragua-2018 State-Ordered Tue, 11 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Nicaragua. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. The Nicaraguan government, led by President Daniel Ortega, revoked the legal registration of nine NGOs critical of the administration between November 29 and December 13, 2018, effectively forcing them to shut down. On December 11, the IEEPP had its bank accounts frozen by authorities, and on the night of December 13-14, the National Police raided multiple organizations' offices, confiscating documents and equipment. The government cited vague accusations of destabilizing activities and financial reporting delays, but the actions clearly targeted organizations that had criticized government abuses and supported protest victims. https://debankd.org/case/alexandra-koroleva-and-ekozaschita-ecodefence-russia-2018 https://debankd.org/case/alexandra-koroleva-and-ekozaschita-ecodefence-russia-2018 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. Russian authorities froze the bank accounts of Ekozaschita! (Ecodefence!), an environmental NGO, in December 2018 under court execution proceedings, effectively blocking the organisation's activities. Simultaneously, the Federal Bailiff Service opened five criminal cases against the group's head, Alexandra Koroleva, for unpaid fines totalling approximately $18,000 levied under Russia's 'Foreign Agents' law. Koroleva fled to Germany seeking asylum to avoid potential imprisonment. https://debankd.org/case/amnesty-india-and-greenpeace-india-india-2018 https://debankd.org/case/amnesty-india-and-greenpeace-india-india-2018 State-Ordered Thu, 15 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. The Government of India froze the bank accounts of Amnesty India and Greenpeace India following politically motivated raids on these organizations. The account freezes effectively stopped both organizations' work. Amnesty International characterizes these actions as part of a broader clampdown by Indian authorities to crush civil society in the country. https://debankd.org/case/the-new-times-russia-2018 https://debankd.org/case/the-new-times-russia-2018 State-Ordered Thu, 25 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. The New Times, an independent Russian magazine known for critical coverage of the government, was fined 22.25 million rubles (approximately $337,000) by a Moscow court on October 25, 2018, for alleged failure to report foreign funding. The fine equals the magazine's entire annual budget and threatens to force closure if unpaid within 60 days, as the magazine's bank account will be blocked. The editor-in-chief believes the fine was retaliatory, issued four days after she interviewed opposition figure Alexei Navalny. https://debankd.org/case/amnesty-india-india-2018 https://debankd.org/case/amnesty-india-india-2018 State-Ordered Thu, 25 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. The Indian Enforcement Directorate raided Amnesty India's office on 25 October 2018 and froze the organization's bank accounts, effectively halting its human rights work. The government claimed violations of foreign funding regulations, though the organization states it has always complied with national regulations. The raid followed a similar action against Greenpeace India and occurred amid a broader government crackdown on civil society organizations. https://debankd.org/case/independent-online-media-outlets-in-egypt-egypt-2018 https://debankd.org/case/independent-online-media-outlets-in-egypt-egypt-2018 State-Ordered Tue, 23 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. Egypt implemented a new media regulation law on 23 October 2018 requiring independent online media outlets to pay 660,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately 33,000 euros) in registration fees and deposit 50,000 pounds (2,450 euros) just to begin the application process. The law threatens outlets with fines between 1 million and 3 million pounds (50,000-150,000 euros) for non-compliance, effectively blocking independent media from operating due to financial barriers. The website Masryat suspended operations to avoid the fines. https://debankd.org/case/individuals-and-ngos-russia-2018 https://debankd.org/case/individuals-and-ngos-russia-2018 State-Ordered Thu, 09 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. Rosfinmonitoring, Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Agency, maintains a list of individuals designated as 'extremists and terrorists,' listing approximately 8,500 people. Individuals added to this list immediately lose access to banking services and have their electronic payment wallets blocked, even before criminal conviction. A programmer's script discovered that 45 people were added to the list within two days in August 2018, many of them young people charged with offenses such as sharing sacrilegious memes. https://debankd.org/case/russian-man-accused-of-extremism-andrey-shashein-russia-2018 https://debankd.org/case/russian-man-accused-of-extremism-andrey-shashein-russia-2018 State-Ordered Fri, 03 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. Barnaul police charged 38-year-old Andrey Shashein with extremism for sharing a meme on Vkontakte depicting Jesus Christ and Patriarch Kirill. Without a court order, police froze his bank accounts while investigating the allegedly criminal Internet behavior, despite experts finding no concern with the meme. https://debankd.org/case/james-allsup-milo-yiannopoulos-sargon-of-akkad-robert-spence https://debankd.org/case/james-allsup-milo-yiannopoulos-sargon-of-akkad-robert-spence Corporate Wed, 01 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United States. Year: 2018. Category: Corporate. Patreon removed or suspended accounts of multiple content creators including James Allsup (August 2018), Milo Yiannopoulos (December 2018), Sargon of Akkad (December 2018), and Robert Spencer, citing reasons including past association with far-right groups and hate speech violations. The article notes that Mastercard required Patreon to remove Spencer's account. In response, Jordan Peterson and David Rubin announced they were leaving the platform due to these removals. https://debankd.org/case/chinese-freelance-journalist-chen-jieren-china-2018 https://debankd.org/case/chinese-freelance-journalist-chen-jieren-china-2018 State-Ordered Fri, 06 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. Chen Jieren, a freelance journalist in Hunan province, was detained on July 6, 2018, by authorities under China's new State Supervisory Commission on suspicion of 'fraud' and running an 'illegal business.' The article states that the supervisory commission has sweeping powers to 'freeze bank accounts, and seize suspicious assets.' Chen's detention followed his filing of a complaint against a municipal party secretary, and lawyers were denied access to him. The investigation appears politically motivated, targeting Chen for his journalistic work and political activism. https://debankd.org/case/russian-human-rights-activist-komil-odilov-russia-2018 https://debankd.org/case/russian-human-rights-activist-komil-odilov-russia-2018 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. Komil Odilov was sentenced to two years imprisonment in June 2018 in Novosibirsk, Russia, solely for possessing works by Said Nursi and gathering with other followers. Upon release in 2019, he was placed under administrative supervision with significant restrictions on freedom of movement. As part of his extremism conviction, he was banned from opening bank accounts, creating additional financial duress and restricting his access to banking services. https://debankd.org/case/cambodia-national-rescue-party-cnrp-officials-cambodia-2018 https://debankd.org/case/cambodia-national-rescue-party-cnrp-officials-cambodia-2018 State-Ordered Sat, 19 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Cambodia. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. Cambodia's Ministry of Interior threatened to seize the assets of officials from the dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) if they did not end calls to boycott the July 2018 general election. Ministry spokesperson Khieu Sopheak announced the threat over the weekend, claiming legal action under Cambodia's electoral law was justified because the officials were living in self-imposed exile abroad. Legal experts and election observers stated there was no legal precedent for such asset seizure and that calling for an election boycott is protected speech. https://debankd.org/case/fifth-season-russia-2018 https://debankd.org/case/fifth-season-russia-2018 State-Ordered Wed, 25 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. About half of the unspent campaign funds from Alexey Navalny's 2018 presidential campaign—approximately 2.5 million rubles—were tied up in frozen accounts of the "Fifth Season" nonprofit organization after a court ordered its liquidation. This nonprofit had been repurposed as the organizational basis for Navalny's presidential campaign, and the account freeze prevented access to campaign funds. https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-pro-independence-activist-tony-chung-hong-kong-201 https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-pro-independence-activist-tony-chung-hong-kong-201 State-Ordered Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. Tony Chung, a 19-year-old pro-independence activist and member of the group Studentlocalism, was arrested by Hong Kong police on October 27, 2020 and charged with two counts of money laundering. The charges relate to a crowdfunding campaign that called for donations only from those supporting Hong Kong independence, with payments totaling approximately HK$700,000 made to his personal bank account between January 2018 and July 2020. The charges are widely viewed as politically motivated, designed to suppress the group's fundraising activities for independence advocacy. https://debankd.org/case/bahraini-opposition-groups-and-civil-society-organisations-b https://debankd.org/case/bahraini-opposition-groups-and-civil-society-organisations-b State-Ordered Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Bahrain. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. The Bahraini government implemented 2018 political isolation laws that restrict opposition figures and activists from political, civil, and economic participation. The laws prevent individuals from running for office and make it impossible for civil society organizations with opposition-linked board members to maintain banking access—the Ministry of Labour and Social Development suspends access to bank accounts and funding if boards cannot be formed within two years. Additionally, the government denies 'Good Conduct Certificates' to opposition figures, which are required to obtain employment, university admission, or join social clubs, effectively blocking their economic participation. https://debankd.org/case/windrush-generation-united-kingdom-2018 https://debankd.org/case/windrush-generation-united-kingdom-2018 State-Ordered Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United Kingdom. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. The UK Home Office's "hostile environment" policy, uncovered in 2018, resulted in thousands of Windrush generation members being wrongfully denied access to bank accounts and other financial services as part of broader discrimination questioning their British citizenship. The government subsequently apologized and established a compensation scheme, but six years later many victims remain awaiting compensation and the scheme's complexity continues to burden claimants. https://debankd.org/case/nicaraguan-pro-democracy-activists-f-lix-maradiaga-and-pro-d https://debankd.org/case/nicaraguan-pro-democracy-activists-f-lix-maradiaga-and-pro-d State-Ordered Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Nicaragua. Year: 2018. Category: State-Ordered. Félix Maradiaga, a Nicaraguan pro-democracy activist, described how the Daniel Ortega regime uses financial repression against opposition figures and human rights defenders. In 2018, when his team compiled human rights reports, those involved were compensated through traditional banking systems, which the regime accessed with help from international organizations to identify and persecute activists. As a result, Maradiaga and his colleagues turned to Bitcoin to circumvent government financial surveillance and control. https://debankd.org/case/vietnamese-activist-s-wife-hoang-thi-tuoi-vietnam-2017 https://debankd.org/case/vietnamese-activist-s-wife-hoang-thi-tuoi-vietnam-2017 State-Ordered Wed, 20 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Vietnam. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Police officers identifying themselves as Ministry of Public Security officials kidnapped Hoang Thi Tuoi, wife of activist Vu Duc Hoi, after she withdrew 4.5 million dong (approximately $200) from her bank account in Lang Son province, northern Vietnam. The officers took her to a police station, confiscated the money, and interrogated her for nearly three hours about the source of the funds before releasing her. This was part of a pattern of harassment against Vu Duc Hoi, a former Communist Party member and pro-democracy activist who had previously been imprisoned for spreading propaganda against the state. https://debankd.org/case/ethnic-kazakhs-in-xinjiang-incl-aygul-harhan-et-al-china-201 https://debankd.org/case/ethnic-kazakhs-in-xinjiang-incl-aygul-harhan-et-al-china-201 State-Ordered Sat, 16 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Chinese authorities in Xinjiang detained dozens of ethnic Kazakhs in mid-December 2017 for retweeting electronic greeting cards celebrating Kazakhstan's independence day. According to sources cited in the article, Chinese authorities froze the bank accounts and assets of hundreds of ethnic Kazakhs pending "investigation," claiming they engaged in "extremist" behavior that included normal Islamic practices and having overseas ties. The detentions were politically motivated, targeting individuals for speech and cultural expressions. https://debankd.org/case/bolivian-documentation-and-information-centre-cedib-bolivia- https://debankd.org/case/bolivian-documentation-and-information-centre-cedib-bolivia- Unknown Thu, 07 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Bolivia. Year: 2017. Category: Unknown. The Bolivian Documentation and Information Centre (CEDIB), a human rights NGO, reported that their bank accounts were frozen, threatening their human rights work and staff members' financial security. The article indicates this was part of a series of attempts to obstruct CEDIB's legitimate work and represents shrinking civic space in Bolivia. https://debankd.org/case/kenyan-civil-society-organisations-incl-muhuri-khrc-and-afri https://debankd.org/case/kenyan-civil-society-organisations-incl-muhuri-khrc-and-afri State-Ordered Mon, 06 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kenya. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Kenya's NGO Board targeted multiple civil society organizations critical of the 2017 presidential election by banning their operations, freezing bank accounts, and cancelling registrations. The organizations included Kura Yangu Sauti Yangu (an election monitoring initiative), We the People, MUHURI, KHRC, AfriCOG, and IDLO. The Board cited allegations of money laundering, illegal bank accounts, and funding political operations, but the organizations assert they were targeted for their election-related work and criticism of government. https://debankd.org/case/mohammed-bin-nayef-and-over-1-700-detained-saudis-saudi-arab https://debankd.org/case/mohammed-bin-nayef-and-over-1-700-detained-saudis-saudi-arab State-Ordered Sat, 04 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Saudi Arabia. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. On November 4, 2017, Saudi authorities arrested dozens of princes, government officials, and businessmen on corruption allegations as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's anti-corruption purge. By November 6, authorities had begun freezing the bank accounts of all those detained, including former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and some of his immediate relatives, with over 1,700 domestic bank accounts frozen in total. Human Rights Watch expressed concerns that the mass arrests and account freezes lacked proper legal basis and due process protections, and appeared motivated by internal power politics rather than genuine corruption enforcement, noting that the simultaneous establishment of an anti-corruption committee and the mass arrests suggested political rather than legal motivations. https://debankd.org/case/five-ethnic-kazakhs-wu-zhu-a-ye-tuo-also-six-uyghurs-china-2 https://debankd.org/case/five-ethnic-kazakhs-wu-zhu-a-ye-tuo-also-six-uyghurs-china-2 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Chinese authorities in Xinjiang detained five ethnic Kazakhs and six Uyghurs for online activity related to religious content and social media posts. Sources estimate that hundreds of ethnic Kazakhs have been detained in recent months, with authorities freezing their bank accounts and assets pending 'investigation' for alleged 'extremist' behavior that includes normal Islamic practices. The detentions were ordered by Chinese police and government officials. https://debankd.org/case/documentation-and-research-center-of-bolivia-cedib-bolivia-2 https://debankd.org/case/documentation-and-research-center-of-bolivia-cedib-bolivia-2 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Bolivia. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. In November 2017, the Financial System Supervision Authority (ASFI) froze the bank accounts of CEDIB, a 45-year-old NGO dedicated to research on human rights and natural resources, by court order. The sanction was applied without prior judicial notice to the organisation. This occurred after a series of attacks against the NGO, in the context of a restrictive legal framework (Law 351 and Decree 1597) that allows governments to revoke NGO operating permits and legal personality. https://debankd.org/case/zanoza-news-website-kyrgyzstan-2017 https://debankd.org/case/zanoza-news-website-kyrgyzstan-2017 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kyrgyzstan. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. The Zanoza news website and its representatives were ordered by Kyrgyzstan's supreme court to pay 40 million soms (500,000 euros) in damages for allegedly insulting former President Almazbek Atambayev. In response to this court judgment, Zanoza's bank accounts were frozen and its representatives were banned from travelling abroad. The outlet was also facing potential asset seizure, with the former president demanding that editor Dina Maslova's real estate be auctioned to cover part of the damages. https://debankd.org/case/nurhoja-teksi-and-ethnic-kazakhs-in-xinjiang-china-2017 https://debankd.org/case/nurhoja-teksi-and-ethnic-kazakhs-in-xinjiang-china-2017 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Chinese authorities in Xinjiang detained ethnic Kazakh Nurhoja Teksi, his wife, and two elderly relatives after they returned from Kazakhstan, and froze their bank accounts and assets pending investigation for alleged extremist behavior including normal Islamic practices. The article reports that Chinese authorities have detained hundreds of ethnic Kazakhs in the region and frozen their financial assets as part of mass detentions targeting ethnic minorities for religious and cultural practices. https://debankd.org/case/daphne-caruana-galizia-malta-2017 https://debankd.org/case/daphne-caruana-galizia-malta-2017 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Malta. