WUNRN
RUSSIA – GENEROUS & SELECTED FUNDING OF NGO’S IN THE BALTIC
COUNTRIES, BUT CONTINUED LAWS & POLICIES THAT RESTRICT NGO’S IN RUSSIA
http://en.delfi.lt/nordic-baltic/kremlins-millions-how-russia-funds-ngos-in-baltics.d?id=68908408
WHAT
DOES THIS MEAN FOR WOMEN’S NGO’S IN RUSSIA, IN THE BALTIC COUNTRIES – ESTONIA,
LATVIA, & LITHUANIA??
How Russia Funds NGO’s in the
Baltics
ON ONE HAND, THE KREMLIN STRANGLES
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN RUSSIA. WITH ANOTHER, RUSSIA GENEROUSLY
SUPPORTS NGO’S THAT SUPPORT ITS INTERESTS IN THE BALTICS.
September 4, 2015 - It's an open secret in the Baltics that Russia
financially supports local NGOs who defend its policies in Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania. The only unknown is how generous that support is.
The investigation by Re:Baltica shows that
there are more than 40 such organizations in the Baltic states that have
received at least 1.5 million euros through legal means in the last three
years, according to the most conservative calculations. That excludes cash
transactions and financing through Russia-friendly enterprises and individuals.
It is impossible to say precisely how much of their income is from the Russian
government funds, because part of the recipients do not declare it in their
annual reports.
The Kremlin money lands in a narrow circle of
friends. The Baltic security services identify those individuals and the
organizations as key executors of the Russian foreign policy in their home
countries. They all share some key features. They do not have significant alternative
sources of funding, relying heavily on Moscow. Approximately 68 percent of the
grant recipients are somehow or another connected to the pro-Kremlin political
parties in the Baltic states. Since some of those individuals also donate to
political parties in Latvia, it cannot be excluded that the Kremlin money ends
up in the coffers of these parties.
Their goal is to influence the public debate
and the society, said the head of the Latvian security service Normunds
Mezviets.“They are being used as the agents of informational influence with the
task to construct in the society messages that favor Russian interests,” he
said in an interview to Re:Baltica.
From books to riots
Three years ago, Re:Baltica investigated the
work of the Russky Mir foundation in the Baltics. Our investigation had
identified more than 20 recipients, who received around 170,000 euros to
promote the Russian language and culture.
The second fund - Foundation for Defense of the
Rights of Compatriots Abroad - is the smallest of the four organizations.
Nevertheless, it covers a wide array of activities. It's funding goes to
filmmakers that support and promote the Russia's version of history of the 20th
century; to researchers who accuse the Baltic states and Ukraine of human
rights violations; for those who were tried of participating in the 2007 riots
in Tallinn, the biggest riots in the Estonian capital since it broke free from
the Soviet Union in 1991, and to active participants of the deportation of
Lithuanians to Siberia.
Since its creation in 2012 to mid-2014, when
the foundation stopped publishing names of the grant recipients, it has named
21 NGOs in the Baltic states as the recipients of the grants in the Baltics.
The true figure may be higher. Estonia's activist Alisa Blintsova told
Re:Baltica that the foundation paid for her participation in the OSCE forum in
Warsaw in the fall of 2014. However, her NGO, the Russian School in Estonia,
was not named among the official grant recipients at the time. After
publication of the article Re:Baltica was contacted by the representatives of
the organisation, denying it has received Russian government's money and
claiming that Blintsova “was confused” while giving interview. Estonian
activist Alisa Blintsova in Warsaw. Media
According to calculations by Re:Baltica, the
income of the named NGOs in Latvia and Estonia amounted to almost 1.5 million
euros in three years (In Lithuania, the NGOs are not required to publish their
financial data). It is very likely that this will be the last extensive annual
report. After Re:Baltica began asking questions about the NGOs it funds, the
foundation has stopped publishing names of grant recipients.
Estonia: concentration on niche-media
The foundation lists nine Estonian NGOs and one
individual — a well-known activist from Tallinn, Maksim Reva, whom the
foundation supported as “a documentary film maker.” The NGOs received around
710,000 euros in grants in a three-year period. They do not report the sources
of the grants on their annual reports.
The largest recipient of the grants was the
Legal Information Centre for Human Rights (LICHR, Inimõiguste Teabekeskus). The
Estonian security services say the organization is a Russian agent, a charge
the centre denies. Aleksey Semyonov, the centre's head, however, says that part
of the financing does come from the Russian embassy, the Russky Mir and the
compatriot foundation, but the centre receives support from other embassies as
well.
