“The amendments introduced to the Russian State Duma between 10 and 23 November 2020 constitute serious violations of basic human rights and freedoms”, the Venice Commission said in an Opinion on the “foreign agents” legislation published on Tuesday 6 July.
By using “overly vague and broad” terminology, without sufficient connection to the stated objectives of increasing transparency and preserving civil rights, these amendments violate freedom of expression, the right to privacy, the right to participate in public affairs, and the prohibition of discrimination.
The Council of Europe’s constitutional law experts therefore urge the Russian authorities to thoroughly revise not only these recent amendments, but also the entire legislation on “foreign agents”, by considerably narrowing the very definition of “foreign agents”.
This “stigmatising and misleading” label should be abandoned in favour of a “more neutral and accurate” designation, explains this Opinion requested by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. This is the second opinion in this matter.
Link to the Opinion: https://bit.ly/36jQ8K8 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)