(Interfax – Moscow, March 25, 2013) The Justice Ministry has explained that mass checks at NGOs are being carried out to uncover the organizations that fall under the definition of “foreign agents”. “If breaches of the laws of the Russian Federation are uncovered, including the provisions of the Federal Law “On the introduction of changes to legislative acts as regards […]
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(Interfax – March 24, 2013) Lyudmila Alekseyeva, Russia’s oldest human rights activist and the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, is concerned that the recent inspection of NGOs conducted by the law enforcement agencies may lead to the closure of many prominent NGOs in Russia. “I don’t know what they are looking for. They are probably looking for evidence of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 22, 2013) Andrew Somers will step aside after 12 years as president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia. Somers has informed the business association’s board that this will be his last year at its helm, AmCham said Friday. “He will move to the private sector and will begin an association in this […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, March 21, 2013) Members of the Presidential Human Rights Council (HRC) have appealed to Prosecutor-General Yuriy Chayka with regard to complaints from NGOs from a number of regions in the country about mass checks by the oversight body. “The last few days have seen an unending flood of reports from the heads of NGOs in Krasnodar, Perm […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – March 20, 2013) Acting on instructions from the Prosecutor General’s Office, government inspectors in at least nine Russian regions have conducted hundreds of unannounced checks on non-governmental organizations, including well-known human rights, environment and religious groups. The checks are designed to catch organizations that receive foreign funding and are involved in “political […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Nora FitzGerald, RBTH – March 18, 2013) Nikolai Zlobin, a bestselling author in Russia with longtime ties to the U.S., launches an independent think tank on U.S.-Russia relations to foster the collaboration between two countries and overcome the Cold War thinking. Nikolai Zlobin, the Russian political analyst who wrote a compassionately amusing bestseller […]
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(Interfax – March 14, 2013) Russia’s opposition, human rights campaigners and civil activists have decided to establish a new public movement, which will be named the Civil Federation. Leading human rights organizations, the For Human Rights movement and the Moscow Helsinki Group, activists of the Moscow Civil Forum and the White Ribbon pro-opposition group will form the core of the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anya Aseeva – March 11, 2013) The Prosecutor General’s office, together with the Justice Ministry and the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, has begun conducting large-scale unscheduled checks into non-governmental organizations to determine sources of foreign funding, a news report said Monday. Marina Grudneva, a spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General’s office, said the inspection was being conducted […]
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(Moscow TImes – themoscowtimes.com – February 26, 2013) The Justice Ministry has refused to conduct a check into election watchdog Golos’ compliance with recently passed legislation requiring foreign-funded organizations to register as “foreign agents” despite over 100 requests to do so. The ministry received 120 requests to recognize Golos as a foreign agent, and 350 such requests for the Levada […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Pavel Chikov – February 15, 2013) Pavel Chikov is chair of AGORA, an association of human rights organisations based in Kazan. Since 1999 Chikov has been a leading human rights lawyer and head of a number of Russian human rights organizations in Moscow and Kazan Continuing oDRussia’s debate on the future for Russian NGO funding, now a view […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Michael Allen – February 14, 2013) Michael Allen is a Special Assistant in Government Relations and Public Affairs at the National Endowment for Democracy and editor of the Democracy Digest blog. Writing on oDRussia yesterday [JRL#31], Almut Rochowonski argued that Kremlin’s repression of NGOs could work in their favour by encouraging domestic giving. Her mistake was assuming Russian […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Almut Rochowanski – February 13, 2013) Almut Rochowanski is a co-founder and coordinator of Chechnya Advocacy Network, a US-based NGO. Russian NGOs have traditionally looked abroad for their funding, and are dismayed at recent legislation setting up new barriers to this practice. Almut Rochowanski argues, however, that this should be seen as a challenge to increase the involvement […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Winning – February 12, 2013) Prominent nongovernmental organizations said Monday that a new bill on volunteerism would stifle their work through increased bureaucracy and unnecessary regulation. At a roundtable organized by the Civic Initiatives Committee, a think tank headed by former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, NGOs said it would be senseless to adopt legislation […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – February 8, 2013) Eleven prominent rights groups have sent a complaint against Russia’s so-called foreign agent law, which targets NGOs engaged in political activities, to the European Court of Human Rights. The organizations argued on Thursday that the legislation violates the Constitution and fundamental human rights such as the freedoms […]
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Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2013 From: Mary McGuire <mcguire@freedomhouse.org> Subject: New Report: U.S. Needs Post-Reset Policy on Russia Freedom House FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Mary McGuire at +1-202-747-7035 or mobile, +1-202-683-0909 New Report: U.S. Needs Post-Reset Policy on Russia Washington February 6, 2013 As President Obama enters his second term, he and his administration should formulate an approach […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 6 (Interfax) – The law on “foreign agent” NGOs has not had a legal effect as yet, Presidential Human Rights Council Chairman Mikhail Fedotov told a press conference at Interfax. “The law in its current form has had a psychological rather than legal effect,” he noted. Not a single organization has been registered as a foreign agent, Fedotov […]
