A proposed counter-terrorism bill in Bulgaria would threaten human rights and undermine the rule of law, said Amnesty International today. The bill, in line with a regional trend, consolidates excessive power in the hands of the Bulgarian executive and security services; proposes measures that would threaten freedom of expression, association, movement, peaceful assembly, and the right to privacy; and permits the government to declare a “state of emergency” in the aftermath of an attack with no independent oversight mechanism to monitor for abuses of special powers employed under such an emergency regime.