The compatriot foundation grant money goes to
pay for translating the Estonian laws into Russian. The NGO also receives
funding from the Tallinn city government, led by a popular pro-Russian city
mayor Edgar Savisaar, to provide legal help to many Russian-speaking residents
in Russian.
The second recipient of the Russian government
funding is Andrey Zarenkov, who heads two organizations: Estonia Without Nazism
(Natsivaba Eesti) and the Integration Media Group (Integratsioonimeedia Grupp).
With one group, he protests against the rise of fascism in Estonia to showcase
on Russian TV. The second group publishes the Baltiysky Mir (the Baltic World)
magazine distributed through the Russian embassy and the compatriot
organizations.
By day, Zarenkov works as the head of the
cultural centre in the small town of Maardu, near Tallinn. In 2014, he was tried
on corruption and bribing charges because he had used the funds of the house of
culture for his own purposes. Zarenkov had admitted his guilt in court, but
later recounted, calling the case against him a political witch hunt.
None of the Zarenkov's attempts to be elected
in the national parliament or local councils have succeeded. However, his NGO's
managed to attract more than 300,000 euros from unknown sources in spite of the
political failures.
Russia has also financed Paldiski Radio
(Paldiski Raadio Liit), a small family business with two employees: Oleg Tesla
and his wife. Paldiski was a former Soviet Navy nuclear submarine training
center, the largest one in the Soviet Union. This is why until the Russian
warship departure in 1994, the city was closed off. More than half of the
Paldiski residents are ethnic Russians. The radio station is so marginal that
it's practically impossible to determine its audience share. The Teslas are not
known in Estonia, even among the pro-Kremlin activists.
The only time Tesla appeared in the Estonian
media was when he participated in the Putin's annual press conference in 2013
in Moscow. He asked a question about repatriation for people who one day woke
up in a different country after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin started
his answer in Estonian using a familiar language used by good friends:
“Tere-tere, vana kere.” Tesla did not comment how he ended up at the press
conference. Lepekhin meets the editor of baltnews.ee, Aleksandr Kornilov, in
the train station in Estonia.
Russia also finances the organization called
Altmedia, which runs the internet site baltija.eu. According to the Estonian
security service (KAPO), the project is funded via Media Capital Holding BV, a
company registered in the Netherlands and controlled by people related to
Russia's state owned media giant Rossiya Segodnya.
It claims one of the Altmedia founders is
Vladimir Lepekhin, the director of the Eurasian Economic Community Institute,
who, according to the KAPO, participates in the pro-Russian activities abroad.
Lithuania: same people, different organisations
In Lithuania, the compatriot foundation
finances three NGOs and one individual, who are interconnected and are
monitored by the Baltic state’s security services. The precise information
about the Kremlin funding is scarce because the Baltic state's law does not
require NGOs to disclose their sponsors.
The State Security Department of Lithuania says
the activities of the compatriot foundation and other groups are a threat to
national security. “Members of the coordination boards [in the Russian
embassies] and other pro-Russian activists have developed many centers,
financed by Russia, to ‘protect’ the rights of the local Russians. In reality,
these centers discredit the Baltic states internationally and encourage ethnic
disharmony at home,” says the recent report published by the department.
“These organizations' 'experts' work according
to the Russian interests, publicly accuse Lithuania (…) and make a contribution
toward creating a negative image of the Baltic states in the eyes of the
Russian society. In the future, this image may serve to justify an aggression
against the Baltic states,” it says.
Out of four organizations in the report,
Re:Baltica found two on the list of those NGOs funded by the Kremlin: the
Independent Center for Human Rights and the Centre for Defense and Research of
the Fundamental Rights. The heads of both organizations are connected with
Lithuania Without Nazism, a movement also funded by the Russian compatriot
foundation.Russia also funds organisations related to the Lithuanian
politicians. Among them is Rafael Muksinov, who chairs the compatriot board at
the Russian embassy. He was also recently elected to the Vilnius city council
from the bloc of Valdemar Tomasevski, a party bloc led by a Polish Lithuanian
politician. Muksinov, however, is not a member of the bloc. He is a member of
the Socialist People's Front, a radical left party. Algirdas Paleckis © DELFI
(K.Èachovskio nuotr.)
Until recently, the Socialist People's Front
was headed by Algirdas Paleckis, whose grandfather was the first leader of
Soviet Lithuania after it was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. Paleckis
was fined for alleging that in January 1991 it was the Lithuanian snipers not
the Soviet troops who were shooting into civilians, who were defending the
Vilnius TV tower against the storm by the Soviet troops. Paleckis also heads
the Lithuania Without Nazism organization.
