Ombudsman Lukin asks NGOs to assess their inspections by law enforcement

(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 2, 2013) Russian Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin has called on non-governmental organizations (NGO) to assess their ongoing inspections by law enforcement and tax agencies.

“We have asked human rights organizations that have been subjected to inspections to send us documents and tell us how the inspections were conducted, how the law was abided by, and if it was not, in what aspects,” Lukin said at a press conference at the Interfax main office on Tuesday.

Lukin said also that his secretariat is collecting materials from the government bodies that conducted the inspections, including the Prosecutor General’s Office and the State Fire Control Service, to see “why they inspected them, what was the reason, and what was inspected.”

“When we receive answers, we will analyze them and tell the president, and the public will also be informed,” Lukin said.

The ombudsman said he was surprised by “the scope, the simultaneousness of the inspections, and the composition of the inspection teams.”

Lukin pointed out that he had discussed the inspections of NGOs with President Vladimir Putin a week before and that Putin told him he did not have enough information on this account, asked him to look into this and express his opinion.