Vexl and HRF are doing a series on financial rights and this is the first.
What makes anti-money laundering laws such an efficient tool for political censorship is that money is at the heart of the society we live in. Oversight of our bank accounts gives the Government insight into our political affiliations, our medical histories, and sexual preferences, while control over who may access the global financial system bears the power to effectively end a person’s ability to exercise any of their other rights guaranteed by both national and international law – from the freedom of movement to the freedom to express yourself.