February 9, 2006 | Read Time: 2 minutes
A new Russian law regulating nonprofit groups — signed by President Vladimir Putin last month — is
drawing protests from some international charities, even though it is less restrictive of foreign charities than would have been the case under earlier drafts of the law. Critics say the amended text still gives authorities too much power to monitor both domestic and foreign nonprofit groups and to arbitrarily shut them down or harass them.
“Civil-society organizations across the board — working on areas as diverse as the environment, education, and human rights — will be hampered in their work,” Amnesty International, in London, said in a statement.
The law, which takes effect in April, sets up a new agency to oversee the activities and finances of nongovernmental organizations. Russian lawmakers say the rules are needed to prevent terrorists, criminals, or foreign intelligence services from using nonprofit groups as fronts. Shortly after the law was signed, Russian authorities announced they had caught British spies channeling money to human-rights groups in Russia.
After the original draft that had been approved by the Parliament sparked an outcry from human-rights groups, the United States, and other Western governments, President Putin asked that several provisions be deleted — most notably, one that would have required foreign groups to form a new, freestanding organization registered as a Russian legal entity rather than simply setting up a branch office governed by the existing charity.
The final language in the law still requires Russian groups to report all money received from foreign organizations and to account for how it is spent. It also allows authorities to shut down foreign branches that threaten Russia’s “political independence,” “unique character, “cultural heritage,” or “national interests” — terms that critics say are so vague they could be used to shut down groups simply because they criticize the government.
Robert Legvold, a professor of political science at Columbia University and board member of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says the new law gives authorities too much room for interpretation. “The other shoe that hasn’t fallen yet is the way it’s implemented,” he says.
In an open letter published in the Noviye Izvestia newspaper last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov defended the new law, saying it would not bring any “dramatic changes” to the activities of nonprofit organizations and arguing that other democratic countries, such as France, the United States, and Israel, also strictly monitor the finances of nonprofit groups. Mr. Lavrov said it might be appropriate, however, to adopt bylaws to govern how the law is carried out.