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist in Malta, had her bank accounts frozen by a government minister. This occurred as part of a broader pattern of attacks against her for her journalistic work reporting on corruption, including over 50 civil or criminal libel cases. She was assassinated a year before this article was published in 2018. https://debankd.org/case/cambodia-daily-cambodia-2017 https://debankd.org/case/cambodia-daily-cambodia-2017 State-Ordered Tue, 22 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Cambodia. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to shut down the English-language newspaper Cambodia Daily and seize its bank accounts if it did not pay approximately $6.3 million in alleged back taxes by September 4, 2017. The newspaper's owner Deborah Krisher-Steele disputed the tax claim and argued the action was politically motivated, noting the company was denied a normal audit process and the demand came after Hun Sen directed government agencies to investigate taxes owed by media outlets and civil society organizations. The threat followed a leaked government letter alleging back taxes dating back 10 years. https://debankd.org/case/bbc-persian-staff-former-staff-and-contributors-iran-2017 https://debankd.org/case/bbc-persian-staff-former-staff-and-contributors-iran-2017 State-Ordered Tue, 15 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Iran. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. The Iranian judicial system froze the assets of more than 150 BBC Persian staff, former staff, and contributors in Iran, preventing them from conducting financial transactions. This action was motivated by the journalists' work for the BBC's Persian-language service, which the Iranian authorities viewed as collaboration with 'enemy media.' The asset freeze was part of a broader campaign by Iranian intelligence services to pressure foreign-based Iranian journalists and their families. https://debankd.org/case/kenya-human-rights-commission-khrc-and-africa-centre-for-ope https://debankd.org/case/kenya-human-rights-commission-khrc-and-africa-centre-for-ope State-Ordered Mon, 14 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kenya. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. On August 14, 2017, three days after contested Kenyan election results were announced, the NGO Coordination Board de-registered the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG), froze their bank accounts, and instructed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to shut down AfriCOG and arrest its directors. KHRC had been part of a coalition monitoring police behaviour during post-election violence, while AfriCOG funded and supported community-based paralegal organisations documenting rights violations and had been challenging electoral irregularities. Both organisations had been actively monitoring the August 8 elections, and the actions are widely attributed as retaliation for their election monitoring work and human rights advocacy. The timing and impact on their ability to document police abuses and support legal challenges suggests the restrictions were politically motivated. https://debankd.org/case/turan-news-agency-azerbaijan-2017 https://debankd.org/case/turan-news-agency-azerbaijan-2017 State-Ordered Mon, 07 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. The Azerbaijani Taxation Ministry opened a criminal investigation into Turan News Agency, the country's last independent media outlet, on charges of tax evasion and illegal business activity, with the agency's bank accounts frozen as early as August 7, 2017. Director Mehman Aliyev was arrested on or around August 24-25, 2017 and placed in pretrial detention on charges of tax evasion and abuse of authority. The charges are widely considered politically motivated, following Aliyev's public criticism of the government's press policies and as part of a broader government campaign to eliminate independent media in Azerbaijan. The persecution led Turan to announce the suspension of all activities from September 1, 2017 onwards. https://debankd.org/case/athens-review-of-books-greece-2017 https://debankd.org/case/athens-review-of-books-greece-2017 State-Ordered Mon, 24 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Greece. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Greek foreign minister Nikos Kotzias used a court ruling to freeze the bank account of Maria Vasilaki, publisher of the Athens Review of Books magazine, on 24 July 2017. The action followed a Supreme Court decision reducing libel damages to 22,000 euros against the magazine for publishing a 2010 reader's letter referencing Kotzias's communist past. RSF characterised the damages award as disproportionate and intended to silence the publisher in retaliation for the magazine's political coverage. https://debankd.org/case/russian-film-student-daniil-markin-russia-2017 https://debankd.org/case/russian-film-student-daniil-markin-russia-2017 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Daniil Markin, a 19-year-old Russian film student, was investigated and prosecuted under extremism laws for saving memes mocking Christianity on VKontakte. Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service placed him on a watchlist and banned him from using his bank accounts following his arrest by anti-extremism police in July 2017. The financial restriction was imposed as part of a broader effort to prosecute individuals for social media posts deemed extremist. https://debankd.org/case/saudi-political-detainees-omar-al-jabri-and-sarah-al-jabri-s https://debankd.org/case/saudi-political-detainees-omar-al-jabri-and-sarah-al-jabri-s State-Ordered Thu, 01 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Saudi Arabia. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Saudi Arabian authorities imposed travel bans on Omar al-Jabri (21) and Sarah al-Jabri (20), adult children of exiled former intelligence official Saad al-Jabri, starting in June 2017, preventing them from traveling to the United States for school. In late 2017, shortly after their father's patron, former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, was removed from power, authorities also froze the siblings' bank accounts and financial assets. These restrictions were designed to coerce their father, who had fled to Canada in 2017, to return to Saudi Arabia. The financial restrictions and travel bans were maintained alongside the children's subsequent arrest and imprisonment on money laundering charges in 2020-2021. https://debankd.org/case/seven-organizations-and-ten-individuals-working-in-human-rig https://debankd.org/case/seven-organizations-and-ten-individuals-working-in-human-rig State-Ordered Tue, 30 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi signed Law 70 of 2017 on 2017-05-30, imposing severe restrictions on NGOs including bans on field research without government permission and vague grounds for dissolution, threatening the financial viability and operational capacity of human rights groups. Over the preceding three years, Egyptian authorities had frozen the assets of seven organizations and ten individuals working in human rights as part of an escalating government campaign. The law was designed to silence independent human rights groups through financial and operational restrictions and threatened their potential dissolution. https://debankd.org/case/chinese-human-rights-advocate-chen-guiqiu-china-2017 https://debankd.org/case/chinese-human-rights-advocate-chen-guiqiu-china-2017 State-Ordered Thu, 18 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Chen Guiqiu, wife of detained Chinese human rights lawyer Xie Yang, had all of her bank accounts frozen by Chinese authorities after she left China and began advocating internationally for her husband's release. The freezing of her accounts was part of a broader campaign of political pressure and surveillance against her family, including detention of family members and restrictions on her ability to speak out about her husband's detention and alleged torture. https://debankd.org/case/30-human-rights-ngos-egypt-2017 https://debankd.org/case/30-human-rights-ngos-egypt-2017 State-Ordered Mon, 01 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Egyptian authorities have frozen the assets of seven NGOs and ten individuals and imposed travel bans on at least 30 human rights NGO staff and directors as part of a crackdown on civil society organizations. The authorities have also launched a criminal investigation into foreign funding of NGOs, with potential penalties of up to 25 years in prison for convicted staff, and ordered the closure of the el-Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture. https://debankd.org/case/detained-uyghur-civil-servant-manat-hamit-china-2017 https://debankd.org/case/detained-uyghur-civil-servant-manat-hamit-china-2017 State-Ordered Tue, 25 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Manat Hamit, a 45-year-old ethnic Kazakh civil servant in Xinjiang, was detained on April 25, 2017, after authorities found Quranic recitation audio files on his computer downloaded two years earlier. He was sentenced to 16.5 years in May 2017 on charges of disseminating terrorism-related material and inciting ethnic hatred. The article reports that Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have frozen the bank accounts and assets of hundreds of ethnic Kazakhs pending investigation for alleged extremist behavior, including normal Islamic practices. https://debankd.org/case/zanoza-and-radio-azattyk-kyrgyzstan-2017 https://debankd.org/case/zanoza-and-radio-azattyk-kyrgyzstan-2017 State-Ordered Tue, 14 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kyrgyzstan. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Kyrgyzstan's General Prosecutor filed defamation lawsuits against two critical media outlets—Zanoza and Radio Azattyk—alleging they discredited the president's honor and dignity through coverage of opposition politician Omurbek Tekebaev's statements. On March 14, local courts ordered the bank accounts of both outlets frozen, threatening their ability to pay rent and staff salaries. The prosecution appears motivated by the outlets' critical coverage ahead of November 2017 presidential elections. https://debankd.org/case/emirati-human-rights-activist-ahmed-mansoor-united-arab-emir https://debankd.org/case/emirati-human-rights-activist-ahmed-mansoor-united-arab-emir State-Ordered Wed, 01 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United Arab Emirates. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Ahmed Mansoor, a prominent UAE human rights activist, suffered a systematic campaign of financial persecution including the mysterious disappearance of thousands of US dollars from his bank account, confiscation of his passport, loss of his bank account, and theft of his car — all prior to his arrest in March 2017. Fellow prisoner Artur Ligeska confirmed these details, and prison authorities told Mansoor that instructions regarding his detention came directly from the Presidential Palace, indicating state-level orchestration. Following his arrest, Mansoor was convicted in May 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison, fined 1 million Emirati dirhams (approximately $272,000), and had all his devices confiscated and social media accounts shut down, solely on the basis of his peaceful human rights advocacy and social media criticism of the government. https://debankd.org/case/maltese-journalist-daphne-caruana-galizia-malta-2017 https://debankd.org/case/maltese-journalist-daphne-caruana-galizia-malta-2017 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Feb 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Malta. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. A Maltese court froze a blogger's bank accounts based on libel accusations. The action targeted the blogger's financial access as a result of legal proceedings, raising concerns about press freedom and the use of financial restrictions against journalistic activity. https://debankd.org/case/mohamed-aly-zarea-and-arab-penal-reform-organization-apro-eg https://debankd.org/case/mohamed-aly-zarea-and-arab-penal-reform-organization-apro-eg State-Ordered Wed, 11 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. On 11 January 2017, the Cairo Criminal Court issued a ruling to freeze the personal and organisational assets of human rights defender Mohamed Aly Zarea and his NGO, the Arab Penal Reform Organization (APRO), as well as legal researcher Atef Hafez's personal assets. The asset freeze was connected to the 'foreign funding' case (Case No. 173), which targeted 37 Egyptian rights organisations and their leaders on charges of illegally receiving foreign funding and working without legal permission. https://debankd.org/case/kenya-human-rights-commission-khrc-kenya-2017 https://debankd.org/case/kenya-human-rights-commission-khrc-kenya-2017 State-Ordered Fri, 06 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kenya. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Kenya's NGO Coordination Board issued an internal memorandum on November 4, 2016, that recommended the Central Bank of Kenya freeze the bank accounts of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), a human rights organisation. The board accused KHRC of financial and management impropriety and recommended criminal investigations and tax recovery actions. On January 6, 2017, the NGO Board formally threatened KHRC with an inquiry into these allegations. The freeze recommendation and investigation threat appear politically motivated, targeting an NGO critical of government policies. https://debankd.org/case/ethnic-kazakhs-and-uyghurs-in-xinjiang-multiple-individuals- https://debankd.org/case/ethnic-kazakhs-and-uyghurs-in-xinjiang-multiple-individuals- State-Ordered Sun, 01 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have frozen the bank accounts and assets of ethnic Kazakhs and Uyghurs pending investigation, according to sources cited in the article. The freezes are justified by the government as responses to "extremist" behavior, which includes normal Islamic practices such as possessing the Quran, prayer mats, and religious images. The article reports that hundreds of ethnic Kazakhs have been detained and had their finances restricted as part of a broad crackdown on Turkic Muslim minorities in the region. https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-journalist-tawfik-ghanem-egypt-2017 https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-journalist-tawfik-ghanem-egypt-2017 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2017. Category: State-Ordered. Tawfik Ghanem, a retired Egyptian journalist, former editor of Islam Online, and former Cairo bureau chief for Turkey's Anadolu news agency, had his assets frozen and was banned from leaving Egypt by Egyptian authorities in 2017, apparently motivated by his journalistic work covering Egypt's 2013 military coup while at Anadolu and suspected influence over its editorial coverage. He was subsequently arrested on 21 May 2021 and placed in pretrial detention on charges of membership in a terrorist organisation ('banned organisation') and spreading false information. As of over two years after his arrest, he remained in pretrial detention without trial. RSF called on the UN to seek his release. https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-pro-democracy-legislator-baggio-leung-hong-kong-20 https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-pro-democracy-legislator-baggio-leung-hong-kong-20 State-Ordered Tue, 15 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Baggio Leung, a Hong Kong lawmaker stripped of his Legislative Council seat in 2016 following a Beijing decree that his oath was invalid, has been unable to operate a bank account since his ouster. The article indicates this financial restriction followed his political activities—specifically his opposition stance and symbolic statements during his oath ceremony. Leung fled Hong Kong in November 2020 and sought political asylum in the United States. https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-ngos-47-000-organisations-incl-nadeem-center-egypt- https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-ngos-47-000-organisations-incl-nadeem-center-egypt- State-Ordered Tue, 15 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Egypt's parliament drafted a law that would effectively ban independent civil society organizations by subjecting their work and funding to control by government authorities, including powerful security agencies. The law would require NGOs to obtain government permission to receive foreign funding, subject bank accounts to Central Bank supervision, ban international money transfers without approval, and impose prison sentences up to five years for violations. The draft law was approved by the State Council on November 15, 2016, and was designed to criminalize broadly-worded activities including field research and political work, thereby restricting financial access for organizations critical of the government. https://debankd.org/case/el-nadeem-center-for-rehabilitation-of-victims-of-violence-e https://debankd.org/case/el-nadeem-center-for-rehabilitation-of-victims-of-violence-e State-Ordered Thu, 10 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. On 10 November 2016, the Central Bank of Egypt instructed Crédit Agricole Bank to freeze the bank account of El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, an independent NGO providing counselling, legal assistance, and rehabilitation services to torture victims, without prior notification to the organisation, citing alleged non-conformity with Law 84/2002 on NGOs. The account was unblocked on 16 November 2016 after the organisation demonstrated it was not subject to the NGO law. Amnesty International and Front Line Defenders characterised the freeze as politically motivated retaliation for El Nadeem's human rights work documenting torture, enforced disappearances, and police custody deaths. The freeze was part of a broader campaign of harassment that included office raids in February 2016 and February 2017, the forcible closure of the centre in February 2017, and simultaneous asset freezes targeting other women human rights defenders including Dr. Aida Seif al-Dawla, Azza Suleiman of Lawyers for Justice and Peace, and Mozn Hassan of Nazra for Feminist Studies, with charges under Penal Code Article 78 carrying potential life sentences. https://debankd.org/case/bersih-2-0-bar-council-comango-and-other-ngos-malaysia-2016 https://debankd.org/case/bersih-2-0-bar-council-comango-and-other-ngos-malaysia-2016 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Malaysia. