A new law in Russia labels NGOs as "foreign agents"!

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warns that NGOs in Russia might soon be labeled as "foreign agents" if their projects are funded with money from abroad. A corresponding draft law will probably be accepted by the Duma on Friday. "This draft law was only brought up to discredit the work of Russian NGOs and to harass them", criticized the STP's expert on questions regarding Russia, Sarah Reinke, in Berlin on Tuesday. "But who are all the victims of human rights violations supposed to contact when eventually only the pro-Putin party "United Russia" exists?" Many NGOs have no choice but to raise funds from abroad for their work in Russia. Germany also finances important human rights projects in Russia through political foundations, funds of the Foreign Office and by several private initiatives.

The new law will be an addition to the current law on NGOs. It will force the organizations to register within 90 days, in case they are funded by foreign project budgets. If they fail to do so, they will be closed down for half a year. In addition, they must also disclose their finances every six months. If they hand in incomplete reports, they might fines of up to one million rubles (around 25,000 €) or even prison sentences of up to four years. The organizations will also be obliged to publish working papers in the mass media and the Internet, hereby also indicating their status as a "foreign agent".

NGO-projects are already strictly controlled under the existing legislation. It is practically impossible to become involved in the North Caucasus and particularly in Chechnya. But also in many other parts of the Russian Federation, citizens are trying not to get involved – for fear of being persecuted by the Russian secret service FSB.