December 13, 2005
Civil societies in Russia fear new bill
By FRED WEIR

MOSCOW (CP) - Alexei Simonov has worked as an independent media critic in Russia for more than 15 years. But he fears that a new law may soon put him out of business, along with hundreds of other non-profit community activists.

"The Kremlin can only think of a society in terms of discipline and obedience," says the grey-haired president of the Glasnost Defence Foundation, Russia's oldest media watchdog.

"This new law is aimed at striking fear into the non-governmental community, and changing the relations between state and society in ways I can only imagine in terms of our Soviet past," he says.

Under the bill that faces its crucial second reading in the Duma on Friday, all of Russia's estimated 450,000 civil society groups - from stamp clubs to student unions - would be forced to re-register next year with a special state agency under tough new rules that add up to levels of state control unseen since Soviet times.

The bill, initiated by the Kremlin, is aimed at closing down foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and preventing Russian ones that accept funding from abroad from engaging in anything related to political activity.

"Whether these organizations want it or not, they become an instrument in the hands of foreign states that use them to achieve their own political objectives," President Vladimir Putin said last week.

"This situation is unacceptable."

Russia's secret services have publicly blamed foreign-funded NGOs for straining Russia's stability and fomenting revolution in the post-Soviet states of Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan.

"Humanitarian missions and NGOs are very attractive for spies. . . . They need a cover, a mask, a curtain," Sergei Lebedev, head of the SVO external intelligence agency, told the official Rossiskaya Gazeta this week.

"Regulating the activities of NGOs creates a framework to ensure the security of the state is not undermined," he said.

Under existing laws, NGOs already report on their sources of funding to tax authorities and file their plan of activities with the Justice Ministry.

The new rules would make them apply to a special state registration agency, which would scrutinize each NGO's financial accounts and activities before deciding whether to license it.

Those that are deemed to be involved in political activities may be closed down, or be required to pay 40 per cent taxes on any foreign funds they receive.

The bill's backers argue that most countries prevent foreigners from meddling in local politics, and that the new rules are needed to bring order to Russia's rapidly-growing NGO sector.

"There is bacchanalia in the sphere of public organizations, which prevents social consolidation and will lead to the destruction of Russia," says Valery Galchenko, one of the bill's authors.

"We need to find out how many of these foreign-sponsored projects there are in Russia."

But many NGO activists complain the Kremlin's idea of undesirable "political activity" includes anything it hasn't specifically approved.

"Politics is the competition for power, and we don't do that at all," says Irina Yasina, program director for Open Russia, a civic education centre sponsored by now-imprisoned oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

"We run classes on the practice of democracy, the study of law, how to organize a community group, that sort of thing," she says. "We teach people how to critize policies, but we don't engage in partisan politics."

Duma deputy Alexei Ostrovsky, a co-author of the bill, estimates up to a quarter of Russian NGOs receive money from abroad. These include hundreds of groups whose activities often entail criticism of state policy, such as environmentalists, human rights monitors, consumer advocates, anti-conscription activists and many others.

Some foreign funding comes from government sources such as the European Union's TACIS or the Canadian International Development Agency, but much originates with private donors such as the Ford or MacArthur foundations.

Russian NGO workers say they accept foreign money because few local businesses are willing to donate.

One wealthy Russian who did contribute generously to civil society groups - Khodorkovsky - was singled out for prosecution, many experts say, because his "political activities" angered the Kremlin.

"The authorities have made it very clear that they don't like Khodorkovsky, and they don't like the work we do with his financial support," says Yasina.

If the bill passes, global NGOs will be required to close their local branches and re-register as Russian organizations.

"This option does not suit us, because we have a very international team," says Alexander Petrov, Russian deputy director of the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"We operate the same way all over the world," he says. "If we re-registered, according to the draft law, we'd have to become Russia Watch, or something. It'd be a different organization."

Expert think-tanks might also be singled out under for "political activities" under the new law.

"It's hardly surprising that Russian foreign policy is misinterpreted abroad," deputy foreign minister Alexander Yakovenko told a recent conference.

"This happens because the Russian and western media cite the opinions of NGOs that are heavily bankrolled with foreign capital," he said.

Responding to critics, Putin defended the law as "necessary to protect our political system from outside interference," but said the Kremlin would suggest amendments to tone it down before it goes to the Duma.

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