Brussels, 27/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 26 March, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton spoke of her concerns about the action of the Russian authorities against non-governmental organisations in Russia. “The inspections and searches launched against the Russian NGO community and conducted on vague legal grounds are worrisome since they seem to be aimed at further undermining civil society actions in the country”, Ashton stated in a press release. In her view, the ongoing raids, taken together with the recent package of legislation that restricts the civil freedoms of the Russian population, the upsurge in prosecutions of civil society activists, the political trials, and the lack of action in some prominent cases of human rights abuses “constitute a trend that is deeply troubling”.
Ashton reiterated that “civil society organisations play an essential role in today's society all over the world (…). They help citizens exercise their rights and generate debate indispensable in a vibrant democracy, thereby contributing significantly to the modernisation of society.”
Greens call for a freeze on visa liberalisation for those responsible. “The growing harassment and crackdowns against civil society organisations and NGOs by the Russian authorities raise real concerns about the health of Russian democracy. The EU cannot stand idly by in the face of this harassment”, said the chair of the European Parliament's human rights sub-committee, Barbara Lochbihler (Greens/EFA, Germany). She called for a “concrete response” from the EU - in other words, “an immediate freeze of a planned visa liberalisation scheme between the EU and Russia for officials involved in this civil society crackdown or those suspected of complicity in the murder of (anti-corruption lawyer) Sergey Magnitsky”. On 20 March, Ashton said that the decision of the Russian Federation's investigative committee to close the criminal investigation into Magnitsky's death was “regrettable”. The closing of this case “prematurely”, while at the same time opening the posthumous trial of Magnitsky, “is an additional source of concern as to the state of the due process of law in the Russian Federation”, Ashton added.
The Russian authorities have recently carried out checks on around a hundred associations, including Memorial, Amnesty International and several offices of the Alliance Française. A new law, which came into force on 21 November 2012, obliges NGOs that receive foreign funding and that have a political activity to register on a list of “foreign agents” and to introduce themselves this way when at public activities. (CG/transl.fl)