Russian human-rights NGOs ignore new rule to register as ‘foreign agents’

(Interfax – December 18, 2012) No Russian non-government organizations have registered as “foreign agents” nearly a month after being required to do so under a new law, Interfax news agency reported on 18 December.

The Ministry of Justice has added a section to its website with the rules for the register, an application form and the register itself.

“We’re awaiting information,” the minister, Aleksandr Konovalov, told the media on 12 December. “This should be done voluntarily, that it, one should declare one’s status. To my knowledge, nobody has told me that we’ve registered anyone.”

The law on non-government organizations caused controversy as it passed through the State Duma and entered force on 21 November. It made it compulsory for all such organizations with funding from abroad to register themselves as “foreign agents”. But leading targets of the law, including human-right groups such as Moscow Helsinki Group, Memorial, Golos, Civic Assistance and For Human Rights, all said they would not comply.

Konovalov said he expected the registration process to be decided ultimately in the courts, Interfax added.