Recent Developments in the Russian Government's Application of the Foreign Agent Law

My name is Dezeree Hodish and I’m currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at the University of Kansas.  Over the next few weeks, my research and blog posts will focus on the Russian government’s implementation and application of its “foreign agent” law and the growing restrictions placed on Russian NGOs. For those unfamiliar with this legislation, I refer you to the following English-language sources: 

·         Bill Bowring’s short article, “Russian Legislation and NGOs in Russia,” published in the Russian Analytical Digest

·         The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law’s report on Russia

·         RIA Novosti’s English language infographic - walks readers through the penalties foreign agents face.

According to Aleksei Zhafyarov, Russia’s Procurator General and deputy head of the Prosecutor General’s Office, there are more than 2,200 NGOs in Russia that have received nearly one million rubles from foreign sources; 22 of these organizations are listed as foreign agents. However, according to the Russian Ministry of Justice’s website , which tracks registered foreign agents, only one organization is officially listed.  The lack of up-to-date information from official channels and the ambiguity of the law’s wording (which is still being contested) illustrates the contentiousness of a piece of legislation that appears to be only one part of a larger campaign to reduce the connections between Russian NGOs and their international counterparts. 

The debate regarding the foreign agent law has largely been limited to the realm of Russian media, heavily controlled by the government, that continual details infractions of the law by popular NGOs.  Zhafyarov revealed that there have been more than 500 violations found during the course of inspections that occurred during the spring of this year; inspections which many NGOs claim were unlawfully carried out and which will continue in the future.  The Ministry of Justice also recently announced that it will try to amend the laws on NGOs to make it easier to fine the leaders of organizations not complying with the foreign agent law.  

The application of the foreign agent law continues despite protest by intellectuals and NGO leaders, but, a recent Levada-Center poll suggests that the Russian people support its application and the government’s actions.  A majority of those surveyed—53%—supported the government’s sanctioning of NGOs who violate the foreign agent law, while nearly half of those surveyed supported the government’s more restrictive measures on NGOs. Furthermore, 19% of Russians surveyed had a negative opinion of NGOs—a 6% increase from last year.  Only 50% of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of NGOs.  Most notable was the fact that 52% of respondents had no “clear idea” of what purpose an NGO served.  A remarkable 29% responded that they had never even heard of the term NGO.  Aleksei Grazhdankin, Deputy Director of the Levada-Center, attributed Russians’ perceptions to “television propaganda,” but notes that this remained a “weak influence” since Russians know very little about NGOs.  Russians’ weak understanding of NGOs and their purpose, coupled with incessant negative reports of their activities, understandably contribute to the government’s ability to enforce the law, since they are met with little resistance from the bulk of the population.

While increasing their monitoring of NGO activities, the government has also tried to bring these entities closer to it by awarding presidential grants.  Recipients include the Moscow Helsinki Group, Agora, and “For Human Rights”; all suspected of being foreign agents.  In total, the Public Chamber announced that there were 1,087 successful applications selected out of 5,855 applicants. Kommersant reports that this is a significant increase from last year when only 64 organizations were selected to receive grants.  This year the program awarded 2.3 billion rubles to NGOs.  Unsurprisingly, Golos—an NGO accused of being a foreign agent quite vocal about the foreign agent law—did not receive a presidential grant. Izvestiya reports that:

“A source close to the president’s administration explained that out of all of the disloyal organizations toward the government, Golos is the only one which demonstrates an unwillingness to obey the current NGO law.  The organization categorical refuses to receive the status of a foreign agent, even though, according to information from the General Procurator, it receives money from other countries.”

Gregory Melkonyants, leading activist of Golos, told Kommersant that “the [presidential] grants are only for pseudo-NGOs, created under the authority of the government.”  He added that “the government is not afraid to acknowledge corruption, problems in the army and prisons, but elections are a sacred cow.”  Melkonyats infers that the government will not support a project that demonstrates the illegitimacy of elections since they are the basis of its power.      

The U.S. government has also been drawn into the debate regarding the foreign agent law and Kremlin grants.  The newest accusation of U.S. support of Russian NGOs and the circumvention of the foreign agent law appeared last week in Izvestiya.  The newspaper attacked the U.S. Peer-to-Peer Dialogue Program, a newly created program sponsored by the Department of State and administered by the Public Affairs Office at the U.S. Embassy, Moscow. According to their website, the program “…will provide small grants to support collaboration, including meetings, virtual interactions, exchanges, and internships, between American and Russian organizations…” The description notes that “projects must be non-political in nature and focus on Russian-American peer-to-peer dialogue or people-to-people engagement on themes of mutual interest.” 

The pro-Kremlin newspaper, argues that the program is the U.S. government’s attempt to “save Russian NGOs oriented toward Western values and those that are continually opposing the government”—specifically those that the foreign agent law targets.  Most importantly, the paper alleges that the new program is a direct competitor to the Kremlin’s grant program: “[Russian] political scientists think that the [U.S.] Department of State was concerned about the possible withdrawal of Russian NGOs from under the American financial umbrella.”  This line of thinking influenced two prominent NGO groups:  Agora and the Moscow Helsinki Group.  Representatives from both organizations expressed their surprise at the program’s creation and their unwillingness to submit applications to it.  Unsurprisingly, both organizations received presidential grants, while Golos—an organization that expressed interest in applying for all types international funding—did not.

The developments over the past few weeks demonstrate that the application of the NGO foreign agent law is but one part of a larger campaign to draw Russian NGOs away from Western counterparts and closer to the Russian government. The negative press coverage, coupled with Russians’ unfamiliarity of NGO activities, have contributed to the government’s ability to increase their observation and involvement in the non-governmental sector. 

Sources

Embassy of the United States, Moscow, Russia.  US-Russia Peer-to-Peer Dialogue Program. http://moscow.usembassy.gov/us-russiadialogue.html

“Genprokuratura: V Rossii bole 2,2 tyc. NKO poluchaiut inostrannoe finansirovanie.”  Novye izvestiya, August 22, 2103. http://www.newizv.ru/lenta/2013-08-22/187682-genprokuratura-v-rossii-bolee-22-tys-nko-poluchajut-inostrannoe-finansirovanie.html

“Gosped SShA podgotovil novuiu programmu dlia obkhoda zakona on NKO.” Izvestiya,August 23, 2013. http://izvestia.ru/news/555867#ixzz2e2MqCU2

Kornia, Anastasia. “Miniust zaregistriroval pervuiu NKO—inostannogo agenta.”  Vedomosti, July 1, 2103. http://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/2013/07/01/13677161

“Kremlevskii grant ostalsia bez ‘Golosa’” Izvestiya, August 28, 2013. http://izvestia.ru/news/556223

Ministerstva iustitsii Rossiiskoi Federatsii.  O deiatel’nosti nekommersheskikh organizatsii.  http://unro.minjust.ru/NKOForeignAgent.aspx

Nagornykh, Irina and Taisiia Bekbulatova “Grantam prezidenta rasshirila poluchatelei” Kommersant, August 29, 2013. http://kommersant.ru/doc/2265927

“Putin: zakon ob NKO ne stoit uzhestochat’ ili liberalizirovat’” Novaya gazeta, August 6, 2013. http://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/74954.html

“Rossiiane podderzhivaiut zhestkie mery v otnoshenii NKO.”  Izvestiya, July 11, 2013. http://izvestia.ru/news/553387

 

Tumanov, Grigorii and Viacheslav Kozlov. “Zakon ob NKO trebuiut privesti v konstitutsionnuiu normy.” Kommersant, August 13, 2013.  http://kommersant.ru/doc/2254096