One size fits all

The Ministry of Justice has developed amendments to the law on non-profit organizations, tightening their position, and this applies to any NPOs, and not just the so-called “foreign agents”. As Kommersant writes, if in the current version of the law the Ministry of Justice can begin an unscheduled inspection of “foreign agents” based on requests from citizens, legal entities and information from the media about “the presence of signs of extremism in the activities of NGOs,” as well as in the presence of a special order of the minister “based on the request of the prosecutor based on materials and appeals received by the prosecutor’s office,” then if the amendments are adopted, the reason for checking any NPOs may be complaints about extremism from state bodies and local governments, as well as instructions from the president or government.

On January 16, Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov reported in the Duma that his department does not have powers “that would involve active and tough checks, raids, the formation of giant lists and other terrible sanctions.” To this, United Russia deputy Mikhail Markelov asked whether the ministry needed the help of the Duma in the form of “legislative levers.” The minister then replied that such assistance is appropriate “only in the aspect of a fundamental change in the concept,” and added that the current concept is “absolutely non-repressive.” Judging by the current amendments, this is not entirely true. Senior lawyer at the Russian branch of the International Center for Non-Profit Law, Vasily Romanets, told Kommersant that the amendments indicate prejudice against NPOs, since for other legal entities the grounds for inspections on suspicion of extremism are not spelled out.

Meanwhile, two NGOs that are Russian branches of American organizations - the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republic Institute (IRI) - not only closed, but also their Russian employees and their families were taken abroad.