WUNRN
WUNRN
ASKS – HOW WILL RUSSIAN WOMEN’S NGO’S COPE WITH THESE ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS,
LIMITS ON FOREIGN FUNDING, NETWORKING WITH FOREIGN WOMEN’S & HUMAN RIGHTS
NGO’S?
Russia – Legislation Further Restricts NGO’s - Gives
Authorities Power to Shut Down Foreign & International Organizations in
Russia – Curbs on NGO Funds from Abroad – Gender Impact?
By Thomas
Grove – May 25, 2015
MOSCOW—New restrictions signed into law
over the weekend by President Vladimir Putin give
Russian authorities the power to shut down foreign-backed groups deemed
“undesirable,” in a step activists say is likely to further pressure the country’s
beleaguered civil society.
The new law allows any foreign or
international NGO to be shut down and introduces cash fines, restrictions on
movement or jail time of up to six years for those who violate it. It builds on
a law passed in 2012 that branded groups as “foreign agents” for their supposed
political activities as well as funding they received abroad. About 60
organizations have been officially listed in that category.
The term “undesirable” hasn’t been widely
used in Russia before, and in the legislation it is only vaguely defined,
leaving room for broad interpretation. Critics of the law said that lack of a
clear definition will allow for abuse. The new law is the latest step in what
rights groups say is the Kremlin’s policy of clamping down on critical voices,
some of whom have been accused of being pawns in a Western plot to repeat a
Ukraine-style revolution in Russia.
Pavel Chikov, head of a group that
provides legal services to nongovernmental organizations, said Monday that the
new law increases the scope and severity of the foreign-agent law, which has
sent authorities to the doorsteps of numerous rights organizations, including
Amnesty International and groups probing the alleged deaths of Russian troops
in Ukraine.
“The law allows the forbidding of any
social and political activity once it is declared an ‘undesired’ organization,
and those who continue to work can be sent to prison,” said Mr. Chikov, whose
own group, Agora, has been declared a foreign agent.
“Most of all, this is about rights-advocacy
organizations, ecologists and all other groups that champion liberal values,
because the Kremlin considers them a risk to the current political regime,” he
added.
Lawmakers who introduced the bill, which
was passed quickly in three readings with little debate, said when it was first
brought before parliament last year that it was meant to prevent outside forces
from instigating a violent overthrow of the government.
“It is unacceptable that one of our
foreign organizations would have the ability to distribute weapons as was the
case in Ukraine,” said lawmaker Anton Ishchenko, speaking to a
Russian newspaper at the time.
Lawmaker Vitaly Zolochevskiy wrote a
letter to Russia’s chief prosecutor Yuriy Chaika requesting him to probe five
of Russia’s top international rights groups. The letter, which was uploaded to
his Facebook page, asked for checks on whether the likes of Transparency
International, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Russia’s oldest
rights group Memorial fit the criteria for closure under the new law.
Russia’s human rights commissioner Ella
Pamfilova said the lack of court proceedings or clarity over the criteria of
what constitutes an undesirable organization under the new law may contradict
the constitution.
“There are no clear legal criteria to
determine the status of an undesirable foreign or international organization on
the territory of the Russian federation,” she said in a statement on her Web
page.
The U.S. quickly criticized the law,
which allows prosecutors to declare an organization “undesirable” without court
proceedings.
“We are concerned this new power will
further restrict the work of civil society in Russia and is a further example
of the Russian government’s growing crackdown on independent voices and intentional
steps to isolate the Russian people from the world,” State Department
spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
Tanya Lokshina, senior researcher
for Human Rights Watch in Moscow, said the law was aimed not at closing
organizations down, so much as raising the stakes for Russians who want to work
in groups that could be critical of the government.
Mr. Putin supported the foreign agent law
after vote-monitoring group Golos cataloged numerous alleged voting violations
during the 2010 parliamentary election. Anger at the irregularities sparked
some of the biggest protests in Russia since Mr. Putin took over the presidency
in 2000.
Pro-Kremlin media has run purported exposés on
pro-democracy groups receiving money to inspire a revolution in Russia, like
those that toppled Middle East and North African regimes during the Arab
Spring.
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Subject: Russia - Continued Laws that Restrict Free Expression, Free
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OSCE
– Organization for Security & Co-Operation in Europe - http://www.osce.org/fom/159081
OSCE
Calls on President of Russia to Veto Newest Restrictive Law that Would Have a
Negative Effect on Free Expression & Free Media
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
WUNRN
ASKS: HOW ARE RUSSIA WOMEN’S & HUMAN RIGHTS NGO’S RESPONDING TO THESE
RESTRICTIVE RUSSIAN LAWS THAT WOULD LIMIT FREE EXPRESSION, FREE MEDIA,
RELATIONSHIPS WITH FOREIGN NGO’S, FOREIGN FUNDING, MANY HUMAN RIGHTS
ACTIVITIES, & WITH POTENTIAL FINES, CLOSURES, ARRESTS??
