A Year in Review

Last week marked the one year anniversary of the adoption of Russia’s foreign agent law, and Amnesty International, released a statement detailing its observations of the past year.  According to Amnesty International, the “foreign agent” law is “choking independent non-governmental organizations.”  The organization used data on enforcement to support its observations, citing NGOs that were taken to court for failure to register, NGOs taken to court for possible administration violations, and countless other organizations that were warned that their activities make them foreign agents.   Many of these organizations are still in the midst of appealing charges in Russian courts. 

The Civic Solidarity Platform provides an excellent English language listing for those wishing to learn more about targeted NGOs.  Organizations facing penalties for administrative violations were located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Perm; organizations facing penalties for not registering as “foreign agents” were located throughout the country ranging from Moscow to Irkutsk; and groups warned that they needed to register as “foreign agents” before conducting additional work were also located throughout the country.  Simply perusing the list reveals that the enforcement of the foreign agent law has been wide-reaching and has affected a range of NGOs working in a variety of fields. 

Much of the law’s enforcement depends on regional leaders and their willingness to seek out and prosecute local and regional NGOs who may be in violation of the law.   Regional governors were reminded of their responsibilities in mid-November when Sergei Ivanov, head of the Presidential Administration of Russia, met with them to discuss domestic policies.  He instructed them to ensure that “the forces that, under the cover of NGOs, receive funding from abroad would either register as foreign agents or cease their work.”  Furthermore, he instructed regional governors “...to attentively follow these processes, including at the local level, because many non-governmental organizations work actively mainly or primarily at the local level.” (Interfax, reproduced in Johnson’s Russian List No. 205)  Whether or not regional governors will adhere to Ivanov’s suggestions remains to be seen, but NGO leaders have already responded. They have consistently refused to register as foreign agents, and Lyudmila Alekseyeva, head of Moscow Hesinki Group, stated that, “We will not halt our work, we will work as volunteers,” further adding that “…we will work anyway.  Without money, registration or office –as in Iran or Syria.” (Interfax, reproduced in Johnson’s Russian List No. 205) 

Questions of the law’s enforcement also took center stage last weekend when over 1,000 individuals traveled to Moscow to take part in the All-Russian Civic Forum during which leaders discussed NGOs’ involvement in government, economy, daily life, and society.  The event was covered by most of Moscow’s major newspapers, and all of Russia’s major districts were represented, including strong representation from the Volga region, Siberian, and Central districts.  Aleksei Kudrin, the forum’s organizer, stated that the goal of the meeting was “the development of suggestions for the participation [of NGOs] in civil society and in the country’s development.”  This included discussions detailing how to cooperate with authorities.  At the meeting, NGOs discussed their proposed changes to the “foreign agent law,” and planned to submit their recommendations to Mikhail Fedotov, president of the Presidential Human Rights Council.  Fedotov is expected to submit these recommendation to President Putin.

                Any attempts to change to foreign agent law will most likely need Putin’s support.  I have discussed in previous blog posts that President Putin has shown some support for changing the wording of the law; however, other observers have questioned his motives. During the past two weeks, a short article, appeared in Russian Analytical Digest that sheds light on President Putin’s potential stance on the law.  In the article, entitled, “Kremlin Nationalism and Russia’s NGOs,” Robert Orttung identifies the origins of Putin’s interests in Russian NGOs.  Orttung traces Putin’s concerns with NGO activities to Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution since many in the Kremlin believed that Ukraine’s Revolution occurred because of Western financing of oppositional organizations in Ukraine. This belief, coupled with Putin’s notion that NGOs should only work in areas where “ ‘the state should not or is unable to perform effectively” reveal that Putin has a very limited view of the influence NGOs should have on Russian society.  Over the past few months, it has become very clear that the government is trying to reduce this sphere by expanding their own influence into civil society through presidential grants, or through the expansion of the term “socially oriented NGO,” which would place more NGOs under Kremlin’s financial control. (My previous blog posts detail these activities).  Although Putin has stated that the wording of the NGO law might need to be changed to ensure clear and accurate implementation, Orttung’s article reveals that the vagueness surrounding the term, “political activities,” is intentional and is a tactic used by authoritarian regimes.  He notes that Putin’s government has used the term to target NGOs working in a variety of fields that the government seeks to eliminate them from working in.  Orttung’s article is a useful introduction to the historical motivations of the foreign agent law, and helps to better contextualize the enforcement of the foreign agent law.  His article is very timely since it speaks to the issues many of the NGO leaders discussed at the Civic Forum.

Sources:

Bekbulatova, Taisiia, Maksim Ivanov, and Natalia Korchenkova. “Nekommercheskie organizatsii pouchat sobirat’ dengi” Kommersant. November 19, 2013. http://kommersant.ru/doc/2346840?isSearch=True.

Johnson’s Russia List. November 14, 2013.  No. 205. Head of Russian Presidential Administration Outlines Demands on Domestic Policy.  http://russialist.org/johnsons-russia-list-2013-205-thursday-14-november-2013/.

Johnson’s Russia List. November 14, 2013. No. 205 Leading Russian NGOs May Switch to Voluntary Cases – Veteran Human Rights Activist.  http://russialist.org/johnsons-russia-list-2013-205-thursday-14-november-2013/.

Orttung, Robert. “Kremlin Nationalism versus Russia’s NGOs.” Russian Analytical Digest. No. 138. 8 Nov. 2013. http://www.css.ethz.ch/publications/pdfs/RAD-138.pdf.

“Russia: A year on, Putin’s ‘Foreign Agents law’ Choking Freedom.” Amnesty International. November 20, 2013.” http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/press-releases/russia-s-foreign-agents-law-is-shutting-down-prominent-ngos.

“Russia: List of NGOs Named ‘Foreign Agents’” Civic Solidairty. September 20, 2103. http://civicsolidarity.org/article/676/russia-list-ngos-named-foreign-agents-updated-20-septemberhttp://civicsolidarity.org/article/676/russia-list-ngos-named-foreign-agents-updated-20-september.

Sergeev, Mikhail. “Kudrin napishet ‘Povestku dllia Rossii” bez nyneshnei vlasti. Nezavisimaya gazeta.  November 11, 2013. http://www.ng.ru/economics/2013-11-19/4_kudrin.html. 

Zheleznova, Maria. “Obshcherossiiskii grazhdanskii forum obsudil novuiu povestku dlia Rossii.” Vedomosti. November 23, 2013. http://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/19141651/obschestvennyj-kontrol-borba-s-korrupciej-samoorganizaciya.

Zubov, Danil. “Diaolog v chetyre k chetyre kruga: V Moskve proidet grazhdanskii forum” Rossisskaya gazeta. November 19, 2003. http://www.rg.ru/2013/11/19/grazdane.html.