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LUXEMBOURG. Feb 5 (Interfax) – State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said Human Rights Watch is a politically-biased organization. “Human Rights Watch has long entered Russia on the list of countries with an inferior human rights record,” Naryshkin told reporters in Luxembourg, when asked to comment on the HRW’s most recent report. The HRW’s activities were discussed in the most general […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 5, 2013) The Justice Ministry has called on the ministry’s regional branches to get approval from the central office before applying the controversial law on “foreign agents.” The move was prompted by the Saratov branch issuing a warning to a local non-governmental organization that the central office considered “not fully lawful,” Vedomosti reported Monday, […]
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VOLGOGRAD. Feb 1 (Interfax) – Discussion of civil society issues will continue in spite of the U.S. dropout from the relevant bilateral working group, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said at the Russian-U.S. Center in Volgograd on Friday. McFaul said the working group was formed in June 2009 and he co-chaired it with Vladislav Surkov. He noted they had […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax) – Russia needs to develop democratic institutes and strengthen civil society, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday to summarize results of the expanded government meeting. “We have to go beyond the government policy fundamentals until 2018, which have been presented today, so to solve all problems faced by the country and to keep all promises given […]
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(RIA Novosti – January 30, 2013) Reports on 30 January that two US NGOs have closed their Russian branches and taken Russian staff to Lithuania over concerns for their safety prompted a mixed reaction from public figures and commentators. Some said the move was understandable in light of changes to legislation, introduced in November 2012, which require foreign-funded NGOs to […]
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From: “HRW Press” <hrwpress@hrw.org> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2013 Subject: Russia: Worst Crackdown Since Soviet Era For Immediate Release Russia: Worst Crackdown Since Soviet Era Government Should Stop Pressure, Reprisals on Civil Society (Moscow, January 31, 2013) The Kremlinn in 2012 unleashed the worst political crackdown in Russia’s post-Soviet history, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – January 28, 2013) Washington has effectively ended a key working group with Moscow for discussing human rights and democracy, arguing that the panel had become meaningless given recent restrictions on civil society in Russia. The United States’ withdrawal from the Civil Society Working Group of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, announced […]
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(Interfax – January 18, 2013) Russia’s Justice Ministry has said that it has so far found no NGOs headed by or financed by citizens of the USA whose activities could be suspended under the “anti-Magnitskiy” law (also known as the Dima Yakovlev law). The law, better known for its controversial Article 4, which bans US citizens from adopting Russian children, […]
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MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said on Wednesday that only one non-governmental organization in Russia has so far registered as a foreign agent under a recently introduced law on NGOs. Russia’s controversial new law, obligating non-governmental organizations financed from abroad and involved in political activity to register as “foreign agents,” came into force last […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 8, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/01/window-on-eurasia-protests-political.html) The rise of a new generation of independent journalists in Russia who use technology to report directly to their audience and who are not shy about declaring their interest in promoting civil society is an entirely natural response to the increasing government restrictions on the official media […]
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(Bloomberg editorial – bloomberg.com – January 2, 2013) On New Year’s Day, a law took effect in Russia banning U.S. families from adopting children there. Not only is this use of orphans to score a political point repugnant, it also reflects a worrying defensive and isolationist trend in President Vladimir Putin’s foreign and domestic policies. The adoption ban was rushed […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Alina Lobzina – December 28, 2012) Ludmila Alexeyeva, a leading Russian human rights advocate, is ready to defend the job she might lose under the newly adopted Russian response to the Magnitsky Act, she told RIA Novosti on Friday. The bill signed by President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day prohibits holders of US passports […]
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Russia Beyond the Headlines sets out its list of top news stories for 2012: 1. The presidential election … 2. Medvedev’s Cabinet … 3. United Russia’s new leader … Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev swapped jobs and not only in public office … 4. Strident new laws … 5. Protest actions …
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[Russian lawmakers back adoption ban in row with U.S. – Reuters – Alissa de Carbonnel – December 21, 2012 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/21/russia-adoptions-idUSL5E8NL4FK20121221] Reuters covers the Duma’s support for a ban on U.S. citizens adopting Russian children, as well as a ban on U.S. nonprofits funding Russian democratization nonprofits, in retaliation for Congressional efforts to hold Russian human rights abusers accountable: Russia’s […]
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WASHINGTON, December 20 (By Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti) – US groups financing politically active nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Russia are facing a potentially jarring shake-up of these programs amid Moscow’s escalating clampdown on such funding. The question now is: What are they going to do about it? At least two US taxpayer-funded organizations viewed with suspicion by the Russian […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 21, 2012) A local human rights organization has become the first NGO to voluntarily submit an application for being registered as a foreign agent to better understand the practical implementation of the new law regulating activities of nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign funds. Human rights organization Shchit i Mech, or Shield and Sword, registered […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – December 19, 2012) As the State Duma considers a bill countering the U.S. Magnitsky Act, a group of lawmakers is threatening to add a provision that would massively increase pressure on nongovernmental organizations they believe to be meddling in domestic politics. The deputies support amendments that would enable authorities to close […]