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
RIGA, 20 May 2015 – OSCE Representative on
Freedom of the Media Ms. Dunja Mijatoviæ today said new restrictive laws
in the Russian Federation would have a negative effect on freedom of expression, media
freedom and pluralism of opinions.
“The broad and imprecise wording of this
legislation would impose serious restrictions on a wide-array of important
democratic rights, including freedom of expression and media
freedom,” Mijatoviæ said.
On 19 May, 2015, the Russia State Duma adopted
a law which gives the Prosecutor General and his deputies the authority to
declare foreign or international NGOs “undesirable”, which means they can be
banned as a threat to the country’s constitutional order, defense or national
security. On 20 May, the law was approved by the
Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly.
“I call on the President of the Russian
Federation to veto this legislation in order to protect pluralistic debate,”
Mijatoviæ said.
Among other things, the law:
Mijatoviæ noted concerns about the legislation
raised by various local and international human rights organizations, including
the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights under the President of the
Russian Federation, which presented its critical expert opinion on the law in
March.
In 2012 another restrictive law was adopted requiring NGO’s
to register as “foreign agents” on the basis that they engage in political
activity and receive foreign funding. It has had wide-reaching crippling
effects for NGO’s working to protect and promote media freedom in Russia. The
Representative issued public statements on this issue which are available
at www.osce.org/fom/142391 and
at www.osce.org/fom/100569.
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Russia – Increased Government
Restrictions for Cooperation with Foreign Organizations
RUSSIA
– BILL PRESENTED IN PARLIAMENT TO CRIMINALIZE COOPERATION WITH FOREIGN
ORGANIZATIONS – ADDITIONAL THREAT TO WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS WORK
Paris-Geneva, 19 January 2015 - The State Duma must drop the
Bill on “undesirable foreign organisations” that will be debated on January 20,
said the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders today. If
adopted, the law will complement an already very restrictive legislative
arsenal used to silence all forms of criticism against the regime in
contradiction with international human rights instruments ratified by Russia
and will allow authorities to ban legitimate human rights activities, though
they are protected under international law.
On January 14, the State Duma Committee on Constitutional
Legislation recommended that the lower house pass a bill to ban “undesirable
foreign organisations” in Russia and ban cooperation with them. The bill,
presented initially by two members of Parliament, would allow the Prosecutor
General’s Office, upon consultation with the Foreign Ministry and based on
information provided by the interior and security agencies, to ban foreign and
international organisations that “threaten the defence or security of the
State” or “public order and health”.
“ Countless human rights NGOs and defenders have been
criminalised by the authorities for allegedly threatening security or public
order. We fear that these vague terms will again be used to criminalise
legitimate human rights activities implemented by INGOs in Russia ”,
said Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General. “ A law that
effectively criminalizes human contacts or institutional partnerships with
other human rights actors is indeed unprecedented ”.
Russian organisations have become over the last decades a vital
and proud part of a global movement participating in international meetings and
sharing their knowledge, experience and advice in global human rights networks
and federations. This law risks to isolate Russian activists and to break
international solidarity and support.
Under the bill, the designation of a foreign or international
organisation as undesirable would be followed by the closure of branch offices
in Russia. It would also ban the distribution of information, including online.
Furthermore, individuals involved in the operation of an
undesirable foreign or international organisation in Russia would be fined
between 10,000 and 100,000 Rubles (185 – 1,850 Euros). And the employees of an
undesirable organisation that continued to work in Russia could face criminal
charges and fines ranging between 300,000 and 500,000 Rubles (5,560 – 9,260
Euros) or up to eight years in prison. If adopted, this measure would
negatively impact the work of those who are members of international NGOs in
Russia and will make it impossible for human rights defenders based abroad,
should their organisation be registered as “unwanted”, to enter Russia.
The Observatory recalls that, if adopted, this bill would add to
an already very restrictive legislation for civil society organisations further
shrinking the space for freedom of association in the country. In 2012 the
State Duma adopted a law that required NGOs to register as “foreign
agents” if they engaged in “political activity” and receive foreign funding.
Because “foreign agent” can be interpreted only as “spy” or “traitor”, such
label aims at discrediting NGOs and obstructing their working environment.
