| Author (Person) | Crosbie, Judith |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.12, No.7, 23.2.06 |
| Publication Date | 23/02/2006 |
| Content Type | News |
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Human rights groups operating in Russia continue to condemn new legislation which would impose restrictions on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) despite amendments made to the law. Human Rights Watch (HRW), in particular, has said the law still allows the government to ban certain projects run by foreign NGOs. The language of the law is also so broad that it leaves too much discretion to officials implementing the law, the group added. "It provides for interference of government in NGOs," said Sasha Petrov, deputy director of HRW in Moscow. The legislation requires NGOs to submit plans for upcoming projects each year and outline the money they will spend on them. Petrov believes this could see projects banned which are highlighting human rights abuses in Chechnya, for example. "This will totally undermine our mandate and make it difficult for us to operate," he added. Russia submitted the law, which was signed by President Vladimir Putin on 10 January, before the human rights body, the Council of Europe, for its opinion. Various recommendations by the Council, including the participation of foreigners and the activities of foreign NGOs, were taken into account by the Russian Duma before the law was finalised. "We do not have a perfect law, but we do have a better law," Terry Davis, secretary-general of the Council of Europe, said in a statement this month. Davis did, however, refer to "excessive powers of supervision" on foreign NGOs which remain in the law. "Such rules may be incompatible with the general prohibition of discrimination under the European Convention on Human Rights and I will not be surprised if there is an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights on this issue," he said. Though the law does not come into effect until April, NGOs appear to have come under the spotlight already in Russia. The director of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society was given a two-year suspended sentence earlier this month after its newspaper published commentaries by two Chechen separatist leaders. Stanislav Dmitriyevsky was convicted under incitement to hatred laws but NGOs fear the case is only a taste of things to come. Kremlin authorities are also making statements discrediting NGOs, said Petrov. This was shown last month when bizarre allegations of a British spy ring - which included a listening device in the form of a fake rock - were linked to funding for critical human rights groups, one of which was the Committee Against Torture. "The NGO law hasn't come as a direct surprise but is a manifestation of a trend that Russia is on a negative slide," said Kristin Heinrich of Amnesty International. This would include moves against other voices in society critical of the Kremlin such as journalists. Slowly the independence of the press has been eroded. "The televised media is fully controlled either directly or through big companies where the government owns shares. Some segments of the media are not controlled but these are primarily on the internet and in print and do not have the reach of television," said Petrov. The EU is sometimes criticised for not seriously confronting Russia over its human rights record. A report by HRW last November found that "business, energy and other political interests dominated EU concerns, abetted by an unseemly competition among UK Prime Minister Blair, French President Chirac and former German Chancellor [Gerhard] Schr�der to proclaim the closeness of their relationship with Russian President Putin". The irony is also not lost on people working on human rights of Russia's chairmanship of both the G8 this year and the Council of Europe in the second half of the year. Amnesty points out that Russia has not ratified certain parts of conventions on human rights created by the Council of Europe. The EU insists it is pursuing Russia in a way it believes will achieve results: through high-level meetings but also through a consultation process between Russia and the EU. The next consultation meeting takes place on 3 March when the NGO law will be raised by the EU side. "This is a way of engaging in an incremental process," said Emma Udwin, spokeswoman for the Commission's external relations directorate-general. "There are always cases where you remain more effective without using a megaphone," she said. Petrov said his hope was that human rights genuinely gained an equal footing with other EU concerns: "The level of human rights guaranteed is also a guarantee of stability in a country. You can't have normal relations with a country which does not respect human rights." Author takes a look at a new law coming into force in Russia in April 2006 which obliges non-governmental organisations to submit plans for upcoming projects each year and outline the money they were to spend on them. |
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| Subject Categories | Values and Beliefs |
| Countries / Regions | Russia |
