Having made headlines, the National Registry of Non-Governmental Organizations is just one of the obstacles that domestic non-profit organizations will have to overcome to be able to operate in Venezuela.
The controversial bill on the Supervision, Regularization, Action and Financing of Non-Governmental and Related Organizations, approved by the National Assembly on January 24, also obliges civil entities to enroll in other official lists such as the Comprehensive Defense Registry, according to article 14.4 of the text presented by the ruling party MP Diosdado Cabello.
What is the purpose of this registry, what law creates it and what will be the new obligations of civil organizations?
First, the Comprehensive Defense Registry is provided for in the Registration and Enlistment Law for the Comprehensive Defense of the Nation, issued by the Venezuelan Parliament in 2014 and published in the Official Gazette No. 40,440 on June 25 of that year. Second, the registry is “a public, permanent, free, automated and mandatory service oriented to the registration of both natural persons aged 18 to 60 and legal persons, as well as the updating of their data”, as established in article 35 of that law.
Third, article 2 of the aforementioned instrument states that its provisions apply “to Venezuelans by birth or naturalization in aged 18 to 60 years old” (as explained in article 4) and “legal persons and public and private entities”. At this point, it should be noted that the rule does not make any distinction or exception between associations, societies, foundations, autonomous institutes, universities or unions, among others.
For its part, article 3 specifies that the registry seeks to guarantee “replacement quotas (of troops)” for the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) and “the training of Venezuelans by birth or naturalization during the rendering of military service”.
In addition, the Law on Registration and Enlistment for the Comprehensive Defense obliges public or private bodies and entities to demand, as an essential requirement for inclusion on the payroll or hiring, a certificate of registration of natural persons before the Registry for the Comprehensive Defense or proof of having complied with military service (article 44).
Additionally, in the case of legal persons, proof of enrolment in the registry is a condition for obtaining labor solvency (article 46), while individuals may not obtain a driver’s license (article 45) or a university degree if they fail to present a certificate (article 47).
Thus, if the bill against non-governmental and related organizations gets approved, the obligation to register in the Comprehensive Defense Registry will convert all members, workers and volunteers of the different civil organizations operating in Venezuela into potential reservists of the Armed Forces and could therefore be summoned by the President of the Republic, in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the military institution, for military training or join the barracks in case of war, commotion or national disaster.
Article 39 of the Law on Registration and Enlistment for Comprehensive Defense gives natural persons a period of 60 days, once they turn 18, to register. For its part, article 40 gives legal persons a period of 60 days from the date of their formalization before the respective registry. In other words, once the organizations get registered before the Autonomous Service of Registries and Notaries (Saren) and are authorized to operate, they must register within 60 days in the Comprehensive Defense Registry.
Article 103 of the law also obliges organizations to notify the change of fiscal domicile, the object of the company or any other circumstance that may modify their initial condition in the Comprehensive Defense Registry.
More fines and penalties
The Law on Registration and Enlistment for the Comprehensive Defense of the Nation provides sanctions in the event that any individual or institution fails to comply with the duty to register. Thus, articles 100 and 101, respectively, provide for fines of up to 15 tax units in the case of natural persons, and between 50 and 150 in the case of legal entities that fail to register within the established time.
In addition, article 99 of the instrument states that
“The bodies or entities of the public and private administration, the employer of public or private law companies, the representatives of cooperatives or communal councils that fail to request the documentation proving the registration or update of data in the permanent registry or the completion of military service before entering into the employment contract will be sanctioned with a fine of 30 to 40 Tax Units, without prejudice to the other corresponding administrative sanctions.”
Additionally, if the legal entity fails to notify any change to the registry, it will be sanctioned with a fine of 50 to 100 tax units, without prejudice to the other corresponding administrative sanctions (article 103). And if the legal person is a second offender, they will be penalized with fines ranging from 150 to 250 tax units, which must be paid within the first 30 days after the date of imposition of the sanction (article 104). In case of non-compliance with this period, the sanction will rise to 250 or 350 tax units, without prejudice to other corresponding administrative sanctions.
These measures, which add up to the sanctions established in the draft presented by Chavismo against non-profit organizations, can entail the impossibility for this type of entity to function properly since complying with the number of bureaucratic procedures contemplated in the project looks impossible.
The mandatory nature of the enrolment in the military registry for natural and legal persons, as well as the aforementioned sanctions, violate the rights to free development of personality, the progressiveness of rights, the rights to freedom of association and work, and nullify the prohibition of forced recruitment.
In 2016, a group of organizations requested the nullification of the first text before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. However, through judgment No. 1,084 of December 13 of that same year, the highest court dismissed the petition, hiding behind the lack of representation of the plaintiffs.
Discrimination?
The Law on Registration and Enlistment for the Comprehensive Defense has never been enforced on legal persons, nor has the registration of natural persons been given as a condition for employment. Nor was a registration system created for legal entities. So, if the registry were to be created only for non-profit civil society organizations that the bill qualifies as NGOs, there is no doubt it would constitute an act of discrimination given the Law on Registration and Enlistment for the Comprehensive Defense does not provide the registration of entities in a specific sector but for all legal entities in the public and private sectors.
However, the draft Law against NGOs and related entities does establish it, which not only makes it even more difficult for them to function but places them in a situation of disadvantage compared to other forms of association regulated by a special law.
The justification of the Venezuelan State for creating all these requirements is to have a special registry for NGOs, but the civil registry already exists for this purpose, which the State should bring back to operation since, paradoxically, registries of NGOs and their documentation have been paralyzed for some time, leading to their de facto outlawing.
How does it affect Venezuelans?
The possible combination of the Law on Registration and Enlistment for Comprehensive Defense and the Law on Supervision, Regularization, Action and Financing of Non-Governmental and Related Organizations seems to be part of a strategy by the National Government to exacerbate the already extensive militarization of society. The convergence of both texts will force human rights defenders, educators, humanitarian workers, sports coaches, and environmentalists, among others, to become part of the military world. Also, it will force nonprofit organizations, regardless of their legal form or purpose, to register as NGOs, except those governed by a special law.
The text being studied by the National Assembly seems to be the last brick in the wall that the authorities have been erecting to prevent the exercise of the fundamental rights to association and participation in public affairs.
Translated by José Rafael Medina