So-called “antifascists organizations” in the Baltic
states are part of the France-registered World Without Nazism, a global group
founded by the Russian ex-politician and billionaire Boris Shpigel, who has
close ties with the Kremlin. Among the official aims of the organization is
fighting against the rise of Nazism and fascist ideas. However, in reality, the
group often is used as a tool for the Russian foreign policy. Its public
statements tend to match the views of the Russian foreign ministry. The Russian
compatriot foundation also sponsored the World Without Nazism inaugural general
assembly in Strasbourg, in 2012.
Muksinov also is one of the founders at the
Independent Human Rights Center, headed by Karlis Bilans, also a member of
Lithuania Without Nazism. Bilans is a regular guest on Russian TV, often
accusing Lithuania of discriminating against local Russians.
In December 2013, when student protests erupted
in Ukraine against the corrupt regime of President Viktor Yanukovych, the
centre received 15,000 euros from an unnamed source. A few months later, Bilans
took part in protests in Vilnius against Lithuania's support for Ukraine.
Bilans and few others protest against Lithuania's support to Ukraine. PHOTO
State Security Department of Lithuania, annual report
They all refused to comment for this article.
Another founding member of Lithuania Without
Nazism is Oksana Bekeriene, the head of Centre for Research and Defense of
Fundamental Rights. The centre has a wide range of activities, starting with
criticism of Lithuania at the OSCE meetings and ending with a children's
competition Thank you for giving life devoted to the soldiers of the Red Army,
who defeated the Nazi Germany.
“If the [US] State Department gave us money, we
would have taken it anyway. However, this is not Russian money, it's the foundation's,”
she told Re:Baltica at the OSCE session in Warsaw last September.
Latvia: the usual suspects
Out of seven grant recipients in Latvia, four
have acknowledged them in their annual reports. The remaining three refused to
discuss the amounts. The total funding for these organizations could be more
than 680,000 euros. The annual reports show that the lion's share has been
received by Latvian Human Rights Committee, founded by the Latvian MEP Tatjana
Zdanoka. Organisation itself confirms that it has received over 224 000 euros.
Officially, the NGO fights for the rights of
the national minority and renters, who are mostly Russian-speakers who have
remained living in the denationalized apartment buildings since the 1990s.
However, in reality the group is the mirror image of the Russian Union of
Latvia, a political party. Formerly known as For Human Rights in a United
Latvia, the party led by Zdanoka changed its name after the Russian annexation
of Crimea, which turned many in the Russian political class patriotic. While
Zdanoka herself is no longer a board member of the Latvian Human Rights
Committee, the annual reports suggest that the NGO is supported by Zdanoka and
Moscow.
Most recently to hide the source of funding its
Baltic supporters, the Kremlin has been using NGOs registered in other EU
countries, where the transparency requirements are lower. This fact becomes
evident on March 16, a day when Latvia unofficially commemorates the fallen
Latvian soldiers, who fought on the side of the Nazi Germany in World War II.
The veterans and their right-wing supporters march in central Riga to the
Freedom Monument, where the antifascists stage counter-protests against what
they see as rise of fascism.
They also hold conferences and roundtable
discussions. This year, the anti-fascist event was dubbed as “the international
roundtable discussion about the rise of Nazism in modern Europe with legal
experts from at least five countries.” Out of nine experts, seven represented
the Kremlin-bankrolled NGOs.
Before March 16, Latvia's security services had
said the foundation for compatriots has awarded 25,000 euros to the
Belgium-registered organization, Pour La Future Sans Fascism, founded by
Zdanoka and Baltic state's main anti-fascist Josef Koren among others. Their group
signed a contract with a Latvian NGO about the March 16 protest.
The participants of the round table discussion
were Zdanoka's friends: her party colleague and a Latvian Human Rights
Committee board member Vladimir Buzayev, her assistant in the European
Parliament, another LHRC board member Aleksandr Kuzmin. The discussion was led
by Koren. Koren is not a board member of any NGOs, however he previously kicked
out Latvian Public TV journalists after they began asking questions about the
funding.
A regular attendee of these annual roundtable
discussions was missing this year. Valery Engel, a Russian historian, who in
Latvia also deals in real estate, usually participated as the World Without
Nazism vice president. His own NGO, Centre for European Democracy Studies, is
on the list of the recipients of the Russian government grants. Round table
discussion.
In three years, this Latvian-registered NGO
received over 100,000 euros from sources which are not disclosed in the annual
reports. Engel refused to discuss it and announced that he has left World
Without Nazism. However, NGO work is barely noticable in Latvia. The state
revenue service had started an audit of his NGO. The tax authorities refused to
disclose the details of the investigation or to say if they were targeting
other pro-Kremlin NGOs.