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MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) Russian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), cash-strapped due to a recent restrictive law on foreign funding, may get much needed support from an organization led by former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, he said on Tuesday. “There’s currently a shortage of support foundations in Russia, and we’re filling that niche,” Kudrin said about his Civic Initiatives Committee. […]
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(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 […]
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WASHINGTON, December 13 (By Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti) – A Washington-based political advocacy group, the International Republican Institute (IRI), said on Thursday it was ordered to leave Russia because it is funded by a US government agency. Russian officials told IRI that it must halt its work in Russia because it is financed by the US Agency for International […]
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MOSCOW, December 13 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Justice Ministry on Thursday denied reports that a regional branch of the No to Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Foundation had been warned under the new “foreign agent” law. “This requirement [to disclose sources of foreign funding] has existed since 2006. Thus, the warning issued is in no way linked to the coming into […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) – Social activity is not a subject of the law on “foreign agent” NGOs, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told President Vladimir Putin’s election agents on Sunday. “Concerning the recent lawa(euro) There is no change with regard to social affairs, such as hospices. They are unrelated to political activity,” he said. Such organizations are not subject to […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – Dec. 10, 2012) In a live television interview, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev expressed support for a range of legislation that critics say is part of a crackdown on the political opposition, including a law requiring certain NGOs to register as foreign agents. But the former president also conveyed liberal positions on several […]
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(Interfax – November 27, 2012) The U.S. Russia Foundation for Economic Advancement and the Rule of Law (USRF), which is a U.S.-registered entity, neither can replace the defunct Russian branch of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) nor has any plans to do so, USRF’s chief executive said on Tuesday. USRF and USAID have completely different missions, Mark Pomar […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 25 November) Russia’s oldest NGO, the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG), has called upon Russians to make donations for human rights projects as the law on “foreign agents” came into force (on 21 November). “Dear fellow citizens! The Moscow Helsinki Group is calling on all individuals and legal entities to participate in raising funds in order for MHG […]
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[As ‘Foreign Agent’ Law Takes Effect in Russia, Human Rights Groups Vow to Defy It – Ellen Barry – New York Times- November 22, 2012 – http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/world/europe/rights-groups-in-russia-reject-foreign-agent-label.html?_r=0] Ellen Barry and the New York Times cover Russia’s adoption of its “Foreign Agent Law” impacting nonprofits: Workers at the human rights organization Memorial arrived at work on Wednesday morning to see a […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 22 (Interfax) – Nongovernmental organizations (NGO) using the words “Russia” or “Russian Federation” in their names will not need to re-register due to the new rules governing the use of these words, the Justice Ministry press service has reported. “According to Article 4 of the Russian Civil Code, civil legislation has no retroactive force and applies to relations […]
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MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s insistence that NGOs of a “political” nature funded from abroad register as “foreign agents” has been tied down in paperwork – or, rather, the lack of it. The NGOS affected by the controversial law were required by law to register their new legal status with the Justice Ministry by November 21, but the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – November 23, 2012) The National Democratic Institute, or NDI, a U.S. based nonprofit that promotes democratic development, has moved its Russia country director and other senior staff to Lithuania, amid an unpredictable and increasingly hostile climate for NGO workers in Russia. The organization, which is partly funded by the U.S. government, fired […]
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MOSCOW, November 21 (Dan Peleschuk, RIA Novosti) The Moscow headquarters of two influential human rights groups were vandalized on Wednesday, the first day a controversial new law on non-governmental organizations (NGO) took effect. The entrances to the offices of Memorial and For Human Rights, two prominent civil rights groups headed by veteran activists, were spray-painted with the words “Foreign […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 19 (Interfax) – Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin has criticized the statements made by representatives of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Memorial, Golos, and the For Human Rights movement, which have publicly refused to comply with the law on foreign agents. “I can only say that the law has been adopted and needs to be observed,” Naryshkin told […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – November 20, 2012) Although much-debated amendments for nongovernmental organizations go into force this Wednesday, do not expect foreign-funded NGOs to rush to re-register as “foreign agents” with the Justice Ministry. Prominent rights activists have announced they would boycott the new law, which they have lambasted as imposing an insulting title that makes […]
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(Interfax – November 19, 2012) Leading Russian NGOs intend to ignore the legislative amendments which require the registration as “agents of foreign influence” of non-governmental organizations with Western backing. The law will enter into force on Nov. 20, Tuesday. “I do not know a single human rights organization, which has appealed for being registered as a “foreign agent,” said Lyudmila […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 19 (Interfax) – Moscow forestalled the adoption of the so-called Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act in the U.S. by enacting the law on NGOs acting as foreign agents, which is quite painful for Washington, but it should be prepared to see a number of European Union countries considering bills analogous to the one just passed by […]
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