Posted on 29 April 2013
- Moscow: WWF-Russia is protesting prosecution
orders to at least five Russian environmental
organizations to register as foreign agents,
in compliance with controversial civil society
legislation.
The orders went to five
regional Russian environment organizations,
with WWF-Russia highlighting the fact that
the orders run counter to the legislation’s
exemption of “protection of flora and fauna”
from the “political activity” that the act
is targeted at.
WWF-Russia has also
learned that similarly exempted charities
helping the disabled have also received
orders to register as foreign agents.
Baikal Environmental
Wave was accused of involving in political
activity on the basis that one of the goals
of the organization is “to actively lobby
the solution of environmental problems in
federal and local governments”. WWF-Russia
is now providing support to the partner
organization.
Similarly, the Russian
prosecution office has served an order to
an organization helping Cystic fibrosis
patients, on the basis it is involved in
political activity because its Statute lists
one of its goals as “the protection of rights
and lawful interests of disabled people
with Cystic fibrosis in government agencies”.
“We believe that the
Prosecution, bending over backwards to report
to the authorities, ignores the current
legislation and demonstrates miracles of
bureaucratic zeal bordering on stupidity”,
said WWF-Russia CEO Igor Chestin.
“Activities initiated
by the Prosecution against NGOs, which carried
out at the taxpayers’ expense, are evidence
of the absurdity of the new law. At present
not a single NGO registered as a foreign
agent, so the authorities decided to prove
the viability of the stillborn law by inciting
the Prosecution against NGOs.”
The Russian parliament
passed the law obliging NGOs to register
as foreign agents if they receive funding
from abroad and are involved in political
activity in November 2012.
While the law does not
give a clear definition of political activity,
“Activities in the field of science, culture,
art, medicine, disease prevention and health
protection, protection of motherhood and
childhood, social support for disabled,
promotion of healthy lifestyle, fitness
and sports, protection of flora and fauna,
charity, as well as promotion of philanthropy
and volunteering” are exempted.
Environmental organizations
known to WWF that have received notices
are the Russian regional NGOs Baikal Environmental
Wave, Amur Social-Ecological Union, Chelyabinsk
fund “For Nature”, Siberian Environmental
Center, and Khabarovsk organization “Zelyony
Dom”.
Baikal Environmental
Wave is among groups protesting the pollution
of World Heritage listed Lake Baikal, the
world’s deepest lake, by a pulp mill. Amur
Social-Ecological Union helped create 7
new protected areas in the Far East of Russia
with a total area of over 1 million hectares.
Rights defenders and
civil society activists see the legislation
as a tool intended to erode their credibility
and impact. The prosecution itself must
comply with the law before demanding its
enforcement from others, stresses WWF.
