Court NGOs

From December 4 to 7, Penza will host an international congress of non-profit organizations (NPOs) (or non-governmental organizations (NGOs)). A number of human rights organizations, primarily the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG), refused to participate because the congress was co-organized by the Federation Council. More precisely, the Commission of the Council on the Development of Civil Society Institutions.

The congress will be attended by 250 representatives of leading NGOs from more than 20 European countries, as well as representatives of international organizations and the Secretariat of the Council of Europe. The main topic of the upcoming event will be a discussion of the initiative to adopt the European Code of Civic Participation - a document that will define the basic principles of interaction of NGOs with each other, authorities, business and the media.

The Kommersant newspaper recalls that when the congress was held in Warsaw (2005) and Kiev (2007), it was co-organized by the Council of Europe. However, the Council of Europe, represented by the President of the Conference of International NGOs, Anneliese Oeschger, argues that in today's Russia it is necessary to talk with the authorities. But human rights activists opposed it.

In addition to the MHG, the Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, the Youth Human Rights Movement and the Interlegal Foundation have also expressed their reluctance to participate in the state-controlled congress. Chairman of the Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, Yuri Dzhibladze, told Kommersant that the event in Penza “cannot bear the name of the third regional congress of NGOs, since its organizer is a state body - the Federation Council.”

The Izvestia newspaper did not fail to kick the MHG and remind human rights activists who are not ready to obey the state that previously “almost all” of their proposals were accepted by the organizing committee of the congress: “The program included discussions on regional cooperation, post-conflict resolution, legislation on NGOs, intercultural dialogue, At the proposal of the Moscow Helsinki Group, the participants included representatives of human rights NGOs.” The newspaper mentions that only one wish of the MHG was not satisfied: changing the name of the congress. The fact is that the head of the MHG, Lyudmila Alekseeva, proposed that the event in Penza be considered not a congress, but a meeting of government bodies with non-governmental organizations. The corrosive Izvestia explains the desire of the MHG to change its name by the fact that unworthy Russian human rights activists since the 1990s have dared to consider themselves true representatives of civil society in Russia, while in fact thousands of Russian NGOs are in a constructive dialogue between the Russian authorities and society , and the Council of Europe understands this. The newspaper goes further and does not rule out that vile human rights activists, who do not want to lose their “monopoly” on representing the interests of Russian society in Europe, could call on European organizations to boycott the congress in Russia.