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. In November 2016, the Malaysian government investigated at least 20 NGOs, including Bersih 2.0 and the Bar Council, for allegedly receiving foreign funding used to undermine democracy. In January 2014, the government declared COMANGO (Coalition of Human Rights NGOs) illegal, accusing it of promoting values contrary to Islam and resulting in the organization facing difficulties securing funding. These actions restricted NGOs' access to foreign financial sources and their ability to operate financially. https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-women-s-rights-defenders-incl-azza-soliman-and-mozn https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-women-s-rights-defenders-incl-azza-soliman-and-mozn State-Ordered Tue, 01 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Egyptian authorities froze the personal bank account and law firm account of human rights defender Azza Soliman, founder of CEWLA, and ordered asset freezes against several other NGOs including Nazra for Feminist Studies and the Arab Penal Reform Association, as part of a government crackdown on civil society organizations. These financial restrictions were imposed in the context of an investigation into alleged foreign funding of NGOs (Case no. 173/2011) and were motivated by the targets' human rights and civil society work, not legitimate law enforcement. https://debankd.org/case/cambodia-national-rescue-party-cnrp-lawmakers-boycotting-the https://debankd.org/case/cambodia-national-rescue-party-cnrp-lawmakers-boycotting-the State-Ordered Wed, 26 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Cambodia. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Cambodia's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) approved new rules on October 26, 2016, that cut the pay of lawmakers who boycott National Assembly sessions or violate conduct rules such as improper speeches or interrupting speakers. The new rules were presented as accountability measures but were widely understood by opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmakers as retaliation for their ongoing boycott, which began in October 2015 to protest the removal of a deputy CNRP leader and the beating of opposition lawmakers. https://debankd.org/case/five-banned-and-five-suspended-burundian-ngos-incl-aprodh-an https://debankd.org/case/five-banned-and-five-suspended-burundian-ngos-incl-aprodh-an State-Ordered Mon, 24 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Burundi. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. The Burundian government, through Interior Minister Pascal Barandagiye, banned five NGOs and suspended five others on October 24, 2016, citing that they had 'tarnished the image of the country.' The article notes that the government had previously suspended activities and frozen bank accounts of several human rights organizations in November 2015. These organizations had repeatedly spoken out against government abuses, and the bans and account freezes represent politically motivated restrictions on groups engaged in human rights advocacy. https://debankd.org/case/five-major-burundian-ngos-incl-forsc-focode-acat-aprodh-and- https://debankd.org/case/five-major-burundian-ngos-incl-forsc-focode-acat-aprodh-and- State-Ordered Sat, 01 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Burundi. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. In October 2016, Burundian authorities arbitrarily shut down five major civil society organizations and froze their bank accounts. The organizations challenged this decision before the East African Court of Justice, arguing it violated their rights to freedom of association. The freeze was part of a broader government crackdown against independent human rights organizations during a severe political crisis. https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-human-rights-defenders-incl-hossam-bahgat-gamal-eid https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-human-rights-defenders-incl-hossam-bahgat-gamal-eid State-Ordered Sat, 17 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. On 17 September 2016, an Egyptian criminal court (referenced as both Zeinhom Criminal Court and Cairo Criminal Court) ordered the freezing of personal, family, and organizational bank accounts of five human rights defenders—Hossam Bahgat, Gamal Eid, Bahey el-Din Hassan, Mostafa al-Hassan, and Abdel Hafez Tayel—and three human rights NGOs: the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), the Hisham Mubarak Law Center (HMLC), and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). The court justified the freeze with accusations of illegally receiving foreign funding and pursuing acts harmful to national interests, destabilizing general peace, and harming security and public order, with conviction potentially resulting in up to 25 years imprisonment. Amnesty International characterized the evidence as merely their human rights work and called the freeze a politically motivated ploy to silence human rights activism, while Front Line Defenders similarly condemned it as persecution for legitimate and peaceful human rights defence. https://debankd.org/case/turkish-academics-multiple-individuals-turkey-2016 https://debankd.org/case/turkish-academics-multiple-individuals-turkey-2016 State-Ordered Thu, 01 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Turkey. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. The Turkish government dismissed thousands of academics via emergency decrees after the July 2016 coup attempt and prosecuted hundreds more on terrorism charges. Dismissed academics had their bank accounts frozen, passports confiscated, and were barred from public sector work and unable to find private sector employment. The government also targeted academics who signed a 2016 Academics for Peace petition, using their activities as grounds for dismissal and prosecution despite lack of evidence of wrongdoing. https://debankd.org/case/azadliq-newspaper-azerbaijan-2016 https://debankd.org/case/azadliq-newspaper-azerbaijan-2016 Informal Pressure Thu, 01 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2016. Category: Informal Pressure. Azadliq, an opposition newspaper in Azerbaijan, was forced to cease print publication in September 2016 following ongoing financial pressures from state-owned or affiliated companies. The newspaper's Financial Director and a prominent journalist were subsequently incarcerated on fabricated charges, and multiple staff members were summoned for interrogation in February 2017. https://debankd.org/case/thai-former-prime-minister-yingluck-shinawatra-thailand-2016 https://debankd.org/case/thai-former-prime-minister-yingluck-shinawatra-thailand-2016 State-Ordered Mon, 01 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Thailand. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Thai authorities froze 12 of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's bank accounts in August 2016 in connection with a rice-subsidy scheme case. In September 2016, the Comptroller General ordered her to repay 35.7 billion baht ($1 billion) as part of a related civil case. Yingluck contended the proceedings against her were politically motivated, and she fled Thailand in August 2017 ahead of a criminal verdict that could have resulted in 10 years imprisonment. https://debankd.org/case/daily-news-egypt-dne-borsa-masr-al-arabiya-bawabat-al-qahira https://debankd.org/case/daily-news-egypt-dne-borsa-masr-al-arabiya-bawabat-al-qahira State-Ordered Mon, 01 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. The Egyptian government froze the bank accounts of four independent media outlets (Daily News Egypt, Borsa, Masr al Arabiya, and Bawabat al Qahira) by adding them to a government blacklist of entities suspected of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization. The freeze occurred without any court order or judicial process, conducted administratively by a government committee. This financial starvation was designed to force the media outlets to cease operations so they could be placed under the control of the state-owned newspaper Akhbar al Youm. https://debankd.org/case/multiple-journalists-and-media-outlets-in-turkey-turkey-2016 https://debankd.org/case/multiple-journalists-and-media-outlets-in-turkey-turkey-2016 State-Ordered Wed, 20 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Turkey. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Under Turkey's state of emergency declared after the July 2016 coup attempt, the Turkish government seized the assets of 54 journalists without trial, revoked 775 press cards, cancelled journalists' passports, and closed 149 media outlets by decree. Journalists suspected of links to the Gülen movement were imprisoned for months without charge, held in strict isolation, and had their financial assets frozen despite not being formally indicted. https://debankd.org/case/ahmed-samih-and-andalus-institute-for-tolerance-and-anti-vio https://debankd.org/case/ahmed-samih-and-andalus-institute-for-tolerance-and-anti-vio State-Ordered Mon, 13 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. On 13 June 2016, Cairo Criminal Court ordered the freezing of assets belonging to Ahmed Samih, director of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies (AITAS), and the NGO itself, pending investigation in a foreign funding case. The court accused them of 'using foreign funding to foment unrest.' The asset freeze was part of a broader crackdown on 41 Egyptian human rights organisations and their leaders under Case No. 173. https://debankd.org/case/indian-human-rights-activist-teesta-setalvad-india-2016 https://debankd.org/case/indian-human-rights-activist-teesta-setalvad-india-2016 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Teesta Setalvad, a prominent human rights activist in India, had her bank accounts frozen and her NGO (Citizens for Justice and Peace) deregistered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act in 2016, preventing it from receiving foreign funding. These financial restrictions were imposed by Indian authorities as part of a sustained campaign to silence her activism pursuing accountability for the 2002 Gujarat riots and for her work supporting victims. https://debankd.org/case/lawyers-collective-india-2016 https://debankd.org/case/lawyers-collective-india-2016 State-Ordered Tue, 31 May 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Lawyers Collective, a human rights NGO founded by Indira Jaising and Anand Grover, had its Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration suspended on May 31, 2016, and its bank accounts frozen by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The FCRA license was formally cancelled on November 27, 2016. On June 13, 2019, criminal charges were filed against the organisation and its representatives for alleged FCRA violations, even while the matter was under consideration by the High Court of Bombay. The actions are considered politically motivated, targeting the NGO's human rights work defending activists, challenging Indian ministers and senior officials, and advocating for marginalized groups including LGBTQ people. https://debankd.org/case/foreign-ngos-operating-in-china-china-2016 https://debankd.org/case/foreign-ngos-operating-in-china-china-2016 State-Ordered Wed, 27 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. China's National People's Congress passed the Law on the Management of Foreign Non-Government Organizations Activities on April 27-28, 2016, granting police and the Ministry of Public Security broad powers to supervise foreign-funded NGOs, including examining bank accounts, limiting incoming funds, seizing documents, and revoking registrations; foreign NGOs were also required to register with police rather than the Ministry of Civil Affairs and obtain Chinese government sponsorship. The law took effect on January 1, 2017, by which time many NGOs had already had their funding sources cut off. On December 29, 2016, Chinese authorities physically targeted Migrant Workers Home, a Beijing-based NGO supporting migrant workers, by cutting off electricity and destroying its heating system. Rights groups condemned the law as a tool to suppress civil society, and Chinese lawyers subsequently established an advice center to help NGOs navigate the stringent new legal and financial controls. https://debankd.org/case/joshua-wong-and-demosisto-hong-kong-2016 https://debankd.org/case/joshua-wong-and-demosisto-hong-kong-2016 Corporate Wed, 06 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2016. Category: Corporate. In April 2016, HSBC denied Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong permission to open both a personal bank account and a joint bank account for his newly co-founded political party Demosisto, citing only 'business reasons' without detailed explanation. Wong accused HSBC of 'political censorship,' linking the refusal to his prominent role in Hong Kong's 2014 pro-democracy movement and his new party's advocacy for self-determination and independence. Demosisto was a political party formed in the context of the post-Umbrella Movement political landscape in Hong Kong. https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-human-rights-defender-bahey-el-din-hassan-egypt-201 https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-human-rights-defender-bahey-el-din-hassan-egypt-201 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Bahey el-Din Hassan, a prominent Egyptian human rights defender, had his assets frozen and a travel ban imposed against him in April 2016 as part of a politically motivated investigation into the work of human rights organizations (case 173, the "foreign funding case"). The asset freeze was imposed by an investigative judge without legitimate legal basis, targeting Hassan's human rights work rather than any criminal activity. https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-human-rights-lawyer-mostafa-al-hassan-egypt-2016 https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-human-rights-lawyer-mostafa-al-hassan-egypt-2016 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Mostafa Al Hassan, an Egyptian human rights lawyer and director of the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre, had his assets frozen by order of an investigating judge in Case No. 173. The freezing was part of a broader government action against Egyptian human rights defenders charged with receiving foreign funding and working without legal permission. The article indicates the asset freeze was politically motivated, targeting human rights defenders for their legitimate human rights activities. https://debankd.org/case/ahmadiyah-community-on-bangka-island-indonesia-2016 https://debankd.org/case/ahmadiyah-community-on-bangka-island-indonesia-2016 State-Ordered Tue, 05 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Indonesia. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. The Bangka regency government in Indonesia issued an expulsion order on January 5, 2016, demanding that the Ahmadiyah religious community convert to Sunni Islam or leave the island. As part of this campaign, local authorities withheld the official identification card of Ahmadiyah cleric Achmad Syafei despite his compliance with all administrative requirements. Official ID cards are necessary for basic financial services including opening bank accounts, registering births, and obtaining government-subsidized healthcare. https://debankd.org/case/families-of-alleged-terrorists-syria-counterterrorism-law-sy https://debankd.org/case/families-of-alleged-terrorists-syria-counterterrorism-law-sy State-Ordered Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Syria. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. The Syrian government, through its Finance Ministry, froze and seized the assets of families of people arbitrarily placed on a terrorism list under Decree 63 and Syria's Counterterrorism Law of 2012. Hundreds of individuals from areas retaken from anti-government forces had their property frozen without notification, due process, or right of appeal. The article notes that victims included humanitarian aid workers and protest participants, with the asset freeze extending to spouses, children, and parents who had no individual criminal responsibility. https://debankd.org/case/rwandan-opposition-figure-eugene-gasana-rwanda-2016 https://debankd.org/case/rwandan-opposition-figure-eugene-gasana-rwanda-2016 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Rwanda. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Eugene Gasana, a former senior RPF official and Rwandan ambassador to the UN, had his bank accounts and land in Rwanda seized by authorities after he refused to return to Kigali in 2016 following his dismissal over his opposition to President Kagame's constitutional amendment. The seizure occurred shortly after Gasana's refusal to return and was part of a broader pattern of attacks against him including criminal charges, an Interpol Red Notice, and targeting of his family members. https://debankd.org/case/demosist-youngspiration-hong-kong-national-party-hong-kong-2 https://debankd.org/case/demosist-youngspiration-hong-kong-national-party-hong-kong-2 Corporate Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2016. Category: Corporate. Multiple Hong Kong political parties and pro-democracy groups faced obstacles opening and maintaining bank accounts. HSBC refused to open a joint account for Demosistō leaders Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow in 2016 citing 'administrative' and 'commercial' reasons. The Bank of China closed Youngspiration's account in February 2017 'due to various reasons,' while HSBC froze the account of Youngspiration convener Baggio Leung Chung-hang. These restrictions hampered the parties' abilities to raise funds and conduct normal financial operations. https://debankd.org/case/at-least-15-civil-society-members-and-human-rights-organizat https://debankd.org/case/at-least-15-civil-society-members-and-human-rights-organizat State-Ordered Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Egyptian authorities have systematically imposed arbitrary asset freezes and travel bans on at least 15 civil society members — including human rights lawyers, journalists, activists, and researchers — as well as multiple prominent human rights organizations such as the Arab Network for Human Rights Information and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, as documented by Human Rights Watch and FairSquare. The asset freezes, often imposed without formal notification or legal clarity, have prevented targets from accessing banking systems, receiving salaries, conducting business transactions, and maintaining financial independence. These measures are pursued primarily through Case 173 of 2011, which investigates NGOs for foreign funding, and are further enabled by the 2019 NGO law, which allows authorities to dissolve organizations and impose fines for operating without government approval or sending/receiving funds without authorization. https://debankd.org/case/independent-lawyers-in-azerbaijan-azerbaijan-2016 https://debankd.org/case/independent-lawyers-in-azerbaijan-azerbaijan-2016 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. Independent lawyers in Azerbaijan who handle politically sensitive and religious cases have had their bank accounts frozen and faced travel bans imposed by the Azerbaijani government and Bar Association. The article documents how the government uses the Bar Association—closely tied to and influenced by the government—to disbar independent lawyers, restrict their ability to practice law, and prevent them from representing political prisoners and defending those accused of political or religious offenses. https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-initiative-for-personal-rights-eipr-egypt-2016 https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-initiative-for-personal-rights-eipr-egypt-2016 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2016. Category: State-Ordered. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), a leading human rights NGO, has been subjected to a sustained reprisal campaign by Egyptian authorities. Since 2016, EIPR founder Hossam Bahgat has been placed under a travel ban and had his assets frozen. In November 2020, three senior EIPR staff members were arrested as part of this ongoing campaign. More broadly, at least 30 other human rights defenders in Egypt are banned from travel and nine have had their assets frozen, reflecting a wider crackdown on civil society organisations motivated by their human rights work and advocacy. https://debankd.org/case/yana-salmina-center-for-minority-rights-ukraine-2016 https://debankd.org/case/yana-salmina-center-for-minority-rights-ukraine-2016 Corporate Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ukraine. Year: 2016. Category: Corporate. A Ukrainian bank blocked an account that received Pravfond (a Russian government-backed, EU-sanctioned foundation) funding for Yana Salmina's Center for Minority Rights project in 2016, shortly before a planned roundtable discussion on minority rights in Kyiv. Salmina complained that the action was unlawful. The bank's action appears to have been motivated by the account's connection to Russian government funding during a period of heightened Ukraine-Russia tensions. https://debankd.org/case/islamic-relief-uk-united-kingdom-2015 https://debankd.org/case/islamic-relief-uk-united-kingdom-2015 Corporate Thu, 31 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United Kingdom. Year: 2015. Category: Corporate. HSBC terminated its banking relationship with Islamic Relief UK, a UK-based international aid charity, citing concerns about the charity's activities in high-risk jurisdictions and pressure from US authorities on money laundering. The bank's decision followed the UAE's designation of Islamic Relief as a terrorist organisation, and multiple investigations suggested HSBC may have been influenced by the UAE to close accounts of Muslim groups in the UK. The closure disrupted the charity's operations, including delays in purchasing relief supplies for earthquake victims in Nepal. https://debankd.org/case/burundian-ngos-incl-rpa-ligue-iteka-steb-and-areddho-burundi https://debankd.org/case/burundian-ngos-incl-rpa-ligue-iteka-steb-and-areddho-burundi State-Ordered Tue, 01 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Burundi. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. In December 2015, the Burundian Ministry of Justice and General Prosecutor's Office jointly issued a document freezing the bank accounts of four organizations: Radio Publique Africaine (RPA), Ligue Burundaise des Droits de L'Homme (Ligue Iteka), Syndicat des Travailleurs de l'Enseignement du Burundi (STEB), and l'Association pour la Recherche sur l'Environnement, la Démocratie et les Droits de l'Homme au Burundi (AREDDHO). The document also disclosed private bank information of these organizations to the government. These actions were taken against organizations engaged in human rights advocacy and criticism of the government during the political crisis. https://debankd.org/case/10-burundian-civil-society-organisations-incl-ligue-iteka-an https://debankd.org/case/10-burundian-civil-society-organisations-incl-ligue-iteka-an State-Ordered Thu, 19 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Burundi. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. On November 19, 2015, Burundi's Prosecutor General ordered the bank accounts of 10 civil society organisations to be frozen, targeting groups including Ligue Iteka, APRODH (Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons), and Maison Shalom. Four days later, on November 23, Interior Minister Pascal Barandagiye ordered these same organisations to suspend their activities entirely. The actions were part of a broader government crackdown on civil society and independent media critical of President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial bid for a third term in office, which also included the suspension of all main private radio stations. https://debankd.org/case/azerbaijani-human-rights-activist-elchin-abdullayev-azerbaij https://debankd.org/case/azerbaijani-human-rights-activist-elchin-abdullayev-azerbaij State-Ordered Tue, 20 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. Elchin Abdullayev, a human rights activist in Azerbaijan, had his personal and business bank accounts frozen by the Department for Investigation of Grave Crimes on October 20, 2015. The authorities initiated a criminal investigation accusing him of illegal entrepreneurship and tax evasion, but Abdullayev believes the real motivation was his civil society work, particularly his involvement with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative coalition, which had called for accountability in Azerbaijan's oil industry. The account freeze forced his organization to shut down its projects. https://debankd.org/case/russian-anti-war-activist-alexander-byvshev-russia-2015 https://debankd.org/case/russian-anti-war-activist-alexander-byvshev-russia-2015 State-Ordered Tue, 29 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. Alexander Byvshev, a Russian school teacher, was added to Russia's federal registry of extremists and terrorists by the Federal Financial Monitoring Service on September 29, 2015, following his publication of poems criticizing Russia's invasion of Crimea and expressing sympathy for Ukraine. As a result, his bank account was frozen, and the article states he cannot withdraw compensation money owed to him by a court. The financial restriction appears to be a consequence of his political speech and criticism of government policy. https://debankd.org/case/teesta-setalvad-and-javed-anand-india-2015 https://debankd.org/case/teesta-setalvad-and-javed-anand-india-2015 State-Ordered Fri, 14 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand, prominent human rights activists who work on documenting communal violence and protecting religious minorities in India, had their bank accounts blocked and passports confiscated by police as part of what the article describes as harassment tactics. The article argues these actions are politically motivated retaliation for their criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and their work on accountability for the 2002 Gujarat riots, rather than legitimate law enforcement. https://debankd.org/case/chinese-human-rights-activist-song-kai-china-2015 https://debankd.org/case/chinese-human-rights-activist-song-kai-china-2015 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. Chinese police in Fujian province froze the bank accounts of Song Kai, wife of online activist Wu Gan, preventing her from accessing donations sent by overseas supporters. The accounts contained approximately 200,000 yuan intended to cover the couple's living expenses and legal fees. Wu Gan was detained and subsequently charged with libel, picking quarrels and stirring up trouble, and incitement to subvert state power, all related to his online criticism of the government and advocacy for freedom of speech. https://debankd.org/case/chinese-human-rights-activist-zhang-haitao-china-2015 https://debankd.org/case/chinese-human-rights-activist-zhang-haitao-china-2015 State-Ordered Fri, 26 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. Chinese authorities in Xinjiang detained prominent rights activist Zhang Haitao on June 26, 2015, charging him with 'picking quarrels and stirring up trouble.' Police froze his bank account following his formal arrest on July 31, 2015. His pregnant wife, Li Aijie, reported that she had no access to funds and could not be visited or supported while awaiting his trial, with authorities offering no timeline for proceedings. https://debankd.org/case/greenpeace-india-india-2015 https://debankd.org/case/greenpeace-india-india-2015 State-Ordered Fri, 10 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. India froze the national bank accounts of Greenpeace India, accusing the organization of violating the country's tax laws. Greenpeace India characterized the move as a 'clear attempt to silence criticism and dissent,' suggesting the financial restriction was motivated by the organization's political and environmental activism rather than genuine tax violations. https://debankd.org/case/haki-africa-and-muslims-for-human-rights-muhuri-kenya-2015 https://debankd.org/case/haki-africa-and-muslims-for-human-rights-muhuri-kenya-2015 State-Ordered Tue, 07 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kenya. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. On April 7, 2015, the Kenyan government published an official terrorism list including Mombasa-based human rights NGOs Haki Africa and MUHURI — both of which had documented extrajudicial killings and abuses by security forces at the Kenyan coast — after which the Central Bank of Kenya instructed banks to freeze their accounts without advance notice, leaving the organizations only one day to contest the designation. On April 20-21, 2015, the Kenya Revenue Authority raided both organizations' offices, seizing documents and hard drives under the guise of a tax evasion investigation, and both groups subsequently had their insurance suspended and registrations cancelled by the NGO Coordination Board in late May 2015 for alleged failure to declare bank accounts. On June 12, 2015, a Mombasa High Court ruled the terrorist designation was politically motivated and unlawful, and issued an interim order forbidding the government from associating the organizations with terrorist groups, but the court did not order the immediate unfreezing of accounts, which remained frozen. Under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the organizations were also prohibited from receiving new funding from any other source during this period. Additionally, the government announced plans to deregister the Kenya Human Rights Commission and other civil society groups, targeting organizations that document security force abuses and call for accountability for post-election violence. https://debankd.org/case/independent-ngos-and-civil-society-groups-in-azerbaijan-azer https://debankd.org/case/independent-ngos-and-civil-society-groups-in-azerbaijan-azer State-Ordered Wed, 01 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. The Azerbaijani government imposed restrictive laws and regulations that froze bank accounts of independent NGOs and required both donors and grantees to obtain separate government approval for each grant, effectively restricting civil society groups' access to funding. The government continued these measures even after the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) downgraded Azerbaijan's status in April 2015 for failing to foster an enabling environment for civil society. The article documents that many groups were forced to downsize, suspend activities, or close as a result. https://debankd.org/case/filimbi-democratic-republic-of-congo-2015 https://debankd.org/case/filimbi-democratic-republic-of-congo-2015 State-Ordered Sun, 15 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Democratic Republic of Congo. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. On March 15, 2015, the Congolese National Intelligence Agency (ANR) arrested Filimbi activists and others, including Rawbank employees who had set up and managed the bank account for Filimbi, a pro-democracy youth movement, during a civic participation workshop. Authorities confiscated materials and restricted the movement's financial operations. At least one Rawbank employee remained in detention as of April 11, 2015. The crackdown was politically motivated to suppress youth civic engagement ahead of the 2016 presidential elections, prompting over 200 rights groups to call for the activists' release. https://debankd.org/case/human-rights-groups-civil-society-organizations-in-angola-an https://debankd.org/case/human-rights-groups-civil-society-organizations-in-angola-an State-Ordered Sun, 01 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Angola. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. After President José Eduardo dos Santos signed Decree 74/15 in March 2015, which imposed severe restrictions on NGOs including mandatory registration with multiple authorities and approval requirements, several human rights groups faced difficulties accessing their bank accounts. Banks demanded to see government approvals that the government was not issuing, effectively freezing NGOs' financial access. The decree allowed government authorities to determine which programs organizations could implement, giving the state control over civil society operations. https://debankd.org/case/mongolian-dissident-writer-huuchinhuu-govruud-china-2015 https://debankd.org/case/mongolian-dissident-writer-huuchinhuu-govruud-china-2015 State-Ordered Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. Huuchinhuu Govruud, an ethnic Mongolian dissident writer and activist in China's Inner Mongolia region, had her two bank accounts frozen by the Tongliao Municipality Public Security Bureau in January 2015. The accounts contained approximately $850 that she relied on for basic living expenses and medical care, with authorities claiming the funds endangered national security and were suspected of being destined for fellow dissident Hada. The freeze was part of broader retaliation for her support of activists Hada and his wife Xinna, and she faced prolonged house arrest and financial difficulties as a result. Following her death in October 2016, the Genghis Khan website used by ethnic Mongolians was shut down by censors. https://debankd.org/case/10-independent-organizations-in-burundi-incl-aprodh-burundi- https://debankd.org/case/10-independent-organizations-in-burundi-incl-aprodh-burundi- State-Ordered Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Burundi. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. During Burundi's political crisis sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial bid for a third term in April 2015, the government froze the bank accounts of 10 independent organizations and suspended civil society groups perceived as political opponents. Among those targeted was APRODH (Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons), whose bank accounts were frozen after it organized protests against the third-term bid. Many other human rights organisations had their accounts frozen or were shut down entirely as part of a broader crackdown on protesters, opposition politicians, journalists, and human rights defenders critical of the ruling party. https://debankd.org/case/kenyan-newspapers-nation-standard-star-and-others-kenya-2015 https://debankd.org/case/kenyan-newspapers-nation-standard-star-and-others-kenya-2015 State-Ordered Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kenya. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. The Kenyan government established a centralized Government Advertising Agency in 2015 to control all government advertising placed in newspapers. Rather than paying bills owed, the agency withholds payments from newspapers that publish critical coverage, effectively using financial starvation as a tool to enforce self-censorship. Journalists confirm that newspapers suppress investigations and soften coverage to avoid losing government advertising revenue, which represents approximately 25 percent of total advertising income. This practice, termed 'fiscing' by the article, has led to the self-censorship of stories on military defeats, ICC investigations, and government misconduct. https://debankd.org/case/ngos-approximately-20-human-rights-organizations-azerbaijan- https://debankd.org/case/ngos-approximately-20-human-rights-organizations-azerbaijan- State-Ordered Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. The Azerbaijani government shut down approximately 20 human rights NGOs, sealing their offices and freezing their bank accounts. The closures targeted organizations that worked on human rights issues and were part of a broader crackdown on critical voices, including journalists, activists, and opposition parties who were imprisoned, arrested, or forced to flee the country. https://debankd.org/case/economedia-capital-dnevnik-zovnews-com-mediapool-bg-bivol-bg https://debankd.org/case/economedia-capital-dnevnik-zovnews-com-mediapool-bg-bivol-bg State-Ordered Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Bulgaria. Year: 2015. Category: State-Ordered. The Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission imposed record fines on multiple news organizations for reporting on banking sector irregularities. Economedia was fined 150,000 leva (approximately 80,000 euros) for reporting on asset withdrawals by firms connected to a politician, and additional fines for refusing to disclose sources. Other outlets including zovnews.com, mediapool.bg, and bivol.bg also faced major fines. The restrictions directly targeted media coverage of financial system issues and were motivated by political connections of those being reported on. https://debankd.org/case/hada-and-his-wife-xinna-china-2014 https://debankd.org/case/hada-and-his-wife-xinna-china-2014 State-Ordered Mon, 01 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. Ethnic Mongolian dissident Hada, who was imprisoned from 1995 for advocating Mongolian self-determination, had his bank accounts frozen by Chinese public security authorities in Inner Mongolia following his release from approximately 19 years of detention, with the freeze first reported around December 2014–January 2015. Authorities also denied him an ID card, cut off internet access, confiscated passports, and tampered with phones, reportedly in retaliation for giving interviews to RFA and speaking out in support of ethnic Mongolian herders' protests; without an ID card he could not open new accounts, and the family was forced to rely on donations to survive. Hada appealed to the UN Human Rights Council describing these measures as punishment for his political activism. On August 26–27, 2017, authorities permanently revoked both Hada's and his wife Xinna's WeChat access, accusing them of 'spreading evil rumors,' while simultaneously freezing their bank accounts again and cutting off their cell phone signal. https://debankd.org/case/uyghur-scholar-and-human-rights-defender-ilham-tohti-china-2 https://debankd.org/case/uyghur-scholar-and-human-rights-defender-ilham-tohti-china-2 State-Ordered Sun, 26 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. Chinese authorities seized approximately 850,000 yuan (US$140,000) from the bank account of jailed Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, who was convicted of separatism and sentenced to life imprisonment on September 23, 2014. The seizure was ordered as part of the court's sentence, which included confiscation of all his assets. Tohti's wife expressed concerns that the family could lose their Beijing apartment and become homeless as a result of the asset seizure. https://debankd.org/case/displaced-benghazi-families-multiple-individuals-libya-2014 https://debankd.org/case/displaced-benghazi-families-multiple-individuals-libya-2014 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Libya. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. Armed groups affiliated with the Libyan National Army (LNA) in Benghazi prevented thousands of internally displaced families from returning to their homes and accessing their financial assets. Displaced residents reported being unable to access money in Benghazi banks and facing discrimination in obtaining salaries and accessing services. The LNA-linked groups seized property and froze financial access as part of a systematic campaign against families accused of opposing the LNA or supporting "terrorism," based on broad political association rather than individual criminal conduct. https://debankd.org/case/independent-ngos-in-azerbaijan-s-eiti-coalition-azerbaijan-2 https://debankd.org/case/independent-ngos-in-azerbaijan-s-eiti-coalition-azerbaijan-2 State-Ordered Tue, 30 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. The Azerbaijani government froze the bank accounts of the majority of independent NGOs participating in the national EITI coalition and refused to register their grants for work on natural resource transparency. On September 30, 2014, a parliamentary committee introduced draft legislation that would block any foreign funding not deemed in the government's interest, requiring all grant projects to be individually approved by relevant government ministries. These measures were designed to silence civil society organizations critical of government transparency practices. https://debankd.org/case/crimea-foundation-ukraine-2014 https://debankd.org/case/crimea-foundation-ukraine-2014 State-Ordered Tue, 16 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ukraine. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. On September 16, 2014, Crimean authorities conducted a search of the Crimea Foundation, the charitable organization that administers the Mejlis (the highest representative body of Crimean Tatars), and subsequently froze all of the foundation's bank accounts and seized its seven properties. The next day, a court ordered the foundation's assets frozen pending a hearing on excluding Mustafa Dzhemilev, the informal leader of Crimean Tatars and banned opposition figure, from the foundation's list of founders—despite evidence that he was never listed as a founder. The authorities then sealed the foundation's offices, effectively paralyzing the activities of the Mejlis and its newspaper Avdet. https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-pro-democracy-activist-jeff-tsui-hong-kong-2014 https://debankd.org/case/hong-kong-pro-democracy-activist-jeff-tsui-hong-kong-2014 Informal Pressure Tue, 02 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Hong Kong. Year: 2014. Category: Informal Pressure. Jeff Tsui, a hedge-fund manager and one of the leading organizers of the Occupy Central pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, withdrew from the movement in early September 2014. Fellow activist Edward C.K. Chin suggested that Tsui came under intense political pressure from Beijing and stated: 'I think he is very likely having his [mainland business] accounts frozen across his business network.' Tsui's withdrawal announcement appeared in a pro-Beijing newspaper, and Chin noted the language used was uncharacteristic of Tsui, suggesting coercion rather than a genuine change of position. https://debankd.org/case/leyla-yunus-arif-yunus-intigam-aliyev-rasul-jafarov-and-thei https://debankd.org/case/leyla-yunus-arif-yunus-intigam-aliyev-rasul-jafarov-and-thei State-Ordered Fri, 01 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. The Azerbaijani government froze bank accounts of human rights organizations and their leaders, including the Institute for Peace and Democracy, Legal Education Society, and Human Rights Club, as well as the personal accounts of prominent human rights defenders Leyla Yunus, Arif Yunus, Intigam Aliyev, and Rasul Jafarov. The letter states authorities cut off funding to independent groups by arbitrarily freezing bank accounts without recourse and refusing authorization to register new grants. These actions were part of a broader crackdown on civil society and appeared designed to silence government critics and human rights defenders. https://debankd.org/case/moroccan-association-for-human-rights-amdh-morocco-2014 https://debankd.org/case/moroccan-association-for-human-rights-amdh-morocco-2014 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Morocco. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. The Moroccan government launched a systematic two-year campaign from July 2014 onwards obstructing the country's largest independent human rights organization, the AMDH. Authorities refused to issue registration receipts to 47 AMDH branches and the head office, preventing them from opening bank accounts or making withdrawals. Simultaneously, authorities blocked 125 AMDH meetings and events through direct prohibition or pressure on venue managers, despite multiple administrative court rulings ordering the government to comply with the law and issue receipts. https://debankd.org/case/uk-muslim-organisations-incl-cordoba-foundation-cage-and-hhu https://debankd.org/case/uk-muslim-organisations-incl-cordoba-foundation-cage-and-hhu Corporate Tue, 01 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United Kingdom. Year: 2014. Category: Corporate. Multiple UK banks including HSBC, Barclays, Co-operative Bank, NatWest, and Royal Bank of Scotland closed or froze accounts of Muslim charities, organisations, and individuals — including the Cordoba Foundation, Finsbury Park Mosque, CAGE, HHUGS, Muslim Association of Britain, and Ummah Welfare Trust — without providing clear reasons, citing only vague justifications such as 'risk appetite' or non-compliance with account-holding criteria. Bank representatives denied discrimination but acknowledged the closures were part of a broader review following counter-terrorism concerns. Representatives of affected organisations and independent experts argued the pattern constituted religious and political discrimination, disproportionately targeting British Muslims and Muslim organisations based on identity and political activism rather than legitimate financial risk. The issue persisted across at least a decade, with reports of ongoing de-banking of British Muslims emerging as recently as 2023. https://debankd.org/case/yirenping-china-2014 https://debankd.org/case/yirenping-china-2014 State-Ordered Thu, 12 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. On June 12, 2014, police in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province froze the bank account of Yirenping, an anti-discrimination NGO. Five days later, on June 17, police searched the organization's office, seized two computers and financial documents, and briefly detained a staff member for questioning. Police stated they were investigating Chang Boyang, the organization's lawyer, who had been detained on suspicion of 'gathering crowds to disturb public order' related to Tiananmen anniversary commemoration activities. https://debankd.org/case/odhikar-bangladesh-2014 https://debankd.org/case/odhikar-bangladesh-2014 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Bangladesh. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. The Bangladesh NGO Affairs Bureau froze all bank accounts of Odhikar, a prominent local human rights organisation, beginning in April 2014 under the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act 2016, which empowers the bureau to cancel registration and confiscate foreign donations of organisations for making comments the government finds objectionable. On June 5, 2022, the bureau escalated its actions by formally cancelling Odhikar's registration, citing its documentation of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances as 'misleading' and damaging to the state's reputation. The cancellation was made despite the matter being pending in court and is widely considered politically motivated to silence Odhikar's human rights documentation work. https://debankd.org/case/uyghur-academic-and-human-rights-advocate-ilham-tohti-china- https://debankd.org/case/uyghur-academic-and-human-rights-advocate-ilham-tohti-china- State-Ordered Wed, 15 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur academic, professor, and human rights advocate, was arrested in January 2014 on separatism charges after advocating for greater autonomy in Xinjiang. Chinese police in Xinjiang, acting on orders of regional authorities, froze his bank accounts, leaving his wife Guzelnur unable to withdraw money from their joint account. The family faced significant financial hardship as a result, though Tohti's university salary continued to be deposited; Guzelnur also relied on her modest library salary to support the family while Tohti remained incommunicado in detention. https://debankd.org/case/multiple-egyptian-human-rights-defenders-and-ngos-incl-azza- https://debankd.org/case/multiple-egyptian-human-rights-defenders-and-ngos-incl-azza- State-Ordered Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. Egyptian investigative judges in Case 173/2011 imposed asset freezes against seven human rights organizations and 10 human rights defenders, and banned at least 31 human rights defenders and NGO staff from travel abroad for six years, beginning in 2014. The case targeted the work and sources of foreign funding of Egyptian NGOs. As of August 2021, the judge closed the investigation and lifted travel bans and asset freezes against some defendants including Azza Soliman, Esraa Abdelfattah, and Negad el Bor'ei, but asset freezes and travel bans remained against at least 20 other human rights defenders. https://debankd.org/case/independent-civic-groups-in-azerbaijan-incl-leyla-yunus-et-a https://debankd.org/case/independent-civic-groups-in-azerbaijan-incl-leyla-yunus-et-a State-Ordered Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. The Azerbaijani government froze the bank accounts of independent civic groups and their leaders in 2014, and denied them access to funds by refusing to register foreign grants. In November 2014, President Ilham Aliyev signed legislation requiring government licensing of all foreign donors and approval of each funded project, effectively cutting off funding for groups critical of the government. These restrictions were imposed on human rights defenders and civil society organizations, targeting their ability to operate financially. https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-human-rights-defenders-and-civil-society-organisati https://debankd.org/case/egyptian-human-rights-defenders-and-civil-society-organisati State-Ordered Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. Since 2014, Egyptian government authorities have frozen the assets of dozens of human rights defenders and imposed arbitrary travel bans on them, justified through investigations into the 'foreign funding' of their organisations. These measures are part of a broader crackdown on civil society, independent human rights organisations, and activism in Egypt. The restrictions have prevented human rights defenders from participating in international forums, including the UN Universal Periodic Review in Geneva. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Front Line Defenders all urged EU member states to call for the lifting of these travel bans and asset freezes. https://debankd.org/case/eiti-ngo-coalition-azerbaijan-2014 https://debankd.org/case/eiti-ngo-coalition-azerbaijan-2014 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2014. Category: State-Ordered. The Azerbaijani government froze the bank accounts of numerous independent civic groups and their leaders, forcing many organizations to suspend operations or close entirely. The government amended NGO legislation in 2014 to require Ministry of Justice approval for all foreign grants, which were systematically refused to human rights NGOs, effectively banning access to foreign funding. Some EITI coalition members' accounts were later unfrozen, but accounts of many other NGOs and their directors remained frozen. These financial restrictions, combined with foreign travel bans and broader restrictive legislation, were part of a wider crackdown on activists, journalists, and human rights defenders ahead of the 2015 European Games and in response to political opposition to the government. https://debankd.org/case/azzam-tamimi-et-al-muslim-brotherhood-united-kingdom-2014 https://debankd.org/case/azzam-tamimi-et-al-muslim-brotherhood-united-kingdom-2014 Corporate Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United Kingdom. Year: 2014. Category: Corporate. HSBC bank closed the bank accounts of British-Palestinian activist Azzam Tamimi and dozens of other individuals and organizations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK. According to Tamimi and reports cited in the article, the UAE pressured HSBC to close these accounts, targeting individuals and groups the UAE accused of having ties to the Brotherhood. The closures appear motivated by the targets' association with the Muslim Brotherhood rather than by legitimate fraud prevention. https://debankd.org/case/nanle-county-christian-church-three-self-protestant-church-c https://debankd.org/case/nanle-county-christian-church-three-self-protestant-church-c State-Ordered Sat, 16 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2013. Category: State-Ordered. On November 16, 2013, police in Nanle County, Henan province, China detained Pastor Zhang Shaojie and approximately 20 members of a Three-Self Protestant church on charges of 'obstructing official duty' and 'gathering a crowd to disturb public order,' following a property dispute between the church and local officials. No formal arrest notices were issued. As part of the crackdown, authorities froze the church's bank account. Lawyers who attempted to visit the detained church members were beaten by government-hired thugs and denied access to their clients. https://debankd.org/case/azadliq-and-yeni-musavat-opposition-newspapers-azerbaijan-20 https://debankd.org/case/azadliq-and-yeni-musavat-opposition-newspapers-azerbaijan-20 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2013. Category: State-Ordered. The Azerbaijani government froze bank accounts of the opposition newspapers Azadliq and Yeni Musavat and imposed bans on their sales in underground kiosks, resulting in the newspapers halting daily publication. These financial restrictions followed the October 9, 2013 presidential election and were part of a broader crackdown on opposition media and government critics. https://debankd.org/case/qatari-human-rights-activist-abdullah-al-mohannadi-qatar-201 https://debankd.org/case/qatari-human-rights-activist-abdullah-al-mohannadi-qatar-201 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Qatar. Year: 2013. Category: State-Ordered. Abdullah al-Mohannadi, a Qatari businessman, had all his personal and business bank accounts frozen in September 2013 without a court order by Qatari state security authorities. The state security apparatus also blocked banks from authorizing his financial actions. These financial sanctions were imposed alongside an arbitrary travel ban, apparently in retaliation for his criticism of Interior Ministry officials on online platforms. The freezing of his accounts caused material and psychological harm to him and his family. https://debankd.org/case/muslim-brotherhood-egypt-2013 https://debankd.org/case/muslim-brotherhood-egypt-2013 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2013. Category: State-Ordered. Following the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, an Egyptian court in September 2013 banned the Muslim Brotherhood from operating and ordered its assets seized. Egypt's cabinet removed the Brotherhood from the list of approved NGOs on 8 October 2013, and the Ministry of Social Solidarity formally dissolved it. On 23 December 2013, following the government's designation of the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation, Egyptian authorities froze the assets of at least 1,055 affiliated charities. Courts also ordered the dissolution of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, forming part of a broad campaign of financial and organisational suppression. https://debankd.org/case/foreign-funded-ngos-in-egypt-incl-freedom-house-and-ndi-egyp https://debankd.org/case/foreign-funded-ngos-in-egypt-incl-freedom-house-and-ndi-egyp State-Ordered Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 2013. Category: State-Ordered. Egypt's Cairo Criminal Court sentenced 43 NGO workers to prison terms and ordered the closure of five international NGOs (Freedom House, International Republican Institute, NDI, ICFJ, and KAS), with their funds to be confiscated. The convictions were based on the organizations operating as unregistered NGOs and receiving foreign funding. Amnesty International characterized the ruling as targeting civil society and violating freedom of association rights. https://debankd.org/case/environmental-watch-of-the-north-caucasus-ewnc-russia-2013 https://debankd.org/case/environmental-watch-of-the-north-caucasus-ewnc-russia-2013 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2013. Category: State-Ordered. The Environmental Watch of the North Caucasus (EWNC), an NGO critical of the Russian government's Olympic preparations in Sochi, had its bank accounts frozen by local authorities. This occurred after the organization refused government pressure to cease publishing reports criticizing environmental impacts of the Olympics. The freezing of accounts followed an official inspection campaign targeting the NGO's activities and computers. https://debankd.org/case/uyghur-human-rights-activists-patigul-ghulam-and-other-uyghu https://debankd.org/case/uyghur-human-rights-activists-patigul-ghulam-and-other-uyghu State-Ordered Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2013. Category: State-Ordered. During a visit by Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kılıcdaroglu to Xinjiang in January 2013, Chinese authorities targeted families of disappeared Uyghurs by preventing their access to bank accounts and confining them to their homes. Widow Patigul Ghulam was taken on a forced trip by police claiming to help her retrieve 5,000 yuan from a bank account, while her family was surrounded by police cars. Multiple families were detained and prevented from accessing their savings or leaving their homes during the three-day visit. https://debankd.org/case/uzbek-opposition-figure-gulnara-karimova-uzbekistan-2013 https://debankd.org/case/uzbek-opposition-figure-gulnara-karimova-uzbekistan-2013 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Uzbekistan. Year: 2013. Category: State-Ordered. Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, had her bank accounts frozen by the Uzbek government as part of a broader campaign of political pressure. The article states 'The government has seemingly frozen some of her bank accounts, and she is now reportedly forbidden to leave the country.' This financial restriction occurred amid an intra-elite power struggle within the authoritarian regime, motivated by her political activities and international profile rather than legitimate fraud prevention. https://debankd.org/case/institute-for-reporters-freedom-and-safety-irfs-azerbaijan-2 https://debankd.org/case/institute-for-reporters-freedom-and-safety-irfs-azerbaijan-2 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2013. Category: State-Ordered. The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), a leading media monitoring group in Azerbaijan, was forced to shut down in 2013 following the freezing of its bank accounts and persecution of its founder and director Emin Huseynov by Azerbaijani authorities. The organization, which employed journalist Rasim Aliyev, was targeted in connection with its media freedom monitoring work. https://debankd.org/case/russian-ngos-receiving-us-funding-or-led-by-us-passport-hold https://debankd.org/case/russian-ngos-receiving-us-funding-or-led-by-us-passport-hold State-Ordered Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. In December 2012, Russian President Putin signed the Dima Yakovlev law, which allows for the suspension and freezing of assets of Russian nongovernmental organizations that engage in 'political' activities and receive funding from US citizens or organizations, or whose leaders or members hold US passports. The law was enacted as direct retaliation for the US Magnitsky Act, which had imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials implicated in human rights abuses. The legislation targeted civil society organizations and NGOs engaged in advocacy work, restricting their financial access based on their funding sources, political activities, and the citizenship of their leadership. https://debankd.org/case/blue-diamond-society-nepal-2012 https://debankd.org/case/blue-diamond-society-nepal-2012 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Nepal. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. The Nepali government froze the bank accounts of Blue Diamond Society, the national LGBT umbrella organization, following a government investigation into corruption allegations reported by television news stories. The investigation halted the organization's license renewal process and froze their accounts, preventing the disbursement of salaries and halting health and human rights activities for more than 30 LGBT organizations across Nepal, including vital HIV prevention work. https://debankd.org/case/british-humanitarian-activist-tauqir-sharif-united-kingdom-2 https://debankd.org/case/british-humanitarian-activist-tauqir-sharif-united-kingdom-2 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United Kingdom. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. Tauqir Sharif, a British aid worker providing humanitarian relief in Syria, had both his and his wife's bank accounts closed by UK authorities. Additionally, £5,000 in charitable donations each was confiscated by police in December 2012 while leaving the UK with a Syria-bound convoy. His 17-month-old daughter's passport application has been delayed or denied, allegedly for eight months, which Sharif attributes to harassment by UK security services related to his Syria aid work and past presence on the Mavi Marmara aid ship. https://debankd.org/case/azadlig-azerbaijan-2012 https://debankd.org/case/azadlig-azerbaijan-2012 State-Ordered Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. An Azeri court ordered the freezing of bank accounts belonging to the opposition newspaper Azadlig on 5 November 2012 to recover a fine of 4,200 manat. The newspaper's editor, Ganimat Zahid, stated the decision was illegal because the newspaper had lodged an appeal against the verdict, which under Azeri law should have prevented enforcement. This action was part of a sustained campaign against the newspaper, including exorbitant fines totaling over 65,000 manat and deliberate disruption of its distribution network, designed to silence the opposition media outlet. https://debankd.org/case/families-of-the-uae-94-political-activists-and-government-cr https://debankd.org/case/families-of-the-uae-94-political-activists-and-government-cr State-Ordered Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: United Arab Emirates. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. On October 25, 2012, the UAE Attorney General issued an order freezing all bank accounts and assets of 23 political activists accused of national security crimes, as well as the accounts of their spouses and underage children, leaving families in difficult financial circumstances. These measures were part of a broader harassment campaign against the families of the 69 government critics convicted in the 'UAE 94' trial, which Amnesty International described as unfair. Beyond account freezes and asset stripping, affected family members also had trade licences removed, were refused employment security clearance, had citizenship revoked, and were subjected to travel bans as reprisals for seeking justice for their imprisoned relatives. https://debankd.org/case/kazakhstani-opposition-leader-vladimir-kozlov-kazakhstan-201 https://debankd.org/case/kazakhstani-opposition-leader-vladimir-kozlov-kazakhstan-201 State-Ordered Mon, 08 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kazakhstan. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. On October 8, 2012, the Aktau City Court in Kazakhstan convicted opposition leader Vladimir Kozlov of charges including 'inciting social discord' and 'calling for the forcible overthrow of the constitutional order.' In addition to a 7.5-year prison sentence, the court ordered seizure of Kozlov's assets, including his apartment, cars, and over a dozen offices of his opposition party Alga!, demonstrating how financial restrictions were used alongside criminal prosecution to silence political opposition. https://debankd.org/case/arche-pachatak-belarus-2012 https://debankd.org/case/arche-pachatak-belarus-2012 State-Ordered Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Belarus. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. Arche-Pachatak, an independent Belarusian cultural monthly magazine, had its bank account frozen by the Financial Investigation Department in October 2012 as part of a politically motivated campaign. The magazine was accused of financial irregularities and extremism, and its offices were raided with accounting records and issues confiscated. The account was unfrozen on 25 March 2013, and the FID indicated it would abandon criminal prosecution, though the magazine remained unable to re-register for publication. https://debankd.org/case/legabibo-botswana-2012 https://debankd.org/case/legabibo-botswana-2012 State-Ordered Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Botswana. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. The Botswana Registrar of Societies denied LEGABIBO's application for official registration in October 2012, explicitly citing that 'the country's constitution does not recognize homosexuals.' This denial prevented the LGBT rights organization from opening a bank account and receiving donations, effectively blocking its access to financial services. LEGABIBO challenged the decision in the Botswana High Court, with judgment scheduled for November 14, 2014. https://debankd.org/case/non-governmental-groups-civic-activists-and-relief-organizat https://debankd.org/case/non-governmental-groups-civic-activists-and-relief-organizat State-Ordered Sat, 11 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Iran. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. Following an earthquake in northwestern Iran's Azerbaijan province in August 2012, the Iranian government blocked bank accounts that had been set up by non-governmental organizations to collect and distribute aid to earthquake victims. The government also deployed the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) to confiscate privately collected supplies and restrict popular and non-governmental aid efforts, preventing civic activists and relief workers from assisting affected populations. https://debankd.org/case/russian-foreign-agents-and-undesirable-organizations-russia- https://debankd.org/case/russian-foreign-agents-and-undesirable-organizations-russia- State-Ordered Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. Russia's foreign-agent and undesirable-organization designation regime, documented by OVD-Info's Inoteka registry, has branded 1,560 individuals, media outlets, NGOs, and other entities as of 2026. Foreign-agent status triggers mandatory disclosure requirements, heavy fines for non-compliance, and de facto funding restrictions that force many organizations to close. Undesirable-organization designation goes further: it immediately freezes bank accounts, criminalizes membership and financing, and exposes individuals to prosecution. The regime functions as a system of financial and legal pressure applied to civil society, independent media, and opposition figures. https://debankd.org/case/centre-for-the-promotion-of-social-concerns-cpsc-india-2012 https://debankd.org/case/centre-for-the-promotion-of-social-concerns-cpsc-india-2012 State-Ordered Mon, 16 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. The Centre for the Promotion of Social Concerns (CPSC), the legal body of the human rights NGO People's Watch, had its bank accounts frozen through three suspension orders issued under India's Foreign Contributions Regulations Act (FCRA) from July 2012 to March 2014, totaling over 21 months. Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director of People's Watch, indicates the suspensions were politically motivated and linked to the organization's engagement with UN human rights mechanisms, including organizing a UN Special Rapporteur's visit and submitting critical reports on India's human rights record. https://debankd.org/case/people-with-intellectual-or-psychosocial-disabilities-in-per https://debankd.org/case/people-with-intellectual-or-psychosocial-disabilities-in-per State-Ordered Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Peru. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. RENIEC, Peru's national registry, systematically excluded over 23,000 people with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities from the voter registry between 2001 and October 2011. People with disabilities reported being unable to cash checks, open bank accounts, or make financial decisions because of disability designations on their identity cards. RENIEC employees included disability information on identity cards without authorization, which was then used by private institutions and government to deny access to financial services. https://debankd.org/case/people-s-movement-against-nuclear-energy-pmane-and-associate https://debankd.org/case/people-s-movement-against-nuclear-energy-pmane-and-associate State-Ordered Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. Indian authorities investigated nongovernmental organizations involved in anti-nuclear protests following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks suggesting Western NGOs had instigated protests. Under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), the government threatened to close bank accounts and block foreign donations to civil society organizations participating in the Kudankulam nuclear power plant protests. Human Rights Watch reported that these financial restrictions were used to censor and intimidate activists and organizations exercising their right to free expression. https://debankd.org/case/tamkeen-for-legal-aid-and-human-rights-jordan-2012 https://debankd.org/case/tamkeen-for-legal-aid-and-human-rights-jordan-2012 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Jordan. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. In 2012, Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights, a registered NGO in Jordan, applied to receive US$350,000 in foreign funding but had its application rejected by the Jordanian cabinet without any stated reason. The rejection was enabled by Jordan's Law of Societies (2009 associations law), which grants the cabinet discretionary power to deny foreign funding to NGOs without justification and requires cabinet approval for all foreign donations. The Supreme Court of Justice upheld the cabinet's decision in September 2012. The funding denial appeared politically motivated to restrict the NGO's human rights work. https://debankd.org/case/families-of-interpol-red-notice-individuals-in-china-china-2 https://debankd.org/case/families-of-interpol-red-notice-individuals-in-china-china-2 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. Chinese authorities systematically harassed and imposed financial restrictions on family members of individuals targeted by Interpol red notices as part of a coercive campaign to force the fugitives to return to China. The restrictions included freezing bank accounts and jointly held assets without legal documentation, confiscating properties, terminating employment at state-owned companies, and imposing travel bans on relatives including children. These actions constituted collective punishment of family members unrelated to any direct criminal conduct by those family members themselves. https://debankd.org/case/multiple-algerian-ngos-incl-sos-disappeared-and-laddh-algeri https://debankd.org/case/multiple-algerian-ngos-incl-sos-disappeared-and-laddh-algeri State-Ordered Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Algeria. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. The Algerian government used Law 12-06 on Associations (enacted January 2012) to restrict NGOs' access to foreign funding and financial services. Authorities arbitrarily withheld legal registration receipts, refused to authorize international cooperation agreements required to receive foreign donations, and imposed burdensome procedures that prevented organizations from opening bank accounts or accessing funds. The League for the Protection of Youth and Children, for example, was denied authorization to receive funding from the Catalan Agency and European Union, forcing it to scale back operations by 80 percent. SOS Disappeared was unable to open a bank account or receive international donor support due to lack of legal status, which authorities deliberately withheld. https://debankd.org/case/human-rights-defenders-and-activists-in-russia-russia-2012 https://debankd.org/case/human-rights-defenders-and-activists-in-russia-russia-2012 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2012. Category: State-Ordered. Amnesty International's September 2019 briefing documents that Russian authorities have systematically used financial restrictions against human rights defenders and activists since Putin's return to the presidency in 2012. The report specifically mentions 'financial starvation through bank account freezes and extortionate fines' as a key instrument of repression targeting those who defend human rights, particularly in Chechnya and among LGBTI activists. https://debankd.org/case/chinese-dissident-artist-and-activist-ai-weiwei-china-2011 https://debankd.org/case/chinese-dissident-artist-and-activist-ai-weiwei-china-2011 State-Ordered Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2011. Category: State-Ordered. On November 1, 2011, the Beijing Municipal Local Taxation Bureau issued Chinese dissident artist and activist Ai Weiwei a tax bill of 15.22 million yuan with a 15-day payment deadline and threatened daily fines of 200,000 yuan. Authorities required Ai to deposit 8.45 million yuan into a government tax bureau account and refused to allow public donation funds to be held in his own bank account. Ai, his lawyers, and supporters argued the charges were politically motivated retaliation for his human rights activism and vocal advocacy on behalf of China's marginalized populations, coming after his 81-day secret detention earlier that year on unspecified 'economic crimes' charges. Citizens began sending donations through his publicized bank accounts to help pay the bill, though Ai expressed reluctance to use public funds and questioned the legitimacy of the tax demand. https://debankd.org/case/cambodian-civil-society-organisations-incl-sahmakum-teang-tn https://debankd.org/case/cambodian-civil-society-organisations-incl-sahmakum-teang-tn State-Ordered Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Cambodia. Year: 2011. Category: State-Ordered. The Royal Government of Cambodia suspended the NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut for five months in August 2011 and issued formal warnings to other rights groups, allegedly in retaliation for their work documenting impacts of government development projects. The government also drafted the Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO), which would require mandatory registration and threaten unregistered organizations with inability to open bank accounts or receive domestic or foreign funds, effectively restricting financial access for civil society organizations critical of government policies. https://debankd.org/case/plus-produkcija-owner-velija-ramkovski-a1-tv-vreme-koha-e-re https://debankd.org/case/plus-produkcija-owner-velija-ramkovski-a1-tv-vreme-koha-e-re State-Ordered Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000 Country: North Macedonia. Year: 2011. Category: State-Ordered. The Macedonian government froze the bank accounts of Plus Produkcija and its media outlets (A1 TV, Vreme, Koha e Re, Špic) in June 2011 following a tax investigation into owner Velija Ramkovski. The government demanded immediate payment of 1 million euros from Plus Produkcija and 9.5 million euros from A1, leading to the closure of three major dailies on 3 July 2011. A1's broadcasting licence was withdrawn by the Electronic Communications Agency without Broadcasting Council approval. RSF argues the government seized the opportunity to silence critical media after Ramkovski distanced himself from Prime Minister Gruevski's administration. https://debankd.org/case/bahraini-human-rights-lawyer-mohammed-al-tajer-bahrain-2011 https://debankd.org/case/bahraini-human-rights-lawyer-mohammed-al-tajer-bahrain-2011 State-Ordered Sun, 01 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Bahrain. Year: 2011. Category: State-Ordered. Mohammed al-Tajer, a human rights lawyer released after detention in Bahrain, reported that his bank account had been frozen by Bahraini authorities. He stated that despite his release on 7 August 2011, charges against him had not been dropped, items confiscated from his office had not been returned, and his bank account remained frozen. This financial restriction was imposed in connection with his peaceful human rights activism during anti-government protests. https://debankd.org/case/palestinian-authority-israel-2011 https://debankd.org/case/palestinian-authority-israel-2011 State-Ordered Sun, 01 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Israel. Year: 2011. Category: State-Ordered. Israel has repeatedly withheld tax revenues and customs duties it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) as political leverage. In May 2011, Israel withheld approximately $100 million in border taxes, preventing the PA from paying salaries to 170,000 employees, citing the Hamas-Fatah unity agreement. In February 2019, Israel blocked $138 million in tax transfers citing Palestinian payments to political prisoners jailed for attacks against Israelis; the Arab League responded by pledging $100 million monthly to help the PA resist the financial pressure. https://debankd.org/case/national-council-for-liberties-tunisia-2011 https://debankd.org/case/national-council-for-liberties-tunisia-2011 State-Ordered Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Tunisia. Year: 2011. Category: State-Ordered. The Tunisian government under President Ben Ali restricted the National Council for Liberties' access to financial services by preventing it from legally opening a bank account or receiving foreign grants. While the government allowed the organization to exist formally to maintain a pluralistic image, it blocked their financial independence through harassment and administrative denial of banking and fundraising services. https://debankd.org/case/ivorian-journalist-awa-ehoura-ivory-coast-2011 https://debankd.org/case/ivorian-journalist-awa-ehoura-ivory-coast-2011 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ivory Coast. Year: 2011. Category: State-Ordered. Awa Ehoura, a journalist who presented news on state-owned Radio-Télévision Ivoirienne during Laurent Gbagbo's presidency, had her bank accounts frozen by the Ivorian government following Gbagbo's fall from power in early 2011. Suspected of supporting the former president, she was also suspended from her job, losing medical insurance. Reporters Without Borders provided emergency financial assistance to help her pay for diabetes treatment and medication. https://debankd.org/case/wikileaks-iceland-switzerland-united-states-2010 