and hold demonstrations to forward matters of common interest." International law places the same limitations on the restriction of this right as in the case of freedom of association. Moreover, international standards limit the use of force by the authorities in managing public assemblies. Violations At the international level, civic space violations are regularly documented and reported by international human rights organisations like CIVICUS, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the International Centre for Not-for-profit Law (ICNL), Article 19, Reporters Without Borders, Frontline Defenders, the International Service for Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and others. At the regional, national and sub-national levels there are innumerable human rights organisations, development organisations, think tanks and academic institutions devoted to researching and campaigning on civic space issues. Violations of civic space take many forms and can be perpetrated by the state - either directly through officials, police officers or security personnel, or at arm's length through agents or third parties - or non-state actors including criminal gangs, terrorist organisations, private corporations, political parties, religious organisations and civil society groups themselves. Non-exhaustive list of examples of civic space violations States can violate freedom of association by establishing restrictive laws that restrict people's ability to freely form and operate groups to advance their interests or even prevent them for doing so. For example, in some countries, legislation banned organisations that work in certain topics like human rights to form legally. Moreover, these restrictive laws place broad oversight powers in the hands of government institutions with which civil society organisations must register and to whom they must account or report regularly. In some cases those governmental oversight bodies have a discretionary power to suspend or terminate an organisation's registration. In the most extreme cases, penalties for noncompliance with NGO laws can include fines and imprisonment. In more recent years, and with a spike in concern about international terrorism, more and more states have begun to pass anti-terrorism laws which negatively impact upon civic space, and particularly the ability of organisations to operate free from state interference. States can restrict freedom of association by targeting members of the organisations, human rights defenders and activists using intimidation tactics, harassment, travel bans, detention, among others. Curtailing the ability to protest can be done within the legislative framework, when the norms in place unduly restricted the right to assembly by imposing prior authorisation requirements, time and place