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Russia: an Uncivil Approach to Civil Society

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Russia: an Uncivil Approach to Civil Society An Uncivil Approach to Civil Society Continuing State Curbs on Independent NGOs and Activists in Russia Copyright © 2009 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-499-0 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org June 2009 1-56432-499-0 An Uncivil Approach to Civil Society Continuing State Curbs on Independent NGOs and Activists in Russia I. Summary ......................................................................................................................... 1 Methodology .................................................................................................................. 4 II. Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 7 To the Russian Government ............................................................................................. 7 To Russia’s International Partners, Particularly the European Union, the United States, and the Council of Europe ............................................................................................... 8 To Donors ....................................................................................................................... 9 III. A Hostile Environment ................................................................................................. 10 New President, New Promises, Old Reality? ................................................................... 10 Hostile Rhetoric Toward NGOs ....................................................................................... 12 Violence and threats ................................................................................................ 13 Hopes for Reform ........................................................................................................... 15 NGO Financing: A Matter of Survival............................................................................... 16 Taxes, including wider taxation of foreign funding ................................................... 16 Losing subsidies on office space ............................................................................. 18 Politicization in Public Chamber grant-making ......................................................... 19 IV. The NGO Law ............................................................................................................... 22 European Convention on Human Rights ......................................................................... 23 Transfer of Authority to the Ministry of Justice ............................................................... 24 The 2006 NGO Law in Practice ....................................................................................... 25 Registration ............................................................................................................ 26 Ministry of Justice inspections of NGOs ................................................................... 32 Annual reporting ..................................................................................................... 39 NGO dissolution and suspension ........................................................................... 40 In Support of Civil Society ............................................................................................. 46 Problems with Transfer of NGO Oversight from Federal Registration Service .................. 48 V. Other Types of Pressure on Civil Society ....................................................................... 50 Anti-Extremism Legislation ............................................................................................ 50 Inspections ................................................................................................................... 56 Fire Inspections ....................................................................................................... 56 Harassment through multiple investigations ........................................................... 58 Software Piracy Investigations ...................................................................................... 60 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ 63 Appendix .......................................................................................................................... 64 Proposals on Changes to the Russian Federal Laws on Regulating NGOs ...................... 64 Universally recognized principles and norms .......................................................... 64 Creation, registration and reorganization ................................................................ 66 Reporting ................................................................................................................. 67 Inspections ............................................................................................................. 67 Suspensions and suspensions of activity, rulings that organizations are nonfunctioning, and involuntary liquidation ........................................................... 68 I. Summary The Russian government’s deliberate weakening of key institutions of a pluralistic democratic society, which marked the presidency of Vladimir Putin, has largely continued under President Dmitry Medvedev. A key aspect of this process has been increasing excessive government scrutiny and control of nongovernmental organizations, mainly through the 2006 law regulating NGOs. The government also uses a variety of other measures such as arbitrary tax, labor, and fire inspections, and anti-extremism legislation to harass civil society organizations. The groups targeted are usually those that work on controversial issues, may be capable of galvanizing public dissent, or receive funding from abroad. This report, which updates our February 2008 publication “Choking on Bureaucracy”1 and is based on research in 10 of Russia’s regions, documents the continuing corrosive impact the 2006 NGO law and other government measures are having on civil society and independent activism in Russia. The election of President Medvedev, reputed to be a cautious reformer, occasioned some optimism for reform. Those hopes have yet to be realised. In April 2009 Medvedev called for reform of the NGO law, and later convened a working group to draft amendments to the 2006 law. Much needs to be done to ensure that the effort will result in meaningful change. Medvedev’s May 2008 decree mandating the transfer of NGO registration and oversight authority to the Ministry of Justice has resulted in little, if any, change in the level of unwarranted intervention in the work of NGOs. Meanwhile, restrictions on freedom of expression continue, as do hostile rhetoric toward independent civil society. During Medvedev’s first year in office, violence swelled against activists and other public personalities. Changes in the tax regime have adversely affected NGO funding—foreign financial grants to Russian NGOs now incur substantial tax liabilities since rules were changed in June 2008. This was unsurprising, after the Kremlin made clear that the restrictions introduced in the 2006 NGO law were aimed at controlling and monitoring foreign funding of NGOs. In combination, these recently enacted laws and policies have created financial hardships for many organizations. 1 Human Rights Watch, Russia – Choking on Bureaucracy: State Curbs on Independent Civil Society Activism, vol. 20, n0. 1(D), February 2008, http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/02/19/choking-bureaucracy-0. 1 Human Rights Watch | June 2009 Meanwhile, through the NGO law state officials exercise excessive authority to interfere in the founding and operation of NGOs. For example, in some cases the Ministry of Justice rejects registration applications or notifications of organizational and operational changes on minor technical, non-substantive grounds, such as typos or errors in document formatting. The NGO law and Ministry of Justice regulations impose onerous reporting requirements on NGOs, especially relating to any foreign sources of funding. They give the Ministry of Justice unlimited discretion to request documents for inspection and to interpret them, including for compliance with the constitution, laws, and “interests” of Russia in the broadest terms. In one notable case in October 2008, however, such a demand was restricted by a court in St. Petersburg. Ministry of Justice officials can conduct intrusive inspections of NGOs every three years, and can also conduct “unplanned” inspections at any time, and on such grounds as an unsubstantiated complaint by a citizen. Reports indicate that the Ministry of
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