https://debankd.org/case/wikileaks-iceland-switzerland-united-states-2010 Corporate, State-Ordered Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Iceland, Switzerland, United States. Year: 2010. Category: Corporate, State-Ordered. In December 2010, Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Bank of America, and PostFinance suspended payment processing for WikiLeaks donations and froze Julian Assange's accounts, citing terms of service violations and potential illegal activity despite no charges having been filed. PostFinance (Switzerland) also closed WikiLeaks' bank account on 6 December 2010, citing false information provided at account opening. The combined financial blockade caused WikiLeaks' funding to plunge by 95 percent, forcing the organisation to suspend file publishing. The U.S. government additionally imposed financial restrictions limiting donations to WikiLeaks and its supporting foundation (Wau Holland Stiftung), prompting Assange to urge donors to use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. On 24 April 2013, Iceland's supreme court ruled that Valitor (Visa's local partner) must resume processing donations within two weeks or face daily fines of $6,830, finding the block arbitrary and illegal. https://debankd.org/case/chinese-pro-democracy-activist-qin-yongmin-china-2010 https://debankd.org/case/chinese-pro-democracy-activist-qin-yongmin-china-2010 State-Ordered Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2010. Category: State-Ordered. Authorities in Wuhan, China froze the bank account of veteran pro-democracy activist and China Democracy Party founder Qin Yongmin ahead of his release from a 12-year prison sentence for 'endangering state security.' Qin was released on November 29, 2010, after completing his sentence. According to his ex-wife Li Jinfang, the national security police froze the couple's joint bank account and subsequently refused to unfreeze Qin's money, claiming ongoing investigations despite having no legitimate justification. The financial restriction was imposed as part of broader post-release restrictions and constituted political retaliation against Qin's activism with the banned China Democracy Party and his editorial work on a human rights newsletter. https://debankd.org/case/bangladesh-centre-for-worker-solidarity-bcws-bangladesh-2010 https://debankd.org/case/bangladesh-centre-for-worker-solidarity-bcws-bangladesh-2010 State-Ordered Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Bangladesh. Year: 2010. Category: State-Ordered. The NGO Affairs Bureau (NAB) of Bangladesh cancelled the non-governmental license of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity (BCWS) on June 3, 2010, and ordered the closure of the organisation's bank account. This action occurred prior to and independent of criminal charges against union leaders, appearing to be targeted at the BCWS's labour rights activities rather than any legitimate regulatory concern. https://debankd.org/case/mongolian-language-rights-activist-munkhdalai-borjigin-china https://debankd.org/case/mongolian-language-rights-activist-munkhdalai-borjigin-china Corporate Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2010. Category: Corporate. Munkhdalai Borjigin, an ethnic Mongolian activist, was repeatedly denied financial services by the Chinese Agricultural Bank for attempting to sign documents in his native Mongolian language rather than Chinese. In June 2010, the Jin Qiao Branch suspended his account when he refused to sign using his Chinese name. He sued and won his case, but the bank and other financial institutions continued to deny him service based on his language choice, effectively restricting his access to banking services. https://debankd.org/case/udd-leaders-red-shirt-protesters-and-accused-sympathizers-in https://debankd.org/case/udd-leaders-red-shirt-protesters-and-accused-sympathizers-in State-Ordered Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Thailand. Year: 2010. Category: State-Ordered. Following Thailand's April 7, 2010 Emergency Decree during the Red Shirt protests, the government established the Center for the Resolution of Emergency Situations (CRES), a body of civilian and military officers. CRES froze individual and corporate bank accounts of hundreds of UDD leaders, protesters, accused sympathizers, politicians, businessmen, activists, academics, and radio operators during the March-May 2010 Bangkok protests. The freezes were imposed without clear information about all affected people or their whereabouts and formed part of a wider campaign that included detention without charge, interrogation, and censorship of media and online content aligned with the protesters. https://debankd.org/case/rozinishan-and-abdul-weli-china-2010 https://debankd.org/case/rozinishan-and-abdul-weli-china-2010 State-Ordered Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2010. Category: State-Ordered. Authorities in Hoten county, China warned Rozinishan and her son Abdul Weli (who suffers from leukemia) to cease accepting overseas donations for medical treatment after they made an online appeal to the Uyghur community. Township government officials specifically instructed the family not to receive help from Uyghur organizations in America or any overseas organizations, though the government subsequently agreed to cover the family's medical bills if they complied with the restriction on foreign donations. https://debankd.org/case/human-rights-council-hrco-and-ethiopian-women-lawyers-associ https://debankd.org/case/human-rights-council-hrco-and-ethiopian-women-lawyers-associ State-Ordered Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ethiopia. Year: 2009. Category: State-Ordered. In December 2009, Ethiopia's Charities and Societies Agency ordered four private banks to freeze all bank accounts and assets of the Human Rights Council (HRCO) and the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) under the 2009 Charities and Societies Proclamation, which restricted NGOs from receiving more than 10% of foreign funding. HRCO lost 9.5 million Birr (approximately $566,000) and EWLA lost 10 million Birr (approximately $595,000) in frozen funds, forcing both organizations to drastically reduce staff, close offices, and causing half of HRCO's investigators to flee the country. Both organizations challenged the freeze in court, but the Federal High Court upheld the decision in October 2011 and Ethiopia's Supreme Court further upheld the freeze in October 2012, leaving the organizations without legal recourse to recover their financial resources. https://debankd.org/case/iranian-human-rights-lawyers-shirin-ebadi-and-nasrin-sotoude https://debankd.org/case/iranian-human-rights-lawyers-shirin-ebadi-and-nasrin-sotoude State-Ordered Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Iran. Year: 2009. Category: State-Ordered. In late November 2009, Iranian authorities used a Revolutionary Court order to freeze the personal bank accounts and retirement income of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, and authorized confiscation of her family's safe deposit box contents including her Nobel Prize medal and other awards, falsely claiming she owed taxes on her Nobel Prize despite prizes being tax-exempt under Iranian law. On 27 July 2020, the Tehran Prosecutor's Office separately froze the bank accounts of imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh without explanation; her husband and lawyer appealed to multiple authorities but were unable to have the accounts unfrozen. More broadly, Iranian authorities used fabricated tax irregularity cases to prepare asset freezes against at least 30 other human rights lawyers, using financial measures as a punitive tool to prevent lawyers from practising freely. Nasrin Sotoudeh had also discovered her financial affairs were under investigation as part of this broader pattern of financial harassment. https://debankd.org/case/papuan-human-rights-activist-filep-karma-indonesia-2009 https://debankd.org/case/papuan-human-rights-activist-filep-karma-indonesia-2009 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Indonesia. Year: 2009. Category: State-Ordered. Filep Karma, a Papuan activist imprisoned for political activism, received crowdfunded donations (approximately IDR 1 billion / US$700,000) from churches and supporters deposited into his bank account in 2009 to pay for emergency surgery in Jakarta. Bureaucratic delays, described by Karma as potential deliberate obstruction, prevented his timely access to these funds and medical treatment, though the article does not explicitly state the funds were frozen or blocked. https://debankd.org/case/ngos-in-azerbaijan-generally-specifically-mentioned-election https://debankd.org/case/ngos-in-azerbaijan-generally-specifically-mentioned-election State-Ordered Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2009. Category: State-Ordered. Human Rights Watch wrote to the President of Azerbaijan expressing concern about draft amendments to NGO legislation that would restrict NGOs' ability to receive foreign funding (capping it at 50% of their budget) and impose disproportionate penalties including liquidation for financial reporting failures. The letter argues these restrictions would effectively stifle civil society organizations by cutting off crucial sources of funding and threatening their legal existence through harsh administrative sanctions. https://debankd.org/case/moroccan-human-rights-activist-chekib-el-khayari-morocco-200 https://debankd.org/case/moroccan-human-rights-activist-chekib-el-khayari-morocco-200 State-Ordered Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Morocco. Year: 2009. Category: State-Ordered. Chekib El-Khayari, president of the Association for Human Rights in the Rif, was charged in April 2009 during pretrial detention under currency and banking regulations for opening a bank account in Spain's Melilla enclave to deposit €225 paid by a Spanish newspaper for an article he wrote in 2006, and for importing foreign currency into Morocco. These financial charges were formulated alongside a primary charge of 'gravely insulting state institutions' stemming from his public criticism of government officials allegedly complicit in drug-trafficking. On June 24, 2009, Judge Jamel Serhane of the Casablanca Court of First Instance sentenced him to three years in prison and fined him approximately 753,000 dirhams (US$90,360). Human Rights Watch concluded that the financial charges were politically motivated, designed to discredit him and extend his sentence beyond what the primary charge alone would permit. https://debankd.org/case/sudanese-ngos-incl-khartoum-centre-for-human-rights-and-sudo https://debankd.org/case/sudanese-ngos-incl-khartoum-centre-for-human-rights-and-sudo State-Ordered Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Sudan. Year: 2009. Category: State-Ordered. The Government of Sudan closed three national human rights NGOs (Khartoum Centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development, Amal Centre for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, and Sudan Development Organisation) by revoking their registration and seizing all organisational assets and freezing their bank accounts. These actions were taken by security forces and the Humanitarian Affairs Commission without judicial approval and were taken in a manner inconsistent with Sudanese constitutional and national laws. https://debankd.org/case/khartoum-centre-for-human-rights-and-environmental-developme https://debankd.org/case/khartoum-centre-for-human-rights-and-environmental-developme State-Ordered Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Sudan. Year: 2009. Category: State-Ordered. The Khartoum Centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED) was shut down by Sudanese authorities in 2009 and had its bank accounts frozen. This action was taken in connection with the arrest and torture of Amir Suliman, the organization's Director, who was targeted for his supposed cooperation with the International Criminal Court. The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights ordered Sudan to reopen and unfreeze the bank accounts. https://debankd.org/case/ethiopian-human-rights-council-ethiopia-2009 https://debankd.org/case/ethiopian-human-rights-council-ethiopia-2009 State-Ordered Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ethiopia. Year: 2009. Category: State-Ordered. The Ethiopian government, through a regulatory agency established by the Charities and Societies Proclamation, froze the bank accounts of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, the largest independent human rights group in the country. This action was part of broader government repression against civil society organizations and human rights groups, motivated by their political advocacy work rather than legitimate fraud prevention or enforcement. https://debankd.org/case/el-peri-dico-panama-2008 https://debankd.org/case/el-peri-dico-panama-2008 State-Ordered Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Panama. Year: 2008. Category: State-Ordered. A civil court in Panama ordered the seizure of El Periódico's property and bank accounts on September 4, 2008, at the instigation of property dealer Herman Bern, following the newspaper's publication of allegations that Bern had underestimated his tax statement. Reporters Without Borders condemned the seizure as "indirect censorship," arguing that the court order freezing the newspaper's financial resources was a form of silencing journalists rather than a legitimate legal remedy for defamation. https://debankd.org/case/jurnal-de-chisinau-moldova-2008 https://debankd.org/case/jurnal-de-chisinau-moldova-2008 State-Ordered Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Moldova. Year: 2008. Category: State-Ordered. A Chisinau court froze the bank accounts of Jurnal de Chisinau newspaper in connection with a libel suit filed by a former prosecutor over two reports published five years earlier. The newspaper's managing editor characterized the decision as a politically-motivated attempt to paralyze the newspaper's operations. Reporters Without Borders condemned the decision as disproportionate, stating that a libel suit should not jeopardize a newspaper's ability to operate. https://debankd.org/case/chinese-christian-publishers-shi-weihan-and-zhang-jing-china https://debankd.org/case/chinese-christian-publishers-shi-weihan-and-zhang-jing-china State-Ordered Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2008. Category: State-Ordered. Shi Weihan, a Christian publisher, was detained by Beijing authorities without charge since March 2008, with his detention extended by two months in June. His wife Zhang Jing stated that their bank account had been frozen by authorities as part of the government's actions against the couple and their unofficial house church congregation. The freezing of their bank account appears directly connected to their religious activities and publishing work, which authorities deemed illegal. https://debankd.org/case/ngos-in-jordan-non-muslim-religious-organizations-and-organi https://debankd.org/case/ngos-in-jordan-non-muslim-religious-organizations-and-organi State-Ordered Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Jordan. Year: 2008. Category: State-Ordered. Human Rights Watch wrote to Jordan's Prime Minister on May 17, 2009, opposing proposed amendments to the 2008 Law of Societies that would restrict NGO financial operations. The proposed amendments would remove bank account confidentiality for associations and require ministerial and Cabinet-level approval before NGOs could receive foreign funding, allowing the government to shut down organizations for accepting such funds without prior approval. The letter argues these provisions, combined with other restrictions, violate freedom of association and international human rights standards. https://debankd.org/case/lebanese-centre-for-human-rights-centre-libanais-des-droits- https://debankd.org/case/lebanese-centre-for-human-rights-centre-libanais-des-droits- State-Ordered Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Lebanon. Year: 2007. Category: State-Ordered. The Lebanese Centre for Human Rights (CLDH) was unable to open a bank account because the Lebanese government's Ministry of the Interior failed to grant it official registration despite the organization's application submitted more than ten months prior. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders condemned this delay, noting that the lack of official status had severely undermined CLDH's ability to carry out its human rights work and directly denied it the ability to open a bank account, in violation of Lebanese law which requires registration decisions within 60 days. https://debankd.org/case/mawbima-cbe-standard-newspapers-private-limited-sri-lanka-20 https://debankd.org/case/mawbima-cbe-standard-newspapers-private-limited-sri-lanka-20 State-Ordered Thu, 08 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Sri Lanka. Year: 2007. Category: State-Ordered. In March 2007, the Sri Lankan government froze the assets of CBE, a company owned by Tiran Alles that publishes the Sinhalese-language weekly newspaper Mawbima, as well as the assets of Standard Newspapers Private Limited, on 8–9 March 2007. These actions followed the arrests of two Mawbima employees under anti-terrorism law and came in the context of the newspaper's criticism of the government and reporting on human rights abuses. The financial freezes forced Mawbima to suspend operations, and the Standard Newspaper Group closed both the Sinhala Mawbima and the Sunday Standard as a result of the resulting financial constraints. The International Press Freedom Mission characterised these legal and economic sanctions as appearing to be directed by the government as a means of interfering with newspaper publication. https://debankd.org/case/journal-hebdomadaire-morocco-2007 https://debankd.org/case/journal-hebdomadaire-morocco-2007 State-Ordered Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Morocco. Year: 2007. Category: State-Ordered. Aboubakr Jamaï, managing editor of Journal Hebdomadaire in Morocco, was forced to resign on 18 January 2007 to prevent the newspaper from being seized by authorities to pay a 3 million dirham (270,000 euro) damages award. Jamaï had been sentenced to pay this sum in a libel suit brought by the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Centre (ESISC) over a December 2005 article. Court bailiffs visited the newspaper seeking payment, and authorities threatened to seize the newspaper's assets and distribution company funds, as they had done previously in 2004. Jamaï's resignation was his only way to prevent the newspaper's closure. https://debankd.org/case/saudi-human-rights-lawyer-waleed-abu-al-khair-saudi-arabia-2 https://debankd.org/case/saudi-human-rights-lawyer-waleed-abu-al-khair-saudi-arabia-2 State-Ordered Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Saudi Arabia. Year: 2007. Category: State-Ordered. Waleed Abu al-Khair, a human rights lawyer, petitioned King Abdullah in 2007 to establish a human rights organization. Weeks later, the Saudi Ministry of Education revoked his governmental study abroad scholarship without explanation, apparently in retaliation for his human rights activism. https://debankd.org/case/ethnics-russia-2007 https://debankd.org/case/ethnics-russia-2007 State-Ordered Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2007. Category: State-Ordered. ETHniCS, a human rights NGO based in Krasnodar, Russia, had its bank account frozen since 2007 as part of legally framed but politically motivated proceedings against the organization. The frozen account effectively prevented the organization from operating and receiving funding, as part of a broader pattern of government harassment and intimidation. The organization's president, Anastasia Denisova, faced intimidation that effectively stopped her work, and she eventually fled Krasnodar fearing for her safety. https://debankd.org/case/pen-russia-2006 https://debankd.org/case/pen-russia-2006 State-Ordered Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2006. Category: State-Ordered. A court froze PEN's bank account and imposed a hefty tax bill against the organization. The article title indicates this was a punitive court action, though specific details about the country, date, and explicit motivation are not provided in the article text excerpt available. https://debankd.org/case/russian-pen-center-russia-2006 https://debankd.org/case/russian-pen-center-russia-2006 State-Ordered Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Russia. Year: 2006. Category: State-Ordered. The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs closed the Russian PEN Center, an NGO advocating for freedom of expression, and froze its bank account on January 27, 2006, citing unpaid property taxes. The article indicates this action was part of a broader government crackdown on civil society organizations, particularly those receiving foreign funding or working on sensitive issues like Chechnya. https://debankd.org/case/zhang-qing-and-family-wife-and-children-of-guo-feixiong-chin https://debankd.org/case/zhang-qing-and-family-wife-and-children-of-guo-feixiong-chin State-Ordered Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2006. Category: State-Ordered. Zhang Qing, the wife of jailed Chinese rights lawyer Guo Feixiong, reported that her family's bank account was frozen by the Chinese government as persecution for her husband's civil rights activism. She and her children fled China in early 2009 and were granted U.S. political asylum in November 2009. Zhang explicitly stated: 'Our bank account was frozen. Our lives were greatly disrupted.'