“ Following the adoption of the NGO law in 2012 which
led to the registration of more than 30 prominent Russian NGOs as foreign
agents and the closing down of 4 others, including FIDH member organisation ADC
Memorial, it seems clear that this new bill will be used to ban the presence of
international human rights NGOs in Russia. Slowly but surely, Putin is getting
rid of all human rights organisations in the Russian Federation ”,
said Karim Lahidji, FIDH President.
The Observatory, a joint programme of the International
Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture
(OMCT), therefore opposes the possible adoption of this bill on the strongest
terms and calls for the State Duma to drop it.
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Full Article:
RUSSIA - WOMEN'S NGO'S FACE EVEN MORE RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTANT FOREIGN FUNDING
- NGOs working in Russia are facing more repression in the form of even tighter legislation on foreign funding as part of what some rights activists say is a concerted campaign to “liquidate” civil society in the country.
Under legislation proposed earlier this month in the upper chamber of Russia’s parliament, NGOs receiving foreign funding could be registered as “foreign agent” without their consent.
The legislation would strengthen an existing law which forces such NGOs to register as “foreign agents” – a controversial term with cold war connotations which affected NGOs says makes it almost impossible for them to work with local partners or government bodies – or face stiff fines and possible jail sentences. The new proposals have met with stinging criticism from local rights activists who say they are part of a concerted plan by the Kremlin to stifle civil society.......
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RUSSIA - LAWS RESTRICT NGO'S & PLACE LIMITS ON ASSOCIATION WITH FOREIGNERS AND FOREIGN FUNDING
Human Rights Watch:
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/04/24/russia-worst-human-rights-climate-post-soviet-era - Website Link Includes Video.
Direct Link to Full 82-Page Report:
"Russian authorities have introduced a series of restrictive laws, begun a nationwide campaign of invasive inspections of nongovernmental organizations, harassed, intimidated, and in a number of cases imprisoned political activists, and sought to cast government critics as clandestine enemies."
"Two of the new laws - the "foreign agents" law and the "Dima Yakovlev law - clearly seek to limit, or even end, independent advocacy and other NGO work in Russia by placing new limits on association with foreigners and foreign funding..."
Moscow – The Russian government has unleashed a crackdown on civil society in the year since Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency that is unprecedented in the country’s post-Soviet history.
The 78-page report, “Laws of Attrition: Crackdown on Russia’s Civil Society after Putin’s Return to the Presidency,”describes some of the changes since Putin returned to the presidency in May 2012. The authorities have introduced a series of restrictive laws, begun a nationwide campaign of invasive inspections of nongovernmental organizations, harassed, intimidated, and in a number of cases imprisonedpolitical activists, and sought to cast government critics as clandestine enemies. The report analyzes the new laws, including the so-called “foreign agents” law, the treason law, and the assembly law, and documents how they have been used.
“The new laws and government harassment are pushing civil society activists to the margins of the law,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government crackdown is hurting Russian society and harming Russia’s international standing.”
Many of the new laws and the treatment of civil society violate Russia’s international human rights commitments, Human Rights Watch said.
Several of the new laws seek to limit, or even end, independent advocacy by placing new, draconian limits on association with foreigners and foreign funding. The “foreign agents” law requires organizations that receive foreign funding and supposedly engage in “political activities” to register as “foreign agents.”Another law, adopted in December, essentially bans funding emanating from the United States for “political” activity by nongovernmental organizations, and bans groups whose work is “directed against Russia’s interests.” A third law, the treason law, expands the legal definition of treason in ways that could criminalize involvement in international human rights advocacy.
The report documents the nationwide campaign of intrusive government inspections of the offices of hundreds of organizations, involving officials from the prosecutor’s office, the Justice Ministry, the tax inspectorate, and in some cases the anti-extremism police, health inspectorate, and the fire inspectorate. The inspection campaign, which began in March 2013, was prompted by the “foreign agents” law.
Although many organizations have not received the inspection results, at least two have been cited for failing to register as “foreign agents,” and others have been fined for fire safety violations, air quality violations, and the like, Human Rights Watch said. Inspectors examined the groups’ tax, financial, registration, and other documents. In several cases they demanded to inspect computers or email. In one case, officials demanded that an organization prove that its staff had had been vaccinated for smallpox, and in another the officials asked for chest X-rays of staff to ensure they did not have tuberculosis. In yet another case, officials demanded copies of all speeches made at the group’s recent seminars and conferences.
“The government claims the inspections are routine, but they clearly are not,” said Williamson. “The campaign is unprecedented in its scope and scale, and seems clearly aimed at intimidating and marginalizing civil society groups. This inspection campaign can potentially be used to force some groups to end advocacy work, or to close them down."