Government Swoops in on Russian NGOs for Checks

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MOSCOW, March 21 (RIA Novosti) – Several state agencies descended on the offices of one Russia’s most respected rights groups on Thursday as part of an inspection campaign that activists believe is aimed at harassing non-governmental organizations.

Memorial spokeswoman Yulia Klimova said representatives from the tax service, justice ministry and prosecutor’s office arrived accompanied by a camera crew from staunchly pro-Kremlin broadcaster NTV.

Non-governmental groups have been coming under growing pressure since the introduction last July of the “foreign agents” law, which has tightened restrictions and increased bureaucratic procedures for organizations receiving foreign donations.

According to media reports, checks on Russian non-governmental group began in late February.

Pavel Chikov, head of the prominent Agora rights group, says up to 5,000 organizations could be targeted.

Kommersant daily cited Yelena Topoleva-Soldunova, a member of the Kremlin’s human rights council, as saying the scale of the checks was “unprecedented.”

Officials with the Prosecutors General’s Office have described the campaign as “routine checks,” but the presence of state-friendly media at Thursday’s inspection indicates some organizations could fall victim to smear campaigns.

NTV, which is controlled by state natural gas monopoly Gazprom, has in recent years produced several lurid documentaries targeting Kremlin’s opponents – including the country’s leading independent electoral watchdog, Golos.

“A most disgusting NTV guy is chasing everyone around the office, filming and asking, ‘are you receiving any financial help from abroad?’” Anna Karetnikova, another spokeswoman for Memorial, wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Memorial said the NTV crew only left the building after the police were summoned.

None of the government agencies involved in Thursday’s check was available for comment.

Representatives of some non-governmental organizations that have already undergone inspections have reportedly been shocked by the intensity and occasional bizarreness of the process.

In the Rostov region, prosecutors demanded to see the X-ray records of employees of one local organization, according to the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily.

Clergy at a Roman Catholic church in the southern city of Novocherkassk were reportedly questioned about whether they promote extremism in their sermons, including through the display of Nazi insignia.

Some analysts see a link between pressure being applied on non-governmental group and the wave of anti-government protests that began in the wake of much-criticized parliamentary elections in December 2011. Some organizations, including Memorial, were heavily involved in those rallies.

Independent political analyst Pavel Salin said that although politically motivated protests have dwindled in recent months, discontent driven by rising utilities costs has lingered.

Non-governmental groups could play a role in channelling that restless into organized protests, Salin said.


Government Swoops in on Russian NGOs for Checks | Politics | RIA Novosti

 

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Russian Official Defends NGO Checks to Council of Europe

Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika defended recent inspections of Russian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on Wednesday at a meeting with the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks, Chaika's office said.

A series of nationwide NGO inspections have taken place in Russia since March. Many critics - and indeed President Vladimir Putin himself, earlier this week - have linked them to a controversial new law, obliging non-governmental organizations financed from abroad and involved in political activity to register as “foreign agents.”

Russian Prosecutor General’s Office spokeswoman Marina Gridneva said Chaika told Muiznieks during the meeting “that under a law adopted late last year, non-governmental organizations are obliged to register with the Russian Justice Ministry as foreign agents.”

“However, not a single organization has registered so far, although they continue to receive financing from abroad. Chaika gave a number of actual examples,” she said, without giving the names of those organizations.

The prosecutor general said organizations that receive funding from abroad are not banned from working in Russia, but they should openly declare their sources of income.

The spokeswoman added that prosecutors have evidence proving that Russian NGOS received foreign funding

“There is no doubt that claims about the amount of foreign funding NGOs receive are properly substantiated. There are documents to prove these figures,” Gridneva said.

She said that in 2011, NGOs operating in Russia received at least 19 billion rubles ($615 million) in funding from abroad. Since the NGO funding law came into force on November 21, 2012, and until March 26, 2013, Russian NGOs received over 28.3 billion rubles ($916 million). The same figures were voiced by Putin at a news conference in Germany on April 8.

On Tuesday, election monitoring non-governmental organization Golos (Voice) became the first NGO to face administrative measures under the recently introduced law on “foreign agents.”

Russia’s leading independent watchdog and its head Lilia Shibanova were accused of receiving funds from abroad, but failing to register as a “foreign agent.”

Shibanova replied that the organization has not received foreign funding since the law on “foreign agents” came into force last November.

Russian Official Defends NGO Checks to Council of Europe | Russia | RIA Novosti