Politics: Human rights & democracy in Russia

Western human rights groups will have to stop work in Russia as almost 100 foreign NGOs fail deadline to legal registration. Russian authorities are forcing almost 100 foreign non-governmental organizations, including leading human rights groups, like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to suspend their operations for failing to meet the deadline for re-registration under a tough new law. Many of those NGOs have been persistent critics of President Putin, and some accused the Russian authorities of deliberately wanting to silence them. Kim Reed, an NGO lawyer advising several foreign groups, told the Associated Press thursday that Russian Registration Services were creating constant difficulties impeaching NGOs to become legal - "It appears that if you are an organization involved in human rights or democracy activities then your application gets much harsher scrutiny. Even if you are not sending police and court bailiffs to shut down their office, by not registering them, you are effectively doing that" - she said.

Putin has warned foreign-financed NGOs against interfering in domestic politics. Many of these organisations have accused him of attacking democracy and freedom of the press since he took office in 2000. The U.S. State Department on Wednesday also urged Russia to allow NGOs to continue operating. The European Union and Western governments have repeatedly “expressed concern” about the NGO law since it was adopted in April and which has imposed strict limits on all NGOs and especially Russian ones (as if “concern” would solve anything...). Russian NGOs face even more controls under the law, which allows authorities to ban financing of specific NGOs or projects if they are judged to threaten the country's national security or “morals”. It seems the law has already been used by prosecutors who successfully petitioned a court to order the closure last week of a Russian rights group critical of government's conduct in Chechnya, according to AP.

This situation comes at a time when people who defend human rights and the freedom of speech like journalist Anna Politkovskaïa have been murdered. And at the same time as Russia has launched a campaign against Georgia for taking a pro-western approach.

Meanwhile, what do western leaders and the European Union do? Apparently very little, apart from producing nice speeches and making nice requests for democracy and human rights… Anyway, nothing new under the sun… economic interests and lack of leadership will continue to guide politics in Europe (and beyond). Hypocrisy goes global.