July 23, 2014

Russia's crackdown on NGOs intensifies

located:	Russia
editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

Five more independent groups have been branded "foreign agents" by the Russian government, a term which is commonly understood to mean spies and traitors in Russia.

This week the announcement was made, that four human rights groups and one environmental organisation would be added to the growing list of groups to be branded in this way, threatening free expression and association in Russia.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Justice Ministry's decision was made because the groups participated in "political activities" while receiving foreign funding.

The groups are Memorial Human Rights Center, Public Verdict Foundation, JURIX and AGORA, which are all known for providing legal aid to victims of discrimination, including "victims of political manipulation of justice; persecuted civil society activists and peaceful protesters; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists; and victims of police violence", says Human Rights Watch.

The fifth group is Women’s Council Environmental Protection (Ecozaschita-Zhensovet) in Kaliningrad.

The foreign agents law came into action in 2012, and many NGOs were forced to cease operations while they waited to be registered, including indigenous people's organisation RAIPON which waited six months to be registered, seriously compromising their ability to serve those they work for.

Earlier this month Russian media were reporting that there were plans to further toughen the law by banning public official from having contact with groups labelled as foreign agents. This would break any connection between the groups and policy makers - a dangerous move for Russian civil society.

Image details: On the night before the “foreign agents” law came into force, unknown individuals sprayed graffiti reading, “Foreign Agent! ♥ USA” on the buildings hosting the offices of three prominent NGOs in Moscow, including Memorial. © 2012 Yulia Klimova/Memorial