Viktor Guschin, another participant of the
roundtable discussion, was the coordinator of the council of the Russian
compatriot organizations at the embassy of Russia in Riga. He had
unsuccessfully tried to get elected in the Latvian and European parliaments. He
is also the head of the Centre of Baltic Historical and Socio-Political
Research. The group publishes books about the discrimination of the Russian
speakers in Latvia and portrays Latvia as a failed state. The annual reports
suggested his received over 78,000 euros from various sources, including
Russian consulate in Latvia.
Aleksandr Gaponenko, a man who represents many
several NGOs in Latvia, also participated in the roundtable discussion. He
receives his share of the Russian money through his European Research
Institute. Since he is a Latvian non-citizen, he cannot run for a public
office, however the opposition party Harmony, which draws on support from the
Russian-speaking community, nominated him as a shadow minister of economy at
the peak of the global economic crisis more than five years ago. Josef Koren.
The security services identify Gaponenko as the
key ideologue of the failed 2012 referendum on making Russian the second
official language. This summer, the law enforcement agencies have launched a
criminal investigation against him for spreading hate on the Internet. On his
Facebook page, Gaponenko said that the US tanks arrived to Latvia not for
training exerises but to destroy the local Russian community. To alJazeera TV
channel, Gaponenko said that the Russian foundation paid him 7,000 euros.
However, the annual reports say that organisation has received more than 29,000
euros in 2014 alone from undisclosed sources. Any internationally significant research
by his institute cannot be found on the Internet.
In an interview with Re:Baltica, Gaponenko
refused to answer a question about how much the Kremlin pays him. “Is that a
crime that I received money from Russia? It's my right. You get money from
America and I am not judging you,” he said. “I don't want to talk to you about
the financial matters because I'm afraid you are from the CIA. You can get all
the information at the American embassy, why are you asking me?”Among the
participants of the roundtable was also Lithuania's Oksana Bekeriene, who sat
quietly. Other international “experts” were a small Italian town mayor, who
renamed a local park after the Odessa “martyrs” to commemorate the deaths of
more than 40 people inside the Trade Union building in a Ukrainian town, and a
representative of the now-defunct anti-globalist movement.
Zdanok herself denied that the Kremlin could
have paid for the March 16 protests. She said the organization had asked for
funding, but received a rejection. “My position is that I am an anti-fascist
and I don't know why you think this is a Russian position. This is all European
states' position. Your question is a provocation,” she said to Re:Baltica
journalist. Aleksandr Gaponenko.
Meanwhile, the Baltic states are slowly
tightening their screws on the Kremlin-backed NGOs. The most active Kremlin
activists get travel bans to neighboring countries. For example, Maksim Reva
was deported from Latvia and Lithuania. Lithuania recently threw out Kuzmins
and Korens. Gaponenko was denied entry and slapped a travel ban to Estonia, a
move that drew condemnation from the compatriot foundation and people like
Dmitry Yermolayev, whom the Latvian security services identified as an officer
of the Federal Security Services (FSB) and who worked at the Russian embassy in
Latvia under the diplomatic immunity. The Russian foreign ministry called the
travel ban the persecution of the dissidents.
Rossotrudnichesvo has complained that only
Turkmenistan and the Baltic states are not allowing the Russian agency to open
up official representation offices.“The goal of these organizations is not to
build cultural ties and public diplomacy in its best sense, but rather to serve
as a conduit for the Russian foreign policy through the local Russian community
as well as the instruments of the political influence,” said Latvia's foreign
minister Edgars Rinkevics in an interview to Re:Baltica. Oksana Bekeriene.
This is supported by the money flow and other
countries' experiences, where Russia actively works with the local Russian
community, he said.
Since then, Russia has created two more
foundations to finance NGOs abroad. At the end of last year, Russia created a
foundation to support Russian-language media abroad.
Moscow also plans to create a foundation
charged with the promotion of the Russian version of history abroad. According
to that theory, the Soviet Union liberated Europe from Nazism and not erected
the Iron Curtain over eastern Europe.
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Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 5:08 PM
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Subject: Russia - Continued Laws that Restrict Free Expression, Free
Media, NGO Activity, Relations, Funding - How Does All This Affect Women's
NGO's in Russia?
WUNRN
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 Mijatoviã 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,” Mijatoviã 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,”
Mijatoviã said.
Among other things, the law:
Mijatoviã 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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Subject: Russia - Continued Tighter Laws Restrict NGO's - Foreign
Funding, Cooperation - Impact on Women's NGO's?
WUNRN
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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Subject: Russia - Tighter Laws Restrict NGO's, Foreign Funding - Impact
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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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NGO's, Foreign Funding - Impact on Women's NGO's?
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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."