Tough Bill on Nonprofits Advances in Russia (original) (raw)
Europe|Russian Law Would Place Tougher Restrictions on Nonprofits
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Russian Law Would Place Tougher Restrictions on Nonprofits
- July 13, 2012
MOSCOW — In another clampdown on dissent, Russian lawmakers approved a bill on Friday that would impose tougher registration and reporting requirements on nongovernmental organizations that receive financing from foreign governments or other donors abroad.
The law — approved by the Duma, the lower house of Parliament, and expected to receive final approval rapidly — was criticized by human rights and other advocacy organizations that said it could be used to intimidate government critics and to impede progress toward democracy. Some said the law might even block humanitarian aid.
Organizations receiving money or other aid from outside Russia would have to register with the justice minister as “acting as a foreign agent” — a politically pejorative label that some independent groups said they would work hard to avoid.
“This is blackmail by the government,” said Grigory A. Melkonyants, the deputy director of Golos, Russia’s only independent election-monitoring organization. The group, which played a crucial role in helping to identify fraud in the December 2011 parliamentary elections, has long received financial support from the United States.
He said Golos would seek an exemption by trying to prove in court that it does not engage in political activity. If that fails, he said, the group will consider becoming a business, to avoid the “foreign agent” classification.
“There is no other option for us,” Mr. Melkonyants said.
But several prominent organizations, including the Moscow Helsinki Group, a venerable defender of human rights, said they would have to curtail fund-raising. The groups have also complained that the government does not do enough to support nonprofit groups, making foreign assistance crucial.
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