. https://debankd.org/case/narodnaya-volya-belarus-2005 https://debankd.org/case/narodnaya-volya-belarus-2005 State-Ordered Tue, 20 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Belarus. Year: 2005. Category: State-Ordered. On September 20, 2005, the Leninsky district court in Minsk seized the assets and blocked the bank accounts of Narodnaya Volya, Belarus's leading independent newspaper, to enforce payment of 38,000 euros in libel damages ordered by the court. The court acted without waiting for the newspaper's pending appeal to the Supreme Court. The damages originated from articles investigating the Liberal Democratic Party's alleged financing by Saddam Hussein's regime. https://debankd.org/case/soz-newspaper-soros-foundation-kazakhstan-kibhr-et-al-kazakh https://debankd.org/case/soz-newspaper-soros-foundation-kazakhstan-kibhr-et-al-kazakh State-Ordered Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kazakhstan. Year: 2005. Category: State-Ordered. The Kazakh government imposed financial restrictions on independent media outlets and civil society organizations. The National Security Committee froze the bank accounts of Soz newspaper's owner and publisher in February 2005 following a lawsuit, and later seized printed copies of the newspaper. The government nullified printing contracts for seven independent newspapers in September 2005, preventing their publication. The Soros Foundation Kazakhstan faced criminal tax evasion charges alleging unpaid taxes of over 81 million tenge. At least 33 NGOs underwent financial audits by prosecutors and tax police on allegations of misusing Western aid. https://debankd.org/case/chinese-human-rights-lawyer-gao-zhisheng-china-2005 https://debankd.org/case/chinese-human-rights-lawyer-gao-zhisheng-china-2005 State-Ordered Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000 Country: China. Year: 2005. Category: State-Ordered. Gao Zhisheng, a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer, had his family's bank accounts frozen by Chinese authorities after he wrote open letters criticizing the persecution of Falun Gong and advocating for human rights. The account freezing was part of broader harassment and persecution by security forces following his human rights advocacy work that angered the government. https://debankd.org/case/yeni-musavat-azerbaijan-2004 https://debankd.org/case/yeni-musavat-azerbaijan-2004 State-Ordered Mon, 15 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Azerbaijan. Year: 2004. Category: State-Ordered. The Azerbaijani opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat had its assets and bank account frozen by court order on November 15, 2004, following defamation lawsuits brought primarily by government officials. The court ordered the paper to pay approximately 800 million manats (US$160,000) in libel damages across seven cases, forcing the publication to cease indefinitely on December 31, 2004. Local journalists and human rights activists characterized the legal actions as politically motivated efforts to silence opposition media. https://debankd.org/case/kanal-5-ukraine-2004 https://debankd.org/case/kanal-5-ukraine-2004 State-Ordered Mon, 18 Oct 2004 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ukraine. Year: 2004. Category: State-Ordered. Kanal 5, Ukraine's only opposition TV station, had its bank accounts frozen by a Kiev court on 18 October 2004 as a result of a defamation suit brought by independent legislator Volodymyr Sivkovitch against one of the station's owners, opposition legislator Petro Porochenko. The station's journalists launched a hunger strike in protest, viewing the financial restriction as political pressure combined with threats to withdraw the station's broadcast licence. The article indicates the freezing of accounts was designed to obstruct the station's work during the presidential election period. https://debankd.org/case/internews-network-internews-uzbekistan-uzbekistan-2004 https://debankd.org/case/internews-network-internews-uzbekistan-uzbekistan-2004 State-Ordered Sun, 01 Aug 2004 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Uzbekistan. Year: 2004. Category: State-Ordered. Uzbek authorities froze the bank accounts of Internews Network and its local affiliate Internews-Uzbekistan beginning in August–September 2004, citing administrative violations related to operating without licenses and registration/notification failures. The crackdown followed shortly after the affiliate released a project documenting government press abuses, suggesting politically motivated retaliation against the organization's work supporting independent media and free expression. Authorities also accused the NGO of meddling in politics. The organization was ultimately permanently shut down by a Tashkent municipal court in September 2005. https://debankd.org/case/hamas-activists-and-charities-jordan-2003 https://debankd.org/case/hamas-activists-and-charities-jordan-2003 State-Ordered Mon, 01 Sep 2003 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Jordan. Year: 2003. Category: State-Ordered. Jordan's central bank ordered banks to freeze dealings with six Hamas leaders and five charities allegedly linked to Hamas. The freeze was lifted days later after the government stated it had no knowledge of the decision and learned about it through the press. Banking sources indicated Hamas had no actual assets in Jordanian banks. https://debankd.org/case/kashmir-observer-india-2003 https://debankd.org/case/kashmir-observer-india-2003 State-Ordered Fri, 31 Jan 2003 00:00:00 +0000 Country: India. Year: 2003. Category: State-Ordered. The Jammu and Kashmir state government stopped purchasing advertising space in the Kashmir Observer newspaper at the end of January 2003, effectively cutting off a critical source of revenue for the publication. The newspaper's editor and publisher, Sajjad Haider, had publicly criticized the government's reluctance to pay for advertising invoices in an editorial dated 15 January 2003. The government's decision to remove the newspaper from the list of media entitled to official advertising contracts appears motivated by political factors, including Haider's family connection to a separatist leader. https://debankd.org/case/venezuelan-media-outlets-incl-globovisi-n-rctv-and-el-nacion https://debankd.org/case/venezuelan-media-outlets-incl-globovisi-n-rctv-and-el-nacion State-Ordered Tue, 21 Jan 2003 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Venezuela. Year: 2003. Category: State-Ordered. The Venezuelan government under President Hugo Chávez introduced exchange controls on January 21, 2003, that prevented newspapers and media outlets from purchasing foreign currency needed to import newsprint. The government appointed a hardline infrastructure minister and initiated administrative investigations against major TV stations (Globovisión, RCTV, Televén, Venevisión) accusing them of broadcasting content that incited rebellion. Additionally, tax authorities launched investigations and demanded payments from media outlets. These measures followed the private media's extensive coverage of opposition strikes and were explicitly motivated by the government's hostility toward media outlets it viewed as opposition allies. https://debankd.org/case/ales-bialiatski-human-rights-centre-viasna-belarus-2003 https://debankd.org/case/ales-bialiatski-human-rights-centre-viasna-belarus-2003 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Jan 2003 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Belarus. Year: 2003. Category: State-Ordered. Human Rights Centre Viasna was de-registered by Belarusian authorities in 2003 and barred from opening a domestic bank account, forcing its chair Ales Bialiatski to use personal bank accounts in Lithuania and Poland to receive international donor funding for the organisation's human rights work. On 4 August 2011, Bialiatski was arrested after Belarusian financial authorities obtained his foreign account details from Lithuanian and Polish authorities through official channels; he was charged with large-scale concealment of income/tax evasion. On 24 November 2011, he was convicted and sentenced to four and a half years in prison with confiscation of all assets, including a required payment of $90,000 in damages; in October 2011 Belarus also enacted legislation prohibiting NGOs from keeping funds in foreign financial institutions. On 26 November 2012, the Belarusian Ministry of Justice evicted Viasna from its office as part of the property forfeiture order, and Amnesty International declared Bialiatski a prisoner of conscience, describing the charges as politically motivated retaliation for his human rights advocacy. https://debankd.org/case/albanian-media-outlets-albania-2002 https://debankd.org/case/albanian-media-outlets-albania-2002 State-Ordered Wed, 12 Jun 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Albania. Year: 2002. Category: State-Ordered. Human Rights Watch documented that Albanian government officials systematically misuse state advertising to exert financial pressure on media outlets, particularly those critical of the government. Government advertising accounts for a disproportionately large share of total media advertising in Albania, and officials abuse this financial leverage to pressure critical outlets and interfere with their editorial freedom. https://debankd.org/case/feral-tribune-croatia-2002 https://debankd.org/case/feral-tribune-croatia-2002 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Mar 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Croatia. Year: 2002. Category: State-Ordered. On 1 March 2002, the bank account of Feral Tribune, an independent weekly journal in Croatia, was blocked following judicial sentences imposed by the County Court of Zagreb in October 2001. The court had condemned the journal to pay a fine of 34,900 euros for 'moral damage' and 'publishing cosmopolitan views and opinions' based on articles published in 1993 and 1995 that criticized government officials and figures close to the former Tudjman regime. The FIDH characterizes this financial restriction as arbitrary and a violation of freedom of expression and media freedom. https://debankd.org/case/ethiopian-women-lawyers-association-ewla-ethiopia-2001 https://debankd.org/case/ethiopian-women-lawyers-association-ewla-ethiopia-2001 State-Ordered Sat, 25 Aug 2001 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ethiopia. Year: 2001. Category: State-Ordered. The Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), a leading women's rights NGO, was suspended from operation by the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice on August 25, 2001, two days after EWLA publicly criticized the government's failure to prosecute a domestic violence case. The government froze EWLA's bank accounts as part of the suspension. Human Rights Watch characterized this as a politically motivated attack on the organization's freedom of expression and association in retaliation for its advocacy work. https://debankd.org/case/ethiopian-human-rights-council-ehrco-ethiopia-1999 https://debankd.org/case/ethiopian-human-rights-council-ehrco-ethiopia-1999 State-Ordered Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ethiopia. Year: 1999. Category: State-Ordered. The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), a human rights monitoring organization, had its bank account frozen by the government for several years before winning a court ruling in 1999 to regain access. The organization's office was sealed by police in May 2001 when they searched for documents, and its leaders were arrested on politically motivated charges related to documenting student protests. The government also targeted the Human Rights League, a related organization, by confiscating its equipment and records in a 1998 raid and prosecuting its members on conspiracy charges. https://debankd.org/case/el-watan-le-matin-le-soir-d-alg-rie-la-tribune-algeria-1998 https://debankd.org/case/el-watan-le-matin-le-soir-d-alg-rie-la-tribune-algeria-1998 State-Ordered Wed, 14 Oct 1998 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Algeria. Year: 1998. Category: State-Ordered. Human Rights Watch reported that the Algerian government used state-owned printing presses to impose financially motivated restrictions on four newspapers (El-Watan, Le Matin, Le Soir d'Algérie, and La Tribune) after they published critical articles attacking government officials. On October 14, 1998, the state printers demanded full payment of debts within 48 hours, contradicting earlier repayment arrangements, and subsequently suspended printing services for these newspapers. This action triggered a three-week solidarity strike by seven leading newspapers, effectively restricting their financial and operational access. https://debankd.org/case/independent-newspapers-in-kazakhstan-xxi-vek-et-al-kazakhsta https://debankd.org/case/independent-newspapers-in-kazakhstan-xxi-vek-et-al-kazakhsta State-Ordered Tue, 01 Sep 1998 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kazakhstan. Year: 1998. Category: State-Ordered. The Government of Kazakhstan systematically restricted financial and operational access to independent newspapers with ties to opposition figures, particularly former prime minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin, beginning in September 1998. The state tax police seized newspaper property and arrested bank accounts, while customs agents confiscated print runs and printing presses broke contracts refusing to print the papers. These restrictions were politically motivated, targeting media outlets critical of the government ahead of January 1999 presidential elections. https://debankd.org/case/ethiopians-of-eritrean-origin-in-ethiopia-ethiopia-1998 https://debankd.org/case/ethiopians-of-eritrean-origin-in-ethiopia-ethiopia-1998 State-Ordered Fri, 12 Jun 1998 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ethiopia. Year: 1998. Category: State-Ordered. The Ethiopian government froze bank accounts and revoked business licenses of approximately 75,000 Ethiopians of Eritrean origin beginning in June 1998 during the Ethiopia-Eritrea war. The government ordered the freezing of assets of thousands of individuals without providing any avenue for affected individuals to challenge these actions. This was part of a broader expulsion campaign targeting people of Eritrean origin, whom the government stripped of citizenship and forcibly deported. https://debankd.org/case/oromo-relief-association-ethiopian-human-rights-council-et-a https://debankd.org/case/oromo-relief-association-ethiopian-human-rights-council-et-a State-Ordered Wed, 01 Jan 1997 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Ethiopia. Year: 1997. Category: State-Ordered. The Ethiopian government restricted civil society organizations through multiple administrative and legal actions, including the freezing of bank accounts of opposition groups, trade unions, and nongovernmental organizations. The article describes this as part of a systematic government effort to stifle opposition and limit criticism of government policies. https://debankd.org/case/ghufran-clan-members-qatar-1996 https://debankd.org/case/ghufran-clan-members-qatar-1996 State-Ordered Mon, 01 Jan 1996 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Qatar. Year: 1996. Category: State-Ordered. Qatar's government arbitrarily stripped members of the Ghufran clan of citizenship beginning in 1996, rendering them stateless and unable to access financial services including bank accounts, property ownership, and employment. The article documents that stateless individuals cannot open bank accounts, purchase property, obtain government benefits, or legally work, effectively freezing their financial access as a consequence of citizenship revocation that appears politically motivated, potentially as punishment for alleged participation in a 1996 coup attempt. https://debankd.org/case/arab-women-s-solidarity-association-awsa-egypt-1991 https://debankd.org/case/arab-women-s-solidarity-association-awsa-egypt-1991 State-Ordered Sat, 15 Jun 1991 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Egypt. Year: 1991. Category: State-Ordered. On June 15, 1991, Egypt's Deputy Governor of Western Cairo issued an administrative decree dissolving the Egyptian branch of the Arab Women's Solidarity Association (AWSA), a women's rights organization led by Dr. Nawal el-Saadawi. The decree ordered the transfer of AWSA's assets to another organization and effectively froze the organization's bank accounts. On May 7, 1992, an Egyptian administrative court upheld the closure, citing violations of public order and morality based on AWSA's publications and criticism of government policy, particularly regarding the Gulf crisis. https://debankd.org/case/ethnic-somalis-in-kenya-kenya-1989 https://debankd.org/case/ethnic-somalis-in-kenya-kenya-1989 State-Ordered Wed, 01 Nov 1989 00:00:00 +0000 Country: Kenya. Year: 1989. Category: State-Ordered. Kenya's government implemented a screening procedure requiring all ethnic Somalis aged 18+ to obtain a special identification card, beginning November 1989. The cards became essential for all state services, financial transactions, trade, education, and travel. Those who failed screening were detained and deported, while others were unable to access banking services, obtain business licenses, or conduct financial transactions without the card, effectively restricting their access to financial and economic services based on ethnic identity rather than legitimate law enforcement.