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New Report on the State of Civil Society in Russia During 2020

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New Report on the State of Civil Society in Russia During 2020 April 2021 PROTEST AND PRESSURE IN A PANDEMIC STATUS OF RUSSIA’S FOREIGN AGENT LAWS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTALISTS IN 2020 Defending the Kushtau mountain in Bashkortostan, august 2020. (Photo: Kushtau-online) Naturvernforbundet Mariboes gate 8 0183 Oslo Telefon: +47 23 10 96 10 E-post: [email protected] www.naturvernforbundet.no PROTEST AND PRESSURE IN A PANDEMIC STATUS OF RUSSIA’S FOREIGN AGENT LAWS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTALISTS IN 2020 PUBLISHED BY NATURVERNFORBUNDET/ FRIENDS OF THE EARTH NORWAY OSLO, APRIL 2021 Written by Kjersti Album, Vitaly Servetnik, and Andrey Talevlin Language editing by Aled-Dilwyn Fisher Design by Ketill Berger, Film & Form This and previous reports are available at www.naturvernforbundet.no/civilsocietyreports CONTENTS Preface ................................................................ 4 Summary ............................................................... 5 1. Introduction........................................................... 6 2. Background ........................................................... 7 3. New legal developments in 2020.......................................... 10 4. Listings of foreign agents and undesirable organizations in 2020................. 14 5. Covid-19 prevention measures in 2020 ..................................... 16 6. Recorded episodes of intimidation of environmental activists in 2020 ............. 18 7. Conclusion .......................................................... 22 Endnotes/references..................................................... 24 Status report 2020 3 PREFACE Founded in 1914, Naturvernforbundet/Friends and how it affects environmental organizations. of the Earth Norway is Norway’s oldest environ- All reports and updates are available at www. mental and nature conservation organization. naturvernforbundet.no/civilsocietyreports. Naturvernforbundet is membership-based and Our Russian sister organization Russian democratic, and consists of over 31,000 mem- Social-Ecological Union (RSEU)/Friends of the bers divided between approximately 100 local Earth Russia is a non-governmental, non-profit, groups across the country, working to solve envi- and member-based democratic organization, ronmental issues both locally and globally. established in 1992. RSEU brings together public Naturvernforbundet/Friends of the Earth organizations and active citizens from all regions Norway has over many years worked closely of Russia. All RSEU activities – programs and with Russian environmental organizations. The projects, actions and campaigns – are aimed at cooperation has been helpful for both sides on nature conservation, and protection of health a wide range of environmental topics. The work and the wellbeing of people in Russia and around has all the time faced challenges from regu- the world. RSEU members act together for na- lations on the Russian side, but the situation ture conservation, for sustainable development deteriorated significantly with the foreign agent of Russia and the planet. In 2014, RSEU became NGO laws that were approved in the Russian the Russian member of Friends of the Earth. parliament and by the president in 2012. Es- In Russia, activists, groups, and organizations pecially since 2015 and onwards, the time and fighting for the environment and human rights resources spent to cope with constantly growing often face severe consequences of their work. demands and pressure from the authorities have Persecution and pressure come in different increased in our partner organizations. forms from the state, from private business- For several years, Naturvernforbundet and its es, and from individuals. Supporting activists, Russian partners have published status reports groups, and organizations has therefore a prom- on the conditions for civil society in general inent place in RSEU’s work. 4 Status report 2020 SUMMARY Russia’s civil society has been under pressure Such conflicts occurred in relation to ongoing since the beginning of the 2000s. The situation projects throughout the country, such as landfill has become increasingly difficult over the years. construction in the Arkhangelsk region, min- Since 2012, the so-called foreign agent laws ing in Bashkortostan, forestry in Udmurtia, have been an important tool for controlling and and conflicts around urban green spaces in the restricting civil society. Moscow region. Overall, these ongoing environ- In 2020, several legal bills were launched that mental conflicts can increase social tension and further limit the space for civil society and hu- pressure on environmental activists. They might man rights. Environmental groups and activists also contribute to increasing politicization of the we speak to worry more than ever before about environmental movement, which in turn can their situation, including those that have not make environmental work look more controver- previously been so much affected by the for- sial than necessary. eign agent laws. The chances of being labelled a The current situation is extremely challeng- foreign agent increased with a new law adopted ing for environmentalists. In all countries, the in 2020, which created a situation in which any environmental movement is up against strong individual and non-registered group can be en- interests, and must build knowledge and capac- tered into the register. There are also increased ity to be able to use a wide range of democratic limitations to expressing your opinion on the instruments to protect environmental interests. streets through protests and demonstrations. Russian environmentalists also participate in The laws and explanatory orders are not very public hearings, write reports and brochures, specific and opens for selective use. The vague recruit followers and supporters by using social definitions and general hostility towards civil media, and conduct other related activities. society involvement in the public debate create Some of this work is still possible and we are uncertainties and fear that can lead to self-cen- very impressed by Russian environmentalists sorship beyond the intentions of the laws. for their achievements. However, the Russian Russian environmentalists have reported sev- environmental movement faces not only restric- eral episodes of pressure towards environmental tions from the foreign agent laws and others, but activists this year. There are outbreaks of social also limitations in possibilities to bring forward conflicts accompanied by street protests and their arguments for nature and environmental direct clashes between locals and developers. protection. Status report 2020 5 1. INTRODUCTION For several years, we have witnessed a worsen- unable to cope with solving environmental prob- ing of the situation for civil society in Russia. In lems1. As written in our previous report, more this report, we show how civil society space in environmental protests take place, and local general, and the space for environmental groups ad-hoc groups are growing stronger. Although and activists in particular, has been further people may have different reasons for engaging narrowed in 2020. The report presents the legal in protests, it seems there is a growing belief that changes, as well as episodes of pressure towards federal and regional authorities are unable, or environmental groups and activists. unwilling, to combat environmental problems. In 2020, we clearly see a visible tightening As environmentalists, the focus in our reports of the room for environmental activism and is mainly on pressure towards environmental increased violations of human rights. Several NGOs and activists. However, we want to of our colleagues and fellow environmentalists point out that other parts of Russian civil society raise concern over the new laws, and on how it also face problems, often more severe. The new will affect their work. Monitoring by Russian laws and amendments are not targeted towards environmental organizations shows increased environmentalists specifically, more towards pressure and intimidation towards environmen- political opposition. tal activists. Most of the data reflected and numbers shown At the same time, environmental awareness are considered and counted until the end of and activism is growing in Russia. According to 2020. In some cases, if the effect in the begin- recent studies, 35 per cent of Russians are ready ning of 2021 has an important additional value to take part in environmental protest, and 56 per for the discussion of 2020 events, we include cent say that regional and federal authorities are this. 6 Status report 2020 2. BACKGROUND This chapter summarizes much of the same in- conditions and the development of the situation formation as in our previous reports, so experi- for environmental NGOs and activists in Russia enced readers may well skip this chapter and go for years. We have made annual reports since on to read about the 2020 developments. 2013. The space for civil society in Russia started The main trend is that, every year, the situa- shrinking around 2000, when Vladimir Putin tion for civil society is becoming worse. Existing became president. From 2006, Russia imposed legislation becomes stricter, new limitations increased reporting requirements on NGOs, are imposed, and more limiting regulations are especially relating to foreign funding. It also proposed. Even if a new bill does not become provided for planned, annual inspections of the law, it can still serve the function of spreading organizations from the authorities, as
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