Russia - NGO Law Monitor - Research Center - ICNL

Russia - NGO Law Monitor - Research Center - ICNL
http://www.icnl.org/research/monitor/russia.html[11/15/2012 2:02:58 PM]
New amendments on volunteering to be developed (July 2012)
The draft Law on Volunteers, prepared by the Public Chamber with participation of the ICNL Moscow Office,
will not be adopted. The draft was considered controversial by some CSOs and rendered much discussion.
One of the CSOs’ arguments was that the draft could result in more burdensome administrative procedures
and delays in the implementation of activities. This was substantiated by examples from the town of Krymsk
that recently suffered from flooding. The town attracted hundreds if not thousands of volunteers who were
distributing aid to the local people. As a compromise, new amendments on volunteering will be incorporated
into the Law on Public Associations and the Tax code to ensure the NGOs’ right to involve volunteers in their
activities and to prevent taxation on the reimbursement of volunteering related expenses.
Details of "Foreign Agents" Law (July 2012)
President Putin signed a high-profile bill that will relegate politically active NGOs receiving funding from
abroad to a registry of “foreign agents.” Once registered, these NGOs will face heightened scrutiny. They will
be required to file regular disclosures with the government and to label all materials disseminated through
major channels with their “foreign agent” status. Responding to critics, Duma legislator and bill co-sponsor
Alexander Sidyakin pointed to the similarities between the law and the Foreign Agents Registration Act
(FARA), a similarly worded US statute.
"Foreign Agents" Law modeled after US law, says Putin (July 2012)
President Putin says that by adopting the law labeling foreign-funded nonprofits involved in politics ‘foreign
agents’, Russia, just like the US, wants to protect itself from external influence. The Russian leader sees
nothing wrong in requiring organizations that get funding from other countries to be registered as foreign
agents. “If foreigners pay for political activity, apparently they are expecting to get some result from that,” he
noted at an annual pro-Kremlin youth forum. “This rule applies only to organizations that are involved in
politics and get financing from abroad,” he stressed.“I believe that in Russia we can have a law similar to that
adopted in the United States back in 1938. Why have they protected themselves this way from external
influence and have been using this law for decades? Why can we not do the same in Russia?” Putin pointed
out.
Russians Support Recent Laws Restricting Freedoms - Poll (July 2012)
Russians generally support a number of recently passed laws that impose restrictions on the freedoms of
speech and assembly and on access to information, according to a poll released Thursday by the Levada
Center.
Russian rights activists refuse to comply with NGO law (July 2012)
Russia’s two largest human rights organizations will not comply with the law that labels them as "foreign
agents,” the NGOs’ heads said just hours after President Vladimir Putin signed the controversial new NGO bill.
Putin signed on Saturday a law forcing non-government organizations engaged in political activities with
foreign financing to be branded as "foreign agents."
Drive to give legal status to volunteers (July 2012)
As volunteerism soars to new highs with the recent Krasnodar region flooding, policymakers are hammering
out the country's first bill that would give legal status to volunteers. A draft of the bill says volunteers would
be obliged to sign cooperation agreements with organizations, according to a copy published by State Duma
Deputy Ilya Ponomaryov of “A Just Russia” on his blog.
The Internet law: A good bad example of Russia's backsliding (July 2012)
Duma Bill 89417 is a proposed Internet statute that, among other provisions, would create a blacklist of
websites that all Russians Internet service providers (ISPs) would have to block and refuse to host. The bill
was hurried through the legislature in one week. (The defamation bill was approved in the Duma's third and
final reading; jail terms were eliminated from an earlier draft, but fines were allowed reaching as high as 5
million rubles or about US$153,000). Both bills now await President Vladimir Putin's signature.
Russian parliament approves restrictions on foreign-funded NGOs (July 2012)
Russia’s lower house of parliament passed a bill imposing new restrictions on non-governmental
organizations that receive funding from abroad. Although the bill, which is almost certain to pass the upper
house and be signed into law by the president, does not prohibit any organization from operating, it is likely
to create a chilling effect on CSO activities. It reflects the suspicion of the West and the fear of rising
opposition sentiment held by President Vladimir Putin and his backers in the governing United Russia party.
Secretary of State Clinton discusses “disturbing” Russian NGO Law in CoD Governing Council remarks (July
2012)
In her Remarks at the Community of Democracies Governing Council, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton
stated that “the new legislation being passed in the Russian Duma not only goes after foreign NGOs and
funding from foreign NGOs, but goes after local, national NGOs and civil society, which is really a great