The next ‘logical’ step by Russia in curtailing the work of human rights defenders is in the making: on 20 January the Russian Parliament (Duma) will debate a bill to declare certain foreign and international organisations as ‘unwanted’ and to fine anyone working with such entities. 
The Observatory, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, issued a statement today calling on the Duma to drop this bill. 
“ Countless human rights NGOs and defenders have been criminalised by the authorities for allegedly threatening security or public order. We fear that these vague terms will again be used to criminalise legitimate human rights activities implemented by INGOs in Russia ”, said Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General. “ A law that effectively criminalizes human contacts or institutional partnerships with other human rights actors is indeed unprecedented ”.
Under the bill, the designation of a foreign or international organisation as undesirable would be followed by the closure of branch offices in Russia. It would also ban the distribution of information, including online. Furthermore, individuals involved in the operation of an undesirable foreign or international organisation in Russia would be fined between 10,000 and 100,000 Rubles (185 – 1,850 Euros). And the employees of an undesirable organisation that continued to work in Russia could face criminal charges and fines ranging between 300,000 and 500,000 Rubles (5,560 – 9,260 Euros) or up to eight years in prison. If adopted, this measure would negatively impact the work of those who are members of international NGOs in Russia and will make it impossible for human rights defenders based abroad, should their organisation be registered as “unwanted”, to enter Russia.
“Following the adoption of the NGO law in 2012 which led to the registration of more than 30 prominent Russian NGOs as foreign agents and the closing down of 4 others, including FIDH member organisation ADC Memorial, it seems clear that this new bill will be used to ban the presence of international human rights NGOs in Russia. Slowly but surely, Putin is getting rid of all human rights organisations in the Russian Federation ”, said Karim Lahidji, FIDH President. See also: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/foreign-agent/
via Russian Federation: Bill to criminalise cooperation with (…).
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 
May 21, 2015 at 07:17
[…] The draft law was already approved by Russia’s State Duma (lower house) [see post: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/russia-the-next-step-in-curtailing-human-rights-defenders/] and now awaits signature into law by the […]
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